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chico Lyr Add: Assorted Campaign Songs (Grover C. Era)^^ (1) Lyr Add: Assorted Campaign Songs (Grover C. Era) 02 Sep 05



(Campaign of 1884) Cleveland is our man.txt

       C      C°       C                  F                      C
Come rally 'round the good old flag, the North, South, East, and West,
             C°    C               G          D7    G
And let all honest Democrats, who love their country best,
    G7               C                   F                  C
Rejoice to know the time has come, when we must take our stand,
      F             C                F       G7      C
And shout aloud, huzza! huzza! For Cleveland is our man.

       C          F         C               F                C
We'll give three cheers for Cleveland, and three for Hendricks too,
       F                  C                G    D7       G
We'll gather 'round the good old flag, the Red, White, and Blue.
We'll give three cheers for Cleveland, and three for Hendricks too,
       F                  C                F    G7       C
We'll gather 'round the good old flag, the Red, White, and Blue.

Prosperity will bless our land, and God will help our cause;
The Constitution as it is, the Union as is was.
We'll let the past for gotten be, and do all that we can,
To choose a leader whom we love, and Cleveland is our man.

He is a soldier, brave and true, and he is more than that,
We know he is an honest man, and faithful Democrat.
We'll put him in the White House chair, and try an honest plan,
To run this government awhile, with Cleveland for our man.


[To the Democracy of the United States. Cleveland is Our Man (1 Sep. 1884) Words and Music by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907 Cincinnati, OH Geo. D. Newhall Co., 50 West Fourth Street. Henricks, original vice-president to Cleveland, died in office in 1885 during his first term. Adlai Stephenson I was chosen to replace him, as a concession to the free-silver campaign]

* * *

(Campaign of 1884) I'm a Roaring Repeater.txt

    G                                           C            
My name is Mike Dolan, I'm one of the boys. I'm fond of good whiskey and plenty of noise
       G                                       D7                   G
I'm a rare politician you'll freely admit of conscience and honor I have not a bit
    D7                     G                   Am                         D
I'm called a repeater but that is my trade, I'm done with the pickaxe, the shovel and spade
      7                G                A7                     D            7
The Democrat party depends upon me, to give them a President now don't you see

       G         
I'm a roaring repeater of Democrat fame,
    C
And just from the state penitentiary I came
      G
For when the election is coming about,
    D7                  G
The Democrats' governor pardons me out

I voted for Tilden from morning till night, I killed a dutch tailor that day in a fight
I scared the black nagers most out of their coats and so the Republicans lost all their votes
While Johnny Mcready , my self and Pat Flynn stood close by the ballot-box stuffin' them in
But all of our labor went up in blaze for blasted Republican counted in Hayes

Four years after that we had Hancock to lead oh he was a jewel, a daisy indeed
And though we repeated we couldn't do much for we were outnumbered with nagers and dutch
Our beauitful Solger was left in the lurch by a man from Ohio a deacon in church
And so they've defeated us year after year but sure there was plenty of whiskey and beer





[A Repeater is a person who votes multiple times. Republicans accused democrats, especially Irish immigrants, of doing so in the eastern cities]

* * *

(Campaign of 1884) Ma! Ma! Where's my Pa (E Medium-low).txt

AIR -- 'Little Tom Tid'; or 'Little Ah Sid'

E                     B7                                     E
Little Tom Tid was a frolicsome kid, a cute little cuss, I declare,
                              B7                                        E
With eyes full of fun, and a nose that begun way up in the roots of his hair.
C#m                     G#7                   C#m                        
Jolly and fat, was this frolicsome brat, as he played thro' the livelong day,
                               A         G#7    F#m                  G#7 B7
But one eve, to his cost, his papa got lost, and he and his ma sang a lay. Oh,

E   E°   E                                     F#m
Ma! Ma! where is my Pa? Up in the White House, darling.
B7               E                  A                      G#7 (B7)
Making the laws, working the cause, up in the White House, dear.
E   E°   E                                     A
Ma! Ma! where is my Pa? Up in the White House, darling.
B7                E                  F#m       B7            E
Making the laws, working the cause, up in the White House, dear.

