In the County called Fayette in the State of Tennessee
Freedom City stands for all the world to see
Tenents driven from their home, just across the way
In tents now they live but here is what they say...
Oh we were born in Fayette Valley, here we will stay
It will take more than eviction to drive us away.
Now the tenents tell their story, it’s the same thing over again
When we went to the poll our troubles did begin
They took our trucks and tractors, more troubles everyday
They took away our livelihood but here is what we say...
Well we were born in Fayette Valley, and here we will stay
It will take more than troubles to drive us away.
They kept us from voting for nearly a hundred years
And all because our color is not the same as theirs
But now we’ve gone and voted and we live in tents today
Our families cold and hungry but here is what we say...
Well we were born in Fayette valley here we will stay
It will take more than hunger to drive us away.
Then in the early of the morning the planter’s gunmen creep
Fire their gun into the tents where little children sleep
Guns roar, barrels aimed at children in their beds
Un bullet struck Earl Williams and this is what he said...
Well I was born in Fayette valley here I will stay
It will take more than bullets to drive me away.
Here in the mud and the rain of a cold winter’s night
By the tents of Freedom City they stand on guard tonight
But they look into the future, this they do see
Better world for everyone who’s fighting to be free.
Oh I was born in Fayette valley here we will stay
And we will se the coming of a new brighter day
Yes we were born in Fayette valley here we will stay
And we will se the coming of a new brighter day.
Freedom City stands for all the world to see
Tenents driven from their home, just across the way
In tents now they live but here is what they say...
Oh we were born in Fayette Valley, here we will stay
It will take more than eviction to drive us away.
Now the tenents tell their story, it’s the same thing over again
When we went to the poll our troubles did begin
They took our trucks and tractors, more troubles everyday
They took away our livelihood but here is what we say...
Well we were born in Fayette Valley, and here we will stay
It will take more than troubles to drive us away.
They kept us from voting for nearly a hundred years
And all because our color is not the same as theirs
But now we’ve gone and voted and we live in tents today
Our families cold and hungry but here is what we say...
Well we were born in Fayette valley here we will stay
It will take more than hunger to drive us away.
Then in the early of the morning the planter’s gunmen creep
Fire their gun into the tents where little children sleep
Guns roar, barrels aimed at children in their beds
Un bullet struck Earl Williams and this is what he said...
Well I was born in Fayette valley here I will stay
It will take more than bullets to drive me away.
Here in the mud and the rain of a cold winter’s night
By the tents of Freedom City they stand on guard tonight
But they look into the future, this they do see
Better world for everyone who’s fighting to be free.
Oh I was born in Fayette valley here we will stay
And we will se the coming of a new brighter day
Yes we were born in Fayette valley here we will stay
And we will se the coming of a new brighter day.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2016/4/25 - 18:23
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Parole e musica di Agnes “Sis” Cunningham, cantautrice e fondatrice nel 1962 - insieme al marito Gordon Friesen - del Broadside Magazine.
Interpretata da Pete Seeger in molti suoi dischi, a partire da “Gazette, Vol. 2” del 1961
L’autrice ne incise una sua versione nel disco “Broadside Ballads, Vol. 9: Sundown” pubblicato nel 1976 dalla Folkways Records.
“Fayette County in Tennessee in the winter of 1960-61 was where the Black people made their first modern militant stand for the right to register and vote. It was the beginning of a long and bitter struggle which now finds millions of Blacks enrolled and voting in the once all-white Southern polls.” (dalle note presenti in “Broadside Ballads, Vol. 9: Sundown”)
Fayette County fu soprannominata “Tent City” perchè quando i neri, molti dei quali sharecroppers (braccianti), cominciarono a lottare per ottenere il diritto di voto, furono cacciati di casa dai proprietari bianchi, vennero inseriti in blacklists dai commercianti bianchi, che non vendevano più loro nemmeno i generi di prima necessità, sicchè per sopravvivere organizzarono una grossa tendopoli, un accampamento dove parecchie famiglie trascorsero addirittura un paio di anni, sotto le continue minacce e gli attentati dei suprematisti...