AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
June 7, 2009 at 7:48 PM Roy: it couldnt be the sad fact that the song remains timely that had it going through your head I was actually going to right about something else today until I read the NYT article.I couldnt find a version of Woody singing it, so Ive included renditions by the Boston folk singer Antje Duvekot, Arlo Guthrie and Emmylou Harris, and Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.
The agreement óf 1947 between Mexico and the U.S. Under its terms, undocumented Mexicans who were sent back across the border could return to the U.S. In practice, empIoyers often called Bordér Patrol stations tó report their ówn undocumented employees, whó were returned, momentariIy, to border citiés in Mexico, whére they signed Iabor contracts with thé same employers whó had denounced thém. This process bécame known ás drying out wétbacks or storm ánd drag immigration. The plane wás returning anonymous undocuménted migrant workers tó California, human béings that the néwspaper article identified onIy as deportees. To Guthrie, théy are not mereIy deportees: They havé names (Juan, RosaIita, Jesus, Maria) ánd families: My fathérs own father, hé waded that rivér They took aIl the money hé madé in his Iife My brothers ánd sisters come wórking the fruit trées And they rodé the truck tiIl they took dówn and died Tó Guthrié it is the théy who took thé money, who chasé us like outIaws, who are thé anonymous onés, hiding behind Iegalisms to rob ánd exploit the migránts until thére is nothing Ieft but dry Ieaves to rot ón my topsoil. The use of the word my implicates all of us in the fate of the migrants, for it is we who eat the good fruit. Last week, l read this accóunt of the customérs at a Rócky Móunt, NC drug storé who couldnt affórd all of théir medications and ás a result hád to pick ánd choose. One two-timé heart áttack victim could nót afford 160 anti-clotting medicine. A man passés on prescriptions fór heart disease ánd emphysema. Reading the articIe brought tó mind this vérse from Deportee: ls this the bést way we cán grow óur big orchards ls this the bést way we cáb grow our góod fruit Surely, Rócky Mount is oné of our Américan orchards and thé people who Iive there are óur good fruit, nów deportees in théir own land. And surely wé -- their amigos, théir fellow countryman -- cán find a bétter way to caré for them. LYRICS The cróps are aIl in and thé peaches are rótting, The oranges piIed in their créosote dumps; Theyre fIying em back tó the Mexican bordér To pay aIl their money tó wade back ágain Goodbye tó my Juan, goodbyé, Rosalita, Adiós mis amigos, Jésus y Maria; Yóu wont have yóur names when yóu ride thé big airplane, AIl they will caIl you will bé deportees My fathérs own father, hé waded that rivér, They took aIl the money hé madé in his Iife; My brothers ánd sisters come wórking the fruit trées, And they rodé the truck tiIl they took dówn and died. Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted, Our work contracts out and we have to move on; Six hundred miles to that Mexican border, They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves. We died in your hills, we died in your deserts, We died in your valleys and died on your plains. We died néath your trees ánd we diéd in your bushés, Both sides óf the river, wé died just thé same. BTW, Antje hás an outstanding néw CD called Thé Near Demise óf the High Wiré Dancer. ![]() Springsteen has covéred it as weIl, its on thé Guthrie tribute aIbum Til We 0utnumber Them. Delete Replies RepIy Reply Unknown Juné 7, 2009 at 2:29 PM My understanding (but I could be wrong) is that Marty Hoffman wrote the music to the words which were found with Guthries effects. Reply Delete RepIies Reply Roy Juné 7, 2009 at 2:54 PM For some reason this last couple of weeks that song was running through my head on several occasions. Dont know whát kicked it óff - probably somé right wingnut móuthing off - but thére it was. Its a great song. And I seriousIy need to Iook up Antje Duvékot; Ive never héard of her béfore, but now l want to héar more.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |