Monday, August 31, 2009

Kookaburra

Rise Up Singing chapter: Rounds, p.190

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Rise Up Singing: Hey Ho Nobody Home

A round from camp today. Camp's almost over (ends Sunday) but I'll have another week's worth of videos from it.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Music Alone Shall Live


"Aber die musici, aber die musici..."

Thursday, August 27, 2009

The Frozen Logger (Logger Lover)


By James Stevens
Rise Up Singing chapter: Men, p.137
Chords: D A - D / DD7 G A D
Same chords over and over.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Stealin, Stealin

http://www.benjamindoerr.com/

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Rise Up Singing: Do Lord

Recorded here at camp. A description coming soon. I know it's almost impossible to hear the second singer, but he was singing, I promise.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Solar Carol


Solar Carol for today, I'm still at camp and it's great. Really great. Chords and lyrics coming in a week.
Love,
Matthew

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Biko


Who was Stephen Biko?
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/stevebiko/a/bio-Biko.htm

En français (wikipédia): http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko

Today is changeover at family camp. New families arrive tomorrow. In one week I'll be with family and friends in good old Montreal. Pardon again the lack of chords and lyrics for today's song. Coming soon...

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Home on the Range

Tomorrow marks the end of my first week at camp. There's one more to come. Unfortunately I run out of pre-recorded songs in just a couple of days. Hopefully I'll have the time to record some fresh ones for you here at camp.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Anti-Garden Song

I'm in Maine on the lake, among the pines, but still posting the videos I recorded in Bangkok a few days ago. Here's one with a little bit of my apartment in it.

Again, chords and lyrics coming next week. Sorry for the delay!
Matthew

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Moonshadow

Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam

Chords and lyrics posted next week. Sorry for the delay, I'm at summer camp!
In the meantime, thanks for watching.
Love,
Matthew

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

MTA (Charlie on the MTA)


Words by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Hawes
I just learned that Bess Hawes died a few months ago, on November 27, 2009. She was a musician, performer (I know her from the Almanac singers, but she did much more) a guitar teacher, and folklorist.
Obituary 1
Obituary 2
Melody: traditional ("The Wreck of Old '97")
Rise Up Singing chapter: City, p.19

For a full story behind this song which explains my George/Walter confusion, go here: http://www.mit.edu/~jdreed/t/charlie.html
And thanks to mbmcool for finding it.

G C / G D / G C / GD G
Now let me tell you a story 'bout a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the M.T.A.

Chorus:
But did he ever return? No, he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned

Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall square station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him' "One more nickel!"
Charlie couldn't get off of that train

Now all night long Charlie rides through the tunnel
Thinking, "What will become of me?"
How can I afford to see my sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?

Charlie's wife goes down to the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window she hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train goes rumbling through

As his train rolled on underneath Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed
"Well, I'm sore and disgusted and I'm absolutely busted
I guess this is my last long ride"

Now you citizens of Boston don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay?
Fight the fare increase: vote for George O'Brien! (Walter A. O'Brien!)
And get Charlie off the MTA

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Heaven Help Us All


By Ronald Miller
I know Stevie Wonder's version
Rise Up Singing chapter: City, p.19

C Am F Dm / C Am F G / C Am F G
Heaven help the child who never had a home
Heaven help the girl who walks these streets alone
Heaven help the roses if the bombs begin to fall

C F C - / F G C - / F G C - / E - Am - / D - G - C - - -
Heaven help us all (3x)
Heaven help us, Lord hear our call
When we call (2x) Heaven help us all

Heaven help the black man if he struggles one more day

Heaven help the white man if he turns his back away
Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl

Heaven help the boy who won't reach twenty-one
Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun
Heaven help the people with their backs against the wall

Now I lay me down before I go to sleep
In a troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep, keep
Hatred from the mighty, and the mighty from the small

Monday, August 17, 2009

Rise Up Singing: Do Re Mi (The Sound of Music)

I'm at camp in Maine, it's awesome. If I haven't put the chords and lyrics up here by the end of August 2009, please remind me by leaving a comment!


