Subject: Lyr Add: YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE AFTER DARK From: Jim Dixon Date: 15 May 15 - 03:30 PM There are other threads about songs of the civil rights movement as such. In this thread, I hope to collect songs that treat the problem on a more personal, less political level. You can hear this song at YouTube. YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE AFTER DARK Maceo Pinkard As sung by Alberta Hunter on "Alberta Hunter Vol. 4 (1927-c.1946)" - Document Records. Look what the sun has done to me It seems there's no more fun due me. Why must all the boys act so shy? I have guessed the reason why. I may be as brown as a berry, But that's only secondary, And you can't tell the difference after dark. I may not be so appealin', But I've got that certain feelin', And you can't tell the difference after dark. They say that gentlemen prefer the blonde-haired ladies. Tell me: am I out of style just because I'm slightly shady? Wait until I've won ya, And my love drops down upon ya. You can't tell the difference after dark. * There are more recent recordings by— Sure Thing on "Uptown & Down Home" (2006) Joyce Cobb on "Beale Street Saturday Night" (2013) Nina Van Horn on "Hell of a Woman" (2009) Topsy Chapman and Magnolia Jazzband on "Fine and Mellow" (2000) |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Jim Dixon Date: 15 May 15 - 03:39 PM Also: LITTLE BLACK ME written by Thurland Chattaway (1899) JUST BECAUSE MY FACE AIN'T WHITE written by Thurland Chattaway (1901) |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: wysiwyg Date: 15 May 15 - 06:41 PM Great project Jim! ~Susan |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Jack Campin Date: 15 May 15 - 07:25 PM Eric Bogle's "I HATE WOGS". |
Subject: LYR ADD - Pat Drummond - Who is that refugee? From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 15 May 15 - 09:48 PM Pat drummond - Who is that refugee? Pat singing 'Who is that refugee?' Matthew, 1 - 28 The angel came to Joseph late one night And said, "You must be gone Gather up your wife and infant son for you must leave this place Herod seeks you, death awaits Through Israel's dark and bloodstained gates to Egypt you must flee!" Jesus was a child when he became a refugee Chorus: At the mercy of the stranger Seeking shelter from 'The Fates' From certain death and danger To where uncertainty awaits Speak to me my country Tell me what you see Underneath the razor wire In those same dark frightened eyes Tell me if you recognize Who is that refugee? The Bible tells us Herod slew each child below the age of two years old to save his dynasty Political expediency really isn't something new Politicians always do what their ambitions tell them to and truth is sacrificed but shame is all a nation buys when children pay the price Chorus: They did not speak the language but they prayed God would provide through the kindness of the stranger and there they stayed till the day that Herod died And if they'd sold all they that owned to pay for their escape... look at your children, and if you love them tell me then which of you would even hesitate? Hundreds of children, heaven sent have been living in imprisonment for years; for the crime of being poor fleeing famine, poverty and war I hear you say to me "They're not our responsibility They came unasked across the sea" Yes... and so did we. And if we lived back in Egypt when that family fled from Herod's men would we have imprisoned them among the refugees? Chorus "What you do to these, the least of them you surely do to me." Underneath the razor wire In those same dark frightened eyes Tell me if you recognize Who is that refugee? |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 15 May 15 - 10:25 PM In Australia in 1967 90% of the population voted in the referendum in favour of deleting sections of the Constitution discriminating against Aborigines. Singer/songwriter Phyl Vinnocombe (later Lobl) released an EP, Dark eyed daughter the following year for the Aboriginal Advancement League of Victoria. All proceeds went to the League. MP3s are available at the link ============= My first recorded song, almost my first song, was sparked by media coverage of the student bus ride led by Charles Perkins Aboriginal activist and University students in 1965. An old traditional rhyme gave a frame for the song. 'Mother may I go out to swim?' 