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Looking for songs against racism

01 Dec 06 - 09:31 PM (#1897992)
Subject: Looking for songs against racism
From: Gulliver

I do "Deportees" and "Standing in the Rain" (just a single applicable line in it). Would like to add a few more songs against racism to my repertoire (preferably recognisable ones). I live in Dublin, Ireland.

Any ideas?

Don


01 Dec 06 - 09:34 PM (#1897994)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST

"Any Mick will do" by Brian McNeill would fit the bill.


01 Dec 06 - 09:56 PM (#1898001)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: bobad

Mississippi Goddam by Nina Simone

Freedom Riders by Phil Ochs

Society's Child by Janis Ian

Birmingham Sunday by Richard Farina


01 Dec 06 - 10:16 PM (#1898003)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Beer

I'm impressed Bobad.
Beer


01 Dec 06 - 10:22 PM (#1898004)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Beer

Billy The Bum by John Prine. Maybe not racist but definitely one on bulling in a sort of way.
Beer


01 Dec 06 - 10:29 PM (#1898005)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Beer

Depending which side you are on this song is full of raciest overtures. "With God On Our Side' by "Bob Dylan


01 Dec 06 - 11:44 PM (#1898031)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Shadowman

A classic from the touring show, "Up With People" is the poignant, "What Color is God's Skin?" Words and Music by Thomas Wilkes and David Stevenson.

"Goodnight I said to my little son,
so tired out when the day was done,
then he said as I tucked him in,
tell me Daddy, [or' Mommy,'], What color's God's Skin?
Chorus: What color is God's skin?
What color is God's skin?
I said it's black, brown, it's yellow, it is red, it is white,
Every man's [or 'Everyone's'] the same in the good Lord's sight..."

The original version has two more verses. It is often performed with just one or two verses, though. Singing that song helped to teach me to guard my own heart against racism.
Best regards from the Shadowman.


02 Dec 06 - 12:43 AM (#1898047)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Gulliver

Thanks Shadowman. I found the song here:

http://www.cantiamo.info/repertoire.html

It has a good sentiment and I'll learn it but I don't think it's suitable for my session in a pub in one of the rougher parts of Dublin!


02 Dec 06 - 02:33 AM (#1898074)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,Larry W. Jones

Here's one of the demise of the American Indian's way of life.

Real Country Lyrics

Silence Of Hooves (Larry W. Jones 11/17/2006) (song#4156)

The chieftan looked across the sacred ground
Across the wide open prarie up and down
But the buffalo could not be found
And the silence of hooves made a heavy sound
The silence of hooves made a heavy sound

There's a change in the wind, I know
What's here today must tomorrow go
Why must the innocent have to know
Where did all the buffalo go

The chieftan looked out the teepee door
And thought of all the happy times before
He looked into the sky and winding stream
A tear fell from his eye that used to gleam
Where is the chieftan's dream

There's a change in the wind, I know
What's here today must tomorrow go
Why must the innocent have to know
Where did all the buffalo go

Years ago there was a bounteous land
Tilled and cared for by generous men
Will such a lovely time ever come again
Or will the same old rhyme be sung again

There's a change in the wind, I know
What's here today must tomorrow go
Why must the innocent have to know
Where did all the buffalo go
Oh, where did all the buffalo go


02 Dec 06 - 03:23 AM (#1898085)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Les in Chorlton

Is their a song called "The Trail of Tears" concerning the enforced movement of native American people from Georgia?

http://ngeorgia.com/history/nghisttt.html

"In one of the saddest episodes of our brief history, men, women, and children were taken from their land, herded into makeshift forts with minimal facilities and food, then forced to march a thousand miles(Some made part of the trip by boat in equally horrible conditions). Under the generally indifferent army commanders, human losses for the first groups of Cherokee removed were extremely high."

Now I have Googled I see their are lots of songs about the Trail of Tears. I heard one at Fox Hollow Festival 1970.