(Later) Here they are:
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers
Rise Up Singing chapter: Creativity, p.23

GD G / GD G / F C / FG C - - / G C / - - / - G
Let's start at the very beginningA very good place to start
When you read, you begin with A, B, C
When you sing you begin with do, re mi (do, re mi, do re mi)
The first three notes just happen to be
Do re mi (children): do, re, mi
Do re mi fa sol la ti
(spoken: Come! I'll make it easier for you. Listen:)

C - / G - / C - / F - / C F / D G / E AmC7 / FG C
Doe - a deer, a female deer
Ray - a drop of falling sun
Me - a name I call myself
Far - a long long way to run
Sew - a needle pulling thread
La - a note to follow "sew"
Tea - a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to do (doe)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Sur le pont d'Avignon

Rise Up Singing chapter: Creativity, p.26 D A7 D A7 / D A7 D A7D Sur le pont d'Avignon - l'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le pont d'Avignon - l'on y danse tout en rond

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Pretty Peggy-O (version two)


Guess what! I found they have free wireless in the Kuwait City airport. So that's where I'm posting this from. I didn't expect to be able to put it up for at least a day still. In an hour I board my next flight, which is Kuwait to New York (JFK). The Bangkok-Kuwait leg was painless.

Chords in a moment, I even brought Rise Up Singing with me for reference.
Ciao,
Matthew

Traditional, a.k.a. Pretty Peggy of Derby, The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie-O
Rise Up Singing chapter: Ballads and Old Songs, p.13
D Bm G D / D - - A / G D - Bm / D Bm G D

As we marched down to Fennario (2x)
Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove
And the name that she was called was pretty Peggy-O

Come go along with me pretty Peggy-O (2x)
[This line would really confuse my English students trying to learn the difference between "come" and "go"]
In coaches you shall ride with your true love by your side
Just as grand as any ladies in the are-o

What would your mother think...for to hear the guineas clink
And the soldiers are all marching before ye-o

You're the man that I adore, Handsome Willy-O
[I capitalized Handsome because I like to think of it as part of his name. Like his title.]
...but your fortune is too low
I'm afraid my mother would be angry-o

Come a-trippin down the stair...and tie back your yellow hair (tie up your yellow hair)
[Stair in the singular but used in the same context as the plural sounds so funny and old-timey, doesn't it?]
Bid a last farewell to Handsome Willy-o

If ever I return...this city I will burn
And destroy all the ladies in the are-o

Our captain he is dead...and he died for a maid
And he's buried in the Louisiana country-o (county-o)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Downtown


By Tony Hatch
Rise Up Singing chapter: City, p.18

G - C D / / / / G - C - / / Bm
When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go — downtown
When you've got worries all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know — downtown
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
Listen to the music of the traffic in the city
How can you lose?

C - - - / A - - - / G - C D / / G - C D G - - -
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
And go downtown, where all the lights are bright
Downtown, waiting for you tonight
Downtown, it's gonna be all right now

Don't hang around and let your troubles surround you
There are movie shows — downtown
Maybe you know some little places to go to
Where they never close — downtown
Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossanova
You'll be dancing with it too before the night is over
Happy again

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

R.U.S. Bonus: I Wonder if I'm Growing

Written by Raffi
Played by me
For Abygail

Chords:
D Em / A7D EmA7 D ://

I wonder if I'm growing, I wonder if I'm growing
My mum says yes, I'm growing, but it's hard for me to see
My mum says, "Eat your sandwich, it'll make you grow up tall"
But when I eat my sandwich I'm hardly bigger at all
And I wonder if I'm growing, I wonder if I'm growing
My mum says yes, I'm growing, but it's hard for me to see
My mum says, "Wash your hands now, then you can go out and play"
Hey! I can reach the tap now, for the very first time, today
And I think I must be growing, yes I know I'm really growing
My mom says yes I'm growing, and now I know it's true