Once over a lawn that Tommy played on, a bumblebee flew in the spring,
Said little Tom, "Hi! 'tis a gay butterfly, I'll catch him and pull off his wing."
Then with his cap, he struck it a rap, that innocent, gay bumblebee,
And put its remains in the seat of his jeans and sang to his mama in glee:

So down on the green sat the little sardine, in a style so strangely demure,
And said with a grin that was brimful of sin: "I'll mash Mr. Butterfly sure!"
But soon with a cry that rose to the sky, up jumped Tommy Tid in the air,
And the welkin about tang out with a shout, quite frightful to hear, I declare:

Poor little Tom Tid was only a kid, nor could you expect him to guess
What kind of a bug he was holding so snug in the folds of his loose fitting dress,
And he yelled in grief for a sweet relief, And cried for his daddy in vain,
But no daddy was there, and oft through the air methinks I still hear the refrain:

[It was in the July 21st edition that the Buffalo Evening Telegraph dropped a bombshell into the presidential campaign of 1884. Under the banner of "A Terrible Tale," the Telegraph announced to the world "The Pitiful Story of Maria Halpin and Governor Cleveland's Son." The story was that Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland, a bachelor, had had an affair resulting in the birth of a son.
    Cleveland's primary supporters and campaign staff asked if it was true, and he said that it was indeed so. When asked how to handle it in the campaign, he said, "Tell the truth." The relationship was admitted
but downplayed. After all, they said, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton were capable but wayward men as well.
    The actual story was that Maria Halpin, a widow in her mid-30s, had moved to Buffalo, New York, in the early 1870s. She became involved with a number of men, including a 36-year-old attorney named Grover Cleveland. By the end of 1873 she was pregnant.
    Maria claimed that Cleveland was the father, although there was no way to prove it one way or another. However, Cleveland was a bachelor while the other paternity candidates were married. When the child was born in September 1874 she named him Oscar Folsom Cleveland. (Oscar Folsom
was Cleveland's law partner.)
    Despite uncertainty Cleveland decided to accept paternity. He had less to lose than other possibilities. He acknowledged the boy and provided for his support. When one of his campaign leaders tried to publicly blame the deceased Oscar Folsom as the father, Cleveland had the story squelched.
    Not long after the birth Maria began drinking heavily, and Cleveland had a judge commit her to an insane asylum and the child to an orphanage. He paid the orphanage expenses of $5 per week. When Maria was released, Cleveland had her set up in a business in Niagara Falls. Later she tried unsuccessfully to get custody of her son, and he was placed for adoption with a family. Cleveland paid her $500 and she left town. The son grew up to become a medical doctor.
The Republicans used the campaign slogan, "Ma Ma, Where's my Pa?" The controversy about public service and private morality raged across the nation. The choice was between a man of personal immorality and public service integrity (Grover Cleveland) and one of a model family man guilty of using public office for personal gain (James G. Blaine). Cleveland narrowly won. After his election the Democrats answered the Republican ditty with "Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"
    On June 2, 1886, 49-year-old President Cleveland married 21-year-old Francis Folsom. She was the daughter of his deceased law partner. Francis knew of the relationship with Maria Halpin and forgave her husband for it. The marriage resulted in five children. Once he took his wedding vow, Grover Cleveland never strayed.]

* * *

(Campaign of 1884) Mary Blaine.txt

AIR -- 'Mary Blane' (Composer White Version?) (Alt.: 'Goodbye Tipperary')

   A                  E7                   A                E
We all do know this knight so bold, who's feathered well his nest
   A               E7          A       D      E
In ev'ry scheme so wily he has done his level best
      A                                              E
For President he's running, this pride and boast of Maine
    A      E      A      D          A         E7    A
But on the next election day we'll floor poor mary Blaine

       A                                          E
Then farewell, then farewell! Farewell poor Mary Blaine!
    A       E7      A                               E7    A
For up "Salt River" you will go, and you won't come back again

A "Man of Leters" is this knight you cannot this deny
For Mulligan proclains it and he shows the reason why
With face as meek as Moses he tried hard to explain
But votes will not be caught by chaff, we'll swamp poor Mary Blaine

His 'fertile' brain is full of tricks to fill his little purse
To traffic in "Guano" this plumed knight was not averse
But 'raising crops' of voters, by this he'll try in vain
For next November at the polls, we'll shelve poor Mary Blaine

Peruse the paperw and they'll tell about his "peru" schemes
To see his artful dodges, how the Yankee Eagle screams
Corruption and deception the White House shall not stain
We want an honest man this time and not poor Mary Blaine

The Nation wants no hand unclean to guide its mghty helm
The people they have spoken and their voice shall overwhelm
By "star route" they will send you back to theState of Maine
We won't endorse the "Dorsey" kind not much poor Mary Blaine

We want a statesman that reprach could never dare assail
No jobbing politician, no plumed Knight in rusty mail
Corruption and its minions our votes defy in vain
The tial wave is sweeping on to drown poor Mary Blaine

From Maine to California a leader staunch and true
Shall rule this maighty nations old fraud, good-bye to you!
Around our standard gather, from mountain, vale and plain
The honest-hearted voters who can't go poor Mary Blaine

[Plumed Knight=James Blaine for his excellent oratory. In 1882, whilte blaine was Secretary of state, a Peruvian Company" tried to enlsit the help fo the US Government in a 500 million $ claim against Peru. It concerend the discovery of rich guano deposits years before.]

