The Almanac Singers: Dear Mr. President
GLI EXTRA DELLE CCG / AWS EXTRAS / LES EXTRAS DES CCGLingua: Inglese
Dear Mr. President, I sat me down
To send you greetings from my home town
And send you best wishes from all the friends I know
In Texas, Alabama, and Ohio and unaffiliated.
I'm an ordinary guy, worked most of my life
Sometime I'll settle down with my kids and wife
And I like to see a movie, or take a little drink
And I like being free to say what I think
Sorta runs in the family,
My grandpa crossed the ocean for the same reason.
Now, I hate Hitler, and I can tell you why
He's caused lots of good folks to suffer and die
He's got a way of shovin' folks around
I figger it's about time we slapped him down.
Give him a dose of his own medicine. Lead poison!
Now, Mr. President
We haven't always agreed in the past, I know
But that ain't at all important now
What is important is what we got to do
We got to lick Mr. Hitler, and until we do
Other things can wait.
In other words, first we've got a skunk to skin.
War means overtime, and higher prices
But we're all willing to make sacrifices
Hell, I'd even stop fightin' with my mother-in-law
Cause we need her too, to win the war, ol' battle-axe.
Now, as I think of our great land
With its cities, and towns, and farming land
With its so many good people a-working every day
I know it ain't perfect, but it will be someday
Just give us a little time.
This is the reason that I want to fight
Not 'cause everything's perfect, or everything's right
No, it's just the opposite: I'm fightin' because
I want a better America, and better laws
And better homes, and jobs, and schools
And no more Jim Crow, and no more rules, like
"You can't ride on this train 'cause you're a Negro."
"You can't live here 'cause you're a Jew."
"You can't work here 'cause you're a union man."
There's a line keeps runnin' through my head,
I think it was somethin' Joe Louis once said,
Said, "There's a lot of things wrong,
But Hitler won't help 'em."
Now, Mr. President
You're commander-in-chief of our armed forces
The ships and the planes and the tanks and the horses
I guess you know best just where I can fight
All I want to be is situated right
To do the most damage.
I never was one to try and shirk
And let the other fellow do all of the work.
So when the time comes, I'll be on hand
And I can make good use of these two hands.
Quit playing this banjo around with the boys
And exchange it for something that makes more noise.
So, Mr. President
We got this one big job to do,
That's lick Mr. Hitler and when we're through
Let no one else ever take his place
To trample down the human race.
So what I want is you to give me a gun
So we can hurry up and get the job done!
To send you greetings from my home town
And send you best wishes from all the friends I know
In Texas, Alabama, and Ohio and unaffiliated.
I'm an ordinary guy, worked most of my life
Sometime I'll settle down with my kids and wife
And I like to see a movie, or take a little drink
And I like being free to say what I think
Sorta runs in the family,
My grandpa crossed the ocean for the same reason.
Now, I hate Hitler, and I can tell you why
He's caused lots of good folks to suffer and die
He's got a way of shovin' folks around
I figger it's about time we slapped him down.
Give him a dose of his own medicine. Lead poison!
Now, Mr. President
We haven't always agreed in the past, I know
But that ain't at all important now
What is important is what we got to do
We got to lick Mr. Hitler, and until we do
Other things can wait.
In other words, first we've got a skunk to skin.
War means overtime, and higher prices
But we're all willing to make sacrifices
Hell, I'd even stop fightin' with my mother-in-law
Cause we need her too, to win the war, ol' battle-axe.
Now, as I think of our great land
With its cities, and towns, and farming land
With its so many good people a-working every day
I know it ain't perfect, but it will be someday
Just give us a little time.
This is the reason that I want to fight
Not 'cause everything's perfect, or everything's right
No, it's just the opposite: I'm fightin' because
I want a better America, and better laws
And better homes, and jobs, and schools
And no more Jim Crow, and no more rules, like
"You can't ride on this train 'cause you're a Negro."
"You can't live here 'cause you're a Jew."
