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I Hate the Capitalist System

Sarah Ogan Gunning
Language: English


Sarah Ogan Gunning

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(The Groovers)


[193?]
Parole e musica di Sarah Ogan Gunning, sorellastra di Aunt Molly Jackson.
Dall’album “Girl of Constant Sorrow”, Folk Legacy Records, 1965.
Riproposta da Barbara Dane nell’album “I Hate the Capitalist System”, Paredon Records, 1973.



Dedication. This recording is respectfully dedicated to the millions of hard-working people who really made America great, in the sure knowledge that one day they will gather up their strength, their courage and their wisdom, and they will come together to smash this decayed and dying system. They will use their inventiveness and industry to raise all our people to a decent living standard, and restore us to a place of respect among the fellowship of nations. They are the creators of history, and they will construct the socialist future.
Specifically, I want to dedicate these songs to my sister , Julia, who has recently entered that great school of Life, the industrial working class. She has already learned that she is much more than the timid, ignorant housewife she thought she was, and more than the underpaid, isolated book-keeper and salesclerk she had to be. Now she knows she can operate powerful and dangerous machines, she can think through her problems and speak up against anyone who threatens her right to work and live. Every day new wisdom, new strength and beauty grow in her because she is no longer alone. She is part of the millions.” Barbara Dane (dall’introduzione al suo disco intitolato“I Hate the Capitalist System” ed ispirato alla canzone scritta negli anni 30 da Sarah Ogan Gunning)

“When Sara Ogan wrote this song, she had just experienced the loss of her mother and her baby, and her husband was dying of tuberculosis. It was in the 1930s, in the part of Kentucky where the historic battles to organize the mine workers was raging, in the depths of the nation‘s worst depression. Her half-sister, Aunt Molly Jackson, her brother Jim Garland, and Sara herself wrote the strongest and clearest and most angry songs to come out of these times. Here is what Woody Guthrie wrote about Sara:

"She's a housewife and more than a housewife. A mother and more than a mother. She’s worked and slaved and fought to save the children of her own home, and to keep her own house, and she was so full of the Union Spirit that she found time to get out in the wind and rain and the hail of bullets from the deputies guns, and make up her own songs and sing them to give nerve and backbone to the starving men that slaved in the coal mines”…
“(Her songs) are deadlier and stronger than rifle bullets and have cut a wider swath than a machine gun could”…
"Sara loved her husband. He's dead from hard work in the mines. She loved her baby that died. She loves the two she’s still got, and she hates the system that wrecked her family. Hates the set-up that robbed her kids' mouths. Hates the guns of war that aim at her songs and daughters. Hates all of these big Crooks and Greedy Rich Folks, reason is because she Loves what She Loves, and she'll fight to protect her Home.”...
“(The big rich guys) claim they own all of this stuff. Sara says they don’t. Sara says it belongs equal and alike to all of us. I say Sara is right. It damn shore don’t belong to no one special feller, nor no one special family, nor no few special families. It belongs equal and alike to all of us. Me, and you. Us.”


I sing this song every time I can because I agree with her, with all my heart.

(Nota introduttiva al brano dal libretto che accompagna l’album di Barbara Dane citato)

I hate the capitalist system,
And I'll tell you the reason why:
It has caused me so much suffering,
And my dearest friends to die.

Well I know you all are wondering
What it has done to me.
Well I am going to tell you
That my husband has TB

Brought on by hard work and low wages,
And never enough to eat,
From going cold and hungry,
With no shoes upon his feet.

My husband was a coal miner
Who worked hard and risked his life,
Just trying to support three children,
Himself, his mother and wife.

Well I had a blue-eyed baby
Was the darling of my heart.
But from my little darling
Her mother had to part.

While the rich and mighty capitalist
Goes dressed in jewels and silk,
My darling blue-eyed baby
Has died for the want of milk.

Wellthey call this the land of plenty,
And for them I guess it's true,
For the rich and mighty capitalist,
Not for workers like me and you.

Well what can we do about it
To these men of power and might?
Well I tell you, Mr. Capitalist,
We are going to fight, fight, fight.

Contributed by Alessandro - 2010/3/16 - 13:35




Language: English

version 2

Nell'interpretazione della Dane, direttamente da un vecchio vinile con graffi e fruscii, non è - nella sostanza - una versione diversa di "I Hate the Capitalist System" (un titolo e una canzone che, almeno all'epoca negli States aveva la forza di una bestemmia), ma ha delle strofe in più…
I hate the capitalist system,
And I will tell you the reason why:
It has caused me so much suffering,
And my dearest friends to die.

Well I know you all are wondering
What it has done to me.
Well I am going to tell you
That my husband had TB

Brought on by hard work and low wages,
And never enough to eat,
And going raggedy and hungry,
With no shoes upon his feet.
I guess you'll say he's lazy,
An' did not want to work.
But I must say you're crazy,
For work he did not shirk.

My husband was a coal miner
Who worked hard and risked his life,
Just trying to support three children,
Himself, his mother and wife.

I had a blue-eyed baby
the darling of my heart.
But from my little darling
Her mother had to part.

The rich and mighty capitalist
Goes dressed in jewels and silk,
My darling blue-eyed baby
Has died for the want of milk.

I had a darlin' mother,
For her I often cry.
But with them rotten conditions
My mother had to die.

Well, what killed, what killed your mother?
Oh tell us if you please.
Well, it was old pellagra,
That starvation disease.

