“The Fugs existed to protest against the American war machine, as much as we did to make music,” says Sanders, “and we understood that spectacle draws attention. So to suggest we were going to try and levitate the Pentagon, well, it might sound ridiculous but it gave a focus to our protest and attracted a lot of attention.”

Mailer, who attended the protest, wrote about it in his Pulitzer prize-winning book The Armies of the Night, and the Pentagon protests are now regarded as high points in the anti-Vietnam war movement. “We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the protest in 2017 by forming a human chain around the White House and attempting to levitate it,” says Sanders. “Again, we shouted ‘out, demons, out!’ and, again, nothing happened. Just as the Vietnam war continued for another nine years, Trump is back in the White House.”

Did that make Sanders feel defeated? “No,” he replies firmly. “I’m an optimist. We must keep pushing, we can’t give in to despair. While things are terrible in the US right now, I do believe the American people will come to their senses and vote out the Republicans.”