Lyr Req: Family of Man (Fred Dallas)

Subject: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: Ewan McVicar
Date: 06 Jun 99 - 04:17 PM

Sometimes you reach confidently for the songbook, and the lyric is not there. Then you scan the shelves, and still nothing. At last with more confidence you type the magic words into The Digital Trad - still no go!
Written as I'm fairly safe to state by Karl Dallas, the song The Family Of Man was sung massively in the 60s in the UK. Recorded by the Spinners, and others. I need the words for a community show. Can you help, please?

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FAMILY OF MAN (Fred Dallas)
From:
Date: 06 Jun 99 - 06:01 PM

THE FAMILY OF MAN by Fred Dallas

I belong to a family the biggest on the earth
A thousand every day are coming to birth
Our name isn't Dallas or Hasted or Jones
It's the name every man should be proud that he owns

It's the family of man keeps growing
The family of man keeps sowing
The seeds of a new life every day

I've got a sister in Melbourne and brother in Paree
The whole wild world is dad and mother to me
Wherever you turn you will find my kin
Whatever the creed or the colour of skin

The miner in the Rhondda the coolie in Pekin'
Men across the world who reap and plough and spin
They've got a life and others to share it
Let's bridge the oceans and declare it:

From the North Pole ice to the snow at the other
There isn't a man I wouldn't call my brother
But I haven't much time; I've had my fill
Of the men of war who want to kill

Some people say the world is a horrible place
But it's just as good or bad as the human race
Dirt and misery or health and joy
Man can build or can destroy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 07 Jun 99 - 02:32 AM

wow, back when I was about twenty, this used to be one of my all-time favourite songs and I'd sing it every chance I'd get. On looking at it now, I'm afraid the lyrics look horridly trite. Guess you get a lot pickier as you get older. The sentiments are still good though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: Ewan McVicar
Date: 07 Jun 99 - 03:49 AM

Many thanks indeed to the nameless contributor. I should have mentioned that Karl Dallas (one of our best music and now computer journalists) was at that time going by the name of Fred. Thanks again - I agree about the words, but think on any aspirational song that moved you especially when you were that age, and consider the lyrics now!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: DonMeixner
Date: 07 Jun 99 - 07:56 AM

Rick,

I know what you mean about this song. Its the type of tune you'd do in a concert but you'd never record. Like a Neil Diamond song:-). I imagine there are quite a few tunes out there like this. Don McLeans "Tapestry" may be one of them but I really like the song.

Any others come to mind?

Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 07 Jun 99 - 11:47 AM

Yah, I used to love a lot of Eric Anderson's songs, but for some reason lyrically they don't look so hot to me today. Tom Paxton holds up really well, as well as Steve Goodman, John Prine, and (forgive me) a lot of Dylan.
Now when I go back to the "other types" of songs I heard when I was 14, eg. "The Cruel Ship's Captain" sung in all it's off-key splendor by Bert Lloyd - Well, THAT's a SONG, matey!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: TamthebamfraeScotland
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 04:22 PM

I go to a folk club in Irvine (Ayrshire in Scotland) and I still sing the family of man, I know that some of you out there say that the words are a bit outdated, however it's a great song to sing.

I just wish that the words of the song would really come true and that everybody in the world was treated as equals. Just a pipe dream eh!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FAMILY OF MAN (from Three Dog Night)
From: mousethief
Date: 30 Nov 00 - 06:03 PM

Hmm. I was thinking of another song. This shows probably my age and my unfamiliarity with the more traditional music.

Family of Man

THE FAMILY OF MAN
Three Dog Night

This tired city was somebody´s dream
Billboard horizons as black as they seem
Four level highways across the land
We´re building a home for the family of man

Prices are rising, the Devil´s to pay
Moving the mountain that got in the way
Prayer books and meetings define the plan
Deciding the fate of the family of man

So hard, whatever we are coming to
Yes it´s so hard,
With so little time
And so much to do

Memories replacing the loves that we´ve lost
Burning our bridges as soon as they´re crossed
Factories built where the rivers ran
Time´s running out for the family of man

Doo doo doo,
Doo doo doo,
Doo doo doo,
Doo-do-do-doo

So hard

So hard, so hard, so hard
family of man family of man,...

---

Don't know who wrote this.

Alex

Subject: RE: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: GUEST,Darren
Date: 28 May 07 - 05:42 AM

"I just wish that the words of the song would really come true and that everybody in the world was treated as equals. Just a pipe dream eh!"