'Yes my darling daughter. Hang your clothes on a Hickory limb, But don't go near the water.' The last verse of the song was born not from a belief, but from realisation and dismay that many of those who did profess to believe could also hold racist views. DARK-EYED DAUGHTER, Words & Music: Phyl Lobl Mother may I go out to swim? Yes my dark-eyed daughter, Mother I would go out to swim but at the pool I can't get in, Because of the colour of my skin because I'm your dark-eyed daughter. Mother may I go to the show? Yes my dark-eyed daughter. Mother tell me do you know which side of the theatre I should go? Go where the colour of your skin won't show my darling dark-eyed daughter. Mother will I go to school? Yes my dark-eyed daughter. Mother when I go to school will the children treat me cruel? Children follow their parents' rule my darling dark-eyed daughter. Mother when will all this end? I don't know my daughter. Maybe it will end the day when heaven and earth will pass away And we will hear a great voice say you're welcome here …… my daughter. =========================== The song tells of an incident in November 1963 when police made a surprise arrest of 10 aboriginal leaders from Old Mapoon Queensland. The leaders were transferred to a settlement 90 miles from their home. The official explanation was that the leaders were having undue influence on the rest of the community. A typical reaction to Aboriginal claims to ownership of traditional land and freedom of settlement. WHOSE HAND Words: Hills, Tune: Kitamura It was late one Friday afternoon. Whose hand? The prison boat came silently down stood a little out of town Its purpose they would learn too soon. They came upon them after dark. Whose hand? 'Pack your bags' the order ran 'We'll take your leaders child and man.' And not a dog had time to bark. Two policemen lay at head and toe. Whose hand? The reason why no one could tell before the dawn they knew quite well. And women and children were next to go. Their house burned or taken down. Whose hand? To the Government dip like a cattle herd, songs and tears within them stirred With one last look at their former home. They protest with fear and woe. Whose hand? Have we no rights no race no land we are people you understand. Have we no say in where we go? Whose hand? Whose hand? =================== Renowned aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal went by the name of Kath Walker in the sixties when she demonstrated wry Aboriginal humour at modern displacement of traditional customs. NO MORE BOOMERANG Words: Walker (Noonuccal) Tune: Lobl No more boomerang no more spear, Now all civilised colour bar and beer, No more corroboree gay dance and din, Now we got movies and pay to go in. No more sharing what the hunter brings, Now we work for money and pay it back for things, Now we track bosses to catch a few bob, Now we go walkabout on bus to the job. One time naked who never knew shame, Now we put clothes on to hide whatsaname. No more gunyah now bungalow, Paid by hire purchase in twenty years or so. Lay down the stone axe take up the steel, Work like a nigger for a white man's meal, No more firestick that made whites scoff, Now all electric and no better off. Bunyip he finish got now instead, White-fella bunyip call him red. Abstract pictures now, what they comin' at Cripes in our caves we did better than that. Black hunted wallaby, white hunt dollar. White-fella witch-doctor wear dog collar. No more message lubras and lads, Got television now, mostly ads, Lay down the woomera, lay down the waddy, Now we got atom bomb. End everybody. List of English words from many Australian Aboriginal languages ====================== Efforts of Aboriginal groups for self determination prompted the writing of this song. WILL YOU FIGHT WILL YOU DARE? Words & Music: Phyl Lobl The dreamtime folk are stirring now and they have laid a claim To a part of the land their fathers' roamed that carries their tribal name. Where Vestey's cattle brands are scored, where stockmen's whips are cracked, The dreamtime folk are holding out and there'll be no going back. Chorus Will you fight will you dare? Will you give will you care? Will you help to mend wrong? Will you stand up now the for the dreamtime folk By joining their freedom song? Where the muddy Murray waters pour, red tomatoes rule the weed, And the dreamtime folk who planted them can see where their road could lead. They could leave behind the pickers' huts, they could leave the fringe of the town. They could take their place in this lucky land, if we let them then they can. Do they have to reach some famous height before you'll let them grow? Would you shelter first the tall gum tree or the spring flowers from the snow? The plant is young but the plant will know and its fruit will sweeten the tongue Of the dreamtime folk whose bitter bread has choked their freedom song. ====================== |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: GUEST,Dave Date: 16 May 15 - 10:48 AM THE WHITE BUCK OF EPPING by Sydney Carter. |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: GUEST,Joseph Scott Date: 16 May 15 - 01:39 PM "Ofay And Oxford Grey" by Louis Jordan, currently on youtube. |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: wysiwyg Date: 16 May 15 - 02:45 PM Shawn Mullins' Ballad of Kathryn Johnston. I'm not sure if I already posted lyrics (to which I added), but here's the YT video-- I'll check later when I get back to desktop: https://youtu.be/dK9hJUYfIxk ~S~ |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: The Sandman Date: 17 May 15 - 04:06 AM strange fruit Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant south, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, Then the sudden smell of burning flesh. Here is fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop. |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: GUEST,ifor Date: 17 May 15 - 10:45 AM Nasra Nasra lived with her family In a two roomed apartment She goes to St Mary's on the far side of town She'd hurry to school To the sound of bells ringing Last friday five men came And broke her door down When she came to this country She was constantly crying But i last saw her smiling As she played in the park Now she is a number Locked up in detention She'll be flown out of London Like some thief in the dark. CHORUS They took you without warning In the dark hours of the morning What they did was so shameful They could not pretend But we will not hurt you And we won't desrt you Though they call you illegal You're our refugee friend . In school we were told In our morning assembly How Mary took Jesus And to Egypt did flee Nasra listened in silence Remembered the violence And whispered a prayer For all refugees If i had the power I would open the border Grant refuge to those Who needed to stay And school bells would ring Break through the silence And sing out a welcome At the start of each day. repeat chorus twice song by Huw Pudner and Chris Hastings South Wales |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Jack Campin Date: 17 May 15 - 12:46 PM Leon Rosselson, "The Ballad of Rivka and Mohammed": http://www.leonrosselson.co.uk/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSCsEOk_DO4 |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BALLAD OF JIMMY WILSON (Ewan MacColl) From: Jim Carroll Date: 17 May 15 - 01:12 PM BALLAD OF JIMMY WILSON Written by Ewan MacColl in the 1950s, based on an actual event in the U.S. 1. In Alabama, nineteen fifty-eight. The cost of human life is very low A man that's black is trampled down, Just like men were a thousand years ago.
CHORUS: These are more enlightened days, |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Jack Campin Date: 17 May 15 - 01:19 PM I didn't know about that case. He stayed in prison for 16 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wilson_%28laborer%29 |
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BALLAD OF KATHRYN JOHNSTON (Mullins) From: wysiwyg Date: 17 May 15 - 02:33 PM Video: https://youtu.be/dK9hJUYfIxk THE BALLAD OF KATHRYN JOHNSTON By Shawn Eric Mullins and Matthew Kahler Old Miss Johnston lived all alone On the sorry side of town Broke down cars and burglar bars On the windows and doors In case danger comes around Sittin' in her yellow kitchen Listenin' to bad news on a Radiant radio It used to be Louis Armstrong Then Martin Luther King Where did everybody go? Out the window where her garden was It's not safe to go outside Old Miss Johnston in the eye of the storm It was the safest place to hide And life's a gamble for the broken and the weak Dealin' with the bangers and the drugs The winos weave and amble And shuffle on down the street Steerin' clear of all the thugs And now my city hangs her head in shame You can't tell the truth from all the lies Everything changed forever and everything stayed the same On the night Miss Johnston died SH |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: GUEST,Lew Becker Date: 17 May 15 - 04:45 PM Here I am from Donegal I feel quite discontented To see the way that we're run down Not highly represented For it seems it is a general rule To make out Pat a knave or fool But never mind he'll play it cool And stand up for old Ireland Refrain: Do me justice, treat me fair And I won't be discontented And I won't be laughed at anywhere But highly represented Now Mr. Punch with his literature He treats us very badly And when he draws our caricature He depicts us rather sadly With crooked limbs and villainous face He thus depicts the Irish race We think it is a sad disgrace And we say so in old Ireland When on the stage I do appear With a thundering big shillelagh In a ragged coat and a tattered hat You think I come out gaily With not a word of common sense They don't know when they give offense But carry on at Pat's expense Why don't they come to Ireland They say we are dirty and lazy got But where's the use to grumble And if they visit an Irish cot They're made welcome though tis humble But in public works the country round Or where hard work it is to be found In the railway tunnels underground You'll find the boys from Ireland Tis very true I like a glass It makes me feel quite frisky I am very fond of an Irish lass But I'm partial to the whiskey I am very quiet when left alone But I do what I want with what's my own And woe be to the foes of home Who would dare run down old Ireland |
