DAVID PEEL
FORTY PAGES
Forty Pages
David Peel — Street Corner Rant
The FBI opened a file on me. File number 100-470569. Forty pages. You know what I did to earn forty pages from the Federal Bureau of Investigation? I played guitar in Washington Square Park and sang songs about marijuana. That's it. That was the crime.
They sent agents to my building. 209 East Fifth Street, fourth floor. They talked to my neighbors. They checked my mail. They went to the Board of Elections to see if I'd registered to vote. I hadn't. They went to the DMV to see if I had a driver's license. I didn't. What kind of musician has a driver's license? I live in New York.
They did what they called "pretext interviews." That's FBI language for lying. An agent pretends he's not an agent and gets you talking. So one day in March of '72, one of these guys shows up and I tell him, "Eldridge Cleaver is my God. I attend every leftist rally I can to perform." And he writes it all down and puts it in a file and stamps it "Security Matter — Youth International Party."
You know what the Youth International Party is? The Yippies. Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman. The guys who threw dollar bills on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and watched the brokers crawl on their knees to pick them up. THAT'S the movement they were so scared of.
They even watched the David Frost Show. January 13, 1972. Me, Lennon, Yoko, Jerry Rubin. An FBI agent went to the production office and watched a tape of the broadcast. His report says, "PEEL did not speak at all during the program." He just sang. Forty pages because a man sang on television.
They sent agents to a Smoke-In in Madison, Wisconsin. September 25, 1971. Their report says I sang songs that were — and this is their word — "scurrilous and blasphemous, recommending that everyone use marijuana." I did my version of the Pledge of Allegiance. "I pledge allegiance to a bag of marijuana, made in Mexico." The FBI wrote that down. In triplicate. With carbon paper.
They investigated me under Title 18, Section 2383 — Rebellion or Insurrection. Section 2384 — Seditious Conspiracy. Section 2385 — Advocating Overthrow of the Government. For singing in the park. With a guitar.
And here's the best part. They thought about putting me on the ADEX. The Administrative Index. That's the list of people the government would round up and detain in a national emergency. Me. David Peel. Emergency threat to national security. Because I sang "The Pope Smokes Dope."
You know why they didn't? The file says — and I swear to God this is a direct quote — they didn't recommend me for detention because of my "lackadaisical indifferent attitude displayed during the times he was interviewed by pretext." They couldn't tell if I was dangerous because I was too relaxed. I was so chill they couldn't classify me.
The FBI spent two years, forty pages, multiple agents, pretext interviews, surveillance, mail checks, phone records, and cross-referenced files — and the conclusion was: he's a musician who plays at YIP events and he seems pretty mellow. Case closed. November 20, 1973.
You want to know the real punchline? In 1972, they had to send agents. They had to do pretexts. They had to physically follow you, check your mail, call your phone company. It was expensive. It was slow. It was forty pages of work for one guitar player.
Now? Now everybody carries their own surveillance device in their pocket. You PAID for it. You take it everywhere. It knows where you sleep, who you talk to, what you read, what you buy. The FBI doesn't need forty pages anymore. They've got forty billion.
At least J. Edgar Hoover had the decency to open a file. The algorithm doesn't even tell you you're being watched.
See also: Lennon Had a File Too — they gave Peel forty pages, they gave Lennon hundreds. The David Frost Show — an FBI agent watched a talk show and wrote a report about a musician who didn't speak. The Apple — the day Lennon signed a street musician to the Beatles' label. We Nominated a Pig — filed under "Security Matter — Youth International Party." The New Yorker, 1972 — the magazine printed what the Bureau redacted. The Same Word — every cop retired, every law repealed. Country Joe — Sinclair on Country Joe McDonald. Every FBI file is a standing ovation from the enemy.
David Peel