02 Dec 06 - 04:41 AM (#1898107)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: eddie1

Hawks and Eagles - Ian Walker (In the DT)
Singing The Spirit Home - Eric Bogle
Humourous but nevertheless effective. I Hate Wogs - Eric Bogle
Balld of Ira Hayes - sung by Johnny Cash

Eddie


02 Dec 06 - 04:49 AM (#1898109)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,Janine

Fayette County (sung by Sis Cunningham)

Jan


02 Dec 06 - 04:50 AM (#1898110)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Susanne (skw)

Tom Lehrer's National Brotherhood Week


02 Dec 06 - 05:12 AM (#1898119)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Darowyn

If you've got the voice for it, try Sam Cooke's "Change is Gonna Come"
Soul Songs can work well in a folky arrangement.
Cheers
Dave


02 Dec 06 - 05:24 AM (#1898130)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Teribus

FREEDOM COME ALL YE
(Hamish Henderson)

Roch the wind in the clear days dawin
Blows the cloods heelstre-gowdie ow'r the bay
But there's mair nor a roch wind blawin
Through the great glen o' the warld the day.
It's a thocht that will gar oor rottans
A' they rogues that gang gallus, fresh and gay
Tak the road, and seek ither loanins
For their ill ploys, tae sport and play.

Nae mair will the bonnie callants
Mairch tae war when oor braggarts crousely craw
Nor wee weans frae pit-heid and clachan
Mourn the ships sailing doon the Broomielaw,
Broken faimlies in lands we've herriet
Will curse Scotland the Brave nae mair, nae mair;
Back and white, ane ti ither mairriet,
Mak the vile barracks o' thier maisters bare.

O come all ye at hame wi' Freedom,
Never heid whit the hoodies croak for doom.
In your hoose a' the bairnes o' Adam
Can find breid, barley-bree and painted room.
When Maclean meets wi's friens in Springburn,
A' the roses and geens will turn tae bloom,
And a black boy frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o' the burghers doon.

Above song recorded and very well sung by Luke Kelly.


02 Dec 06 - 05:59 AM (#1898156)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,thurg

There's a Clancy Brothers song to an old Gaelic air; I think the title may be Air Fol-lol-lol-lo.

Probably not the songs for you or the venue, but since the list has been started:

O Siem by Susan Aglukark.
Everything is Beautiful by ... ol' Whatzizname.

And then there's:

Erin-go-bragh (racism? bigotry, anyway - course, it ends up with a cop getting his lights punched out, which might not be the sort of thing you wish to encourage).


02 Dec 06 - 06:05 AM (#1898162)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Georgiansilver

A re-arrangement of 'Ebony and Ivory' could be good.


02 Dec 06 - 06:08 AM (#1898165)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Tom Hamilton frae Saltcoats Scotland

if you miss me at the back of the bus, or any other American civil rights songs.

Tom


02 Dec 06 - 06:14 AM (#1898168)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,Hootenanny

One obvious one that hasn't yet been mentioned: Big Bill Broonzy's "Black, Brown and White". Then there is the song made famous by Billie Holiday; "Strange Fruit", "Black & Blue" by various singers. The list could go on.


02 Dec 06 - 06:22 AM (#1898172)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,Otto

How about John Kirkpatrick's "Black Deer": it's one of the most powerful (and challenging) songs in my repertoir:

Black Deer, where can you run to?
Black deer, where can you hide?
Where your young ones used to wander
Is all scarred and torn asunder
For the White Stag has stolen your ground away

Brown Deer, where can you go grazing?
Brown Deer, where can you feed?
There is pasture pure a-plenty
No belly need go empty
But the White Stag has stolen your ground away

Red Deer, who'll find your freedom?
Red Deer, who'll ease your pain?
For your Mother's grave is shattered
And your Father's bones all scattered
For the White Stag has stolen your ground away

White Deer, who'll stand against him?
White Deer, who'll drag him down?
While his angry hoof keeps beating
Our days are short and fleeting
Til the White Stag has stolen our world away.

(Tune, get a copy of the "Best of John Kirkpatrick" CD)

Cheers,

OttO


02 Dec 06 - 06:37 AM (#1898179)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Les in Chorlton

Good luck to the Buck, good luck to the Doe
Together throught he Forst of Epping they go.

