Playlist Woody Guthrie

woody guthrie - 1913 massacre

Take a trip with me in 1913,
To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country.
I will take you to a place called Italian Hall,
Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball.

I will take you in a door and up a high stairs,
Singing and dancing is heard everywhere,
I will let you shake hands with the people you see,
And watch the kids dance around the big Christmas tree.

You ask about work and you ask about pay,
They'll tell you they make less than a dollar a day,
Working the copper claims, risking their lives,
So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives.

There's talking and laughing and songs in the air,
And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere,
Before you know it you're friends with us all,
And you're dancing around and around in the hall.

Well a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights,
To play the piano so you gotta keep quiet,
To hear all this fun you would not realize,
That the copper boss' thug men are milling outside.

The copper boss' thugs stuck their heads in the door,
One of them yelled and he screamed, "there's a fire,"
A lady she hollered, "there's no such a thing.
Keep on with your party, there's no such thing."

A few people rushed and it was only a few,
"It's just the thugs and the scabs fooling you,"
A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down,
But the thugs held the door and he could not get out.

And then others followed, a hundred or more,
But most everybody remained on the floor,
The gun thugs they laughed at their murderous joke,
While the children were smothered on the stairs by the door.

Such a terrible sight I never did see,
We carried our children back up to their tree,
The scabs outside still laughed at their spree,
And the children that died there were seventy-three.

The piano played a slow funeral tune,
And the town was lit up by a cold Christmas moon,
The parents they cried and the miners they moaned,
"See what your greed for money has done."

woody guthrie - baltimore to washington

I've gambled down in the town of Newport News
The more I gamble, boys, the more I lose
Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
I guess they got troubles too

Well the hobos know me up and down the line
They don't know the trouble on my mind
I guess they got troubles too
I guess they got troubles too, boys
I guess they got troubles too
I guess they got troubles too, boys
From Baltimore to Washington

And the police know me up and down the line
They don't know the trouble on my hands
I guess they got troubles too
I guess they got trouble too, boy
I guess they got troubles too
I guess the police they got their troubles too
From Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington
I guess they've got troubles too

Going up north and goin north this fall
If my luck don't change I won't be back at all
From Baltimore to Washington
Oh Baltimore to Washington, boys
Baltimore to Washington
Baltimore to Washington
I guess they got troubles too

woody guthrie - better world a-comin

There's a better world that's a-coming
There's a better world that's a-coming
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
And don't you see see see
And don't you know know know
Hey hey hey
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why

There's a better world that's a-coming
Tell you why why why
Better world a-coming I'll tell you why
Out of marching out of battling
You can hear the chains a-rattling
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why

Now there's a better world that's a-coming
And there's a better world that's a-coming
And there's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
Why why why
There's a better world that's a-coming
And don't you see see see
Better world that's a-coming
And don't you see see see
Better world that's a-coming
And don't you see

Well there's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why why why
better world that's a-coming I'll tell you why
We will beat'em on the land in the sea and in the sky
There's a better world that's a-coming
I'll tell you why

Well there's a better world that's a-coming
Don't you see see see
Better world that's a-coming don't you see
When we'll all be union and we'll all be free
There's a better world that's coming
don't you see

There's a better world a-coming
Don't you see see see
Better world that's coming don't you see
When we'll all be union and we'll all be free
There's a better world that's a-coming
Don't you see

woody guthrie - biggest thing that man has ever done

I'm just a lonesome traveler, The Great Historical Bum.
Highly educated from history I have come.
I built the Rock of Ages, 'twas in the Year of One
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.

I worked in the Garden of Eden, that was the year of two,
Joined the apple pickers union, I always paid my due;
I'm the man that signed the contract to raise the rising sun,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.

I was straw boss on the Pyramids, the Tower of Babel, too;
I opened up the ocean let the migrant children through,
I fought a million battles and I never lost a one,
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.

I beat the daring Roman, I beat the daring Turk,
Defeated Nero's army with thirty minutes work,
I fought the greatest leaders and I licked them everyone
And that was about the biggest thing that man had ever done.

I stopped old Caesar's Romans, and I stopped the Kubla Khan;
I took but half an hour's work to beat the Pharaoh's bands;
I knocked old Kaiser Bill flat, then I dumped the bloody Huns,
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

I was in the Revolution when we set the country free;
Me and a couple of Indians that dumped the Boston tea;
We won the battle at Valley Forge, the battle of Bully Run;
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

Next, we won the slavery war, some other folks and me,
And every slave from sea to sea was all turned loose by me.
I divorced old Madam slavery, and I wed this freedom dame.
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

And then I took to farming on the great midwestern plain,
The dust it blowed a hundred years, but never come a rain'
Well, me and a million other fellas left there on the run
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

I clumb the rocky canyon where the Columbia River rolls,
Seen the salmon leaping the rapids and the falls
The big Grand Coulee Dam in the state of Washington
Is just about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

There's a building in New York that you call the Empire State
I rode the rods to 'Frisco to walk the Golden Gate
I've seen every foot of film that Hollywood has run
But Coulee is the biggest thing that man has ever done.

