De Colores

Traditional Mexican words and melody
Rise Up Singing chapter: Outdoors, p.152
C - - - G7 - / - - - - C -
C - - - F / F C G C / /

Lyrics:
De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera
De colores, de colores son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera
De colores, de colores es el arcoiris que vemos lucir
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí

Canta el gallo, canta el gallo con el quiri quiri quiri quiri quiri
La gallina, la gallina con el cara cara cara cara cara
Los polluelos, los polluelos con sus pío pío pío pío pi
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mí

Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms

Rise Up Singing chapter: Mountain Voices, p.149

Chords: G - / - D7 / G C / D7 G
* I substitute D for D7

Ain't going to work on the railroad
Ain't going to work on the farm
Lay around the shack til the mail train comes back
Then I'll roll in my sweet baby's arms

Chorus:
Roll in my sweet baby's arms (2x)
Lay around the shack til the mail train comes back
Then I'll roll in my sweet baby's arms

Bonus: The Weapon

By Harry and the Potters
Not in the Rise Up Singing songbook (it's a bonus, folks)
Lyrics from http://www.ryanlynds.com/hatp.txt
Chords transcribed by me

E - B - / A - B - ://
We may have lost Sirius Black
But we're not turning back
We will fight 'til we have won
And Voldemort is gone
And I'm gonna do whatever it takes
I don't care about whatever fate
That prophecy says, no, I'm not afraid
No, I'm not afraid

'Cause there's one thing that I've got
One thing that you've got inside you too
One thing that we've got
And the one thing we've got is enough
To save us all

Well we taught ourselves to fight
And now we know that neither can live while the other survives
And I know that that means me
But I'm glad we've got our army
And we're gonna
Take down the Dark Lord's crew
The Death Eaters will all be running from me and you
And you
And you
And you
And you
And you
And you

And there's
One thing that I've got
One thing that you've got inside you too
One thing that we've got
And the one thing we've got is enough
To save us all

The weapon we have is love
The weapon we have is love
The weapon we have is love
The weapon we have is love
The weapon we have is love
The weapon we have is love
The weapon we have is love
The weapon we have is love
(Love love love love love love love love . . . )
The weapon we have is love
(Love . . . )
The weapon we have is love
(Love . . . )
The weapon we have is love

They'll be Coming Round (the Mountain)

Words by Eileen Abrams; traditional melody ("She'll be Coming Round the Mountain")
Rise Up Singing chapter: Women, p.251
E - - - / - - B7 - / E E7 A - / B7 - E -

Bumpy wagons moving through the days and nights
They've been travelling far in search of women's rights
Not much comfort or supporters but within this country's borders
They won't quit until they've won all of the fights

Chorus:
They'll be coming round the mountain when they come
They'll be driving six white horses when they come
They'll be talking new solutions, women's suffrage, revolution
And we'll all go out to meet them when they come

In Colorado women sought a victory
Mrs. Stanton headed out with Susan B.
Organizing, speaking, writing, for us all they kept on fighting
Women won the vote out there in '93

Women rise and join your sisters on the line
It's been struggle after struggle all through time
Keep your mind upon our heritage, your hearts upon the future
And we'll make it through the tight spots every time

Done Laid Around (Done Stayed Around)

By Paul Clayton, Larry Ehrlich, David Lazar and Tom Six
Rise Up Singing chapter: Traveling, p.231

RUS chords: G - - - / - - C G / - - - - / Am D G -
My changes: G - - - / C - G - / - - - - / Am D G -

Done laid around, done stayed around this old town too long
Summer's almost gone, summer's almost gone [winter's coming on]
Done laid around, done stayed around this old town too long
And I feel like I want to travel on

The chilly wind will soon begin and I'll be on my way
Gone a lonesome day, gone a lonesome day [going home to stay]
The chilly wind will soon begin and I'll be on my way
And I feel like I want to travel on

There's a lonesome freight at 6:08 coming through the town
I'll be homeward bound, I'll be homeward bound
There's a lonesome freight at 6:08 coming through the town
And I feel like I [just] want to travel on

Done hung around, done sung around, this old town all year
Winter's almost here, winter's almost here
Done hung around, done sung around, this old town all year
And I feel like I want to travel on

My Rainbow Race

Words and music by Pete Seeger
Rise Up Singing chapter: Ecology, p.36
G C D G / Em Am D G ://

My song for today is a beautiful Pete Seeger original. It's easy to play, too. Isn't that lovely?

