June 1 marked the 25th anniversary of the launch of Napster, the file-sharing network that destroyed the music industry as everyone knew it. Stories marking the date mostly focus on the its negative effects on artists and record labels, but a few acknowledge why it spread so fast and so far – it was the ultimate jukebox.
I had a music-conscious teenage son at home in 1999, so I knew about Napster soon after it launched. This was the first song I looked for.
Gladstone was a country-rock band from Tyler, Texas – it said so right on the cover of their debut LP, released in 1972. This anti-war song, released as a single, only made it to No. 45 on the Hot 100, but it got a bit of airplay on AM radio. I only heard it a few times, but it stuck in my memory for 27 years, especially the a cappella final verse. Sure enough, somebody – just one somebody, but somebody – had downloaded it to Napster.
One interesting historical note regarding the third verse: This song was written before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, when the states had a patchwork of varying laws, which was one reason the Supreme Court took on the case. The verse instead questions the motivation for choosing one.
