springtime
in america
after a long hard winter
when every woman, child
and man
seemed caught up in a
darkness
no child should have to
understand
we set out on the highway
where we’d never gone
before
everybody was welcome
everyone was hoping for
springtime in america
something new under the
sun
a moment to remember
in the hearts of everyone
you know the journey won’t
be easy
nothing good can come too
fast
there’ll be those who
stand against us
they’re clinging on to the
past
they’re afraid they’ll
lose their privilege
they’ll be praying that we
fall
ah, but if we only stand
together
you know they just can’t
stop us all
see the seasons turning
see the harvest grow so
tall
may nobody have to go
without
when the leaves begin to
fall
we’re going to sing a song
for freedom
one for equality
one for abraham and john
and bobby
and all those who died so
others could be free
we’ll sing one for dr king
what if he’d only lived to
see
the far side of the
mountain
where he always longed to
be
springtime in america
something new under the
sun
tell your children you
were there then
in the hearts of everyone |
when
you were two
who can remember the very first time
you crawled on the carpet
or hummed a line
back when you were one
year old
who can remember their own
first birthday
waiting all year for your
second birthday
back when you were two
years old
hey look at you, you’re
already three
you’re growing up faster
than me
oh, that’s the story i’ve
been told
with everything you know
how to do
i wonder if even you
can remember when you were
two years old
what’s the first memory
your mind’s eye can see
a windy day a winding
street
you step in from the cold
was it a word was it a
kiss
or just someone you miss
or that you had a sister
to hold
hey look at you already
three
i wonder what your
memories
will be when you’re as old
as me
i can’t remember for
myself it’s true
but i won’t forget knowing
you
back when you were two
years old
hey look at you already
three
in a world only you can
see
with lions and tigers and
bears with eyes of gold
with everything you know
how to do
i wonder if even you
can remember when you were
two years old |
google me baby
google me baby
google me all night long
i want you to google me
baby
til my back aint got no
bone
i could change the world
i got to do my laundry
first
'fore i can change the
world
you know i got to change
my shirt
i got a bird that can
whistle
i got a bird that can sing
(2x)
if you won’t google me
baby
it don’t mean a thing |
one good song
if I could I’d like to
write one good song for you
one good song for you to
sing whenever you feel blue
when the world lets you
down or tries to blow itself up
if I could write that
song, that would be enough
if i could i’d like to
sing a word to you so kind
a word so kind it would
always bring you peace of mind
a light out in the world,
some peace instead of war
that’s the kind of song
you’d be looking for
i’d say love is the answer
love is the power
here is the place
now is the hour
let love be here with us
all
if I could I’d like to
sing one good song for you
one good song for you to
sing whenever you feel blue
then if you ever need me,
I’ll be there for you
what i’d give if I could
sing one good song for you |
big money
i asked a friend of mine
about this year’s election
“who you gonna vote for,
who’s gonna win?”
he said “let me ask you a
question: are you a gambling man?
before you lay your cards
down, you want to have the winning hand
vote for big money
since you got your choice
of guys
why not for the very best
that
big money can buy, vote
for
big money
you know he’ll keep us
strong
at least until the next
time bigger money comes along”
i said to my friend “don’t
you think it’s sad?
that’s the choice you’re
making out of all the ones you had”
he said “you poor idiot,
let me tell you what I’ll do
when big money wins the
election there’ll be one per cent for you”
i said to my friend “now
don’t you even care
who’s got the bigger tax
cut or the nicer wife out there?”
