Songs for/about Woody Guthrie

Subject: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 11:47 AM

There is a great thread on Mudcat - "Songs for/about Phil Ochs". I think we should have a similar thread for Woody too. There are a lot of Woody Guthrie tribute songs written by great songwriters. A few I can think of right now:

Bob Dylan - Song to Woody
Bob Dylan - Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie (poem)
Phil Ochs - Bound for Glory
Tom Paxton - They Couldn't Take the Music
Guy Clark - Walkin' Man

Subject: Lyr ADD: Song to Woody (Bob Dylan)
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 11:51 AM

SONG TO WOODY
(Bob Dylan)

I'm out here a thousand miles from my home,
Walkin' a road other men gone down,
Seein' your world of places and things,
Your paupers and peasants and princes and kings.

Hey, hey, Woody, I wrote you a song
'Bout a funny ol' world that's comin' along,
Sick an' it's hungry, it's tired an' it's torn,
It looks like it's a-dyin' an' never been born.

Hey, hey, Woody Guthrie, but I know that you know
All the things I'm a-sayin' an' a-many a times more.
I'm a-singin' you this song, but I can't sing enough,
'Cause there's not many men who done the things that you done.

Here's to Cisco an' Sonny an' Leadbelly too,
An' to all good people that traveled with you.
Here's to the hearts and the hands of the men
That come with the dust and are gone with the wind.

I'm leavin' tomorrow, but I could leave today,
Somewhere down the road someday.
The very last thing that I'd want to do
Is to say I been hittin' some hard travelin' too.

Subject: Lyr ADD: Bound for Glory (Phil Ochs)
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 11:57 AM

BOUND FOR GLORY
(Phil Ochs)

He walked all over his own growin' land
From the New York island to the California sands.
He saw all the people that needed to be seen,
Planted all the grass where there needed to be green.

And now he's bound for a glory all his own,
And now he's bound for glory.

He wrote and he sang and he rode upon the rails,
And he got on board when the sailors had to sail.
He said all the words that needed to be said,
Fed all the hungry souls that needed to be fed.

And now he's bound for a glory all his own,
And now he's bound for glory.

He sang in our streets and he sang in our halls,
And he was always there when the unions gave a call.
He did all the jobs that needed to be done,
And he always stood his ground when smaller men would run.

And now he's bound for a glory all his own,
And now he's bound for glory.

And it's Pastures of Plenty wrote the Dust Bowl Balladeer,
And This is Your Land, he wanted us to hear.
The rising of the unions will be sung again,
And the Deportees live on through the power of his pen.

And now he's bound for a glory all his own,
And now he's bound for glory.

Now they sing out his praises on every distant shore,
But so few remember what he was fightin' for.
Oh why sing the songs and forget about the aim,
He wrote them for a reason, why not sing them for the same?

And now he's bound for a glory all his own,
And now he's bound for glory.

From http://www.woodyguthrie.de/bound.html

Subject: Lyd Add: THEY COULDN'T TAKE THE MUSIC (Tom Paxton)
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:05 PM

THEY COULDN'T TAKE THE MUSIC
(Tom Paxton)

I never really knew you - I was a couple of years too young.
By the time I came of age, the song of your life was sung
From the hills of Oklahoma to the North Atlantic seas,
From the cries of the hungry children to the eyes of the Deportees.

They could take away your money, they could take away your land,
Drive you out on the endless highway, leave you out on the desert sand.
They could take the food from your hungry mouth and lock you in the hole,
But they couldn't take the music from your soul.
No, they couldn't take the music from your soul.

Just another scruffy Okie an' just a Dust Bowl refugee
Headin' on out to California, a little bit low on the Do Re Mi.
And everywhere you wandered, you saw poor folks treated wrong,
And you made those poor folks your whole life and made your life a song.

They could take away your money, they could take away your land,
Drive you out on the endless highway, leave you out on the desert sand.
They could take the food from your hungry mouth and lock you in the hole,
But they couldn't take the music from your soul.
No, they couldn't take the music from your soul.

Oh, they called you a dangerous radical, they called you a rabid red,
But it never really mattered all the stupid things they said.
All those lies and all those liars are all over the hill and gone,
While your songs are still here singin' and still rollin' the union on.

They could take away your money, they could take away your land,
Drive you out on the endless highway, leave you out on the desert sand.
They could take the food from your hungry mouth and lock you in the hole,
But they couldn't take the music from your soul, Woody Guthrie.
No, they couldn't take the music from your soul.
And this land was made for you and me.

http://ddpro.ucoz.com/tpchords/tcttm.htm

Subject: Lyr ADD: Walkin' Man (Guy Clark)
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:22 PM

WALKIN' MAN
(Guy Clark)

Now what's up with the walkin' man?
I wonder where he's gone.
Marchin' down to Birmingham,
I think I'll tag along.

Was a walkin' man come by here
A hundred years ago,
Walkin' down the trail of tears
Out to Oklahoma, oh,
Out to Oklahome.

Hand me down my walkin' shoes,
Hand me down my cane,
Make me up some talkin' blues,
I'll be on my way, hey,
Sure does smell like rain.

Woody Guthrie was a walkin' man
In the Dust Bowl days.
Had a 6-string guitar in his hands,
He killed a fascist every day.

Chuck Berry was a walkin' man,
So was Ghandi too.
I'm gonna lace me up my old Brogans,
That's just what I'll do -
I've got walkin' left to do.

