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21 Aug 01 - 08:57 AM (#532367) Subject: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Suffet DON'T LET THEM FASCISTS BEAT YOU DOWN Tune: DON'T LET YOUR DEAL GO DOWN (traditional) Words: Stephen L. Suffet © 2001 Oh, we've been here for more than eighty years, We've heard Paul Robeson sing, We fought against Franco on the plains of Spain, And we marched with Martin Luther King. Chorus: Oh, don't let them Fascists beat you down, No, don't let them Fascists beat you down, I said, don't let them Fascists beat you down, 'Til your last dying breath is gone! We went face to face with the so-called Master Race, They heard us a-crossing the Rhine, And we gave our thanks to those Red Army tanks, When we saw them a-rolling down the line. [Repeat chorus.] Oh, we held back the mob up in Peekskill town, Way back in nineteen forty-nine, They came with their bats, and they came with their bricks, But together we held that line. [Repeat chorus.] We fought for better housing, and we fought for better schools, We fought against that old Jim Crow, And we fought to bring our men home from Vietnam, And we told all those Fascists where to go. [Repeat chorus.] Now the racists and the Fascists are at it once again, They're spreading their evil pack of lies, But if we stand together like we've done before, Those Fascists are in for one surprise! [Repeat chorus.] |
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21 Aug 01 - 09:27 AM (#532393) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Ringer I salute you for correctly using the apostrophe in this thread's title, Suffet. What, exactly is a fascist? It seems to be a common insult of the left for anyone who doesn't share their point of view. Has it a stricter meaning? |
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21 Aug 01 - 09:51 AM (#532417) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: GUEST I don't think the people of former East Germany or their parents look fondly at Red Army T-34's and the occupational army. What good is not letting Fascists wear you down when you encourage Communists? |
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21 Aug 01 - 10:04 AM (#532424) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Suffet Yes. In my parents' day it referred to ultra-nationalistic, totalitarian movements, highly militaristic and usually predicated on the supremacy of a single leader. The term was one that Mussolini used to describe his movement, his party, and later his form of government in Italy, but it came to embrace Franco's movement in Spain, Naziism and Germany under Hitler, and a host of other regimes (e.g. in Roumania, Hungary Vichy-ruled France) and movements (Mosley's in the UK, Coughlin's in the USA). In our own day the term can rightfully be applied to neo-Fascist and neo-Nazi movements which have sprung up in the USA and Europe. It can also be correctly used to describe Chile when it was under Pinochet's rule. Yes, the term "Fascist" has be overused and abused. But that doesn't mean the term has been rendered useless. (Note correct use of a double negative: "doesn't" + "useless." I believe the name for that literary device is "litotes.") --- Steve |
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21 Aug 01 - 10:06 AM (#532428) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Wolfgang Fascism? Who could define it better than its inventor, Mussolini: read his entry on 'facism' in Italian encyclopaedia from 1932 (Engl. transl.). Wolfgang |
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21 Aug 01 - 10:15 AM (#532433) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Suffet My "Yes" was in reply to Bald Eagle's question, "Has it a stricter meaning?" --- Steve |
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21 Aug 01 - 10:27 AM (#532445) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Marymac90 Punctuation aside, a good song, Steve. Fred Small wrote one about the US forces meeting the Soviet ones at the Elbe, I think, with some of these sentiments in it. BTW, I'm still hoping I can recover from the egg on my face that I incurred by ignoring my email last week, to entice you to come to Mudcat Radio sometime! Did I give you all my phone numbers? PM'ing me has gotten more reliable since I've started going on Mudcat at work!!! Marymac |
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21 Aug 01 - 11:14 AM (#532472) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Ringer Thanks for the link, Wolfgang. Interesting (and complete bollocks). |
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21 Aug 01 - 07:03 PM (#532832) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: Matthew Edwards Oh what were their names? Tell me, what were their names? Woody Guthrie:The Reuben James While walking in North Wales recently I came across this memorial on top of Arenig Fawr, near Bala, which may be of interest to some of the Americans amongst us: IN MEMORY OF THE CREW OF THE FLYING FORTRESS WHICH CRASHED ON THE ARENIG 4th AUGUST 1943 1st Lt. JAMES N PRATT BOISE IDAHO 2nd Lt. ALLAN M BONER TINKY PARK ILLINOIS 2nd Lt. WILLIAM A BOWLING COVINGTON KENTUCKY T/Sgt. FREDERIC J ROYAR QUEENS VILLAGE NEW YORK S/Sgt. WALTER J JOHNSTON FAYETTE OHIO Sgt. WALTER B ROBINSON SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA Sgt. PHILLIP SIMONTE HIGHLAND PARK MICHIGAN Pfc. ALFRED B VAN DYKE BROOKVILLE PENNSYLVANIA I salute the memory of these men who died so far from their homes preparing to fight against tyranny in Europe. However we should at the same time pay tribute to all those men, women, and children who have suffered under tyrannies of all kinds; victims of Causes they rarely understood. |
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22 Aug 01 - 06:58 AM (#533108) Subject: RE: Dedicated to my parents' generation From: GeorgeH Why is it that some folks choose to interpret opposition to one form of tyrany as support for an alternative tyrany? I suppose it reflects their inability to enter into an intellegent discussion. Having heard, on last night's TV, a former UK Home Secretary attempting to score cheap debating points on the issue of the UK's treatment of refugees, your song seems very timely, Steven. Oh, and Guest - many people in Russia and even some parts of East Germany feel they were better off under Soviet "Communism" anyway . . In some cases, with very good reason! George G |