he said “let ‘em sell
their souls, for the future votes they owe
i just want to see who’s
really rakin’ in the dough”
I love the great
conventions with all the candidates
and all the private
functions at 100 grand a plate
and when they get up to
the great debates I love to hear them say
“this is the greatest
country ever, let’s keep it that way
vote for big money” |
moron radio
now there’s a brand new
boss
and all the gloves are off
the attack dogs are let
out of their cage
the rich want to be sure
the fearful and the poor
stay forever locked up in
their rage
and all this talk of
change
makes the other guys
deranged
it’s amazing how they love
that status quo
that’s why they all
maintain
the new boss is an alien
then sit back and rake in
all the dough
on moron radio
tell the people what you
know
we’re countin’ on you to
save our liberty
and if your facts are
wrong
just make it up as you go
along
and you might get promoted
to moron tv
it’s a dangerous world out
there
everybody has to do his
share
don’t let anybody take you
for a fool
little johnny 8 years
young
really ought to have a gun
in case some 9 year old
shoots up his school
now hitler had two legs
the new guy has two legs
do you see where i’m going
with this, my friend?
hitler’s number two was
joe
the new number two’s a joe
oh my god the nazis are
taking over again |
freedom of religion
the constitution says
freedom of religion
well that’s what some
think
no really it’s freedom
from religion from
religion
to take you where you want
to go
call it who and what you
please
rain down your love on
everyone
bring me to my knees
the freedom of religion
to give you something
great to live for
something to believe in
something more than what
you’re seeing
call it what you want
go where you want to go
shout it from the rooftops
let everybody know
freedom from religion
now there’s a different
side
the freedom to believe in
nothing
that it’s a non-existent
ride
going nowhere, nothing in
there
no real mystery goin’ on
make no excuses for it
and still be left alone
from the freedom of
religion
that would require you to
be
everything they believe in
instead of being free
from the freedom of
religion
to tell your kids the
dinosaurs
really lived 5000 years
ago
‘cause that’s when the
Bible says it was
the freedom of religion
to embrace the love divine
turn your attention deep
inside
and let your love light
shine
is the freedom of religion
the original guarantee
you can believe in a
different secret
and still be free |
why it’s so
the soldiers took 800 men
to the edge of town
executed them on the spot,
threw them in the ground
somebody video taped it
all and asked the people what they thought
they didn’t believe it,
said the video was fake without a doubt
‘cause no on wants to
believe the people they believe in
would ever really do the
things they do
their eyes, their ears,
their noses, tell them they don’t want to know
and if it’s true there
must be good reason why it’s so
the soldiers piled the
prisoners in a human pyramid
put electrodes and a hood
on, stripped them to their skins
when people saw the
photographs they cried who made this hell
and made the man who
legalized it all attorney general
there were two men
awaiting trial for killing their wives
one was a celebrity, one
was just a guy
they caught the famous
actor with a towel full of blood
and a witness who said he
offered him 10 grand to shut her up
they didn’t have much
evidence on the regular guy
all they ever proved was
he had a girlfriend on the side
everytime they asked him
he denied the killing spree
they convicted him of
murder, set the celebrity free
open up your world
©1982, 2011 blue flute
music/ascap
you don’t have to make
conversation
i know you’re here
and here is where I hope
you want to be
in the cool of the evening
when you
open up your world to me
you’re not gonna need a
reservation
you can’t buy a ticket
to security
don’t leave me standing in
the station
come on, open up your
world to me
i feel like i know you
someplace i can’t describe
and i want to show you
everything i feel inside
i’m right here for you
it’s something i can’t
hide
i’m so in love with you
can’t you see that i’m
confessing that you are my
inspiration
i’m searching for you
in every face i see
it’s gonna be a
celebration when you
open up your world to me |
election night at wal-mart
it was election night at
wal-mart