* * *

(Campaign of 1884) Where Republicans Must Go.txt

AIR -- 'In the Sweet Bye & Bye'

          D            G            D                         Bm       A7
There's a land that is hotter than this, it's a place where Republicans go
          D            G             D       Bm               A7            D
When the sins of their misdeeds are known and justice from the people shall flow

          D             A
They will fret, bye and bye,
            7                      D         
They will sweat in the torments below
            7               G
They will sweat they will fret,
          D          A7             D
And will reap of the grain that they sow

There are jobs, there are steals, there are thieves; that have gone unmolested for years
There are those who have been so unjust, as to wring from the widow her tears

Our gallant Cleveland is our great man, to whip the whole Blaine-Logan clan
He's a statesman, brave and, yes, true; he'll get the gray, and he will get the blue

Yes Cleveland is of all the best, he'll win the East, and he'll win the west
No treason stains fair Cleveland's skirt, they'll wave no more the old "bloody shirt"

[3rd verse and on is from "Good Democrats" from 'Cleveland and Hendricks Songster'. Blaine & Logan were the Republican nominees]

* * *

(Campaign of 1888) Free Trade is a hard road to travel.txt

AIR -- 'Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel'

    E            B7          E            B7
I looked to the East, and I looked to the West
       E       F#7       B
And I saw Ben Harrison a-comin'
         E         B7       A            E
With a terrible majority a marchin' on before
    F#m          B7             E
A-shoutin and a-singin' and a-drummin'

       E                         A             E
Then strip off your coats boys, roll up your sleeves,
                              B7
Free trade is a hard road to travel
       E             7             A             E°    (E°:012020)
Then strip off your coats, boys, roll up your sleeves,
B7                           E   B7    E
Free trade is a hard road to travel I believe

Rouse the good old tune, we'll sing a campaign song
Sing it with that spirit we'll remember
The brave old party stands ten million voters strong
Ready for the march in November

John Bull trying again to force down our working men
To ruin us by impudent free-traders
But Irish voters won't be fooled, they've been too well-schooled,
To aid these English sly invaders

Then freemen hear your call, guard your Country's tariff wall
Come forth from each single direction
The democrats, to foreigners, our ports would open wide
That gives us all our protection

Fellow workers, would your know, why some men would strke a blow
That would stagger all our industries at home?
They may not tell you so, but tis British dont you know
This doctrine of tree-trade that's preached by some

Free-Traders now look blue, they know we will sail through
And soon all this nonsense will be over
For a brave and noble band, defends this native land,
They know there's no chance at all for Grover

[Adapted (2005) from several songs in the campaign. First verse and chorus are original. Additional verses have been modified to fit in the named tune. President Cleavland sought to lower tariffs after the federal budget had a great surplus. Freetrade was associated strongly with the British policy and republicans, in the influence of domestic manufacturing, sought to sway Irish voters, usually democrat, in their favor.]

* * *

(Campaign of 1888) Grover's Veto.txt

AIR -- 'Tit Willow'; or 'On a tree by a river' (A. Sullivan)

      G            7          C          G
Oh a fat man once sat in the President's chair,
               D7    G
Singing veto, veto veto!
          G          7          C          G
And his face was unwrinkled by sorrow or care
         D    A7      D
Singing veto, veto, veto!

          Dm            E7          Am
"I've no use for these pensioners Daniel", said he
E7       Dm             E7             Am
"For nine-tenth of their claims are all fiddle-de-dee
      F          C          C#°          D
And this is the way I will fix them you see
       G    D7   G
With a veto, veto veto"

Se he sat in his chair as the pension bills came,
Writing veto, veto, veto
Regardless of merit, 'twas always the same,
It was veto, veto veto
For said he, "Had they followed my excellent plan
And paid a small sum for a substitute man
These bills would have never come under the ban
of my veto, veto veto"

But about next November the people will come
With a veto, vote-o, vote-o!
And say "Sheriff Grover, you'd better go hom
With your veto, veto, veto
For the sons of the thousands who suffered and died
Will remember the trick and take a just pride
In sticking right thro' your rhinoceros hide
A veto, veto veto"



[Daniel Manning, secretary of the treasure until 1887, opposed pension legislation on behalf of Union Veterans. Grover Clevland was once Sheriff of Buffalo, NY.]

