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God Made Us All (Ode to the Negro Race)

Lord Invader
Language: English


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[1946]
Parole e musica di Rupert Westmore Grant, in arte Lord Invader (1914-1961), come Sir Lancelot nativo di Trinidad e Tobago e come lui uno dei principali musicisti calypso trapiantati negli USA del secondo dopoguerra.
Nel disco “Calypso in New York”, realizzato dalla Smithsonian Folkways Records nel 2000 utilizzando incisioni risalenti agli anni 40 e 50.

Calypso in New York

La canzone fu incisa a New York nel 1946 con l’introduzione e l’accompagnamento al banjo di Pete Seeger. Piacque molto a Leadbelly, che nel 1948 ne fece una sua versione. Fu infatti questo brano di Lord Invader ad ispirarlo e non, come erroneamente si afferma su en.wikipedia, uno di Sir Lancelot…
If you are a Negro you can plainly see
That you're bound to suffer misery and tyranny
If you are a Negro you can plainly see
That you're bound to suffer misery and tyranny
But we all should be race conscious and always be
Living in unity and tranquillity.

For God made us all, and in him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

We are not against the White people in any way
For they made us what we are today
We must offer thanks to Abraham Lincoln
Queen Victoria and Booker T. Washington
We are now living in a world of civilization
And yet there is so much discrimination.

For God made us all, and in him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

Now listen what I am outlining to you
Negroes fought in World Wars One and Two
Some lose their lives, others lose they hand
We fough gallantly for the United Nation
So if we Negroes are good enough to fight
I don't see why we can't have our equal right.

For God made us all, and in him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

Yes we ought to unite with one another
As the scripture say to love thy neighbor
If you are a Jew or an Italian
A Negro or a subject of Great Britain
This is what I want you to realize.
Six feet of earth make us all of one size.

For God made us all, and in him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

Yes I heard this speaking of democracy
That is only diplomacy and hypocrisy
It is about time this should be cut out
The way they treat the Negroes down South
In my opinion it is a burning shame
Like they want to bring back slavery again.

For God made us all, and in him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2016/1/15 - 14:40



Language: English

La versione di Leadbelly del 1948.

Equality For Negroes
EQUALITY FOR NEGROES

Now listen up, I'm not lying to you
Negroes fought in World War One and Two
The blues is like now, the blues at hand
Fighting for a United Nations.

If the Negroes were good enough to fight
Why can't we get some equal rights?
For God made us all, and in Him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

Why don’t you folks realize with one another
Like the preacher says, love thy neighbor
You are Jewish and I am young
Negroes have sufered some great, great wrongs.

One thing, folks, you all should realize
Six foot of dirt makes us all one size
For God made us all, and in Him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

I been hearing you speak 'bout that old democracy
The diplomats, that old hypocrite speech
Think it's about time you should cut it out
The way Negroes is treated down South.

All in all, it's a rotten shame
Like they’re wanting to bring back slavery again
For God made us all, in Him we trust
Nobody in this world is better than us.

For God made us all, in Him we trust
Nobody in the world is better than us.

Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2016/1/15 - 22:23




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