there was a party goin’ on
the stockboys were dancing
in the aisles
singing their favority
songs
over at the the checkout
counter
the girls were wearing
smiles
the party was just getting
started
might go on a little while
all the big boys on the
radio
were crying the finance
blues
the economy spiraling
downward
everybody had to pay his
dues
but you’d never know it
from the sound
of dancing high heel shoes
as i heard two young girls
talking
over in aisle two
they said “for the first
time in my life”
i feel like an american
not some stranger here by
birth
i feel like i belong
i never thought this day
would happen
i can’t believe this time
would come”
it was election night at
wal-mart
there was a party going on
the girls came around the
corner
they saw me standing there
they both stopped talking
immediately
ran a nervous hand through
their hair
they didn’t know if i was
listening
they didn’t know if i was
one
who thought with this
election
the end of the world had
come
i said “girls, i heard you
talking
and i believe what you say
is true
you would never believe
how many there are
feel just the way you do
i fell like i’ve been
waiting all my life
to believe in the times to
come
so come on i want to hear
you celebrate
let’s get this party
going”
the girls gave me a high
five
they walked off with a
smile
i heard them gigglin’
together as they
went on down the aisle
wiggling their hips for
the stockboys
just to show ‘em a little
style
the party was just getting
started
might go on a little while
yeah, it was election
night at wal-mart
might go on a little while |
john king
my name it is john king,
from liverpool i came
down to london in the
spring for to make my name
for i had learned to work
the silver, how to bend the blade
and i was carrying a
sample of the finest i had made
i went into a shop filled
with fine cutlery
and showed the man my
handiwork, he just stared at me
and called for a policeman
to whom he then did say
“this man’s a thief, he
stole this knife, please take him away”
the judge said “son you
stole that knife right up off the shelf”
says i to the judge “sir,
i made that blade myself”
but i having no money, he
a man of worth
he sent me to van deeman’s
land, the bottom of the earth
we sailed out on the foamy
sea, never to return home
with naught to do but sit
below, chained, to weep and mourn
and sit in our own
foulness, starving to our deaths
til we arrived in hobart
town, eleven of us left
seven years was i a slave,
then one day set free
and followed by a
policeman who soon arrested me
from high upon his bench
the judge said “you’ll be leavin’ soon”
and sent me to port
arthur, that very afternoon
so choose your weapon
wisely, boys
i’ll make for you a knife
you’re here in port arthur
for the rest of your
natural life
port arthur prison is a
place not fit for man nor beast
there’s no escape by land,
by sea a man will freeze
it’s here the prisoners
build the ships of his majesty’s line
to keep the king in
empire, the governor in fine wine
there’s been a killing, no
one knows whose hand took a life
we’re short a man to build
the ships, a new prisoner arrives
here at the bottom of the
world, is what my life is worth
it’s i who make the iron
bars enslavin’ all the earth
so choose your weapon
wisely, boys
i’ll make for you a knife
i’m here in port arthur
for the rest of my natural
life |
bellybutton song
©2011 rod macdonald, ella
macdonald, alena macdonald
blue flute music/ascap
i’ve got a secret i can
tell
i know something new
i’ve got a secret i can
tell
i’m gonna tell it to you
you’ve got a bellybutton,
he’s got a bellybutton
she’s got a bellybutton
too
i’ve got a bellybutton
everybody’s gotta have one
no one’s better than you
it doesn’t matter if
you’re black or white
or yellow or red or blue
it doesn’t matter if
you’re tall or short
or a little bitty baby in
a shoe
it doesn’t matter if
you’re a boy or a girl
or a mommy or a daddy too
you can be the king of the
world
or have something better
to do
cinderella has a
bellybutton
snow white has a
bellybutton
santa has a bellybutton
too
peter pan has a
bellybutton
spiderman a bellybutton
no one’s better than you
dalai lama has a
bellybutton
buddha had a bellybutton
jesus had a bellybutton
muhammed had a bellybutton
gandhi had a bellybutton
no one’s better than you |
watching the birds
we sit together,
watching the birds
the herons, ducks, ibises,
and pelicans.
