What is America to me?
Viet Nam flim flam and Barry G.
A certain word, hypocrisy,
What is America to me?
The house we live in
On segregation street,
The racists and the bigots
And the jingoists we meet,
The generals and the statesmen
Who‘d drop the bomb with glee,
Who'd rather burn the house down
Than keep it safe and free.
The same old crackpots
From those MCCarthy Days
Who simply have adapted
And refined crude Nazi ways,
They want to turn the clock back,
Leave progress in the lurch,
Goldwater is their leader
And he's a son of a birch.
The things I see about me,
And we know whom to blame,
The cruelty and murder
That brings oura country shame,
The blood in Mississippi,
The tragedy and tears,
The freedom that's been shackled
For a hundred and eighty years.
The house we live in
It won't last long this way,
We‘ve got to meet the challenge
To survive from day to day,
a The roaches have come crawling,
Each rat and every louse,
The truth must reach the people,
‘It is time to clean the house.
Viet Nam flim flam and Barry G.
A certain word, hypocrisy,
What is America to me?
The house we live in
On segregation street,
The racists and the bigots
And the jingoists we meet,
The generals and the statesmen
Who‘d drop the bomb with glee,
Who'd rather burn the house down
Than keep it safe and free.
The same old crackpots
From those MCCarthy Days
Who simply have adapted
And refined crude Nazi ways,
They want to turn the clock back,
Leave progress in the lurch,
Goldwater is their leader
And he's a son of a birch.
The things I see about me,
And we know whom to blame,
The cruelty and murder
That brings oura country shame,
The blood in Mississippi,
The tragedy and tears,
The freedom that's been shackled
For a hundred and eighty years.
The house we live in
It won't last long this way,
We‘ve got to meet the challenge
To survive from day to day,
a The roaches have come crawling,
Each rat and every louse,
The truth must reach the people,
‘It is time to clean the house.
Contributed by dq82 - 2016/11/3 - 17:31
Language: English
La versione originale, cantata da Frank Sinatra
The House I Live In was a short film made in 1945 at the end of World War II to promote racial tolerance starring Frank Sinatra. It received an Honorary Academy Award and a special Golden Globe award in 1946.
The House I Live In was a short film made in 1945 at the end of World War II to promote racial tolerance starring Frank Sinatra. It received an Honorary Academy Award and a special Golden Globe award in 1946.
What is America to me?
A name, a map, or a flag I see?
A certain word, "democracy"?
What is America to me?
The house I live in, a plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher, and the people that I meet
The children in the playground, the faces that I see
All races and religions, that's America to me
The place I work in, the worker by my side
The little town or city where my people lived and died
The "howdy" and the handshake, the air of feeling free
And the right to speak my mind out, that's America to me
The things I see about me, the big things and the small
The little corner newsstand and the house a mile tall
The wedding in the churchyard, the laughter and the tears
The dream that's been a-growin' for a hundred and fifty years
The town I live in, the street, the house, the room
The pavement of the city, or a garden all in bloom
The church, the school, the clubhouse, the millions lights I see
But especially the people
That's America to me
A name, a map, or a flag I see?
A certain word, "democracy"?
What is America to me?
The house I live in, a plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher, and the people that I meet
The children in the playground, the faces that I see
All races and religions, that's America to me
The place I work in, the worker by my side
The little town or city where my people lived and died
The "howdy" and the handshake, the air of feeling free
And the right to speak my mind out, that's America to me
The things I see about me, the big things and the small
The little corner newsstand and the house a mile tall
The wedding in the churchyard, the laughter and the tears
The dream that's been a-growin' for a hundred and fifty years
The town I live in, the street, the house, the room
The pavement of the city, or a garden all in bloom
The church, the school, the clubhouse, the millions lights I see
But especially the people
That's America to me
Contributed by dq82 - 2016/11/3 - 17:33
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Broadside #50
Some years ago, I wrote the words of "The House I Live In" which Earl Robinson set to music. It won a fiction Picture Academy Award and has been recorded by a number of artists including Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis, Paul Robeson, Josh White and others. It is not a photographic picture of our country but a reminder of its democratic
potential which must be protected, strengthened, deepened and made available to all people without exception. Here is a parody of the song which may have some use during the weeks prior to Election Day."
LEWIS ALLAN
Una parodia di una famosa canzone di Sinatra, riscritta dall'autore stesso per l'Election day nel lontano 1964... 52 anni dopo può andare bene lo stesso.