Hard Traveling 2003 (Stephen Suffet)

Subject: Hard Traveling 2003
From: Suffet
Date: 20 Aug 03 - 06:11 PM

Greetings:

I know I'm going to once again raise the hackles of the "don't mess with the classics" crowd, but I figure it this way: either we turn our great songs of struggle into historic artifacts to be consigned to some imaginary museum, or we use them as originally intended, as tools and weapons in on-going battles for human decency. I prefer to do the latter.

--- Steve

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HARD TRAVELING 2003

Based on Hard Traveling
Original words & music by Woody Guthrie
© 1959 TRO-Ludlow Music

New words by Stephen L. Suffet © 2003

Use first stanza as chorus ad lib.


I've been doing some hard traveling,
I thought you knowed,
I've been doing some hard traveling,
Way down the road,
Just like back in Woody's day,
Work real hard, ain't got much pay,
And I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

I've been working in an office pool,
I thought you knowed,
Working like a God damned fool,
Way down the road,
The boss he says, "Your job's white collar,"
Then he pays me bottom dollar,
I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

I've been driving an eighteen wheeler,
I thought you knowed,
I've been hauling a semi-trailer,
Way down the road,
All my benefits now are void,
Because they say I'm self-employed,
And I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

I've been flipping stacks of burgers,
I thought you knowed,
Along with other fast food workers,
Way down the road,
Some even got a college degree,
Or maybe a master's, just like me,
Oh, I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

I've been working in an all-night grocery,
I thought you knowed,
Waiting for that night time robbery,
Way down the road,
I risk my life in a plastic cage,
Just to make the minimum wage,
And I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

Oh, I've been hitting some hard harvesting,
I thought you knowed,
From North Dakota to Kansas City,
Way down the road,
It might sound weird, it might sound strange,
But some things they just never change,
So I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

I've been patrolling the streets of Baghdad,
I thought you knowed,
Got my gun and army knapsack,
Way down the road,
We're sitting ducks, we're all alone,
You bet your ass we'd rather be home,
Oh, I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

And I've been laying in a hard rock jail cell,
I thought you knowed,
Thank you, Governor Rockefeller,
Way down the road,
When you got no job, you got no hope,
It's fifteen years for a gram of dope,
And I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

I've been hitching my country's highways,
I thought you knowed,
From Interstates to rural byways,
Way down the road,
I ain't got a nickel, I ain't got a dime,
But I know this land is yours and mine,
And I've been doing some hard traveling, Lord!

Subject: RE: Hard Traveling 2003
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 01:46 AM

No, Steve, it's not right for you to change those lyrics. Now, if you can hide your lyrics for 5 years and THEN let somebody discover them, it'll be an instant classic.

But Woody changed lyrics all the time, so I think he gave an open invitation for us to update his songs. And I think you did a good job. 2003 has been a tough year, and I think your song describes our "hard traveling" well.

-Jo Offer-

Subject: RE: Hard Traveling 2003
From: Art Thieme
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 12:25 PM

I think it's a very good song Steve. And it's fine to take any tune you want to take to use with your lyrics just as Joe Hill did with the old gospel songs. If you think you can afford to pay royalties when you record it, then pay 'em. If not, to hell with 'em.

Just one guy's opinion.

Art

Subject: RE: Hard Traveling 2003
From: Mark Ross
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 12:50 PM

Good job, Steve!! I'd like to start singing this version soon.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Hard Traveling 2003
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Aug 03 - 01:15 PM

Good job indeed, Steve.

Rewriting a song so it says what you need to say is as old a tradition as any tradition there is. Probabaly goes back as far as teh first siong, and that would probably have been before the first human being.

My hackles are not raised, and I am certain Woody's would not have been either.

Subject: RE: Hard Traveling 2003
From: Janice in NJ
Date: 10 Sep 03 - 11:09 PM

Steve runs hot and cold, but this is definitely one of his hot ones. Well done!

Subject: RE: Hard Traveling 2003
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 11 Sep 03 - 05:19 AM

Woody would want to address the political and social concerns of today if he were here. These lyrics seem to be in tune with his values.