Chorus:
One blue sky above us, one ocean lapping all our shores
One earth so green and round, who could ask for more?
And because I love you, I'm gonna give it one more try
To show my rainbow race it's too soon to die

Some people live like an ostrich
Bury their heads in the sand
Some hope that plastic dreams
Can unclench all those greedy hands
Some people want to take the easy way
Poisons, bombs, they think we need 'em
Don't you know you can't kill all the unbelievers
There's no short cut to freedom

Go tell, go tell all the children
Go tell all the mothers and fathers too
Now's our last chance to learn to share
What's been given to me and you

Old Time Religion (parody)

New words written and music adapted by anonymous filk singers and Pete Seeger
Rise Up Singing chapter: Funny Songs, p.74
E - / B7 E / - A / EB7 E

Chorus:
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
And that's good enough for me

We will pray to Aphrodite
Even though she's rather flighty
And they say she wears no nightie
And that's good enough for me

We will pray with those Egyptians
Build pyramids to put our crypts our in
Cover subways with inscriptions
And that's...

O-old Odin we will follow
And in fighting we will wallow
Til we wind up in Valhalla...

Let me follow dear old Buddha
For there is nobody cuter
He comes in plaster, wood or pewter...

We will pray with Zarathustra
Pray just like we useta
I'm a Zarathustra booster...

We will pray with those old druids
They drink fermented fluids
Waltz naked through the woo-ids...

Hare Krishna gets a laugh on
When he sees me dressed in saffron
With my hair that's only half on...

I'll arise at early morning
When my Lord [the sun] gives me the warning
That the solar age is dawning...

By the Rivers of Babylon

By Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton (words adapted from Psalm 137 in The Bible)
Original recording by The Melodians
Rise Up Singing chapter: Freedom, p.63

D - - - / A - D - / - - G D / - - A D
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down
And there we wept when we remember(ed) Zion
*There the wicked* carry us away captivity, require of us a song
How can we sing *King Alfa's* song in a strange land?

Alt: *The Babylonians* carry us away captivity, require of us a song
How can we sing *the Lord's* song in a strange land?

Bridge: D A D A / D A D -
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in thy sight *over I*

Alt: Be acceptable in thy sight *here tonight*

This is from Psalm 137, which in the Complete Jewish Bible, goes like this:
1 By the rivers of Bavel we sat down and wept as we remembered Tziyon. 2 We had hung up our lyres on the willows that were there, 3 when those who had taken us captive asked us to sing them a song; our tormentors demanded joy from us -"Sing us one of the songs from Tziyon!" 4 How can we sing a song about ADONAI here on foreign soil?

Birmingham Sunday

Words by Richard Farina; melody, traditional English ("I Loved a Lass")
Rise Up Singing chapter: Freedom, p.59

R.U.S. chords: E - - A - / E - D E B7 / E B7 E - / D - E -

My slight change: E - - A - / E - D E - / E B7 E - / D - E -

Come round by my side and I'll sing you a song I'll sing it so softly, it'll do no one wrong On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine And the choirs kept singing of Freedom

http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5349

That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one At an old baptist church there was no need to run And the choirs kept singing of Freedom

...

Garden Song

(Song begins at 0:47)
By Dave Mallet (alternative chorus by Pete Seeger)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Farm and Prairie, p.52

I do the Pete Seeger lyrics, but they're not that different from Dave Mallet's. I'll write out Dave Mallet's and put Pete Seeger's changes in brackets for you [like this].