Subject: Lyr Add: BLACK AND BLUE (Waller/Brooks/Razaf) From: GUEST,Fred McCormick Date: 18 May 15 - 06:41 AM I'm surprised no-one has yet mentioned the Fats Waller/Harry Brooks/Andy Razaf composition, Black and Blue. Here it is with a couple of verses you don't hear that often. Out in the street, shufflin' feet Couples passin' two by two While here am I, left high and dry Black, and 'cause I'm black I'm blue Browns and yellers, all have fellers Gentlemen prefer them light Wish I could fade, can't make the grade Nothing but dark days in sight Cold, empty bed, springs hard as lead Pains in my head, feel like old Ned What did I do to be so black and blue? No joys for me, no company Even the mouse ran from my house All my life through I've been so black and blue I'm white inside, it don't help my case 'Cause I can't hide, what is on my face, oh! I'm so forlorn, life's just a thorn My heart is torn, why was I born? What did I do to be so black and blue? 'Cause you're black, folks think you lack They laugh at you, and scorn you too What did I do to be so black and blue? When you are near, they laugh and sneer Set you aside and you're denied What did I do to be so black and blue? How sad I am, each day I feel worse My mark of Ham seems to be a curse, oh How will it end? ain't got a friend My only sin is my skin What did I do to be so black and blue? |
Subject: Lyr Add: ANGER IN THE LAND (Don West) From: GUEST,Fred McCormick Date: 18 May 15 - 06:51 AM I'd just pressed send button when I remembered Anger in the Land, by Don West. As an anti-racist elegy, I think it deserves a place along Strange Fruit. O, there's grieving in the plum-grove And there's weeping in the weeds, There is sorrow in the shanty Where a broken body bleeds. For there's been another lynching And another grain of sand Swells the mountain of resentment— O, there's anger in the land! And a woman broods in silence Close beside an open door Flung across the flimsy door-step Lies a corpse upon the floor! You'll not ask me why I'm silent; Thus the woman spoke to me. Her two eyes blazed hot with anger And her throat throbbed agony. Let the wind go crying yonder In the tree-tops by the spring, Let its voice be soft and feeling Like it was a living thing. Once my heart could cry in sorrow Now it lies there in the floor In the ashes by the hearth-stone— They can't hurt it anymore! Did you ever see a lynching, Ever see a frenzied mob Mill around a swaying body When it's done the hellish job? O, there's grieving in the plum-grove And there's sobbing in the sands, There is sorrow in the shanties— And there's anger in the land! |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Greg F. Date: 18 May 15 - 08:33 AM Ochs - Links On The Chain |
Subject: Add: Racism is a Hump From: wysiwyg Date: 19 May 15 - 05:13 PM At an anti-racism workshop: Ray-cizz-um is a Hump, a Humpty Dumpty Dump! Ray-cizz-um is a Hump, a Humpty Dumpty Dump! Racism sat on the wall, Racism had a great fall-- A Hump, a Humpty Dumpty Dump! Succeeding verses: Classism Sexism Ageism Able bodied ism Homophobia All isms ~S~ |
Subject: ADD: We were there when they crucified our Lord From: wysiwyg Date: 29 Jun 15 - 02:28 PM WE WERE THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED OUR LORD We were there when they crucified our Lord. We were there when they crucified our Lord. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. We were there when they ran His playmates down. We were there when they ran His playmates down. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. We were there when they killed them in the church. We were there when they killed them in the church. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. We were there when they killed Him in the street. We were there when they killed Him in the street. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. We were there when they hung Her from a tree. We were there when they hung Her from a tree. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. We were there but we looked the other way. We were there but we looked the other way. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. We were there but we never said a word. We were there but we never said a word. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. We were there when we crucified our Lord. We were there when we crucified our Lord. Oh, oh oh oh… sometimes…. it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We were there-- and we crucified our Lord. Many thousand gone. Many thousand gone. Many thousand gone. SH |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: wysiwyg Date: 29 Jun 15 - 03:11 PM Alternative titling/phrasing: Where are you when they crucify our Lord? ~S~ |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Andrez Date: 29 Jun 15 - 06:12 PM The tragedy of all the above is that we still haven't learnt and sadly racism is alive and well today everywhere and its not just happening between polar opposites in colour. You only have to read a newspaper or two to see its also happening with white on white, black on black, brown on brown, yellow on yellow and so it goes all that pain and suffering for what? Exactly f*** all and more power and control for a so called 'privileged' few. Andrez |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: GUEST Date: 29 Jun 15 - 07:50 PM Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. This is an old vacation Bible school song. Detail.CFM?messages__Message_ID=2132523 Kent Davis |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: Kent Davis Date: 29 Jun 15 - 07:53 PM Above post is me, apparently not signed in. Sorry. Kent Davis |
Subject: RE: Anti-racism, anti-prejudice songs From: wysiwyg Date: 13 Oct 15 - 06:11 AM Negro Songs of Protest: Lawrence Gellert ~S~ |
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