Lyr Add: Allende (Don Lange)

Subject: Lyr Add: ALLENDE (Don Lange, Christy Moore)
From: michaelr
Date: 11 Sep 03 - 08:02 PM

It was 30 years ago today that General Pinochet's fascist stormtroopers, under guidance of the CIA, murdered Chile's democratically elected President Salvador Allende and put a brutal end to that country's fledgling experiment with democratic socialism.

This is from Christy Moore's book "One Voice".

Allende    (Don Lange)

The nighthawk flies and the owl cries
As we're driving down the road
Listening to the music on the all-night radio show
The announcer comes on, says if you've got ideas
I'll file the patent for you
What's an idea that's not in the store
Making a buck or two

We drive to the town but the shutters are down
And the all-night restaurant's closed
It's the land of the free, they've got booze and TV
And there's tramps in the telephone booths
The stars and the trees and the early spring breeze
Says forget what assassins have done
Take our good soil in the palm of your hand
And wait for tomorrow's sun

A truck driver's wife leads a rough life
He spends his time on the road
Carrying the goods, all the copper and wood
That's what makes America great
But the dollars like swallows they fly to the south
Where they know they've got something to gain
Allende is killed, and the trucks are soon rolling again

The nighthawk flies and the owl cries
As we're driving down the road
The full moon reveals all the houses and fields
Where good people do what they're told
Victor Jara he lies with coins in his eyes
There's no one around him to mourn
Who needs a poet who can't take commands
Who'd rather make love than war

CH: It's a long way from the heartland
To Santiago Bay
Where the good doctor lies with blood in his eyes
And the bullets read U S of A   

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: The other 9-11: Chile 30 years ago
From: Amos
Date: 12 Sep 03 - 12:57 AM

Whoof!! Powful stuff, Michael!

A

Subject: Lyr Add: ALLENDE (Don Lange)
From: Stewie
Date: 12 Sep 03 - 02:39 AM

I first heard first came by this song on a Moving Hearts LP and hadn't heard the original. It was not on the two Don Lange LPs that I have. However, Art Thieme recently sent me some wonderful tapes of his favourites which included Don Lange singing 'Allende'. It seems that Christy took considerable liberties with Lange's text. What a brilliant song!

ALLENDE
(Don Lange)

The nighthawk swoops and the hoot owl hoots
And we're driving on down the road
And, like it or not, this country'll rock
On the all-night radio show
The announcer comes on, says if you've got ideas
We'll find a patent for you
For what good's an idea that's not in the store
Making a buck or two

Chorus:
It's a long, long way from the heartland
To Santiago Bay
Where the good doctor lies, with blood in his eyes
And the bullets read US of A
And the bullets read US of A

We passed through towns where shutters pulled down
Say the all-night restaurant's closed
It's the land of the free, it's booze or TV
And a bum in each telephone booth
But the stars in the trees and an early spring breeze
Says forget what assassins have done
And take this good land in the palm of your hand
And wait for tomorrow's sun

Chorus

A trucker's good life here includes a good wife here
He rides along on his rig
And they move the goods, all the copper and wood
And that makes America great
But their taxes like birds head for the south
Where they think they've got something to gain
Allende is killed, Uncle Sam foots the bill
Communeros are rolling again

Chorus

The nighthawk swoops and the hoot owl hoots
And we're driving on down the road
A full moon reveals all the houses and fields
Where good people do what they're told
A poet lies with coins on his eyes
And no one's around him to mourn
For what good is a poet who can't take commands
Who'd rather make love than war

Final chorus:
It's a long, long way from the heartland
To Santiago Bay
Where the good doctor lies, with blood in his eyes
And the bullets read US of A
It's a long, long way from the heartland
To Santiago Bay
Where the good doctor lies, with blood in his eyes
And the bullets read US of A
And the bullets read US of A

Source: transcription of Don Lange 'Allende'.

I heard on the radio today that Australia's secret service also played a despicable role in this abominable episode.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: The other 9-11: Chile 30 years ago
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 12 Sep 03 - 03:57 AM

Victor Jara, pioneer of the New Chilean Song Movement under Popular Unity, was murdered by Pinochet's henchmen in the Santiago boxing stadium five days later on 16 September.

I still have his songbook, published by Essex House, then costing £2.50, and I noticed recently that 'Manifiesto' has been reissued on CD,

Subject: RE: The other 9-11: Chile 30 years ago
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 12 Sep 03 - 05:26 AM

for more songs, see Blood upon the Grass (McNaughtan) in DT and the songs of Victor Jara thread (and/or do a mudcat search for Jara)

Subject: RE: The other 9-11: Chile 30 years ago
From: michaelr
Date: 12 Sep 03 - 07:16 PM

Stewie, thanks for posting the original lyrics. By comparison, Christy's version does not strike me as an improvement!

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: The other 9-11: Chile 30 years ago
From: HuwG
Date: 03 Nov 05 - 03:42 AM

Does anyone have the chords for Don Lange's version ?

Subject: RE: The other 9-11: Chile 30 years ago
From: open mike
Date: 03 Nov 05 - 05:11 AM

From what i understood (heard it in a song I am sure)
Victor Jara had his fingers and hands chopped off in
front of that crowd before he was killed.

this is from pete seeger's web site:

Many martyrs have been immortalized in song, among them John Brown, Joe Hill, Harry Sims, Amilcar Cabral, Che Guevara, Pancho Villa, George Jackson, Fred Hampton and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The Chilean poet, songwriter and artist, Victor Jara, after his arrest by the junta, was ordered by the police to stop singing his songs of freedom to the other prisoners herded into the soccer stadium in Chile. When he refused, a policeman severed Victor Jara's fingers with an axe and shouted, "Now play!" Victor Jara's voice was stilled only by a volley of bullets. Arlo Guthrie and Adrian Mitchell's song, "Victor Jara" (on Warner Bros. current Arlo Guthrie album "Amigo") will etch the name and memory of Victor Jara on the hearts of all humanity for a long time to come. Holly Near also gave tribute to the memory of Victor Jara in her song, "It Could Have Been Me.":

"The junta took the fingers from Victor Jara's hands They said to the gentle poet, "Play your guitar now if you can! Well Victor started singing until they shot his body down You can kill a man but not a song when it's sung the whole world round."