Nadia Catoose (?) 1960s
Hoping to avoid Norman Tebbit as well


02 Dec 06 - 08:37 AM (#1898236)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: the one

hattie carrol


02 Dec 06 - 08:52 AM (#1898244)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Azizi

Personally, since vehemently dislike "Black & Blue".

And that "Black Deer" song posted by GUEST,Otto seems to me that it's anti-White {or at least can be taken as such}, so I don't think that would qualify as an anti-racist song.

As to which song I would suggest, how about "One Little Candle"?

It is better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark.
Better far that you light just one little candle,
All you need is a tiny spark.
If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free,
A wonderful dawn of a new day we'd see...
And if everyone lit just one little candle,
What a bright world this would be.

When the day is dark and dreary
And we know not where to go;
Don't let your heart go weary,
Just keep this thought in mind...

It is better to light just one little candle
Than to stumble in the dark.
Better far that you light just one little candle,
All you need is a tiny spark.
If we'd all say a prayer that the world would be free,
A wonderful dawn of a new day we'd see...
And if everyone lit just one little candle,
What a bright world this would be.

Author Unknown

-snip-

I found the words on this website:

http://www.walkthroughlife.com/personal/pqv/poem/candle.htm


and on this website:

http://www.buffnet.net/~ambrosia/icq/candle.htm

Both sites play a midi song clip as soon as you visit them...I dislike that on general principle preferring to click on a sound clip if I want to hear it. But it was interesting to "note" two different tunes for this song. The second tune is most like the one I learned, though it's tempo seems a bit slower. The first tune was completely unfamiliar to me.


02 Dec 06 - 09:10 AM (#1898251)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Azizi

Ugh!! Sorry about that.

What I meant to say is since I first heard that song about twenty years ago, I have vehementally disliked the song Black & Blue.

Judge for yourself if you think this song should be considered anti-racist or anti-Black:

What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue
Words by Andy Razaf and Music by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks
[Copyright ©1929 Santly Brothers, Inc. and renewed by Chappell & Co., Inc.]

Verse: 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:

Chous 1: 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!
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?

Source:
http://www.perfessorbill.com/lyrics/lyblckbl.htm

Btw: I learned from reading commentary in Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Songs that "Old Ned" was an African American referent for the devil. This explains this referent in that song "Cold, empty bed, Springs hard as lead, Pains in my head, Feel like old Ned."

-snip-

I also found the same lyrics for this song on:
http://www.singulartists.com/artist_l/louis_armstrong_lyrics/black_and_blue_lyrics.html


I first heard this song when the Black music teacher in my daughter's integrated middle school selected four Black students to sing a modified version of this song at a public concert. In my opinion, that was a very poor choice on his part-the singers could sing but the words...Terrible!

I'd rather have them sing "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud!"


02 Dec 06 - 09:20 AM (#1898252)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,Bubba

Artist/Band: Cyrus Billy Ray
Lyrics for Song: Trail Of Tears
Lyrics for Album: The Best Of Billy Ray Cyrus

Too many broken promises
Too many Trail of Tears
Too many times you were left cold
For oh so many years

Too many times you walked away
And was made to feel ashamed
And though you only tried to give
You were often blamed

How can this world be so dark
So unfair and so untrue
How did the cards of life
Fold right on top of you

God in Heaven, hear my prayer
If you are still above
Send the children hopes and dreams
And lots and lots of love
For this I only ask of you
To conquer all their fears
And let them soar like eagles
Across the Trail of Tears


02 Dec 06 - 09:24 AM (#1898255)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: wysiwyg

Fred Small's "If I Were a Moose and You Were a Cow."

~S~


02 Dec 06 - 09:41 AM (#1898260)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Azizi

Also, these lines:

"Browns and yellers, all have fellers,
Gentlemen prefer them light"

reflect Black people's color prejudice against dark complexioned Black people.

and the line "I wish I could fade" means that the singer wishes that she could pass for White, but she's too dark to do so {she "can't make the grade"}.

