Mister, You’re a Better Man than I

MISTER, YOU’RE A BETTER MAN THAN I

Another song on Ear-Piercing Punk is my favorite version of the absolute best anti-prejudice protest song, “Mister, You’re a Better Man than I” by a band called the Herde. (First verse: “Can you judge a man, / by the way he wears his hair? / Can you read his mind, / by the clothes that he wears? / Can you see a bad man, / by the pattern on his tie? / Well then, mister, you’re a better man than I . . .”) “Mister, You’re a Better Man than I” was written by two of the guys in Manfred Mann, though the better known version is by the Yardbirds, so that is high praise indeed.

(April 2011)