PP&M Song of the Day: The Great Mandella

The Great Mandella is a hauntingly sad, beautiful and moving song written in the person of a father struggling with and talking about his conscientious objector son during the Vietnam war. PP&M's rendition of the song is chillingly beautiful. Their harmonies and the dissonant chord structure of the guitar part are perfect. Mary has the last echo of the last line of the song, and it leaves you speechless.

The version of this song on Peter, Paul & Mary's Album 1700 uses the word "mandella" but in other instances, the song 's name carries the proper Sanskrit word often used to represent the wheel of life, "mandala." Below is an example of a mandala from Wikiwand.

In any event, The Great Mandella is one of my favorite songs of all time. I have loved it ever since the first time I heard it at my friend, Peggy's house back in the 60's. I have played it on guitar and sung it ever since the 60's, too.

I came across one person's interpretation of the song's meaning, very eloquently stated. I have no idea who this person is - their "handle" on the SongMeanings website is "Groujo" and there is no more information about this person. It is such an excellent interpretation that I am copying it here. At the end I will put a link to the web page that it came from.

I can't say enough about this song. It's absolutely haunting. It tears my heart out and leaves me shaken. The phrasing and the chord progression is unique and disturbing and lovely. But it is the story that is devastating.

A man of principle, a man of peace and dignity, gives up everything he has to effect change. Like so many have. He dies alone in a jail cell for his principles, without a friend, estranged from family, not appreciated or understood, an "enemy of the people". And ultimately there is no indication his sacrifice matters in the least: the killing continues unabated, he not a martyr for his cause. He was never thanked or supported and he will never know if he made the right decisions.

We can feel certain the man was admirably in the right. The songwriter clearly agrees values this man's principles and courage, even if the 3 speakers in the song do not. We see him as a lonely prophet being cut down by the runaway train of cruelty and ignorance and fear that is our society. Like so many have. But he is never celebrated, never martyred. He is forgotten or reviled. An utterly purposeless tragedy.

He has taken his place on the great mandala. For good or ill. The wheel of time doesn't notice. And so have the others in the song: the father, the jailer, the ruler, and the people. They take their places beside his. And the wheel rolls on, until they aren't even a memory.

Is change even possible? The wheel metaphor suggest that ultimately it is not. As the second singer says, "He can't do it. He can't change it. It's been going on for 10,000 years." From this perspective, the man is misguided. He threw away his life for a hopeless cause. He's has "lost" and wasted his life.

But knowing the songwriter as we do, this is not the intended message. We know he disagrees with the second singer, because he's been fighting for change his whole life. The losers are really the people who choose to rationalize their own views and refuse to accept the man's message, because they are creating exactly the dystopia they think is unavoidable. Like so many have.

So we are forced to ask: what place will we ourselves take on the wheel? Consciously or not, we all choose our place on the great mandala. We have this brief moment to choose who we will be and what we will stand for. And, we are forced to confront the possibility that all our hopes and efforts will amount to nothing. I find it both excruciating and sublime that even the song refuses to reward the man for his sacrifice. Because the great mandala won't reward you either. The song ends on the disturbing thought that "if you lose you've only wasted your life." It's very ambiguous who the loser is here. And as frustrating as that is, that's exactly as it should be. You must decide for yourself.

(found on the SongMeanings website)

I could not have said this any better. Who is the loser, though? We all are.

The Great Mandella (The Wheel of Life) Eric Anderson

So I told him that he'd better shut his mouth and do his job like a man. And he answered "Listen, Father, I will never kill another." He thinks he's better than his brother that died What the hell does he think he's doing To his father who brought him up right?

Take your place on The Great Mandella As it moves through your brief moment of time. Win or lose now you must choose now And if you lose you're only losing your life.

Tell the jailer not to bother With his meal of bread and water today. He is fasting 'til the killing's over He's a martyr, he thinks he's a prophet. But he's a coward, he's just playing a game He can't do it, he can't change it It's been going on for ten thousand years

Take your place on The Great Mandella As it moves through your brief moment of time. Win or lose now you must choose now And if you lose you're only losing your life.

Tell the people they are safe now Hunger stopped him, he lies still in his cell. Death has gagged his accusations We are free now, we can kill now, We can hate now, now we can end the world We're not guilty, he was crazy And it's been going on for ten thousand years!

Take your place on The Great Mandella As it moves through your brief moment of time. Win or lose now you must choose now And if you lose you've only wasted your life.