Bicentennial Blues
Some people think that
America invented the blues
And few people doubt that
America is the home of the blues
As the bluesicians have gone all over the world carrying the blues message
And the world has snapped its fingers and tapped its feet right along with the blues folks
But, the blues has always been totally
American As
American as apple pie
As American as the blues
As American as apple pie
The question is why?
Why should the blues be so at home here
Well, America provided the atmosphere
America provided the atmosphere for the blues and the blues was born
The blues was born on the
American wilderness
The blues was born on the beaches where the slave ships docked
Born on the slave mans auction block
The blues was born and carried on the howling wind
The blues grew up a slave
The blues grew up as property
The blues grew up in
Nat Turner visions
The blues grew up in
Harriet Tubman courage
The blues grew up in small town deprivation
The blues grew up in big city isolation
The blues grew up in the nightmares of the white man
The blues grew up in the blues singing of
Bessie and
Billie and
Ma The blues grew up in
Satchmos horn, on
Dukes piano and
Langstons poetry, on
Robesons baritone
The point is
That the blues has grown
The blues is grown now, full grown
And you can trace the evolution of the blues
On a parallel line with the evolution of this country
From Plymouth
Rock to acid-rock
From 13 states to
Watergate
The blues is grown
But not the home
The blues is grown
But the country has not
The blues remembers everything the country forgot
Its a bicentennial year and the blues is celebrating a birthday
And its a bicentennial blues
America has got the blues and its a bicentennial edition
The blues view might amuse you
But make no mistake, its a bicentennial year
A year of hysterical importance
A year of historical importance
Ripped off like donated moments from the past 200 years ago this evening 200 years ago last evening
And what about now?
The blues is now
The blues has grown up and the country has not
The country has been ripped off
Ripped off like the
Indians Ripped off like jazz
Ripped off like nature
Ripped off like
Christmas
Man-handled by media overkill
Goosed by aspiring vice presidents
Violated by commercial corporations
A bicentennial year
The year the symbol transformed into the
B-U-Y centennial
Buy a car
Buy a flag
Buy a map
Until the public in mass has been bludgeoned into bicentennial submission
Or bicentennial suspicion
I fall into the latter category
Its a blues year
And America has got the blues
Its got the blues because of partial deification
Of partial accomplishments
Over partial periods of time
Halfway justice
Halfway liberty
Halfway equality
Its a half-ass year
And we would be silly in all our knowledge
In all our self-righteous knowledge
When we sit back and laugh and mock the things that happen in our lives
To accept anything less than the truth
About this bicentennial year
And the truth relates to 200 years of people and ideas getting by
It got by
George Washington
The ideas of justice, liberty and equality
Got cold by
George Washington
Slave-owner general
Ironic that the father of this country
Should be a slave owner
The father of this country a slave-owner
Having got by him
It made it easy to get by his henchman
The creators of this liberty
Who slept in the beds with the captains of slave ships
Fought alongside black freed men in the union army
And left America a legacy of hypocrisy
Its a blues year
Got by Gerald
Ford Oatmeal man
Has declared himself at odds
With people on welfare, people who get food stamps
Day care children, the elderly, the poor, women
And people who might vote for
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan, it got by him
Hollyweird
Acted like a actor
Acted like a liberruuuuuuuulllzz lolz
Acted like
General Franco when he acted like governor of
California
Now he acts like somebody might vote for him for president
It got by
Jimmy Carter
Skippy Got by
Jimmy Carter and got by him and his friend the colonel
The creators of southern-fried triple talk
A blues trio
America got the blues
It got by
Henry Kissinger
The international godfather of peace
A piece of
Vietnam A pieceof
Laos A piece of
Angola A piece of
Cuba A blues quartet
And America got the blues
The point is that it may get by you
For another 4 years
For another 8 years
You stuck
Playing 2nd fiddle in a blues quartet
Got the blues looking for the first principle
Which was justice
Its a blues year for justice
Its a blues year for the
San Quentin 6
Looking for justice
Its a blues year for
Gary Tyler
Looking for justice
Its a blues year for
Rev. Ben Chaves
Looking for justice
Its a blues year for
Boston Looking for justice
Its a blues year for babys on buses
Its a blues year for mothers and fathers with babies on buses
Its a blues year for
Boston And its a blues year all over this country
America has got the blues
And the blues is in the street looking for the 3 principles
Justice, liberty and equality
We would do well to join the blues looking for justice, liberty and equality
The blues is in the street
America has got the blues
But dont let it get by us.