Well they call this the land of plenty,
And to them I guess it's true,
For the rich and mighty capitalist,
Not for workers like me and you.

Oh what can we do about it
To these men of power and might?
Well I tell you, Mr. Capitalist,
We are going to fight, fight, fight.

Contributed by giorgio - 2010/3/20 - 08:19




Language: Italian

Versione italiana
ODIO IL SISTEMA CAPITALISTA

Odio il sistema capitalista
e vi dirò il perché:
mi ha procurato tanta sofferenza
e ha fatto morire i miei amici più cari.

Bè, so che vi chiederete
che cosa mai mi ha fatto,
allora vi dirò
che mio marito ha avuto la tubercolosi..

causata dal duro lavoro e da paghe da fame
e dal non aver mai abbastanza da mangiare
e dall'andare avanti lacero e affamato
senza neanche le scarpe ai piedi.

So già che mi direte che era pigro,
e che non voleva lavorare
Devo dirvi allora che siete pazzi
perché lui non fu mai uno scanzafatiche

Mio marito era un minatore del carbone
che faticava assai e rischiava la vita
solo per cercar di portare avanti tre figli,
se stesso, sua madre e me.

Avevo una bambina dagli occhi blu
il tesoro del mio cuore
ma dal mio piccolo tesoro
sua madre ha dovuto separarsi.

Il capitalista ricco e potente
veste con seta e gioielli,
il mio piccolo tesoro dagli occhi blu
è morta per mancanza di latte.

Avevo anche una cara madre
per la quale continuo a piangere
perché per queste condizioni precarie
mia madre venne a mancare..

Ma cosa uccise tua madre?
Oh diccelo se puoi
Bè, è stata la pellagra,
la consueta malattia dei denutriti.

L'hanno chiamata terra dell'abbondanza
beh, per loro sarà anche vero,
ma per i capitalisti ricchi e potenti,
non per i lavoratori come noi.

Oh che possiamo perciò fare
contro questi uomini ricchi e potenti?
Allora ti rispondo, signor capitalista
lotteremo, lotteremo e lotteremo.

Contributed by giorgio - 2010/3/20 - 08:25




Language: French

Version française – JE HAIS LE SYSTÈME CAPITALISTE – Marco Valdo M.I. – 2010
D'après la version italienne de Giorgio d'une chanson étazunienne – I Hate de capitalist system – Sarah Ogan Gunning – dans les années 1930.


Nous aussi, dit Marco Valdo M.I., et pour les mêmes raisons, c'est-à-dire à cause des souffrances, des millions d'affamés et de pauvres que ce système engendre. Le système capitaliste est le système criminel le plus perfectionné de tous les temps; il est la plus puissante machine de guerre que les riches ont mis en marche contre les pauvres. Dans la Guerre de Cent Mille Ans que les riches mènent contre les pauvres pour accroître leur domination, leurs richesses et leurs privilèges, c'est la plus vaste et la plus meurtrière offensive connue jusqu'à présent.

C'est exactement çà, dit Lucien l'âne en raclant le sol de ses deux sabots antérieurs, c'est une guerre sans merci que ce système mène contre les humains et il convient d'en débarrasser la planète avant qu'il ne soit trop tard... Car en plus, il met en péril mortel la vie elle-même sur la planète, y compris celle des autres espèces. Pour cela, mon ami Marco Valdo M.I., tissons le linceul de ce vieux monde assassin et cacochyme. Ora e sempre : Resistenza !

Ainsi Parlaient Marco Valdo M.I. et Lucien Lane.
JE HAIS LE SYSTÈME CAPITALISTE

Je hais le système capitaliste
Et je vais vous dire pourquoi
Il m'a infligé tant de souffrances
Et il a fait mourir mes plus chers amis.

Oui, je sais que vous vous demandez
Qu'est-ce qu'il a bien pu me faire,
Alors je vous dirai
Que mon mari a eu la tuberculose

Causée par son dur travail et son bas salaire
Et de n'avoir jamais assez à manger
Et d'aller toujours dépenaillé et affamé
Sans même des chaussures aux pieds.

Je sais bien que vous direz qu'il était fainéant
Et qu'il ne voulait pas travailler
Je dois vous dire que vous êtes fous
Car lui ne fut jamais un tire-au-flanc.

Mon mari était un mineur de charbon
Qui bossait fort et risquait sa vie
Pour pouvoir nourrir trois enfants,
Lui-même, sa mère et moi.

J'avais une gamine aux yeux bleus
Le trésor de mon cœur
Mais de mon petit trésor
Sa mère a dû se séparer.

Capitaliste riche et puissant
Vêtu de soie et de bijoux !
Mon petit trésor aux yeux bleus
Est morte par manque de lait.

J'avais ma chère mère
Que je pleure encore
Car par ces conditions précaires
Ma mère a trouvé la mort.

Mais qu'est-ce qui a tué ta mère ?
Oh, dis-le nous si tu le peux
Et bien, ce fut la pellagre,
La sempiternelle maladie des mal-nourris.

Ils l'ont appelée terre de l'abondance
Et bien, pour eux, ce doit être vrai,
Pour ces capitalistes enrichis et puissants,
Mais pas pour les travailleurs comme nous.

Dis, que pouvons-nous faire
Contre ces hommes riches et puissants ?
Moi, je vous dis, Monsieur le Capitaliste,
Que nous allons nous battre, nous battre et nous battre.

Contributed by Marco Valdo M.I. - 2010/3/20 - 22:21




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