The latest news has struck me funny
Says you have no friends if you haven't got money
And all of us good folks in distress
But I'm gonna get something off my chest
Nineteen thirty-two won't be long
And when you place your vote please don't vote wrong
Vote away those blues, those breadline blues.
It's a rich man's job to make some rules
In order to rid our breadline blues
Now listen here folks and it ain't no joke
We've got to do something or we're all going to croak
We can't get a job, we've all been robbed
We've got no money and the corn's all cob
We've got nothing but blues, breadline blues.
If we had state rights, I'll leave it to you
We could all have fun and better home brew
Says the long-eared mule* standing over his box
To the big-mouthed elephant**: 'You drink like an ox
'You had twelve years, proved nothing but a curse
'Instead of making it better, it's getting worse and worse'
Says the long-eared mule, 'I ain't no fool'.
The elephant said, 'You long-eared mule
Well, you shut your mouth, you never been to school'
The mule said, 'Elephant, it ain't no joke
'We've got to do something or we're all gonna croak
'We ain't got nothing but a carload of tax
'And the doggone load is just a-breaking our backs
'We've got the blues, the breadline blues'.
This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net
The latest news has struck me funny
Says you have no friends if you haven't got money
And all of us good folks in distress
But I'm gonna get something off my chest
Nineteen thirty-two won't be long
And when you place your vote please don't vote wrong
Vote away those blues, those breadline blues.
Fonte:
http://www.protestsonglyrics.net/Great_Depression_Songs/Breadline-Blues.phtml
Protest Song Lyrics.Net
Lyrics & Music : Bernard "Slim" Smith 1931
Note.
* L’asino è il simbolo del Partito Democratico Americano
** L’elefante è il simbolo del Partito Repubblicano Americano
Says you have no friends if you haven't got money
And all of us good folks in distress
But I'm gonna get something off my chest
Nineteen thirty-two won't be long
And when you place your vote please don't vote wrong
Vote away those blues, those breadline blues.
It's a rich man's job to make some rules
In order to rid our breadline blues
Now listen here folks and it ain't no joke
We've got to do something or we're all going to croak
We can't get a job, we've all been robbed
We've got no money and the corn's all cob
We've got nothing but blues, breadline blues.
If we had state rights, I'll leave it to you
We could all have fun and better home brew
Says the long-eared mule* standing over his box
To the big-mouthed elephant**: 'You drink like an ox
'You had twelve years, proved nothing but a curse
'Instead of making it better, it's getting worse and worse'
Says the long-eared mule, 'I ain't no fool'.
The elephant said, 'You long-eared mule
Well, you shut your mouth, you never been to school'
The mule said, 'Elephant, it ain't no joke
'We've got to do something or we're all gonna croak
'We ain't got nothing but a carload of tax
'And the doggone load is just a-breaking our backs
'We've got the blues, the breadline blues'.
This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net
The latest news has struck me funny
Says you have no friends if you haven't got money
And all of us good folks in distress
But I'm gonna get something off my chest
Nineteen thirty-two won't be long
And when you place your vote please don't vote wrong
Vote away those blues, those breadline blues.
Fonte:
http://www.protestsonglyrics.net/Great_Depression_Songs/Breadline-Blues.phtml
Protest Song Lyrics.Net
Lyrics & Music : Bernard "Slim" Smith 1931
Note.
* L’asino è il simbolo del Partito Democratico Americano
** L’elefante è il simbolo del Partito Repubblicano Americano
Contributed by Pluck - 2025/8/11 - 17:11
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Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Breadline Blues was written by Bernard ‘Slim’ Smith in 1931. He was from Pope, Mississippi and was born in 1899. At the time he wrote the song he was living in New York City and was observing a breadline from his hotel window. The song has been called an “authentic hillbilly” observation of the Depression. He recorded the song with the great Hawaiian Guitarist King Bennie Nawahi.
Smith at one time owned a small farm in Mississippi, was a stock broker pushing shares for the Piggly Wiggly food chain in the 20’s, and became an inventor with numerous patents. His most notable invention was a lock for car doors. While in a recording session his brand new Hudson Roadster was stolen. That prompted him to invent the locking system. Eventually he moved back to the south and died in 1991. This is the version that he sung and which gained some popularity.
Fonte :
Music from the Depression
Second hand Songs
- Of course, the social commentary of "Breadline Blues" between the long-eared mule and the big-mouthed elephant is still relevant today.
Impecunious: Breadline Blues
- Songs like “Bread Line Blues” don’t deserve to be relegated to historical musical archives full of wax and cylinders.
Elected Officials: Bread Line Blues