Chords:
D - G D / G A D - / G A D Bm / (1st time) E - A - :// (2nd time) E A D -

Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All you need is a rake and a hoe [Gonna mulch it deep and low]
And a piece of fertile ground [Gonna make it fertile ground]
Inch by inch, row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow [Please bless these seeds I sow]
Someone warm them from below [Please keep them safe below]
Til the rains come tumbling down

Pulling weeds, picking stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own for the time is near at hand
Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way through nature's chain
Tune my body and my brain to the music of the land

Plant your rows straight and long
Temper them with prayer and song
Mother earth will make you strong if you give her love and care
An old crow watching hungrily
From his perch in yonder tree
In my garden I'm as free as that feathered thief up there

Carry it On

(Song begins at 1:35)
Words and music by Gil Turner (new verses by Marion Wade)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Peace, p.158
D - / A D / - - / A D / /

There's a man by my side walking
There's a voice inside me talking
There's a word that needs a-saying
(Chorus) Carry it on, carry it on
Carry it on, carry it on

They will tell their lying stories
Send their dogs to bite our bodies
They will lock us in their prisons
Carry it on, carry it on (2x)

All their lies be soon forgotten
All their dogs are gonna lie there rotting
All their prison walls will crumble
Carry it on, carry it on (2x)

If you can't go on any longer
Take the hand of your sister and your brother
Every victory's gonna bring another
Carry it on, carry it on (2x)

New verses by Marion Wade:

For the dream never ending
You can hear the voices blending
Loud and clear, their echoes sending
Carry it on, carry it on (2x)

Through the air the song is winging
Down the years, hope keeps springing
No more tears, we're still singing
Carry it on, carry it on (2x)

Here's the great cover by Ross Altman on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ECSP9pN2f0

Today

By Randy Sparks
Rise Up Singing chapter: Time and Changes, p.228

Chorus:
C Am F G / / C C7 F Fm
C Am Dm G - C ( Am F G )
Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine
A million tomorrows shall all pass away
Ere I forget all the joys that are mine today

Verses:
C Am F G / / / F G C ( G )
Well I'll be a dandy and I'll be a rover
You'll know who I am by the song that I sing
I'll feast at your table, I'll sleep in your clover
Who cares what tomorrow may bring?

I can't be contented with yesterday's glories
I can't live on promises winter to spring
Today is my moment and now is my story
I'll laugh and I'll cry and I'll sing

Pick a Bale o' Cotton

By Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Farm and Prairie, p.56
G - - D / G - D G :// 4x

Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day
Oh Lordy, pick a bale o' cotton
Oh Lordy, pick a bale a day
Oh Lordy, pick a bale o' cotton
Oh Lordy, pick a bale a day

Also possible: Oh Julie, pick a bale o' cotton, etc.

Gonna get on my knees and...
*Gonna jump, jump, jump down...
Me and my gal gonna...
Me and my buddy gonna...
I believe to my soul I can...
Went to Corsicana to...
*Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a...

*: These are irregular verses, in which the first line doesn't repeat exactly all the way through. Both of them can be sung as regular repetitive verses, though, with little to no damage to the song.
The irregular verses (according to R.U.S.):

Gonna jump, jump, jump down, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day
Gonna jump, jump, jump down, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day

Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a, pick a bale o' cotton
Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a, pick a bale a day
Gonna pick-a pick-a pick-a pick-a, pick a bale o' cotton
We're gonna jump down, turn around, pick a bale a day

Sinner Man

Rise Up Singing chapter: Spirituals, p. 212
Dm - / C - / Dm - / DmC Dm

Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to? (3x)
All on that day?

Run to the rock, the rock was a-melting (3x)
All on that day

Run to the sea, the sea was a-boiling (3x)...
Run to the moon, the moon was a-bleeding (3x)...
Run to the Lord, Lord, won't you hide me? (3x)...
Oh sinner man, you oughta been praying (3x)...