That end line of that verse "Nothing but dark days in sight" reinforces the black=bad theme of that entire song.

I don't think that the "what a bright world this would be" line in "One Candle" is the opposite of "Nothing but dark days in sight".
The "bright world" in "One Candle" expands on the "light a candle" to rid the world of darkness theme. "Darkness" in the One Candle song represents to me the evil that is done in the dark.
"Darkness" in "One Candle" song isn't tied to skin color as it is in the "Black & Blue" song. From beginning to end that "Black & Blue" song disses Black people simply because we are Black.

And that "I'm white inside, It don't help my case/'Cause I can't hide, what is on my face" line.

Terrible!!!!


02 Dec 06 - 10:33 AM (#1898290)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Azizi

The same time in school that I learned "One Little Candle" I also learned this version of "No Man Is An Island"

I saw the people gather
I heard the music start
The song that they were singing
Is ringing in my heart

No man is an island, no man stands alone
Each man's joy is joy to me
Each man's grief is my own
We need one another, so I will defend
Each man as my brother
Each man as my friend

-snip-

That song is in the DigitalTradition at @displaysong.cfm?SongID=4250

I can see how strict feminists would have a problem with these lyrics, but it seems to me that woman and sister are implied in the song's lyrics.

The fact that this song is based on the "For whom the bell tolls a poem (No man is an island) by John Donne http://torch.cs.dal.ca/~johnston/poetry/island.html may preclude its use in 'a pub in one of the rougher parts of Dublin' Ireland.

However, I believe that "No Man Is An Island" deserves to be listed along with other songs which express the unity of all people.


02 Dec 06 - 11:12 AM (#1898318)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,folkie

Slightly off-topic, but in the long run, not... Si Kahn's song, "The Curtains of Old joe's House" is a great song about intolerance.   Don't have the whole song to post, but the chorus comes to mind:

They say than in his younger days
He had loved another man
But when the small town started talking
His friend died by his own hand

There were whispers among the women
Hard talk among the men
And the curtains of Old Joe's house
Were never pulled again


02 Dec 06 - 11:49 AM (#1898343)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Bert

Congo River

Was you ever on the Congo River
Blow, Boys, Blow
Well yes I've been on the Congo River
Blow, me bully boys, blow

The Congo She's a mighty river
Where the fever makes a white man shiver

A Yankee ship came down the river
her masts and yards they shone like silver

How do you know she's a Yankee slaver
by the blood and guts that flow from her scupper

what do you think we had for breakfast
'twas the starbourd side of an old sou'wester

what do you think we had for dinner
'twas Lenten soup and a squeeze in the wringer

what do you think we had for supper
was a kick in the pants and a brawl in the scupper

what do you think we carried as cargo
'twas black sheep breaking the embargo

It's blow today and blow tomorrow
it's blow for this hell ship of sorrow.


02 Dec 06 - 02:28 PM (#1898447)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Fred McCormick

In case nobody's mentioned it already, Borgeouis Blues by Leadbelly. Also numerous songs by Ewan MacColl. EG., the Ballad of Jimmy Wilson and Black and White. Also, there's a wonderful CD of songs from the civil rights era;Sing For Freedom. Smithsonian Folkways. SF 40032.


02 Dec 06 - 03:23 PM (#1898482)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: number 6

"Sail Away" by Randy Newman.

Also by Randy Newman "rednecks" ... a very good "in you face" song about racism which reveals an intersting slant towards hypocracy.


biLL


03 Dec 06 - 12:36 PM (#1898905)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Charley Noble

Here's a song that I composed some time ago that commemorates the 1839 revolt of captured Africans aboard the schooner Amistad, their re-capture by the U.S. Navy, their trial and release with the help of Abolitionists, their return to Africa, and the current mission of the replica schooner Amistad:

The Freedom Schooner Amistad


Chorus:
C----F---C-F---C--------G-C
She's the A-mis-tad, the A-mis-tad!
------------------------------G-------F-----C
She's the freedom schoon-er, the A-mis-tad! (2X)