Three times the size of Boulder or the highest pyramid
Makes the Tower of Babel a plaything for a kid
From the rising of the river to the setting of the sun
The Coulee is the biggest thing that man has ever done.

There was a man across the ocean, I guess you knew him well,
His name was Adolf Hitler, goddam his soul to hell;
We kicked him in the panzers and put him on the run,
And that was about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

I'm living with my freedom wife in this big land we built;
It takes all forty eight States for me to spread my quilt.
Our kids are several millions now; they run from sun to sun.
And that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

I built mines and mills and factories to run for Uncle Sam;
I turned th' ploughs and wheels to feed my soldiers in your lands;
This Nazi job's a tough 'un, it'll take us everyone,
'Cause this is about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

There's warehouse guys and teamsters and guys that skin the cats
Guys that run my steel mill, my furnace and my blast
We'll stop the Axis rattlesnakes and thieves of old Nippon
And that will be the biggest thing that man has ever done.

I'd better quit my talking, 'cause I told you all I know,
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go,
The people are building a peaceful world, and when the job is done
That'll be the biggest thing that man has ever done.

I better quit my talking now; I told you all I know,
But please remember, pardner, wherever you may go,
I'm older than your old folks, and I'm younger than the young,
And I'm about the biggest thing that man has ever done.

woody guthrie - blood of the lamb

Are your garments all spotless?
Are they white as the snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
Is your soul all spotless?
Is it clean as the snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

I am washed, yes I'm washed
I am washed in the blood
I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb
I'm all clean I'm all spotless
I'm pure like the snows
I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb

Have you laid down your burdens?
Have you found peace and rest?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
I've laid down all my troubles
I've found peace and rest
I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb

Have you learnt to love your neighbors?
Of all colors, creeds and kinds?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
I've learnt to love my peoples
Of all colors, creeds and kinds
I'm all washed in that blood of that lamb

woody guthrie - blowin' down this road

I'm blowin' down this old dusty road
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road, Lord, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way

I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine
I'm a-goin' where the water taste like wine, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

I'm a-goin' where the dust storms never blow
I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow
I'm a-goin' where them dust storms never blow, blow, blow
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

They say I'm a dust bowl refugee
Yes, they say I'm a dust bowl refugee
They say I'm a dust bowl refugee, Lord, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay
I'm a-lookin' for a job at honest pay, Lord, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

My children need three square meals a day
Now, my children need three square meals a day
My children need three square meals a day, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet
It takes a ten-dollar shoe to fit my feet, Lord, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

Your a-two-dollar shoe hurts my feet
Your two-dollar shoe hurts my feet
Yes, your two-dollar shoe hurts my feet, Lord, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

I'm a-goin' down this old dusty road
I'm blowin' down this old dusty road
I'm a-blowin' down this old dusty road, Lord, Lord
An' I ain't a-gonna be treated this way

woody guthrie - columbus stockade

Way down in Columbus Georgia
Lord I wish I was back in Tennessee
Way down in that old Columbus Stockade
My friends all have turned their back on me.

Go and leave me if you wish to
Never let me cross your mind
In your heart you love another
Leave me, little darling, I don't mind

Many a night with you I've rambled
Honey, countless hours with you I've spent
Thought I had your sweet love and your little heart forever
But I find it was only lent.

woody guthrie - columbus stockade blues

Way down in Columbus Georgia
Lord I wish I was back in Tennessee
Way down in that old Columbus Stockade
My friends all have turned their back on me.

Go and leave me if you wish to
Never let me cross your mind
In your heart you love another
Leave me, little darling, I don't mind

Many a night with you I've rambled
Honey, countless hours with you I've spent
Thought I had your sweet love and your little heart forever
But I find it was only lent.

woody guthrie - come when i call you

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past one!
Oneâ??s for the pretty little baby that's
born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past two.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past three.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past four.
Four's for the guns of this war.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past five.
Five's for these warplanes that fly.
Four's for the guns of this war.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past six.
Six for the cities all wrecked.
Five's for these warplanes that fly.
Four's for the guns of this war.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past seven.
Seven for continents blowed up.
Six for the cities all wrecked.
Five's for these warplanes that fly.
Four's for the guns of this war.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me an you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you at half-past eight.
Eight for my eight billion graves.
Seven for continents blowed up.
Six for the cities all wrecked.
Five's for these warplanes that fly.
Four's for the guns of this war.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
I'll call you at half-past nine.
Nine for the crippled and blind.
Eight for my eight billion graves.
Seven for continents blowed up.
Six for the cities all wrecked.
Five for these warplanes that fly.
Four for the guns of this war.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

Oh, will you come when I call you?
Iâ??ll come when you call me.
Iâ??ll call you half-past ten.
Ten for the atom bomb loose again.
Nine for the crippled and blind.
Eight for my eight billion graves.
Seven for continents blowed up.
Six for the cities all wrecked.
Five's for these warplanes that fly.
Four's for the guns of this war.
Threeâ??s for these warships at sea.
Two's for the love of me and you.
One's for the pretty little baby
thatâ??s born, born, born and gone away.

woody guthrie - danville girl

I went down to the railroad yard, Watch the train come by
Knew that train would roll that day But I did not know what time.

