The Free Spirit

Two Sides To A Coin, 1968 (Part Two)

"It's life's illusions I recall, I really don't know life at all..."

Thalidomide was still haunting mothers, doctors, nurses, babies and families all across the world, and on the nineteenth of February, 1968, thalidomide babies were finally given compensation for the birth defects that the medication caused, but only to sixty-two families. Susan Mulluks, now seven years old, and her family received upwards of £40,000, as Susan was born completely limbless, but most families got between £5,000 and £45,000, depending on the damage done. However, there was a catch, of course - families that accepted the compensation had to withdraw all allegations of negligence. Some saw it as being bribed into silence, while others accepted it without a second thought.

But thalidomide's effects, thankfully, hadn't affected my family in any way. My children were all born perfect, beautiful and happy, and I was grateful for my good fortune. School for them let out in late May and I was on my way with them to London, where I would eventually record the rest of the songs for my next album. Many songs had already been recorded and released as singles and all I had left was to record 'Let The Sunshine In' and a couple more titles. I decided to keep the demo of 'The Times They Are A-Changin' from 1963 as it was and simply handed the 45 over to the producer. At the end of June, my third and final studio album, Dog Rose, was released to the public. The national flower of Romania is the dog rose, and I felt that my Romani heritage was being forgotten about with all the time that had passed since the caravan, so I embraced it on that album.

Dad was happy to watch the kids while I did a brief tour of London and southern England to promote my new album. While promoting the album in the West End, I was interviewed on live television about Dog Rose, so I made sure to dress my best. I wore yet another Biba-style dress with the cinched sleeves and a pair of gladiator-style sandals. "Catherine Cromwell, the world was starting to wonder when you would release another album!" said the interviewer to me. "What took you so long to do so?"

"Well, I am a mother of three children, two of which go to school in the States, so I had to be there with them while my husband was on tour, and then I was active in protests against the war in Vietnam as well while in the States," I replied.

"Ah, yes, you've been very active both in protesting physically and with songs. Many musical artists have been going that route lately with protest lyrics and hippie music. What do you say to that? What do you say to those who are singing protest songs only and not actively protesting?"

"It takes more than writing and singing a few protest songs to be a active protestor," I replied. "But I don't condone saying that people who are only doing the music and not the actual physical protesting aren't doing enough. Protesting actively is not for everyone. However, there are some who are saying, 'Yeah, I'm a political activist because I'm singing songs that go against the government and all that' and are then going off to say, 'I don't have time to go to an actual demonstration'. I'm a mother of three children, I record and release songs and albums, I tour, and yet I always make time to go to actual demonstrations. If I can do it all the way from bloody London, then I'm sure others who say that don't have the time can find it to attend a demonstration every now and then."

"Interesting take on it. How on Earth do you have time to go to demonstrations? We've always wondered that!" I shrugged with a smile. "Speaking of your activity at demonstrations, we have a photograph of you at a protest last year holding up a sign that says 'Love All' with a tiny peace sign on it. It's such a powerful image, you on the shoulders of another protestor holding up a peace sign and then this sign. Why did you go with such a simple message?"

"Well, for starters, I didn't have a lot of room on the sign to begin with, so I had to think small. But also, loving everyone is a very simple concept and shouldn't be as hard as it is for some to grasp. Many people who are supporting what we protest preach the word of God and Jesus Christ - in which they said to love all regardless of who they are - under the guise of 'God said to love only a certain kind of people, and the rest of you are going to Hell' and they've severely misinterpreted what the Bible says. The Bible says to love thy neighbour, and that means love all of your neighbours, not just your straight white male ones. It is not at all difficult to be kind to those around you, regardless of what they believe in. Everyone likes to believe that what they believe in is what's right, and they love to exercise their right to a freedom of speech and expression, but in doing so, they're also choosing to not allow others to do the same."