I had a dream the other night.
Sing on, brother, sing;
About this war we've got to fight
Sing on, brother, sing;
I dreamt the Devil come to me,
And he woke me up from out of my sleep;
And here is what he said to me,
Sing on, brother, sing.
I raised up from out o' my bed;
Sing on brother, sing!
And to the devil, this I said:
Sing on, brother, sing!
Pray, tell me, sir, what brings you here?
Trifling? Gambling? Wine or beer?
Or is my doomsday drawing near?
Sing on, neighbor, sing.
The Devil opened his big black book;
Sing on, sister, sing!
He opened it up and took a look;
Sing on, brother, sing!
He read off Adolph Hitler's name;
He said "Old Hell just ain't the same!
Compared to the Nazis, Hell's too tame!"
Sing on, sisters, sing!
I then pulled on my fighting pants;
Sing on, brother, sing!
The Devil of Hell he sung and danced!
Sing on, sister, sing!
He said: "If you'll go and win this war,
And chase that super chase out for sure,
I'll never raise Hell on earth no more!"
Sing on, parder, sing!
You better get ready, brother!
You better get ready, sister!
You better get ready,
'Cause you know you've got to fight!
You better get ready, brother!
You better get ready, sister!
You better get ready,
'Cause you may be called tonight!
Sing on, brother, sing;
About this war we've got to fight
Sing on, brother, sing;
I dreamt the Devil come to me,
And he woke me up from out of my sleep;
And here is what he said to me,
Sing on, brother, sing.
I raised up from out o' my bed;
Sing on brother, sing!
And to the devil, this I said:
Sing on, brother, sing!
Pray, tell me, sir, what brings you here?
Trifling? Gambling? Wine or beer?
Or is my doomsday drawing near?
Sing on, neighbor, sing.
The Devil opened his big black book;
Sing on, sister, sing!
He opened it up and took a look;
Sing on, brother, sing!
He read off Adolph Hitler's name;
He said "Old Hell just ain't the same!
Compared to the Nazis, Hell's too tame!"
Sing on, sisters, sing!
I then pulled on my fighting pants;
Sing on, brother, sing!
The Devil of Hell he sung and danced!
Sing on, sister, sing!
He said: "If you'll go and win this war,
And chase that super chase out for sure,
I'll never raise Hell on earth no more!"
Sing on, parder, sing!
You better get ready, brother!
You better get ready, sister!
You better get ready,
'Cause you know you've got to fight!
You better get ready, brother!
You better get ready, sister!
You better get ready,
'Cause you may be called tonight!
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2014/5/13 - 09:39
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Parole e musica di Woody Guthrie.
Conosciuta anche con i titoli alternativi di “Sing On Brother, Sing!” e “The Devil’s Song”.
La canzone fu registrata per la prima volta nel 1944 dagli Union Boys, un “supergruppo” costituito da Burl Ives, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Tom Glazer e Pete Seeger.
Trovo il brano in un paio di collezioni: “That's Why We're Marching: World War II and the American Folksong Movement” (Smithsonian Folkways Records, 1996) e “Songs For Political Action - Folk Music And The American Left 1926 – 1953” (Bear Family Records, sempre del 1996)
Il nostro menestrello dell’Oklahoma, preoccupato dalla guerra in Europa, incontra in sogno il Diavolo il quale gli dice di non avere indugi, che Hitler ed il nazismo sono peggio assai dell’Inferno e che pure il principe degli Inferi sta dalla parte di chi combatte un simile flagello e, anzi, promette a Guthrie che, una volta eliminato Hitler, non proverà mai più a scatenare l’Inferno sulla Terra…
Canzone squisitamente anti-fascista dell’epoca del “Why We Fight”, quando Guthrie – e la maggioranza dei folksinger leftisti – aveva ormai abbandonato ogni dubbio e abbracciato la causa dell’intervento militare statunitense nella seconda guerra mondiale: “War Songs Are Work Songs”.