I did not know what time, boys, did not know what time,
Knew the train would roll that day but I did not know what time.
Good morning, Mister railroad man, what time does your train roll by?

Nine sixteen and two forty four, twenty five minutes â??til five.
At nine sixteen, two forty four, twenty five minutes â??til five.
Thank you, Mister railroad man, I wanna watch your train roll by.

Standing on the platform, smoking a big cigar,
Waitin' for some old freight train that carries an empty car.

I rode her down to Danville town, got stuck on a Danville girl,
Bet your life she was a pearl, she wore that Danville curl.

She wore her hat on the back of her head like high tone people all do,
Very next train come down that track, I bid that gal adieu.

I bid that gal adieu, poor boys, I bid that gal adieu,
The very next train come down that track, I bid that gal adieu.

woody guthrie - dead or alive

Well, the new sher'ff wrote me a letter,
Yes, the new sher'ff wrote me a letter:
Come up and see me dead or alive,
Come up and see me dead or alive.
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, he even sent me my picture:
Yes, he even sent me my picture;
How do I look, boys, dead or alive?
How do I look, boys, dead or alive?
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, he said he would pay expenses:
Yes, he said he would pay expenses;
Dead or alive, no thank!
New sheriff, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, he said he would feed and clothe me;
Yes, mhe said he would feed and clothe me;
Dead or alive, no thanks!
New sheriff, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

Well, I'm sorry I can't come, sheriff;
Yes, I'm sorry but I can't come, sheriff;
Dead or alive, no thanks!
New sheriff, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

I don't like your hard-rock hotel;
I don't like your hard-rock hotel;
Dead or alive, new sheriff
No thanks, I'm a poor boy
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

I gotta go down and see my little sweet thing;
Gonna go down and see my little sweet thing;
Dead or alive, yes, Lord!
No thanks, new sheriff.
Dead or alive it's a hard road; it's a hard road dead or alive.

woody guthrie - do re mi

Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day,
Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line.
'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl,
They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find
Now, the police at the port of entry say,
"You're number fourteen thousand for today."

Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.

You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can't deal nobody harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don't swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
'Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say:

If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi.

woody guthrie - don't you push me down

Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down

You can play with me, you can hold my hand
We can skip together down to the pretzel man
You can wear my mommy's shoes, wear my daddy's hat
You can even laugh at me, but don't you push me down

No don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down

You can play with me, we can build a house
You can take my ball and bounce it up and down
You can take my skates and ride them all around
You can even get mad at me, but don't you push me down

No don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down

You can play with me, we can play all day
And you can use my dishes if you'll put them away
You can feed me apples, oranges and plums
You can even wash my face, but don't you push me down

No don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down
Don't you push me, push me, push me,
Don't you push me down

woody guthrie - don?t kill my baby and my son

As I walked down that old dark town
In the town where I was born,
I heard the saddest lonesome moan
I ever heard before.

My hair it trembled at the roots
Cold chills run down my spine,
As I drew near that jail house
I heard this deathly cry:

O, don't kill my baby and my son,
O, don't kill my baby and my son.
You can stretch my neck on that old river bridge,
But don't kill my baby and my son.

Now, I've heard the cries of a panther,
Now, I've heard the coyotes yell,
But that long, lonesome cry shook the whole wide world
And it come from the cell of the jail.

Yes, Iâ??ve heard the screech owls screeching,
And the hoot owls that hoot in the night,
But the graveyard itself is happy compared
To the voice in that jailhouse that night.

Then I saw a picture on a postcard
It showed the Canadian River Bridge,
Three bodies hanging to swing in the wind,
A mother and two sons they'd lynched.

There's a wild wind blows down the river,
There's a wild wind blows through the trees,
There's a wild wind that blows 'round this wide wide world,
And here's what the wild winds say:

O, don't kill my baby and my son,
O, don't kill my baby and my son.
You can stretch my neck on that old river bridge,
But don't kill my baby and my son.

woody guthrie - dust bowl blues

I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues
I just blowed in, and I got them dust bowl blues
I just blowed in, and I'll blow back out again

I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues
I guess you've heard about ev'ry kind of blues
But when the dust gets high, you can't even see the sky

I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing
I've seen the dust so black that I couldn't see a thing
And the wind so cold, boy, it nearly cut your water off

I seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down
I've seen the wind so high that it blowed my fences down
Buried my tractor six feet underground

Well, it turned my farm into a pile of sand
Yes, it turned my farm into a pile of sand
I had to hit that road with a bottle in my hand

I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl
I spent ten years down in that old dust bowl
When you get that dust pneumony, boy, it's time to go

I had a gal, and she was young and sweet
I had a gal, and she was young and sweet
But a dust storm buried her sixteen hundred feet

She was a good gal, long, tall and stout
Yes, she was a good gal, long, tall and stout
I had to get a steam shovel just to dig my darlin' out

These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know
These dusty blues are the dustiest ones I know
Buried head over heels in the black old dust
I had to pack up and go
An' I just blowed in, an' I'll soon blow out again

woody guthrie