C---------F--C----F--C-------------G-C
She's got an eagle up forrard and ra-kish masts,
--------------------G-F--------C
Sure looks sharp as she flies past;
----------------F------C----G-------C
She's tearing up the bay, kicking up 'er heels,
------------------G---F---------C
That's the way that free-dom feels! (CHO)

Back in them days of slavery,
The Amistad, she sailed the sea;
Well, she sailed up and she sailed down,
Sailed into Havana town. (CHO)

Here's a link to the full lyrics, a MP3 sample and much more detailed notes: Click here for website

I have sung this song twice aboard the Amistad and would love to have it adopted as part of their public presentation when they visit ports up and down the coast.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


03 Dec 06 - 01:23 PM (#1898932)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,winniemih

Only a few days ago on a PBS special tribute to James Taylor, I heard the song "Shed a Little Light" (written by JT) performed by a group including the composer, and was again struck by the timelessness of the message; (this tune was on Taylor's 1991? recording New Moon Shine).   I think it's very worthwhile to post a few lines:
   
    Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
    And recognize that there are ties between us
    All men and women
    Living on the earth
    Ties of hope and love
    Sister and brotherhood
    That we are bound together
    In our desire to see the world become
    A place in which our children
    Can grow free and strong
    We are bound together
    By the task that stands before us
    And the road that lies ahead
    We are bound and we are bound


Thank you, JT.


03 Dec 06 - 07:45 PM (#1899220)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Bill Hahn//\\

Some really interesting posts.   In fact, the Fred Small piece I found n my collection about a week ago and have already recorded it for one of my radio programs. I have played the Lehrer piece many a time---funny and pointed.

A few other thoughts:


Holly Near---We Are Singing For Our Lives (A Zipper song to which you insert verses for your causes/beliefs)

Kate Campbell---many songs on her Visions of Plenty album with special attention to Bus 109.

Eric Bogle---Other People's Children

Lenny Bruce---Southern Mores---OK not a song but a great put-down of the racists.   Rare recording which is unlabeled

Bob Franke---Krystalnacht

I am sure I will think of many more that I recall and have played over the years.

Bill Hahn
WFDU/Traditions/ Sunday Simcha


04 Dec 06 - 03:09 AM (#1899370)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Paul Burke

A Brit one from the fifties: Colour Bar Strike (by Ewan McColl?- certainly sung by the Critics).


04 Dec 06 - 03:33 AM (#1899374)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Ebbie

I like 'Catfish John'.


04 Dec 06 - 03:52 AM (#1899380)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST

If you're a Dub you should know about '12 Young Women and One Young Man - MacColl's song about the Dunne's workers' anti - apartheid boycott of South African goods.
In my opinion MacColl and Seeger consistently wrote the best anti-racist songs going back nearly fifty years, and sang those others wrote - The Klan Song, Colour Bar Strike .
Jimmy Wilson, Black and White, Nelson Mandela (No More), White Wind, Boycott Song, Hello Friend....... they did a whole album of anti-racist songs - mainly their own.
Jim Carroll


04 Dec 06 - 07:01 AM (#1899472)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: cetmst

'All Mixed Up' as sung by Pete Seeger, don't know who wrote it.
And appropriate for the Christmas season - 'Some Children See Him' by Alfred Burt, on the Roger Williams Chorale album 'Quilting an American Christmas'. Buffy Ste. Marie's 'My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying' and 'Now That the Buffalo's Gone'


04 Dec 06 - 01:51 PM (#1899856)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Gulliver

Firstly, many thanks to all who contributed--so many ideas: I'll devote the next few days to going through the suggestions.   

The song I currently sing, Sidney Carter's Standing in the Rain, is appropriate for the Christmas season. It was a hit in Ireland some years ago (sung by Johnny McAvoy, I think), so it strikes a chord among older listeners.

Yes, Jim, I'm a Dub but have been away for a long time so wasn't familiar with the Dunne's strike song. I had forgotten Bourgouis Blues, which we used to sing in the back room of the Brazen Head years ago. While away I had friends of many different nationalities and this made me fiercely anti-racist, so I want to have a few songs that can express my feelings.