yesterday we had a blue
jay
and today an anhinga
dries its long black wings
in the dying afternoon
the window panes of houses
across the lake
reflect a sky turning pink
below the blue
and there are no stars
yet,
as the sun sinks behind us
where we sit together
watching the birds
the birds of our
childhoods
drift by on the breeze,
the robins, cardinals, the
red-winged blackbirds
chase across forgotten
fields
of soft brown cat-tails,
their shoulders hunched,
their feathers ruffling,
face first into the wind
“hey son, did i ever tell
you
i was a catcher when i was
sixteen
they asked me to come to
Montreal
for the national bank
baseball team
i thought about it all
winter
finally i turned it down
i came to America
met your mother
and never did go back
home”
A cooing dove interrupts
the past
stepping into the silence
we hadn’t even noticed
the absence of jet
aircraft
cars, trucks, and
televisions,
sirens and motorcycles
and then we are back
here and now
where we sit together,
watching the birds
|
true to the blues
george goehring, jerry
grant, rod macdonald
© 2011 blue flute music
/ascap
i can’t forget the day
my baby went away
no matter how i try i seem
to lose
i’m aching from the memory
faithful to my destiny
a guy who’s always true to
the blues
all the world seems out of
tune
my heart’s an empty room
when love is gone you sure
do pay your dues
i’m tossing in my sleep at
night
nothing that i do is right
the symptoms are all true
to the blues
this time i thought i had
found her
the only one designed to
be my mate
now tonight there are
other arms around her
i guess i’ve got to be
resigned to my fate
now the song of love we
made
is a lonesome serenade
that follows me on down
the avenue
i wallk along and, pity
me,
i’m happy in my misery
a guy who’s always true to
the blues |
just because
just because you’ve got a
few stockholders holding out their hands
you think you have a right
to do anything you want to public land
and you’ve lined up all
the politicos, dotted all the i’s and crossed the t’s
you’ve thought of
everything but one thing you must’ve overlooked is me
‘cause this is my land i
own it just as much as you
and if i say we’re gonna
keep it green
that’s just what we’re
gonna do
just because the world is
over-wired with every gadget you could buy
you think the power that
we use gives you the right to rule the sky
and your smoke is drifting
out over the forests just as far as you can see
you’ve got it all together
but one thing you must’ve overlooked is me
‘cause this is my sky i
own it just as much as you
and if i say we’re gonna
keep it blue
that’s just what we’re
gonna do
just because there’s oil
‘neath the waters and profits in the air
you look out on the clear
blue sea, you want to drill most anywhere
and you’re fouling up the
beaches and killing off a million birds and trees
you say nothing can be
done but you’re never ever going to convince me
‘cause this is my sea i
own it just as much as you
and if i say we’re gonna
keep it clear
that’s just what we’re
gonna do
just because it’s
expensive to change the way you do the things you do
you want to ignore
everything the things you do have brought the climate to
and it’s getting warmer
everyday and still you pretend that you don’t see
you can go on like you’re
doing but you’re gonna have to do it without me
‘cause this is my world i
own it just as much as you
and if i say we’re gonna
keep it cool
that’s just what we’re
gonna do |
learning to crawl
whoever thought it could
be so hard
learning to crawl
specially if whenever
you try it you fall
and you only just learned
to roll over and all
whoever thought it could
be so hard
learning to crawl
then you pull yourself up
and you learn to sit tall
next thing you know you’re
learning to crawl
whoever thought it could
be so hard
learning to walk
you need something to hold
onto
something for luck
a table, a hand,
a pink plastic truck
whoever thought it could
be so hard
learning to walk
then you land on both feet
and you learn to stand up
next thing you know you’re
learning to walk
whoever thinks about
learning to talk
trying to get across your
very first thoughts
then you learn a few words
a few building blocks
next thing you know
you just can’t stop
whoever thought it could
be so hard
learning to love
a baby cries ‘cause she
can’t get enough
you’d think it gets easier
it can’t be so tough
but who can you trust when
push comes to shove
and everything starts
looking
like a sign from above
next thing you know you’re
learning to love
and the bigger you love
the harder you fall
next thing you know you’re
learning to crawl |
|
