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Harriet Tubman

Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick
Language: English


Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick

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Related Songs

Harriet Tubman's Ballad
(Woody Guthrie)
Harriet Tubman
(Holly Near)
Angel of Harlem
(U2)


[1970]
Testo trovato su Broadside Magazine n.109 del settembre/ottobre 1970.




Come Follow the Drinking Gourd e Go down, Moses, una canzone dedicata alla cosiddetta “Underground Railroad”, la rete di cammini e case di accoglienza segrete che nella prima metà dell’800 consentì a decine di migliaia di schiavi afroamericani di mettersi in salvo negli Stati liberi del nord e nel Canada. La “regina” della “Ferrovia Sotteranea” fu Harriet Tubman, una schiava del Maryland che, dopo essere stata quasi uccisa dal proprio padrone bianco, fuggì e dedicò la vita a far fuggire altri schiavi. Sulla sua testa fu pure posta una taglia, ma non la presero mai. Morì quasi centenaria nel 1913.
I am Harriet Tubman, people,
I am Harriet the slave.
I am Harriet, a free woman,
Free within my grave.

How far tha road to Canada
How far do I have to go?
How far is the road to Mar'land
And the hatred that I know
How far is the road to Mar'land
And the hatred that I know

I stabbed that overseer
I took his rusty knife
I killed that overseer
I took his low-down dirty life

How far tha road to Canada
How far do I have to go?
How far is the road to Mar'land
And the hatred that I know

For three long years I hated him
For three years I kept my hate
It took me three long years of killing
Three years I had to wait

How far tha road to Canada
How far do I have to go?
How far is the road to Mar'land
And the hatred that I know

I have shook the dust of Maryland
From my weary feet
I'm on my way to Canada
To freedom’s golden street

How far tha road to Canada
How far do I have to go?
How far is the road to Mar'land
And the hatred that I know

I've come through swamps and mountains
I waded many creeks
Please tell my brothers yonder
No more auction block for me.
Please tell my brothers yonder
Ho more auction block for me
Please tell my brothers yonder
Ho more auction block for me.

How far tha road to Canada
How far do I have to go?
How far is the road to Mar'land
And the hatred that I know

I ran the underground railroad
To set my people free
I never lost a passenger
I never charged a fee

I've come through swamps and mountains
I waded many creeks
Please tell my brothers yonder
No more auction block for me.
Please tell my brothers yonder
Ho more auction block for me
Please tell my brothers yonder
Ho more auction block for me.

Contributed by Alessandro - 2010/1/29 - 13:27


La canzone si trova incisa nel disco di Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick intitolato "Ballads of Black America", edito dalla Folkways Records nel 1972, con Pete Seeger al banjo.

Alessandro - 2010/3/24 - 11:38




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