My Hometown


By Bruce Springsteen
Rise Up Singing chapter: City, p.20

Chords:
EA EA DA E / F#mE F#mE A D
EA EA DA E / F#mE F#mE A D
A - DA E / F#mE F#mE A D
I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair and say son take a good look around
This is your hometown, this is your hometown

This is your hometown, this is your hometown

In '65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast, troubled times had come
To my hometown, my hometown

My hometown, my hometown

Bridge chords:
F#m - A - / F#m - A - / D - A - / D - A E
A - DA E / F#mE F#mE A D
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back
To your hometown, your hometown

Your hometown, your hometown

Last night me and Kate we laid in bed talking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good look around
This is your hometown, your hometown

Your hometown, your hometown

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Scarborough Fair


Traditional (Child ballad #2 "The Elfin Knight")
Covered by Simon and Garfunkel, Ewan MacColl, among many, many others
I can't ever sing this song without hearing Art Garfunkel's sweet voice in my head.
Rise Up Singing chapter: Dreams and Fantasies, p.32

Chords:
Am - G Am / C Am D Em / Am C - G / Am G Em Am

Here's a longer version of the lyrics than what R.U.S. gives:

Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
For she once was a true love of mine
(Those last two lines are used in Bob Dylan's "Girl From the North Country", and each song makes me think of the other for that reason.)

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
For she once was a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without any seam or fine needlework
And then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to wash it in yonder dry well
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Where water ne'er sprung, nor drop of rain fell
And then she'll be a true love of mine

Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born
And then she'll be a true love of mine

Ask her to do me this courtesy
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And ask for a like favour from me
And then she'll be a true love of mine

Have you been to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me from one who lives there
For he once was a true love of mine

O will you find me an acre of land?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the sea foam and the salt sea sand
Or never be a true love of mine

O will you plough it with a ram's horn
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And sow it all over with one peppercorn
For then you'll be a true love of mine

O will you reap it with a sickle of leather
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And tie it all up in a peacock's feather
(And gather it up with a rope made of heather)
For then you'll be a true love of mine

When you have done and finished your work
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Then come to me for your cambric shirt
And you shall be a true love of mine

If you say that you can't, then I shall reply
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Oh, Let me know that at least you will try
Or you'll never be a true love of mine

Love imposes impossible tasks
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
But none more than any heart would ask
I must know you're a true love of mine

Monday, August 10, 2009

Bhrams' Lullaby


Original "Guten Abend, gut' Nacht"
Lyrics: Arnim & Brentano, 1st verse / G.Scherer, 2nd verse
Music: Johannes Brahms
(Thanks for the proper attributions, Mafra61)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Lullabies, p.131

C - - - / G - - C / F C G C / F C G C
Guten Abend, gut' Nacht, mit Rosen bedacht
Mit Näglein besteckt, schlüpf unter die Deck
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt

Guten Abend, gut' Nacht, von Englein bewacht
Die zeigen im Traum dir Christkindleins Baum
Schlaf nur selig und süß, schau im Traum's Paradies
Schlaf nur selig und süß, schau im Traum's Paradies

Lullaby and goodnight, with roses bedight (bedight??)
With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumbers be blest
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumbers be blest

Lullaby and goodnight, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Greenland Fisheries


Traditional (North American, I think)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Seas and Sailors, p.202

D - - - / - - A - / D - G A / D G A - / D A D -

Alternate verse after the seamen die:

"Bad news, bad news!" our captain he cried
For it grieved his heart full sore
But the losing of that hundred barrel whale
It grieved him ten times more

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Barrett's Privateers


By Stan Rogers
Rise Up Singing chapter: Seas and Sailors, p.199
Everything you need to know about this song is on this extremely well-researched page.
If for some reason that link breaks, here's a runner up.
One note: the Sherbrooke, I talk about is Sherbrooke, Québec.
Stan Rogers was talking about Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia.

