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Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

Barbara Dane
Language: English


Barbara Dane


Oh bums of the earth,
You got nothin' to lose…
But your chains and their tear-gas,
And the Dick Nixon Blues.

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

When he first called us bums,
Didn't know what he meant,
But the Guard has defined it
On the campus at Kent. (1)

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

But Dick loves his soldiers,
And he always will,
And that’s why he's sending you
Off to be killed!

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

"Why they're all our kids,
And they stand straight and tall..."
Yeah, but one of these days,
There'll be no more at all!

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

Well Cordier and Brewster, (2)
You can say what you like,
But just tell Mr. Nixon
Us bums are on strike.

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

From Austin to Boston,
And Haverford, too,
From Berkeley to Brooklyn
And Kalamazoo.

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

Why, Spiro’s no bum, (3)
You'll agree that is true,
But he sits up nights wonderin'
What Kim’s gonna do!

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

Well I hate the system,
And the system hates me,
And that's why I'm fighting
For my liberty!

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

Well Mexico is hot,
And (they say) Canada's cold, (4)
So I’ll stay here and fight,
If I never get old!

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

Well, power corrupts,
We all know that by heart,
But you got to admit
Nixon had a head-start!

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

Well some say his name
Is Slippery Dick: (5)
Well I guess he's no bum.
But he sure is some President!

Helleluiah, I'm a bum,
Hallelujah, who are you?
Hallelujah, keep on breathin',
You can be a bum too!

(found on a bathroom wall:)
Well we could spring Huey
And Bobby from jail,
With Julie and Tricia (6)
For ransom and bail!
Note:

(1) Il riferimento è al massacro alla Kent University, Ohio, quando il 4 maggio 1970 la guardia nazionale mandata da Nixon sparò sugli studenti che manifestavano contro la guerra in Vietnam, uccidendone quattro. Si vedano anche Ohio, Jackson-Kent Blues e The Fourth Day Of May.

(2) “Cordier and Brewster”: immagino che siano i cognomi di personaggi dell’establishment americano ai tempi di Nixon, ma non ne sono sicuro.

(3) Spiro Agnew, vice-presidente durante il primo mandato di Nixon. Il secondo mandato fu quello interrotto nel 1974 a causa dello scandalo Watergate.

(4) Messico e Canada erano i rifugi più consueti per i renitenti alla leva.

(5) “Slippery Dick”, specie di pesce combattente, o “Tricky Dick”, nel senso di chi fa il gioco sporco, erano soprannomi appioppati al presidente Richard Nixon

(6) Huey P. Newton e Bobby Seale, dirigenti delle Black Panthers… Julie e Tricia, le due figlie di Richard Nixon e Pat Ryan.



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