Hand me down my walkin' shoes,
Hand me down my cane,
Tune me up my mandolin,
I'll be on my way, hey.

If I had shoes like a walkin' man,
Tell you what I'd do:
I'd walk away and not come back
Till I got to Kathmandu-da, doo-da,
All the doo-dah-day.

Before he wrote "Heroes" and "El Coyote", Guy once said that this was the "most political thing" he'd ever written.

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:25 PM

I think the best tribute anyone can pay to Woody is to sing Woody's songs. One of my favourite "Various Artists" albums is called "Woody Lives!" consisting entirely of Woody songs done really well and affectionately. Not saying I don't like the above songs but they don't really do it for me.

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:31 PM

Yes, I agree that the best way of paying tribute to someone is always singing his/her songs. I think all of the above singers have done so, too.

Personally I like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Tribute-Woody-Guthrie-Various-Artists/dp/B000002LJG

Jason

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: GUEST, DTM
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:32 PM

Christmas In Washington -Steve Earle

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:34 PM

We included Doug Mishkin's song called Woody's Children in the Rise Again Songbook, along with about eleventy-seven songs paying tribute to Pete Seeger. Can't really say I like tribute songs all that much - but the boss did.

-Joe-

Subject: Lyr ADD: Christmas in Washington (Steve Earle)
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:46 PM

CHRISTMAS IN WASHINGTON
(Steve Earle)

It's Christmas time in Washington, Democrats rehearsed.
Gettin' into gear for four more years, things not gettin' worse.
Republicans drink whiskey neat and thank their lucky stars,
They say, "He cannot seek another term, they'll be no more FDRs."
I sit home in Tennessee, just starin' at the screen
With an uneasy feeling in my chest, and I'm wonderin' what it means.

So come back, Woody Guthrie, come back to us now,
Tear your eyes from paradise and rise again somehow.
If you run into Jesus, maybe he can help us out.
Come back, Woody Guthrie, to us now.

I followed in your footsteps once back in my travelin' days.
Somewhere I failed to find your trail, now I'm stumblin' through the haze.
But there's killers on the highway now, and a man can't get around,
So I sold my soul for wheels that roll; now I'm stuck here in this town.

Come back, Woody Guthrie, come back to us now,
Tear your eyes from paradise and rise again somehow.
If you run into Jesus, maybe he can help us out.
Come back, Woody Guthrie, to us now.

There's foxes in the hen house, cows out in the corn.
The unions have been busted, their proud red banners torn.
To listen to the radio, you'd think that all was well,
But you and me and Cisco know it's goin' straight to hell.

So come back, Emma Goldman, rise up, old Joe Hill.
The barracades are goin' up; they cannot break our will.
Come back to us, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King -
We're marchin' into Selma as the bells of freedom ring.

So come back, Woody Guthrie, come back to us now.
Tear your eyes from paradise, and rise again somehow.


Somehow relevant for this past Christmas... Hmm...

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:48 PM

I like Doug's song. It's been in my iTunes for some time now. I'll post the lyrics later.

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 01:29 PM

Andy Irvine -
https://andyirvinelyrics.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/never-tire-of-the-road/

NEVER TIRE OF THE ROAD

was just a small-town country boy when I left that dusty town
Route 66 to the westward and hopped an old freight down
California, here I come
By the side-door Pullman and the sunburnt thumb
And they called us Okies, lowdown bums
And the police on us frowned

(Chorus)
Never tire of the road
Never tire of the rolling wheel
Never tire of the ways of the world
Way out yonder is a-calling me
And the dark road leads me onwards
And the highway that's my code
And the lonesome voice that I heard in my head said
Never tire of the road

California to the New York Island, me and my guitar
And we played in many a hobo jungle, many a skid-row bar
Standing out in the wind and the rain
That lonesome whistle is a sweet refrain
When you are waiting for some old freight train
That carries an empty car

Shipped on board a Liberty ship to sail the ocean blue
We were carrying guns, TNT, D-Day soldiers too
All of the men on board agreed
With Cisco, Jimmy Longhi and me
And our song rang out across the sea
You fascists bound to lose

All of you fascists bound to lose
All of you fascists bound to lose
I said, all you fascists bound to lose
You're bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose

Don't let them ever fool you or take you by surprise
That dirty smell of the politician and the man with the greed in his eyes
One big union that's our plan
And the IWW's your only man
The flames of discontent we'll fan
For the cause that never dies

Alternative Last Verse:

Don't let them ever fool you or take you by surprise
That dirty smell of the politician and the man with the greed in his eyes
Woody might be dead & gone
But the words he wrote they still live on
May his spirit ever shine upon
The cause that never dies

    By Andy Irvine

    "Never Tire of the Road", Irvine's tribute to his lifelong hero, Woody Guthrie. In this updated version, Irvine included the chorus from a song Guthrie recorded in March 1944: "You Fascists Are Bound to Lose".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRg6X1sHBt4

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 07:22 PM

As far as I am concerned, the most honest one is by Tom Russell: 'Woodrow'.

lyrics and chords.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Songs for/about Woody Guthrie
From: GUEST,Guest TC
Date: 11 Jan 17 - 05:43 AM

How about this - "What Would Woody Do" (Dana & Susan Robinson)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5WyhCzoiyU