Battle Hymn of Women

Words by Meredith Tax; Melody, William Steffe (same as "Battle Hymn of the Republic", "John Brown's Body")
Rise Up Singing chapter: Women, p.244
Chords: G - / C G / - GEm / CD G ://
Alternate Chords: G - / C G / - B7Em / CD G ://

Lyrics:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the flame of women’s rage
Kept smoldering for centuries, now burning in this age
We no longer will be prisoners in that same old gilded cage
That’s why we’re marching on

Move on over or we’ll move on over you
Move on over or we’ll move on over you
Move on over or we’ll move on over you
For women’s time has come!

You have told us to speak softly, to be gentle and to smile
Expected us to change ourselves with every passing style
Said the only work for women was to clean and sweep and file
That’s why we’re marching on

It is we who’ve done your cooking, done your cleaning, kept your rules
We gave birth to all your children and we taught them in your schools
We’ve kept the system running but we’re laying down our tools
That’s why we’re marching on

You think that you can buy us off with crummy wedding rings
You never give us half the profit that our labor brings
Our anger eats into us, we no longer bow to kings
That’s why we’re marching on

We have broken through our shackles, now we sing a battle song
We march for liberation and we’re many millions strong
We’ll build a new society, we’ve waited much too long,
That’s why we’re marching on

Bonus: Battle Hymn of the Republic

Words by Julia Ward Howe; melody, William Steffe
Not in Rise Up Singing, but has the same tune as "John Brown's Body" and "Battle Hymn of Women"

Chords:
G - - - / C - G - / - - - Em / C D G -
or (the way I prefer):
G - - - / C - G - / - - B7 Em / C D G -

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

On Top of Spaghetti

Words by Tom Glazer, Melody: traditional ("On Top of Old Smokey"). Arranged by Tom Glazer
Rise Up Singing chapter: Play, p. 175
F C / G7 C (the song is in the key of C)

This is how it starts:
On top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese
I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed

I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night

Words by Alfred Hayes; melody, Earl Robinson
Rise Up Singing chapter: Work, p.256
C - F C / F GC / D G / - C

The Songs of Joe Hill: http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/hill.html
Joe Hill on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill
The AFL-CIO's Joe Hill Biography: http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/history/history/hill.cfm

Lyrics:
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as you and me
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" says he (2x)

"In Salt Lake, Joe" I said to him, standing by my bed
"They framed you on a murder charge"
Says Joe "But I ain't dead" (2x)

"The copper bosses shot you, Joe. They killed you, Joe" says I
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die" (2x)

And standing there as big as life, and smiling with his eyes
Joe says "What they could never kill
Went on to organize" (2x)

"Joe Hill ain't dead" he says to me "Joe Hill ain't never died
When workers strike and organize
Joe Hill is by their side" (2x)

From San Diego up to Maine, in every mine and mill
Where workers stand up for their rights
It's there you'll find Joe Hill (2x)

Stevens Don't Allow

Words: adapted by Si Kahn, melody: traditional (Mama Don't Allow)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Work, 259
D A D - / - - A - / - D7 G - / D A D -
I play it like this:
D A7 D - / - - A7 - / D D7 G - D A7 D -

J.P. Stevens was one of the biggest firms in the American textile industry. For the song's context, go read up on "ACTWU vs. J.P. Stevens"
Here's a quite biased but educational look at it: http://www.laboreducator.org/stevens.htm

The Mary Ellen Carter

By Stan Rogers
Rise Up Singing chapter: Seas and Sailors, p.203
Verses:
G - CD G / Am - C D / G - C G -/ Am - D - /
G - CD G / Am - C D / G - C G -/ Am D G -
Chorus:
Am D G - / C - G D / G - CD G / 1st

The Mary Ellen Carter may or may not be fictional. No one on the internet seems to know. And I'm now pretty sure I was wrong about the Great Lakes thing, since Three Mile Rock is in Newfoundland.