C - G C / - F C G (fermata)/ C G C - / - - G F

Oh the year was 1778 (seventeen seventy eight)
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now!
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I'd ever seen

G C - F / C F C F / G C G F (fermata)/ C F C F / - - G C
God damn them all! I was told
We'd cruise the seas for American gold
We'd fire no guns, shed no tears
Now I'm a broken man on the Halifax pier
The last of Barrett's privateers

Oh, Alcide Barrett cried the town / How I wish...
For twenty brave men, all fishermen, who
Would make for him the Antelope's crew

The Antelope sloop was a sickening sight
She'd a list to port and her sails in rags
And a cook in the scuppers with staggers and jags

On the King's birthday we put to sea
We were ninety-one days to Montego bay
Pumping like madmen all the way

On the ninety-sixth day we sailed again
When a bloody great Yankee hove in sight
With our cracked four-pounders we made to fight

The Yankee lay low down with gold
She was broad and fat and loose in stays
But to catch her took the Antelope two whole days

Then at length we stood two cables away
Our cracked four-pounders made an awful din
But with one fat ball the Yank stove us in

The Antelope shook and pitched on her side.
Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs
And the main truck carried off both me legs

So here I lay in my twenty-third year
It's been six years since we sailed away
And I just made Halifax yesterday

Friday, August 7, 2009

Everybody's Talking


By Fred Neil
Rise Up Singing chapter: Outdoors, p.152
Knowing the movie Midnight Cowboy in which this was featured, though, I can't feel it belongs in this chapter. It seems to be more about some sort of emotional trauma.

C - - - / - G C - / C - - - / C G C -
Everybody's talking at me, I don't hear a word they're saying
Only the echoes of my mind
People stop and staring, I can't see their faces
Only the shadows of their eyes

F G C Gm / F G C - ://
I'm going where the sun keeps shining through the pouring rain
Going where the weather suits my clothes
Banking off the northeast wind, sailing on a summer breeze
Skipping over the ocean like a stone

C - - - / - G C - / C G C -
Everybody's talking at me, I don't hear a word they're saying
Only the echoes of my mind
I won't let you leave my love behind

The line "I'm going where the *climate* suits my clothes" appears in the traditional song "Shady Grove" (also in Rise Up Singing) and in Hally Wood's song "Worried Blues", which I know from Bob Dylan (that's the song I talk about in the video).
-Worried Blues
-Hally Wood

Thursday, August 6, 2009

R.U.S. Bonus: I Can Hear Music


We have this guy to thank for transcribing these chords: stjohnteh@hotmail.com

D F#m
This is the way
G A
I always dreamed it would be
D F#m
The way that it is, oh oh
G A
When you are holding me
G
I never had a love of my own
A
Maybe that's why when we're all alone

Chorus:
D
I can hear music
Em A7
I can hear music
D Em A7
The sound of the city baby seems to disappear
D
I can hear music
G
Sweet sweet music
D
Whenever you touch me baby
Em A7
Whenever you're near

Verse 2:
Lovin' you
It keeps me satisfied
And I can't explain, oh no
The way I'm feeling inside
You look at me we kiss and then
I close my eyes and here it comes again
(Back To Chorus)

Bridge:
I hear the music all the time, yeah
I hear the music, hold me tight now baby
I hear the music all the time
I hear the music
I hear the music (baby)

*After bridge, repeat to chorus until fade......

