On the 14th day of April of 1935,
There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky.
You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black,
And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track.
From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line,
Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande,
It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down,
We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom.
The radio reported, we listened with alarm,
The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm;
From Albuquerque and Clovis, and all New Mexico,
They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw.
From old Dodge City, Kansas, the dust had rung their knell,
And a few more comrades sleeping on top of old Boot Hill.
From Denver, Colorado, they said it blew so strong,
They thought that they could hold out, but they didn't know how long.
Our relatives were huddled into their oil boom shacks,
And the children they was cryin' as it whistled through the cracks.
And the family it was crowded into their little room,
They thought the world had ended, and they thought it was their doom.
The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night,
When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight.
We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grown
Was now a rippling ocean of dust the wind had blown.
It covered up our fences, it covered up our barns,
It covered up our tractors in this wild and dusty storm.
We loaded our jalopies and piled our families in,
We rattled down that highway to never come back again.
There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky.
You could see that dust storm comin', the cloud looked deathlike black,
And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track.
From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line,
Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande,
It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down,
We thought it was our judgement, we thought it was our doom.
The radio reported, we listened with alarm,
The wild and windy actions of this great mysterious storm;
From Albuquerque and Clovis, and all New Mexico,
They said it was the blackest that ever they had saw.
From old Dodge City, Kansas, the dust had rung their knell,
And a few more comrades sleeping on top of old Boot Hill.
From Denver, Colorado, they said it blew so strong,
They thought that they could hold out, but they didn't know how long.
Our relatives were huddled into their oil boom shacks,
And the children they was cryin' as it whistled through the cracks.
And the family it was crowded into their little room,
They thought the world had ended, and they thought it was their doom.
The storm took place at sundown, it lasted through the night,
When we looked out next morning, we saw a terrible sight.
We saw outside our window where wheat fields they had grown
Was now a rippling ocean of dust the wind had blown.
It covered up our fences, it covered up our barns,
It covered up our tractors in this wild and dusty storm.
We loaded our jalopies and piled our families in,
We rattled down that highway to never come back again.
inviata da Pluck - 28/8/2025 - 11:31
×
![]()
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
© Copyright 1960 (renewed) and 1963 (renewed) by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
Fonte : "Great Dust Storm" ~ Woody Guthrie
Nel 1935 le "dust storms" che s’abbattono sulle Grandi Pianure costringono agricoltori, proprietari terrieri, operai e disoccupati di Texas, Tennesee e Georgia a partire verso l’Ovest in cerca di lavoro. Anche Woody decide di partire per la California, lasciando a Pampa moglie e figli. Attraversare l’America è allora come passare attraverso la sua stessa anima. E Guthrie canta la sua odissea e quella degli americani che come lui sono costretti a lasciare le loro terre per cercare lavoro. Si sofferma sulle sofferenze patite durante i viaggi, con la disperazione di non riuscire a trovare un posto in cui stare.
La canzone "Dust Storm Disater" (Il disastro delle tempeste di polvere, 1960) racconta proprio la reazione di quella gente di fronte alla tempesta di polvere che il 14 aprile 1935 si abbatté sui loro territori come un “pesante sipario nero”. Così la descrive Walter J. Stein in "California and the Dust Bowl Migration": i coloni che avevano seminato il terreno delle grandi pianure a cotone, granturco e frumento non raccolsero nulla a causa del loro modo dannoso di coltivare la terra. Il terreno superficiale sfruttato da arature forzate non era più fertile. E all’arrivo della siccità si trasformò in polvere soffiata dai venti e sospinta attraverso gli stati dell’Est. Si dimostrò che le tempeste di polvere furono una catastrofe creata dall’uomo, il risultato di anni di sfruttamento improprio della terra [W. J. Stein, p. 13-14]. Ma molti videro in questa tragedia il giudizio e la condanna di Dio sugli uomini, come dimostra anche questa canzone di Guthrie:
"Pensammo che fosse arrivato il giorno del giudizio/Pensammo che fosse arrivata la nostra ora".
Fonte :
Patria Indipendente - n.150 - 3 Ottobre 2017
Il menestrello antifascista e antisistema
Chiara Ferrari
The Great Dust Storm (Dust Storm Disaster) / I Ain't Got No Home / Talking Dust Bowl Blues / Vigilante Man / Dust Can't Kill Me / Dust Pneumonia Blues / Pretty Boy Floyd / Blowin' Down The Road (I Ain't Gonna To Be Treated This Way) / Tom Joad (Part 1) / Tom Joad (Part 2) / Dust Bowl Refugee / Do Re Mi / Dust Bowl Blues / Dusty Old Dust (So Long It's Been Good To Know Yuh)