She went down last October in a pouring driving rain
The skipper he'd been drinking, and the mate he felt no pain
Too close to Three Mile Rock and she was dealt her mortal blow
And the Mary Ellen Carter settled low
There was just five of us aboard her when she finally was awash
We'd worked like hell to save her, all heedless of the cost
And the groan she gave as she went down, it caused us to proclaim
That the Mary Ellen Carter would rise again

Well, the owners wrote her off; not a nickel would they spend
She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end
But insurance paid the loss to us, so let her rest below
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go
But we talked of her all winter, some days around the clock
For she's worth a quarter million, boys, afloatin' at the dock (alt: afloat and at the dock)
And with every jar that hit the bar we swore we would remain
And make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

Rise again, rise again,
That her name not be lost to the knowledge of men;
Those who loved her best and were with her till the end,
Will make the Mary Ellen Carter rise again.

All spring now, we've been with her on a barge lent by a friend
Three dives a day in a hard hat suit and twice I've had the bends
Thank God it's only sixty feet and the currents here are slow
Or I'd never have the strength to go below
But we've patched her rents, stopped her vents
Dogged hatch and porthole down
Put cables to her, fore and aft and girded her around
Tomorrow, noon, we hit the air and then take up the strain
And watch the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

For we couldn't leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale
She'd saved our lives so many times, living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
They won't be laughing in another day
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter rise again

Rise again, rise again
Though your heart it be broken and life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again

Rise again, rise again
Though your heart it be broken and life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again

You Are My Sunshine

Rise Up Singing chapter: Golden Oldies, p.83
D - - - / G - D - / / D A D -

Or you can spice it up like this:
D - - D7 / G - D - / / D A7 D -

Feel free to sing along to your computer.

Shady Grove

Rise Up Singing chapter: Mountain Voices, p.149
Chords in the Rise Up Singing songbook:
Em D EmD Em / /

The chord variation I demonstrate:
Em D Em - / G D EmD Em

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

Rise Up Singing chapter: Spirituals, p.209
D - / A - / D - / A D

Suzanne

By Leonard Cohen (look up "Cohen" on Wikipedia if you have a minute and read about the Kohanim. Interesting stuff.)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Dreams and Fantasies, p.32
G - / Am - / G - / Bm C / G - / Am - / G -
Bm C / G Am / G -

This Train

Rise Up Singing chapter: Gospel, p.97

1st version (as done by Peter Paul and Mary): Dm G Dm - / - - A - / Dm D Gm - / 1st
2nd version (as done by me, for example): D A D - / - - A - / D D7 G D / 1st

I prefer to play it like this, though: D A D - / - - A - / D - G - / 1st

This song was taught to me by Ashley Penrose, a lovable man if ever there was one.
Have fun!

Down In The Valley

(Song begins at 1:48)
Traditional from southern Appalachia
Rise Up Singing chapter: Love, p.123 (pretty good page number, I think)
Chords: D - - A7 / - - - D :// (same all the way through)

Down in the valley, the valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

Roses love sunshine, violets love dew
Angels in heaven know I love you
Know I love you, dear, know I love you...

If you don't love me, love whom you please
Throw your arms 'round me, give my heart ease...

Build me a castle, 40 feet high
So I can see him as he walks by...

Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of Birmingham jail...

Writing this letter containing three lines
Answer my question, "Will you be mine"...

Tom Dooley

Collected, adapted and arranged by Frank Warner, John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax
Rise Up Singing chapter: Hard Times and Blues, p.104
G - - D7 / - - D7C G

Listen to Rob Getzschman's version of this here: http://robgetzschman.com/music/eleven-coming-back
"Buck and a Quarter" is another great one on there. An original, too.