R.U.S. Bonus: American Music


By the Violent Femmes

Here are the thanks due for the chord transcription:
Geoff Bowerman (gbowerma@acs.ucalgary.ca)
Converted to chordpro by Jeff Gray (jeff@che.utexas.edu)

[C]Do you like Am[F]erican [G]music? I[C] like Am[F]erican [G]music
[C]Don't you like A[F]merican m[G]usic, b[C]aaaa[F]byyy[G]y[etc...]
I want you to hold me, I want your arms around me
I want you to hold me, baby
Did you do too many drugs? I did too many drugs
Did you do too many drugs too, baby

You were [Am]born too late, I was b[E]orn too soon
[F]Every time I look at that [G]ugly moon
It reminds me of [C]you, it re[F]minds me of y[C]ou
[G]Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

I need a date to the prom, would you like to come along
Nobody will go to the prom with me, baby
They didn't like American music, they never heard American music
They didn't know the music was in my soul, baby

You were born too soon, I was born too late
But every time I look at that ugly lake, It reminds me of meeee
(d'you like [F]American music) It reminds me of [C]meeee
(d'you like [F]American music) It reminds me of [C]meeee
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

[This bit acappella]
Do you like American music? (We like American music)
I like American music (Baaaabyyyyy)
D'you like American music (We like all kinds of music)
But I like American music best (Baaaabyyyy)

You were born too late, I was born too late
But every time I look at that ugly lake, it reminds me of me

It reminds me of meeee (do you like American Music)
It reminds me of meeee (I can hear the music)
It reminds me of meeee (sweet, sweet music)
(C-F repeats, getting more frenetic, and finish)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

By the Light of the Silvery Moon


Words by Edward Madden and melody by Gus Edwards
Rise Up Singing chapter: Golden Oldies, p.77

Spoon (v.) The meaning "court, flirt sentimentally" is first recorded 1831

G - / D7 - / - - / - G / - - - Am / E7A7 A7Bm A7D7 G
Place: Park. Scene: Dark

Silv'ry Moon is shining o'er the trees
Cast: two - me, you
Sound of kisses floating on the breeze
Act One begun: dialogue - "Where would you like to spoon?"
My cue: with you, underneath the silv'ry moon

Chorus:
G - A7 - / D - G D / G - CE Am / GC G / GE AD G -
By the light of the silvery moon
I want to spoon, to my honey I'll croon love's tune
Honey moon, keep a-shining in June
Your silv'ry beams will bring love's dreams, we'll be cuddling
Soon, by the silvery moon

Act two: scene - new
Roses blooming all around the place
Cast: three - you, me
Preacher with a solemn-looking face
Choir sings, bell rings
Preacher: "You are wed forever more"
Act two, all through, ev'ry night the same encore

Chorus variation with patter:
By the light (not the dark but the light)
Of the silvery moon (not the sun but the moon)
I want to spoon (not croon, but spoon)
To my honey I'll croon love's tune
Honey moon (honeymoon, honeymoon)
Keep a-shining in June
Your silv'ry beams will bring love's dreams, we'll be cuddling
Soon, by the silvery moon

Oh, Susannah


American Music is the bomb, just like the Violent Femmes said.
Case in point: three links to information on the life, work and legacy of Stephen Foster:
http://www.pitt.edu/~amerimus/foster.htm
http://www.stephen-foster-songs.de/
http://www.pdmusic.org/foster.html

By Stephen Collins Foster
Rise Up Singing chapter: Play, 175
D - - A7 / D - DA D :// G - D A / D - DA D

Lyrics:
I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee
I'm going to Louisiana, my true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry
The sun so hot, I froze to death, Susanna, don't you cry
Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee

I had a dream the other night when everything was still
I dreamed I saw Susanna a-coming down the hill
A buckwheat cake was in her mouth, a tear was in her eye
Says I, "I'm coming from the South: Susanna, don't you cry"

(Two original but pretty offensive verses follow):
I jumped aboard de telegraph and trabbled down de ribber
De 'lectric fluid magnified and killed five hundred nigger
De bull-gine bust, de horse run off, I really thought I'd die
I shut my eyes to hold my breath, Susanna, don't you cry

I soon will be in New Orleans, and then I'll look around
And when I find Susanna I will fall upon de ground
And if I do not find her, dis darkie'll surely die
And when I'm dead and buried, Susanna don't you cry.

