[Part 1]
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
Ev'ryone who's been to school,
Heard about the Golden Rule,
It's a story old but true,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
Now the way it looks to me,
It's a case of reciprocity,
We must observe it implicitly,
If we hope to save the world from calamity.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
We must learn to give and take,
If a better world we hope to make,
How can you teach Hungarians democracy,
While at home you practice racial bigotry?
We must respect the other fellow's point of view;
He has a right to his opinions, too.
You know, the "know how" of being free,
Is not a Yankee monopoly.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
Now friends I don' think it's fair,
To spew so much venom on the air,
About the cruel and evil Russian Bear,
And threaten to atomize his rear,
Simply because [???] tries,
With all the power that within him lies,
to bring the people of his great country,
The blessings of abundance and security.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
[Part 2]
We condemn them for supposed tyranny,
And denial to the press of liberty.
But tell me this one thing, candidly:
Is Greece, or Spain, or even China, free?
And black men in this great democracy,
Do they walk with noble dignity?
Or do they hang their heads in shame,
And torture their souls in a Jim Crow train?
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
What a great pity it is to see,
Churches in our beloved country,
Denying the brotherhood of man,
By bowing to the doctrine of segregation.
These are the wrongs we must rectify,
If the American way we would have others try,
Of them I think of democracy,
Just another form of Nazi tyranny.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
It's not enough to boast about democracy,
Of constitutions and liberty,
While in Congress there's nothing of decency,
To put an end to fillibustering chicanery,
We must practice what we preach,
If we would Poles and Balkans teach,
That in our great land the world might see,
A shining example of democracy.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
I mean it adds up man.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
Ev'ryone who's been to school,
Heard about the Golden Rule,
It's a story old but true,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
Now the way it looks to me,
It's a case of reciprocity,
We must observe it implicitly,
If we hope to save the world from calamity.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
We must learn to give and take,
If a better world we hope to make,
How can you teach Hungarians democracy,
While at home you practice racial bigotry?
We must respect the other fellow's point of view;
He has a right to his opinions, too.
You know, the "know how" of being free,
Is not a Yankee monopoly.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
Now friends I don' think it's fair,
To spew so much venom on the air,
About the cruel and evil Russian Bear,
And threaten to atomize his rear,
Simply because [???] tries,
With all the power that within him lies,
to bring the people of his great country,
The blessings of abundance and security.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
[Part 2]
We condemn them for supposed tyranny,
And denial to the press of liberty.
But tell me this one thing, candidly:
Is Greece, or Spain, or even China, free?
And black men in this great democracy,
Do they walk with noble dignity?
Or do they hang their heads in shame,
And torture their souls in a Jim Crow train?
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
What a great pity it is to see,
Churches in our beloved country,
Denying the brotherhood of man,
By bowing to the doctrine of segregation.
These are the wrongs we must rectify,
If the American way we would have others try,
Of them I think of democracy,
Just another form of Nazi tyranny.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
It's not enough to boast about democracy,
Of constitutions and liberty,
While in Congress there's nothing of decency,
To put an end to fillibustering chicanery,
We must practice what we preach,
If we would Poles and Balkans teach,
That in our great land the world might see,
A shining example of democracy.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
For it's as simple as one and one makes two,
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you,
It's the only way that wars will cease,
And men of goodwill shall walk in peace.
I mean it adds up man.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2016/1/15 - 13:56
"According to Pete Seeger, the 1948 Lead Belly song 'Equality for Negroes' was inspired by a Sir Lancelot song" en.wikipedia
Non possiamo purtoppo più chiederlo a Pete Seeger che, se mai disse quanto sopra, si sbagliò: non era una canzone di Sir Lancelot ma God Made Us All (Ode to the Negro Race) di Lord Invader che piacque così tanto a Leadbelly da volerne fare una cover...
Non possiamo purtoppo più chiederlo a Pete Seeger che, se mai disse quanto sopra, si sbagliò: non era una canzone di Sir Lancelot ma God Made Us All (Ode to the Negro Race) di Lord Invader che piacque così tanto a Leadbelly da volerne fare una cover...
Bernart Bartleby - 2016/1/15 - 23:10
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Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Parole e musica di Lancelot Victor Edward Pinard (1902-2001), cantante ed attore originario di Trinidad e Tobago, re del calypso negli USA del secondo dopoguerra.
Testo trovato su Protest Song Lyrics
Trovo il brano nella raccolta “Songs For Political Action - Folk Music And The American Left 1926 – 1953” (Bear Family Records, 1996)
Sir Lancelot non compose soltanto calypso da intrattenimento, ma parecchie sue canzoni avevano testi pacifisti o di sinistra, basti pensare a titoli come Atomic Energy, "Defenders of Stalingrad" e "Walk in Peace". Fu ammirato e imitato da musicisti diventati poi molto più famosi di lui, come Harry Belafonte e Leadbelly. Pare che quest’ultimo fu ispirato ai testi di Sir Lancelot nello scrivere la sua “Equality for Negroes”…