Aziz, I really like No Man is an Island and think it would fit in and go down well in the places I sing--need a tune, though!

Always liked Ebony and Ivory but don't think it would fit into the kind of folk session I play in.

Don


04 Dec 06 - 05:55 PM (#1900055)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Azizi

Hello, Gulliver.

I found this clip of No Man Is An Island on YouTube. The tune this choir is using is very close to the one I learned loooong ago when i was a child.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z6GNL1Xep0

[YouTube is amazing! You never know what you'll find. I'm glad that trevois added this clip!]

Best wishes,

Azizi


04 Dec 06 - 06:02 PM (#1900059)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST,lox

Did anyone say Blowin' in the wind?

"how many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?"

Written when black men were called "Boy".


04 Dec 06 - 06:05 PM (#1900060)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Elmer Fudd

It's Not Easy Being Green


04 Dec 06 - 07:40 PM (#1900112)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: John on the Sunset Coast

Strange Fruit - I especially like Josh White's version
Purlie Brown - another song about lynching, written and sung by Tony Townsend
One Hundred Years from Today - also Tony Townsend. Record released 100 years after emancipation. Will it be another hundred?
What Dress Shall I Wear? sung by Chad Mitchell Trio - "Don't take the green one with the tear [to the cleaners]; that one my dear...is for you".

BTW, if anybody hear knows about Mr. Townsend, his career beyond the LP, or if he is still around please share.


05 Dec 06 - 08:51 AM (#1900497)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Wolfgang

wrong language, but fitting the description:

Sie sind grün (They are green)

Wolfgang


05 Dec 06 - 09:16 AM (#1900516)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Big Mick

I heard Matt Watroba do a song based on Amazing Grace. In fact it is called Amazing Grace/That Kind of Grace. I will post the lyrics when I am back at my home. It is simply one of the most powerful songs I have ever heard. It begins with Amazing Grace and then bridges into this powerful telling of the crimes committed against folks on the basis of race, then bridges back to Amazing Grace. Here are the lyrics as written by Anne Hills and David Roth:

    Sunday morning, Birmingham, quiet in the church
    Bombs were planted, House of God, children's blood on the cross.
    And your daughter, she was one, angel without wings.
    How could anyone forgive those who do such things?

    And when I sing Amazing Grace, your face is what I see.
    I hope someday that kind of grace will find its way to me.

    Friday evening in Mobile, klansmen killing time.
    Saw young Michael walking by, he would do just fine.
    Quiet student, mother's best, pleading for his life.
    Strung him up to make a point, sharper than a knife.

    Beulah Mae, his mother, stood, people all around
    In the courtroom listening, as the truth was found.
    From her mouth no curses fell, no profanity.
    "I would do to others what I'd have done to me..."

    And when I sing Amazing Grace, your face is what I see.
    I hope someday that kind of grace will find its way to me.

    Thursday afternoon in the car, turned the radio on.
    The verdict in Los Angeles, oh what have we done?
    Images of violence, yellow, black and white:
    Fifty-two dead, millions lost, who can win this fight?

    On the screen a face of tears, trembling through and through.
    One we've seen so many times beaten on the news.
    I could barely hear his words, full of fear and doubt.
    "People, we can't live like this, we've got to work this out."

    And when I sing Amazing Grace, your face is what I see.
    I hope someday that kind of grace will find its way to me.


05 Dec 06 - 12:26 PM (#1900710)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST

Anti-Apartheid (Bert Jansch)


05 Dec 06 - 05:56 PM (#1901012)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST

Check out the "BLUE-TAIL FLY" thread.


05 Dec 06 - 08:15 PM (#1901162)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: Gulliver

There seems to be a number of Blue-Tail Fly threads. I fail to see the connection.


05 Dec 06 - 10:29 PM (#1901255)
Subject: RE: Looking for songs against racism
From: GUEST

"Strange Fruit" by Billie Holliday (I'm pretty sure that's the title). Refers to lynching in the South.