There is mean things happening in this land.
There is mean things happening in this land.
But the Union's going on,
And the Union's growing strong.
There is mean things happening in this land
On the eighteenth day of May
the Union called a strike
But planters and their bosses
throwed the people out of their shacks
There is mean things happening in this land.
There is mean things happening in this land
But the Union's going on,
And the Union's growing strong.
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
Oh, the rich man boasts and brags
While the poor man goes in rags
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
Too much cotton in our sacks
So we have none on our backs
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
To much groceries on the shelves
So we have none for ourselves
There is mean things happening in this land.
There is mean things happening in this land.
But the Union's going on,
And the Union's growing strong.
There is mean things happening in this land
On the eighteenth day of May
the Union called a strike
But planters and their bosses
throwed the people out of their shacks
There is mean things happening in this land.
There is mean things happening in this land
But the Union's going on,
And the Union's growing strong.
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
Oh, the rich man boasts and brags
While the poor man goes in rags
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
Too much cotton in our sacks
So we have none on our backs
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
There is mean things happening in this land
To much groceries on the shelves
So we have none for ourselves
There is mean things happening in this land.
inviata da Bernart - 29/11/2013 - 22:01
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Scritta da John Handcox.
Nel disco “Gazette with Pete Seeger, Vol. 1” pubblicato nel 1958.
Nelle note del disco di Seeger è raccolta la testimonianza dell’autore di questo brano, un bracciante nero dell’Arkansas che durante la Grande Depressione fu pure attivista della Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union. John Handcox - che fu anche un songwriter - racconta di come in quei durissimi anni i lavoratori che si iscrivevano al sindacato venivano immediatamente cacciati, anche in pieno inverno. Riunioni e meeting erano sempre minacciati dalle incursioni delle guardie private e della polizia e non era raro che qualche militante fosse ammazzato.
All’epoca la paga di un bracciante agricolo era di 70 cent al giorno, dall’alba al tramonto. Fu così che nella primavera del 1937 i lavoratori scesero in sciopero reclamando una giornata di lavoro di 10 ore pagata 1 dollaro e 50. I proprietari ancora una volta scelsero la via della forza, cercando di riportare i braccianti al lavoro sotto la minaccia dei fucili spianati; poi provarono coi crumiri... Ma non riuscirono a piegare la lotta. “What you mean that you crush my people and grind the face of the poor?”, cantavano gli scioperanti marciando compatti contro i padroni e i loro servi...
Negli anni 80 John Handcox ha registrato lui stesso alcune delle sue vecchie canzoni, insieme ad altre più recenti, nell’album intitolato “John L. Handcox: Songs, Poems and Stories of the Southern Tenant Farmers”. Le prime due strofe non compaiono nella versione di Pete Seeger.