Quite ironically the song doesn't treat everyone as equals, we are performing it at Chester Cathedral on the 10th June and some of the words have been changed - firstly "Coolie" is now "Worker"

Also out of silliness that whole line has been altered further to

The miner at the coalface the worker in Bejing

A song isn't meant to be correct though, there are quite a few songs that are incorrect, I'm also suprised they haven't edited the top line 'cos the family of bacteria is certainly far bigger than the family of man - 1,000,000 every second are coming to birth!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req : Family Of Man
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 May 07 - 04:06 PM

Well, there aren't any miners in the Rhonda these days. Though I think this is a song that is better without being rewritten in that way. It's a record of a time that was in many ways more hopeful - which is ironic, since we all half-expected to get blown to bits any day.

The thing was, there was a feeling that, if we managed to get through that particular time without being blown up (a big "if"), we could expect the future to keep getting better for the human race.

Subject: Lyr Add: FAMILY OF MAN (Fred/Karl Dallas)
From: GUEST,Karl Dallas
Date: 03 Oct 10 - 03:35 AM

The changes I have made over the years to this song is only partly because of political correctness, though I did labour for years looking for alternatives to "man" (which when I wrote it was synonymous with "humanity"). But none of the alternatives really worked, eg "The human familee" etc. I used to precede the song with an explanation, but a woman one day shouted out: "Just sing the fucking song, Karl!"
Also, people didn't understand that where it said "My name isn't Dallas or Hasted or Jones" (John Hasted was a pioneer of the British folk scene who neglected his work as an atomic scientist travelling the land getting folk clubs going) you were meant to substitute your own or local names. The Spinners sang "Johnson or Jackson or Jones" but now I've changed it to help make the song less gender-specific.
Some of the other lines are a bit laboured, eg "From the North ice to the snow at the other", so I've changed them.
Actually, my songs tend to change organically as I sing them, which is a natural process, so they shouldn't be regarded as frozen in time.

Here is my latest version. Make any changes you like, as long as you keep to its basic message:

I belong to a family, it's the greatest on earth;
A new one every day is coming to birth.
My name isn't Johnny, or Jimmy, or Joan.
It's a name everyone can be proud we own.
It's the family of man, keeps growing,
The family of man – keep sowing
The seeds of a new life every day.

I've got a sister in Sydney, a brother in Paree,
The whole wide world is dad and mother to me.
Wherever you go you will find my kin,
Whatever the creed or the colour of the skin,
They're the family of man . . . (etc)

From Afghanistan to the streets of New York,
Don't matter how you worship or how you talk.
We've all got a life and others to share it:
Let's bridge the oceans and declare it
The family of man . . . (etc)

From the North Pole ice to the steamy equator
We've all got to live together sooner or later,
But I've not much time, I've had my fill
Of the men of war who want to kill
The family of man . . . (etc)

Now some people say the world is a terrible place,
But it's just as good or bad as the human race:
War and misery or peace and joy
We can build or can destroy
The family of man . . . (etc)

The great English traditional singer, Harry Cox, once said to me after I'd sung it: "That's a rude song, Karlk. It be all about fucking." So it is.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Family of Man
From: GUEST,Haven't changed my name again!
Date: 03 Oct 10 - 03:37 AM

Harry didn't call me Karlk. I'm just a lousy typist.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Family of Man
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 03 Oct 10 - 06:11 AM

Hi, Karl; You and I have known one another since This Old Song Was New. Good song than, good song now, after all changes and mutations!

I recollect a Museum of Modern Art photo exhibition, with accomp book which I still have ~ before me at this moment, foreword by Carl Sandburg & all ~ of black & white photographs of the human situation worldwide, with title The Family Of Man, which I seem to recall was, at least in part, your inspiration for the song. Am I right about that?

All best as ever ~~


~Michael~

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Family of Man
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 04 Oct 10 - 02:53 AM

Some of the other lines are a bit laboured, eg "From the North ice to the snow at the other", so I've changed them

"From the North Pole ice to the steamy equator
We've all got to live together sooner or later,"


No, I reckon that the original words were much better.

Anyway, what have the antipodeans done to get themselves excluded? The new words are just plain hemispherist!

DC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Family of Man
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 04 Oct 10 - 04:19 AM

DC's last objection, which is a perfectly valid one, could be obviated by making it "From the polar ice to the steamy equator", thus subsuming both N & S Poles & ∴ both hemispheres.

Having said which, I agree with him in preferring the earlier words anyway.

~Michael~