FOLK SINGER'S BLUES
by Shel Silverstein
Well, I'd like to sing a song about the chain gang,
Whack!
And swingin' twelve-pound hammers all the day,
Whack!
And how I'd like to kill my captain,
Whack!
And how a black man works his life away.
But -- what do you do, if you're young and white and Jewish,
And you've never swung a hammer against the spike,
And you've never called a "Water Boy," [IMITATES HOLLER]
Early in the morning,
And your only chain is the chain that's on your bike,
oh, your only chain is the chain that's on your bike?
Well, now -- I'd like to go walkin' up the highway,
Feelin' cold and wet and hungry all night long.
Doin' some hard ramblin', and hard gamblin',
And hard smamblin', and hard blamblin',
But always takin' time to write a song.
But -- what do you do, if you're young and white and Jewish,
And you've never heard an old freight whistle blow,
And you've never slept a night in a cold an empty boxcar,
And you take the subway everywhere you go, oh, oh,
You take the subway everywhere you go?
Now, I'd like to sing a song about the coal mine,
A-chippin' away in tunnel 22.
And when I hear that timber crack,
Why, I support it with my back,
Until my comrades all crawl safely through.
But -- what do you do, if you're young and white and Jewish,
And you've got to be in class at half past nine,
And in spite of all your urgin',
An' your pleadin', an' your cryin',
Your mother says it's too dirty down in the mine,
That's what she says,
Your mother says it's too dirty down in the mine.
Well, now -- I'd like to sing about the Mississippi,
Workin' on the levee all the day.
And when them cotton balls get rotten,
You got a lot of rotten cotton,
And on Saturday, you go and spend your pay.
But -- what do you do, if you're young and white and Jewish,
And you've never loaded cotton on the dock,
And you've never worked a day,
And never drunk up all your pay,
And the only levee you know is the Levi who lived on the block,
Oh yes,
The only levee you know is the Levi who lived on the block?
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