Lyr Add: Listen, Mr. Bilbo (Mr. Bigot)

10 Feb 18 - 11:33 PM (#3904877)
Subject: Lyr Add: Listen, Mr. Bigot (Bilbo)
From: Joe Offer

LISTEN, MR. BILBO (Mr. Bigot)
Bob and Adrienne Claiborne- Bob Miller Inc.

Chorus:
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot

In 1492, just to see what he could see
Columbus, who was an Italian set out across the sea
He said "Isabella, baby, the world is round
And the USA's just awaitin' to be found."

(Chorus)

Oh listen Mr. Bigot, (well, some of my best friends are)
Listen Mr. Bigot (oh, they like to live with their own kind)

Well when the King of England started pushin' Yanks around
They had a little trouble up in Boston town
But a brave, black, Crispus Attucks was the man
The first one to fall when the fightin' began.

(Chorus)

Oh listen Mr. Bigot,
(They can't help it. It's their cultural point of view)
Listen Mr. Bigot (They all look alike to me!)

Now Bigot, you're taking one hell of a chance
Your good friends the Duponts, came over from France
Another thing I'm sure will be news to you
The first Mr. Bigot was a foreigner too.

(Chorus)

You don't like blacks, you don't like jews
Well if there's anyone you do like, it sure is news
You don't like Poles, Hispanics too
Anyway they serve you up, we don't like you

(Chorus)

Oh listen Mr. Bigot,
(Well there we were on the beach, just trying to get some sun
And up comes a busload of them, well first they got these boxes that play this music, I mean it's not even in English.
Then they take out these stoves or hibachi's or something
The smoke was dreadful, the smell was even worse.
I wouldn't let my daughter marry one, ya know?)

Listen Mr. Bigot

Source: http://www.peterpaulandmary.com/music/f-songlist.htm

Peter Paul & Mary Recroding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6adHuFqM_Y (may not play in all countries) - from the 1990 Flowers and Stones album.

Pete Seeger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSbR51WaqLM

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10 Feb 18 - 11:58 PM (#3904878)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Listen, Mr. Bigot (Bilbo)
From: Joe Offer

LISTEN, MR. BILBO
(Bob and Adrienne Claiborne)

CHORUS
Listen, Mr. Bilbo, wherever you may be,
I'll give you a lesson in history;
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.

In fourteen-ninety-two, just to see what he could see,
Columbus, an Italian, looked out across the sea;
He said, "Isabella, babe, the world is round,
And the U. S. A.'s just a-waitin' to be found." (CHORUS)

When the King of England started pushin' Yankees around,
They had a little trouble up in Boston town;
There was a brave Negro, Crispus Attucks was the man,
Was the first one to fall when the fightin' began.

Colin Kelly was the pilot, a-flyin' down low;
Levin pushed the button that let the bomb go;
They sank the Haruna to the bottom of the sea;
It was foreigners like these kept America free. (CHORUS)

Now, Bilbo, you're taking one helluva chance;
Your good friends, the DuPonts, came over from France;
Another thing I'm sure will be news to you:
The first Mr. Bilbo was a foreigner, too.

You don't like Negroes, you don't like Jews;
If there's anyone you do like, it sure is news.
You don't like Poles, Italians, Catholics, too;
Well, dead or alive, bud, we don't like you. (CHORUS)

©146 by Bob Miller, Inc.

'Listen, Mister Bilbo' was written in 1945 by a young New York couple. Bilboism has come to represent all that democratic Americans hate. So you can sing it as it is, or as "Listen, all you Bilbos,' or as "Listen, Mister Rankin." The first verse is used as a refrain.

Source The People's Songbook, page 105 (Published by People's Artists, New York, 1948)


Pete Seeger recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlnLfs6lMyg

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11 Feb 18 - 11:29 AM (#3904967)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Listen, Mr. Bilbo (Mr. Bigot)
From: Greg F.

This should also be in the "Songs For The Age Of Trump" thread, Joe.

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11 Feb 18 - 12:25 PM (#3904982)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Listen, Mr. Bilbo (Mr. Bigot)
From: GUEST,akenaton

No Greg these songs lack the childish spitefulness required to qualify for the Trump thread, but they are based on the fallacy that any opposition to illegal or unregulated immigration is "racist".
We require immigrants but only in the numbers and with the skills that we need.
It is simplistic to suggest such a thing and I am sure that there are no "racists" here.....in fact I have only encountered two people in my life whom I would describe as "Racist"
There are of course many "bigots" here, who would deny people the freedom to follow their faith, or to utilise their right to freedom of expression.

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11 Feb 18 - 02:16 PM (#3905006)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Listen, Mr. Bilbo (Mr. Bigot)
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch

"This should also be in the "Songs For The Age Of Trump" thread, Joe."

Dedicated to the first naturalized U.S. citizen to become First Lady of the United States and the first Jewish member of the U.S. First Family.

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12 Feb 18 - 03:08 AM (#3905110)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Listen, Mr. Bilbo (Mr. Bigot)
From: Joe Offer

For the time it was written (1945), this song was far ahead of its time. I'm sure it was called "communist" in its day. Now it seems dated.

Peter Paul and Mary did update the lyrics for their 1990 Flowers and Stones album (the spoken parts are particularly good), but the song could probably use another good update.
Anybody know of effective updates that have been recorded recently?

-Joe-

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