This mule ain’t from Moscow
This mule ain’t from the South
But this mule's had some learnin'
Mostly mouth-to-mouth.
This mule could be called stubborn, and lazy
But in a clever sorta’ way
This mule could be workin’, waitin’ and learnin’ and plannin’
For a sacred kind of day
A day when burnin’ sticks and crosses
Is not mere child’s play
But a madman in his most incandescent bloom
Whose lover’s soul is imperfection, in its most lustrous groom.
So stand fast, young Romeo
Soothe in contemplation
Thy burning whole and aching thigh
Your stubbornness is ever-living
And cruel anxiety is about to die.
Freedom for your daddy
Freedom for your momma
Freedom for your brothers and sisters
But no freedom for me.
Freedom for your daddy’s daddy
Freedom for your momma’s momma
Freedom for your brothers and sisters
But no freedom for me.
Freedom for your daddy’s daddy
Freedom for your momma’s momma
Freedom for your brothers and sisters
But no freedom for me.
This mule ain’t from the South
But this mule's had some learnin'
Mostly mouth-to-mouth.
This mule could be called stubborn, and lazy
But in a clever sorta’ way
This mule could be workin’, waitin’ and learnin’ and plannin’
For a sacred kind of day
A day when burnin’ sticks and crosses
Is not mere child’s play
But a madman in his most incandescent bloom
Whose lover’s soul is imperfection, in its most lustrous groom.
So stand fast, young Romeo
Soothe in contemplation
Thy burning whole and aching thigh
Your stubbornness is ever-living
And cruel anxiety is about to die.
Freedom for your daddy
Freedom for your momma
Freedom for your brothers and sisters
But no freedom for me.
Freedom for your daddy’s daddy
Freedom for your momma’s momma
Freedom for your brothers and sisters
But no freedom for me.
Freedom for your daddy’s daddy
Freedom for your momma’s momma
Freedom for your brothers and sisters
But no freedom for me.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2016/7/3 - 21:18
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Parole e musica di Charles Mingus
Arrangiamento di Charles Mingus e Bob Hammer
Nell’album intitolato “Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus” pubblicato nel 1963
Il brano fu registrato a New York il 20 settembre 1963. Con Mingus molti musicisti di prim’ordine, come Jerome Richardson (sassofonista, flautista e clarinettista), Booker Ervin (sassofonista prematuramente scomparso nel 1970, a soli 40 anni), Eric Dolphy (polistrumentista e virtuoso di tutti gli strumenti a fiato, anche lui morto prematuramente, pochi mesi dopo questa registrazione) e Jaki Byard (pianista, sassofonista e compositore).
L’incipit del brano gioca con il nome di un cocktail a base di vodka in voga negli anni 50, il “Moskow Mule”, ma nello slang americano di allora “mule”, il mulo, è il negro, la bestia da soma...