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Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

Barbara Dane
Language: English


Barbara Dane

List of versions


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[1970]
Barbara Dane e Irwin Silber scrissero questo brano a partire dall’omonima folk song di autore anonimo, diffusasi a partire dalla fine dell’800 tra le fila del sindacato Industrial Workers of The World. La melodia era quella della tradizionale "Revive Us Again".

PAR01003

Album “F.T.A.! Songs et the GI Resistance”, Paredon Records
Sung by Barbara Dane with active-duty GIs.
Recorded at Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Edited by Irwin Silber.
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.

Contributed by Alessandro - 2010/3/15 - 15:03


Great album indeed. Thank you, Alessandro.

giorgio - 2010/3/15 - 19:35


Ciao Giorgio,

beh, la Barbara Dane era una vera tosta ma all'epoca fu messa forse un po' in ombra dalla più giovane e più sexy e più intraprendente "Hanoi" Jane Fonda (poi datasi all'aerobica "militante" e quindi sistematasi definitivamente con i milioni dell'ex marito Ted Turner)...

Senti, ma su Deezer bisogna registrarsi?

Alessandro - 2010/3/16 - 10:43


Per Alessandro

bhah, credo che le due signore citate siano proprio imparagonabili…;-) La prima CCG che ho proposto, se non vado errato, credo sia proprio la Ballata di Richard Campos cantata da Barbara… Pagina che tu – forse ieri – hai un po' completato….(grazie!)
Se a Deezer bisogna registrarsi? Che io sappia no… Ma se ti invita continuamente a farlo (pena il non ascolto) prova a dare una bella ripulita (magari con CCleaner), dopo che hai salvato tutto quello che ti interessa, naturalmente..

Ciao!

giorgio - 2010/3/16 - 18:09


Volevo dire... non mi funziona con FreeMusicZilla al semplice ascolto, a differenza di Jiwa, per esempio...

Alessandro - 2010/3/17 - 16:22


Caro Alessandro,

come già ho cercato di spiegarti,. da deezer.com non è più possibile scaricare dei brani, né con musiczilla, né con altro. Hanno apposta preso dei provvedimenti per impedirlo e si son dati pure molto da fare. Se solo avessi più tempo caricherei io i brani altrove. Ma perora proprio non posso…

giorgio - 2010/3/17 - 21:50


Ah, ero rimasto ai 30 secondi di Jiwa... sorry.
Ciao

Alessandro - 2010/3/17 - 22:48



Language: Chinese

Versione cinese
哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉

全世界的流浪者们,
你们还有什么可失去的
不过是枷锁和催泪弹,
以及尼克松总统的烂歌。

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

他第一次叫我们流浪汉时,
还不知道他是什么意思,
但国民警卫队已经定义了它,
在肯特大学的行动中。

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

总统爱他的士兵们,
他总是爱啊爱,
这就是他派你们
上阵送死的原因!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

“他们都是我们的孩子啊,
他们的军姿又高又直...”
是是,但总有一天,
这些全都会消失!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

柯蒂耶和布鲁斯特,
你们尽管讲你们自己的话,
但告诉尼克松先生
我们流浪汉正在罢工。

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

从奥斯汀到波士顿,
还有哈弗福德,
再从伯克利和布鲁克林
直到卡拉马祖

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

哎呦,副总统他就不是流浪汉,
这是实话吧,
但他坐了整晚都想不明白
她女儿到底要干嘛!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

我痛恨体制,
体制也恨我,
我斗争的原因
是为我的自由!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

既然墨西哥的(征兵收容所)很热,
(他们说)加拿大的也很冷,
那我就留在美国,
一直斗争到老去!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

权力带来腐败,
我们都明白这道理,
但你不得不承认
尼克松腐得太快!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

某人说他的外号
叫狡猾的迪克
我猜这不是流浪汉
但确实是某种总统!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

我们会从监狱里救出
休伊牛顿和鲍比希尔,
至于总统的女儿
他自己去交保释金!

哈利路亚,我是个流浪汉,
哈利路亚,你们是什么呢?
哈利路亚,继续呼吸,
你也能成为一个流浪汉!

Contributed by labor is the most glorious - 2023/2/13 - 18:02




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