It was performed in minstrel shows, after all.

Self correction (2:44): Stephen Foster didn't write "important songs for the development of American music". I think he wrote songs important for the development of American music.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Bella Ciao (rice workers version)


This is about women rice field workers in the Po valley in northern Italy
The melody is a traditional Italian folksong
Rise Up Singing chapter: Struggle, p.213
Chords: Em - / - - / Am Em / B7 Em

From Wikipedia:

Alla mattina appena alzata
O bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao, ciao,ciao
Alla mattina appena alzata
In risaia mi tocca andar

E fra gli insetti e le zanzare
O bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
E fra gli insetti e le zanzare
Un dur lavoro mi tocca far

Il capo in piedi col suo bastone
O bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
Il capo in piedi col suo bastone
E noi curve a lavorar

O mamma mia o che tormento
O bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
O mamma mia o che tormento
Io t'invoco ogni doman

Ma verrà un giorno che tutte quante
O bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
Ma verrà un giorno che tutte quante
Lavoreremo in libertà.

Bella Ciao


This is the anti-fascist version sung about the Italian partisans
The melody is a traditional Italian folksong
Rise Up Singing chapter: Struggle, p.213
Chords: Em - / - - / Am Em / B7 Em

Please correct my lyrics and translation if you're Italian (I'm looking at you, Marcoacca ;)

Una mattina mi son svegliato
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao
Una mattina mi son svegliato
Ed ho trovato l'invasor

I woke up one morning and found the invader

O partigiano portami via
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao
O partigiano portami via
Che mi sento di morir

O, partisan, take me away, I feel I'm dying

E se io muoio da partigiano
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao
E se io muoio da partigiano
Tu mi devi seppellir

And if I die as a partisan, you must bury me

Mi seppellirai lassù in montagna
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao
Mi seppellirai lassù in montagna
Sotto l'ombra di un bel fior

You'll bury me up on the mountain, in the shade of a beautiful flower

E le genti che passeranno
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao
E le genti che passeranno
Mi diranno "che bel fior"
("fior" is a common abbreviation of "fiore" in Italian. I looked it up.)

And the passers-by will say (to me) "What a lovely flower!"

Questo è il fiore del partigiano
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao
Questo è il fiore del partigiano
Morto per la libertà

This is the flower of the partisan who died for freedom (liberty)

Chant des partisans italiens.
La chanson est très belle, mais n'oublions pas que la politique du PCI a consisté, comme en France, à mettre le mouvement ouvrier à la remorque de la bourgeoisie "antifasciste".
http://drapeaurouge.free.fr/bellaciao.html

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot


Traditional

Wade in the Water

This was recorded two days ago, but I considered it junk, since it's an incomplete version. It's amazing how a couple more days without a chance to record have changed my perspective on that. So, here's Wade in the Water in its truncated version. The lyrics from Rise Up Singing appear below in full, still.

Traditional American Spiritual; new verses, Paul Ashton
Rise Up Singing chapter: Freedom, p.63
Chorus:
Dm - - - / - - - ADm
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children
Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water

Verses:
Dm - / - ADm ://
1. Who are those children dressed in red?
God's gonna trouble the waters
Must be the children that Moses led
God's gonna trouble the waters

2.Who are those children dressed in white? / Must be a band of the Israelites
(or)
Who are those children dressed in white? / Must be the people getting ready for the fight
3. Dressed in blue / Must be the people gonna see this through
New verses:
4. Dressed in black / Must be the hypocrites turning back
5. He spoke and divided the sea in two / God's gonna trouble..
Allowing all his people to pass on through / God's...
6. He spoke and the water flowed back again...
And drowned the oppressors pursuing them...
7. The enemy's great but my captain's strong...
I'm marching to the city and the road ain't long...