"You can't work here 'cause you're a union man."
There's a line keeps runnin' through my head,
I think it was somethin' Joe Louis once said,
Said, "There's a lot of things wrong,
But Hitler won't help 'em."
Now, Mr. President
You're commander-in-chief of our armed forces
The ships and the planes and the tanks and the horses
I guess you know best just where I can fight
All I want to be is situated right
To do the most damage.
I never was one to try and shirk
And let the other fellow do all of the work.
So when the time comes, I'll be on hand
And I can make good use of these two hands.
Quit playing this banjo around with the boys
And exchange it for something that makes more noise.
So, Mr. President
We got this one big job to do,
That's lick Mr. Hitler and when we're through
Let no one else ever take his place
To trample down the human race.
So what I want is you to give me a gun
So we can hurry up and get the job done!
inviata da Bernart Bartleby - 12/5/2014 - 10:38
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Parole di Pete Seeger
Musica degli Almanac Singers (Bess Hawes, Pete Seeger, Millard Lampell, Woody Guthrie, Arthur Stern, Sis Cunningham)
Propongo questa canzone tra gli Extra per pura cautela, perché si tratta – a differenza di canzoni precedenti degli Almanac Singers, soprattutto quelle tratte da “Songs for John Doe”, album d’esordio emblema dell’“isolazionismo” - di un brano in appoggio all’intervento USA nella guerra in Europa.
Fino alla primavera del 1941 gli USA restarono piuttosto indifferenti a quel che succedeva in Europa. Poi, a marzo, Roosevelt fece approvare il cosiddetto “Land-Lease Act” attraverso cui aiutare finanziariamente gli Stati la cui difesa era considerata strategica per l’America, e cioè non solo la Gran Bretagna ma anche la Francia, l’Unione Sovietica e la Cina (vennero erogati più di 50 miliardi di dollari di aiuti). La reazione tedesca e italiana, con l’attacco ai convogli diretti in Europa attraverso l’Atlantico, l’attacco nazista all’URSS e poi la provocazione giapponese a Pearl Harbour fecero rapidamente abbandonare ogni residua remora: il 7 dicembre 1941 gli USA entrarono in guerra.
Anche gli Almanac Singers, che fino a quel momento avevano addirittura ricevuto pesanti attenzioni da parte dell’FBI di Hoover per i loro inni pacifisti e unionisti, si allinearono, anche se a modo loro. Questa, come altre canzoni di quel periodo, è prima di tutto una canzone anti-nazifascista, una canzone che invoca la necessità di porre fine alla grandissima minaccia alla pace mondiale costituita dal regime hitleriano. Avrebbe quindi una sua piena dignità sulle CCG non fosse che è una canzone bellicista proveniente dallo Stato più imperialista mai esistito. Eppure, a pensarci bene, sul sito sono già presenti decine, centinaia, di canzoni analoghe, canzoni di resistenza e di guerra contro occupanti ed oppressori, provenienti dalla Spagna della guerra civile, o dalla Francia di Vichy, o dalla Polonia occupata, ecc.
E poi in questa “Dear Mr. President” c’è qualcosa di più.
Seeger e gli Almanac Singers non cedono qui ad un bieco patriottismo ma si rivolgono a Roosevelt da pari a pari. Non fanno ammenda, no: gli dicono che in passato non erano d’accordo ma che ora si rendono conto di quale rischio stia correndo il mondo per via di quel pazzo di Hitler. E con questo non fanno marcia indietro ma avvertono il presidente che i sacrifici imminenti, in termini economici e di vite umane, dovranno essere ripagati e compensati, per un mondo ed un America migliori, con leggi migliori, con case, lavoro e scuole migliori, facendola finita una volte per tutte con il razzismo, il segregazionismo, l’antisemitismo, la mancanza di libertà e l’impedimento ai lavoratori di organizzarsi… Queste sono le condizioni del contratto che compare nell copertina originale del disco.