* * *

(Campaign of 1888) His Grandfather's Hat.txt

AIR -- 'Grandfather's Clock'

      A          E7          A            D
His grandfathers hat is too big for his head,
    A          E7          A
But Ben tries it on just the same
                  E7             A             D
It fits him too quick which has oft times been said
       A            E7          A
With regard to his grandfather's fame
                               D
It was bought long ago, and it made a pretty show
                   B7         E7
In that jolly 'hard cider campaign'
       A    E7         F#7   Bm      A         E7         A
But it don't fit even a little bit on Benjamin Harrison's brain




[Benjamin's Harrison's grandfather, 'Tippecanoe' won the presidency in 1840 as whig.]

* * *

      C      C°         C                F                  C
Come rally 'round the good old flag, and give them loud 'huzzas'!
          C°       C            G       D7    G
Let every man do what he can to help our noble cause
      G7                C             F             C
For Cleveland and for Stevenson we'll battle ev'ry storm
      F             C                F G7    C
And pass the cry along the line for Revenue Reform

C    F    C          F                C
Shout Boys Shout! Our cause is bound to win
       F                      C                  G       D7       G
We'll vote for "Cleve" and stick to "Steve" and see that they get in
Shout Boys Shout! Our cause is bound to win
       F                      C                  F       G7       C
We'll vote for "Cleve" and stick to "Steve" and see that they get in

For honest Government we'll fight for all that's true and fair
And Granpa's hat will get mashed flat, when Grover takes his chair
He ran this grand old Country once, as president did reign
As Democrats let's put him back to run it once again

Let Democrats thoughout the land, for gallant Cleveland shout
From ev'ry throat and cast his vote and man to man, turn out
Let's win our cause, the world's applause and do all that we can
Work day and night with all our might, for Cleveland is the man


[To the Democracy of the United States. Cleveland is Our Man (1 Sep. 1884) Words and Music by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907 Cincinnati, OH Geo. D. Newhall Co., 50 West Fourth Street. Henricks, original vice-president to Cleveland, died in office in 1885 during his first term. Adlai Stephenson I was chosen to replace him, as a concession to the free-silver campaign]

* *

(Campaign of 1892) Kansas Fool.txt

AIR -- 'Beulah Land'

    E
We have the land to raise the wheat
    B7               
And ev'rything that's good to eat.
    E          B7 C#m
And when we had no bonds or debts,
    A       B7         E
We were a jolly, happy set.

    B7               E
Oh Kansas fool, poor Kansas fool!
7   A             B7      E
The banker makes of you a tool.
    A          C#7 F#m   
I look across the fertile plain,
B7 E                        7
Big crops made so by gentle rain
      A                7   E
But twelve-cent corn gives me alarm,
    A             B7         E
And makes me want to sell my farm.

With abundant crops raised everywhere
'Tis a mystery, I do declare.
Why farmers all should fume and fret
And why we are so deep in debt.

At first we made some money here
With drouth and grasshoppers each year
But now the interest that we pay
Soon takes our money all away.

The bankers followed us out west
And did in mortgages invest
And looked ahead and shrewdly planned
And soon they'll have our Kansas land.

[From 'The Alliance and Labor Songster'. The Populist party of Weaver ran a strong campaign in 1892 taking Kansas and a few other western states.]

* * *

(Campaign of 1892) My Party Led me.txt

AIR -- 'All the Way My Savior Leads Me'

         A                               E7            A
All the way my party led me. And they robbed me ev'ry day.
       D             E             B7            E
But I did not see my folly Till my home was took away.
          A                                                 E
Mortgaged farmers, wives and children, Rally to the Alliance call,
            A                D             A             E   A
|: For, if you should longer tarry, Money kings will have it all. :|

All the way my party led me, and these wrongs I helped to make,
For the Democrats I hated, when the bloody shirt they'd shake;
Oh, how true did Abe, the prophet, tell us of this troubled day!
How the money kings would rob us, take our liberties away.

All the way my party led me, I was blind and could not see,
When I halloed and I shouted over party victory.
In our victory was defeat, as we now can plainly see,
For we're on the road to slavery, and must fight if we'd be free.

All the way my party led me, led me to the fix I'm in;
But I will not longer heed them, a new life I'll now begin.
Oh yes, farmers, day is breaking, scales now from our eyes do fall,
For we see the great injustice that's been done to one and all.

[Source: Irwin Silber, Songs America Voted By (Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1988) by S. T. Johnson. This song probably used to great effect in successful congressional campaigns by Progressives in the 1890 election]


* * *


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