The song is based on the execution of Tom Dula in North Carolina, 1868, for the murder of Laura Foster. Read about it:
http://www.explorewilkes.com/TomDula.htm
http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/nc/ncsites/dula.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dula


Lyrics:
Hang down your head Tom Dooley, hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head Tom Dooley: poor boy you're bound to die

I met her on the mountain, and there I took her life
I met her on the mountain and I stabbed her with my knife

Hand me down my banjo, I'll pick it on my knee
By this time tomorrow it'll be of no use to me

By this time tomorrow, reckon where I'll be
If it hadn't-a been for Grayson I'd-a been in Tennessee
(If it weren't for sheriff Grayson, I'd have been in Tennessee)

By this time tomorrow, reckon where I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley, hanging from a white oak tree

Northwest Passage

By Stan Rogers
Rise Up Singing chapter: Seas and Sailors, p.204
Chorus: D A G Bm / G D Em G / 1st / G DA D -
Verses: G D DA G / / / G DA Bm -

You can learn about the names in the song here or here.

Chorus:
Ah, for just one time, I would take the Northwest Passage
To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea
Tracing one warm line through a land so wide and savage
And make a northwest passage to the sea

Verses:
Westward from the Davis Strait, 'tis there 'twas said to lie
The sea route to the Orient for which so many died
Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones
And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones

Three centuries thereafter I take passage overland
In the footsteps of brave Kelso, where his "sea of flowers" began
Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again
This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain

And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking west
I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest
Who cracked the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me
To race the roaring Fraser to the sea

How then am I so different from the first men through this way?
Like them, I led a settled life, I threw it all away
To seek a northwest passage at the call of many men
To find there but the road back home again

Rise Up Singing: The More We Get Together

Traditional (But popularized in my generation, at least, by Raffi)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Unity, p.240
D - A D / / A D A D / 1st (this means repeat the 1st line)

A happy song for early March 2009, the best year ever.

The more we get togther, together, together
The more we get together, the happier we'll be
Cause your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends
The more we get together, the happier we'll be

Midnight Special

By Huddie Ledbetter
Rise Up Singing chapter: Hard Times and Blues, p.102
Verses: C - - - G - - - / D - - - G - ://
Chorus: C - - - G - - - / D - - - - G - - -

Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter was not the author of the song, it seems. I was wondering about that. The Lomax family just credited him when they had him record a version of it for them. It does seem like he added some verses of his own though, so as with a lot of these old American songs, he's one of several authors.

Yonder come miss-a Rosie - How in the world do you know
Well I knows her by her apron and the dress she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand
Well she's gonna tell the governor, "Please tun a-loose my man"

Chorus:
Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Let the midnight special shine its everloving light on me

When you wake up in the morning, when the ding-dong ring
Go marching to the table, meet the same old thing
Knife and fork are on the table, nothing in my pan
Ever say anything about it, have trouble with the man
...

The Last Thing on my Mind

By Tom Paxton
Rise Up Singing chapter: Love, p.125
Verses: A D A AD / A AE A - ://
Chorus: E - D A / D A E - / A D A - / E - A -

This song is a heart render, I think. Look out for my favourite rhyme: underground, and the saddest line: Please don't go. I know that doesn't sound original enough to be an especially sad line, but it's all in the context, I feel. There's a contrast with the preceding line that makes it just painfully hopeless.

It's a lesson too late for the learning
Made of sand, made of sand
In the wink of an eye my soul is turning
In your hand, in your hand

Chorus:
Are you going away with no word of farewell
Will there be not a trace left behind
Well I could have loved you better, didn't mean to be unkind
You know that was the last thing on my mind

As we walk, all my thoughts are a-tumbling
Round and round, round and round
Underneath our feet the subway's rumbling
Underground, underground

You've got reasons a-plenty for going
This I know, this I know
For the weeds have been steadily growing
Please don't go, please don't go

As I lie in my bed in the morning
Without you, without you
Each song in my heart dies a-borning
Without you, without you