Listen, Mr. Bilbo, listen to me
I'll give you a lesson in history.
Listen and I'll show you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
In 1492 just to see what he could see,
Columbus, an Italian, looked out across the sea.
He said, Isabella babe, the world is round,
And the U.S.A.'s just a-waiting to be found.
In 1609 on a bright summer's day,
The Half Moon set anchor in old New York Bay.
Henry Hudson, a Dutchman, took a good look around;
He said, "Boys, this is gonna be a helluva town."
When the King of England started pushing Yankees around,
We had a little trouble up in Boston town.
There was a brave Negro, Crispus Attucks was the man;
Was the first one to fall when the fighting began.
Colin Kelly was a pilot flying down low;
Levine pushed the button that let the bomb go.
They sunk the Haruna to the bottom of the sea;
It was foreigners like those kept America free.
Now Bilbo, you're taking one heck of a chance;
Your good friends, the Duponts, came over from France.
Another thing, I'm sure, will be news to you,
The first Mister Bilbo was a foreigner, too.
Well, you don't like Negroes, you don't like Jews;
If there is anyone you do like, it sure is news.
You don't like Poles, Italians, Catholics, too;
Is it any wonder, Bilbo, that we don't like you!
I'll give you a lesson in history.
Listen and I'll show you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
In 1492 just to see what he could see,
Columbus, an Italian, looked out across the sea.
He said, Isabella babe, the world is round,
And the U.S.A.'s just a-waiting to be found.
In 1609 on a bright summer's day,
The Half Moon set anchor in old New York Bay.
Henry Hudson, a Dutchman, took a good look around;
He said, "Boys, this is gonna be a helluva town."
When the King of England started pushing Yankees around,
We had a little trouble up in Boston town.
There was a brave Negro, Crispus Attucks was the man;
Was the first one to fall when the fighting began.
Colin Kelly was a pilot flying down low;
Levine pushed the button that let the bomb go.
They sunk the Haruna to the bottom of the sea;
It was foreigners like those kept America free.
Now Bilbo, you're taking one heck of a chance;
Your good friends, the Duponts, came over from France.
Another thing, I'm sure, will be news to you,
The first Mister Bilbo was a foreigner, too.
Well, you don't like Negroes, you don't like Jews;
If there is anyone you do like, it sure is news.
You don't like Poles, Italians, Catholics, too;
Is it any wonder, Bilbo, that we don't like you!
inviata da Bartleby - 18/1/2012 - 13:47
Lingua: Inglese
La versione di Peter, Paul & Mary dal loro album del 1990 intitolato “Flowers & Stones”
LISTEN, MR. BILBO (MR. BIGOT)
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
In 1492, just to see what he could see
Columbus, who was an Italian set out across the sea
He said "Isabella, baby, the world is round
And the USA's just awaitin' to be found."
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, (well, some of my best friends are)
Listen Mr. Bigot (oh, they like to live with their own kind)
Well when the King of England started pushin' Yanks around
They had a little trouble up in Boston town
But a brave, black, Crispus Attucks was the man
The first one to fall when the fightin' began.
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
Oh listen Mr. Bigot,
(They can't help it. It's their cultural point of view)
Listen Mr. Bigot (They all look alike to me!)
Now Bigot, you're taking one hell of a chance
Your good friends the Duponts, came over from France
Another thing I'm sure will be news to you
The first Mr. Bigot was a foreigner too.
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
You don't like blacks, you don't like jews
Well if there's anyone you do like, it sure is news
You don't like Poles, Hispanics too
Anyway they serve you up, we don't like you
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
Oh listen Mr. Bigot,
(Well there we were on the beach, just trying to get some sun and up comes a busload of them, well first they got these boxes that play this music, I mean it's not even in English. Then they take out these stoves or hibachi's or something The smoke was dreadful, the smell was even worse. I wouldn't let my daughter marry one, ya know?)
Listen Mr. Bigot
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
In 1492, just to see what he could see
Columbus, who was an Italian set out across the sea
He said "Isabella, baby, the world is round
And the USA's just awaitin' to be found."
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, (well, some of my best friends are)
Listen Mr. Bigot (oh, they like to live with their own kind)
Well when the King of England started pushin' Yanks around
They had a little trouble up in Boston town
But a brave, black, Crispus Attucks was the man
The first one to fall when the fightin' began.
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
Oh listen Mr. Bigot,
(They can't help it. It's their cultural point of view)
Listen Mr. Bigot (They all look alike to me!)
Now Bigot, you're taking one hell of a chance
Your good friends the Duponts, came over from France
Another thing I'm sure will be news to you
The first Mr. Bigot was a foreigner too.
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
You don't like blacks, you don't like jews
Well if there's anyone you do like, it sure is news
You don't like Poles, Hispanics too
Anyway they serve you up, we don't like you
Listen, Mr. Bigot, listen to me, I'll give you a lesson in history
Listen while I tell you that the foreigners you hate
Are the very same people made America great.
Oh listen Mr. Bigot, uh-huh...listen Mr. Bigot
Oh listen Mr. Bigot,
(Well there we were on the beach, just trying to get some sun and up comes a busload of them, well first they got these boxes that play this music, I mean it's not even in English. Then they take out these stoves or hibachi's or something The smoke was dreadful, the smell was even worse. I wouldn't let my daughter marry one, ya know?)
Listen Mr. Bigot
inviata da Bartleby - 18/1/2012 - 13:48
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Scritta da Bob e Adrienne Claiborne (coppia di folksingers e lui pure sindacalista e scrittore) e pubblicata proprio quell’anno sul primo numero di “People’s Songs – Songs of Labor and American People”, la rivista dell’omonima organizzazione fondata nel 1945 da Pete Seeger, Lee Hays e altri per realizzare, promuovere e diffondere i canti di lavoro e del popolo americano.
Canzone indirizzata a Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (1877-1947), un politico che fece carriera tra le fila del partito democratico, governatore del Mississippi negli anni 20 e 30, affarista spregiudicato e corrotto, dichiaratamente razzista, segregazionista, suprematista e membro del KKK. Il soprannome di Bilbo era “The Man” perché, pur essendo un nanerottolo, era un tipo talmente tronfio da riferirsi a sé stesso in terza persona…
Nel brano sono citati alcuni eroi della storia americana, tutti quanti di origine straniera o neri o ebrei, da Cristoforo Colombo ad Henry Hudson (esploratore che qui viene dato erroneamente come olandese ma che era inglese, benchè al soldo della Compagnia Olandese delle Indie Orientali), da Crispus Attucks (un afroamericano o di sangue misto nero e nativo, che nel 1770 fu il primo caduto della guerra d’indipendenza) al comandante Colin Kelly ed il suo secondo Levin (l’uno di origine irlandese, l’altro ebreo, entrambi sul B17 che sganciò la prima bomba americana della seconda guerra mondiale su di un obiettivo nemico – un’unità navale giapponese) fino a DuPont (il colosso statunitense del settore chimico, fondato nel 1799 dal francese Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, allievo di Lavoisier)…