collage is composed of excerpts from folk and pop songs. Your comments
are welcome.
WE CAN'T MAKE IT HERE ANYMORE
Vietnam vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The VA's budget's stretched so thin
And there's more coming home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore
Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor fall through the cracks
They can't make it here anymore
--- James McMurtry (2004)
I DON'T FEEL AT HOME HERE ANYMORE
I want my country back
and a good dream to stand up for
Got my hand over my heart
But I don't feel at home anymore
Big, big flag above the big, big mall
and the shake, rattle and roll to the core
things sprawl after they fall
and I don't feel at home here anymore
Homeland of Sojourner Truth
and Chief Joseph before
many quiet words of wisdom drowned out by TV
and I don't feel at home here anymore
Blind engineer, war train on the track
many many a heart is sore
We want our country back
We want to feel at home here once more.
--- Greg Brown (2003)
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
As I was walkin' I saw a sign there
And that sign said...no trespassin'
But on the other side it didn't say nothin'
Now that side was made for you and me
In the squares of the city - in the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some and grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
---Woody Guthrie (1956)
CHIMES OF FREEDOM FLASHING
For between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
And for each and every underdog soldier in the night
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden while the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowing rain
Dissolved into the bells of lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned and forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burning constantly at state
And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
--- Bob Dylan (1964)
PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING
As I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony
Cause each time I feel it slippin' away
Just makes me wanna cry
What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding
--- Nick Lowe (1974)
I'M NOT AT WAR WITH ANYONE
We could live as one
Between the sea and the sun
I am not at war with anyone
I don't need to be friends with everyone
But I'd like to live in peace with everyone
--- Luka Bloom (2003)
GET TOGETHER
If you hear the song I sing
You will understand
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
One key unlocks them both
It's at your command
Come on people now
Smile on each other
Everybody get together
Try and love one another right now.
--- Chet Powers (1963)
THIS IS MY SONG
This is my song, O God of all the nations
A song of peace for lands afar and mine
This is my home, the country where my hear ts
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight, too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
Oh, hear my song, O God of all the nations
A song of peace for their land and for mine
--- Lloyd Stone (1934)
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15 comments:
Great compilation of thoughts for Independence Day. I liked how Greg Brown wrote "We want our country back.." in 'I Don't Feel At Home Here Anymore'. It makes me think of the hopes and dreams people once had. And how our country is becoming increasingly egotistical. I also like how Woody Guthrie said "If this land's still made for you and me." Now there is a thought to ponder this Independence Day.
Every Independence Day I remember an older African American man I met in Minneapolis who told me he didn't celebrate it because he didn't feel free. It's a shame that there are so many people who believe that this country belongs only to the rich and powerful and the rest of us are here to serve them. I love America, with all its faults.
This land is for the home of the free. I still believe in the American dream, I just wish it was more reachable for all Americans.
Veronica
Are there other songs which could help us capture (or recapture) our dreams and hopes? If you hear one, why not share some of the lyrics here.
I wish mainstream artists wrote more social conscience songs like this today. They have the power to reach people! I wish they realized it! These songs are a great inspiration and hope to Americans and people all over the world.
Leslie Stusiak
This land is your land this land is my land.It would be great if it were true but not all feel this way. Some fight and suffer so others can live the good life. Sure wish we could walk hand in hand and all obtain the American dream!
B.Kirk
I totally agree with you B. Kirk. "This land is your land, this land is my land... this land was made for you and me". I remember singing that song when I was in elementary school. Idependence Day is a day to celebrate the freedom of our country and to celebrate those who have and are currently fighting for our freedom and protection, but what about those vets who are homeless because they got injured while fighting in Vietnam? What about the Vietnam Vet whose holding a sign on the side of the road with a leg missing? Do they only get thought of on the 4th of July? Pretty sure on any other day people are not paying much attention to them. I think James McMurtry makes an awesome point when he says "The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor fall through the cracks
They can't make it here anymore." How is it that the richest people pay the least taxes, but the lower class people struggling to make ends meet pay a large portion of taxes? How can people keep their hopes and dreams of acheiving the American Dream when they are working 2 full time jobs and raising a family trying to make ends meet? Honestly I think people are starting to give up on their hopes and dreams because of all the social unjustices in this country. Like Martina McBride says in her song 'Independence Day' "Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know, that today is a day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay
It's Independence Day"
Sarah J
I doesn't make sense that the rich get off with paying less taxes and the poor have to struggle daily just to make it. I think that a lot of people turn to music when they feel down and there should be more songs out there to lift people up and give them the sense of hope.
Kelli
I guess for me Social Work project class was a great eye opener to music and social work together. I really appreciated Altman's songs and the meaning they held for those who wrote them and those who can put meaning to them now. I really think that James McMurty had it right with his song, "We can't make it here anymore" his lyrics are extremely truthful and powerful. They are so true of the despair many people feel about America today, including myself. When he says "will work for food, Will die for oil , will kill for power and to us the spoils" I think he is pointing out that our large corporate America agenda has gotten the best of us. Also when he states "Billionaires get to pay less tax, working poor fall through the cracks" he is only observing what is really going on here and how does the middle man make a difference. For me I see the need for change and I will always advocate for it in any way I can.
Angie B.
I really like the song lyrics they have a lot of heart and truth to them. I remember as a child listining to people call my dad names that weren't very nice. Being young and not nowing what they meant until I got older. My dad is a vet and we had alot of hard times for along time while I was growing up. That hasn't changed much but I thank god for men like my dad because they faught for us to live this way. I remember that when times where hard we didn't quilify for assistance cause my parents income was over the earnings limit. They may not have been much on the table, and I was wearing the latest fashion but we never went with out. This country seems like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Thats why we need more people to help and change that. Theresa N.
I love the way James says we can't make it here anymore. People fighting for what they thought was right and now the reality check is clear that there is no room for them. Still this Vet is willing to express his heart and soul but don't let his looks get you because it is in the heart.
Brown I can relate to him saying that shit is failing. All is still fronting as something but is nothing. Many things are interrupting our lives but we need a good reason to fight once more. I truely believe that we need a good reason to be and do things to better oneself in this moderen world. With Nick I adore his insight and questioning on what had happened and ending in a question about love and understanding. Seems that everyone runs to the gun instead running to aid and conversation. Chet Powers basically saying that we hold all the keys in everyones mind, body and heart. That we as people can stop anything if we bond or connect as people to end it.
My thoughts of "I Don't Feel at Home Any More" makes you really think how fortunate we are to be citizens of the United States and how the soldiers are fighting to keep our freedom.
Independence Day is not well celebrated well by Lakotahs. We as Lakotahs are not really free as a people because we function under the U.S. Government through the Indian Re-organizational Act. Our land was taken and our people put on reservations. We were given a Tribal Government in answer to the U.S. Government like puppets. As a Lakotah the definition of Independence is only an illusion whom actions are controlled through a filtered system. Happy Independence Day!!!
Toni H.B.
"I Don't Feel at Home Here Anymore" is a prime example how a situation can take a productive person and turn them into an unproductive person. The Vietnam War used soldiers in a system and quickly discarded them when they were finished with them. The government should be embarrassed by the lack of social programs they did not provide with the veterans returned. TT
I like the songs....they made me think about how much our country has changed! Someone is always fighting or conflicking with someone.
~Kristi S.~
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