Now I idolise Woody Guthrie and I really like Billy Bragg. So when the Woody Guthrie family wanted someone to put some of Woody’s words to music I was delighted. I was not disappointed. The album Mermaid Avenue was brilliant. I play it a lot. Wilco were OK too.
Woody Guthrie left a huge archive of material – apart from his hundreds of songs and his novels, there were thousands of scraps of paper with doodlings, songs, fragments of writing, letters and drawings. Thankfully they are being preserved by the Guthrie Foundation. Woody Guthrie is a major person on the world stage – up there with the very best. He’s a treasure.
This song I love because it really sums up how I feel about myself. There was and hasn’t been anybody like Woody Guthrie. He is a complete law unto himself. He did everything his own way. The result was genius.
I may not have the genius but that is how I approach my life. I do what I do how I want to without regard to whether it makes sense, is good or relates to others. I am my world’s worst enemy. But what you get is always me.
This song resonates with me.
Way over Yonder in the Minor Key – Woody Guthrie/Billy Bragg
I lived in a place called Okfuskee
And I had a little girl in a holler tree
I said, “Little girl, it’s plain to see
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me”
She said, “It’s hard for me to see
How one little boy got so ugly”
Yes, my little girly, that might be
But there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Way over yonder in the minor key
Way over yonder in the minor key
There ain’t nobody that can sing like me
We walked down by the Buckeye Creek
To see the frog eat the goggle eye bee
To hear that west wind whistle to the east
There ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Oh my little girly, will you let me see
Where over yonder where the wind blows free?
Nobody can see in our holler tree
And there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Way over yonder in the minor key
Way over yonder in the minor key
There ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Her mama cut a switch from a cherry tree
And laid it on to she and me
It stung lots worse than a hive of bees
But there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Now I have walked a long long ways
I still look back to my Tanglewood days
I’ve led lots of girlies since then to stray
Saying, “Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me”
Way over yonder in the minor key
Way over yonder in the minor key
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Way over yonder in the minor key
Way over yonder in the minor key
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Read more: Billy Bragg – Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key Lyrics | MetroLyrics
I lived in a place called Okfuskee
And I had a little girl in a holler tree
I said, little girl, it’s plain to see
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
She said it’s hard for me to see
How one little boy got so ugly
Yes my little girly that might be
But there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
[Chorus]
Way over yonder in the minor key
Way over yonder in the minor key
There ain’t nobody that can sing like me
We walked down by the Buckeye Creek
To see the frog eat the goggle-eye bee
To hear the west wind whistle to the east
There ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Oh my little girly will you let me see
Way over yonder where the wind blows free
Nobody can see in our holler tree
And there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
[Chorus]
Her mama cut a switch from a cherry tree
And laid it on the she and me,
It stung lots worse than a hive of bees
But there ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Now I have walked a long long ways
And I still look back to my Tanglewood days
I’ve led lots of girls since then to stray
Saying ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
[Chorus]
Ain’t nobody that can sing like me
Woody was highly prophetic. This song was written about fascists like Hitler, Mussolini, the Klu Klux Klan and other xenophobic racists of the first order but it applies equally well to ISIS, the Taliban, Al Shabaab, AlQaeda and Boko Haraam – all the fanatical thugs who are practicing their intolerance and hatred right now.
Woody believed that you did not destroy fascism with guns; you killed it in the minds of people. That is why it is so important to look at the horrors or fanaticism, intolerance and hatred and prevent people being sucked in to that twisted ideology. Education is the key; understanding and respect.
Regardless – the whole world is getting organised to wipe out the evil caliphate. It is now just a question of how much pain and misery they can inflict in the mean-time.
Humans are vicious animals but love will conquer over hate.
All You Fascists Bound To Lose
I’m gonna tell all you fascists, you may be surprised
People all over this world are getting organized
You’re bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
Race hatred cannot stop us, this one thing I know
Poll tax and Jim Crow and greed have got to go
You’re bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
All you fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists
Are bound to lose
People of every color marching side by side
Marching across these fields where a million fascists died
You’re bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
All you fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists
Are bound to lose
I’m going into this battle, take my union gun
Gonna end this world of slavery before this war is won
You’re bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
All you fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists
Are bound to lose
I said, all you fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You fascists are bound to lose
You’re bound to lose, you fascists
Are bound to lose
Read more: Wilco – All You Fascists Are Bound To Lose Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Photo Kris Krug
Billy Bragg was full of zest and political fire when he burst on to the scene in all his raw Punk fury. This song was a real indictment of the British stand on the Falklands, its attitude to war and the posturing of Margaret Thatcher. It captured the mood and got into the top ten. That doesn’t happen often with songs like this. It was a song about the working men of Britain who are the first to be sacrificed in times of war and how armament is used in times of recession.
Between the Wars
I was a miner
I was a docker
I was a railway man
Between the wars
I raised a family
In times of austerity
With sweat at the foundry
Between the wars
I paid the union and as times got harder
I looked to the government to help the working man
And they brought prosperity down at the armoury
“We’re arming for peace me boys”
Between the wars
I kept the faith and I kept voting
Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand
For theirs is a land with a wall around it
And mine is a faith in my fellow man
Theirs is a land of hope and glory
Mine is the green field and the factory floor
Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers
And mine is the peace we knew
Between the wars
Call up the craftsmen
Bring me the draughtsmen
Build me a path from cradle to grave
And I’ll give my consent
To any government
That does not deny a man a living wage
Go find the young men never to fight again
Bring up the banners from the days gone by
Sweet moderation
Heart of this nation
Desert us not, we are
Between the wars
I have a penchant for an artist who has something to say and not many people have as much to say as Leon. He likes big topics that he can get his teeth into and has a strong sense of indignation when it comes to social justice, fairness and standing up for human rights. He also has a firm grasp of British history and marries the two expertly. If you appreciate themes of historical significance in the long fight for freedom and equality like the Levellers, William Morris or the Tolpuddle Martyrs then Leon is your man. He is not one to pull the punches and likes telling stories.
For someone who has such a large repertoire of self-penned gems Leon is relatively unknown. That is almost scandalous. It is probably due to the fact that he is not afraid to state his ideology and it does not seem to conform with most people’s. The majority prefer bland and jolly to uncomfortable and true, though it is fair to say that Leon does have a lot of lighter, humorous songs. He should be ginormous. Fortunately musicians like Billy Bragg and Roy Bailey have championed him and covered his songs like ‘The World Turned Upside Down’.
I saw Leon in a tiny Folk Club in Beverley. He received warm applause. He should have been cheered to the rafters in huge halls.
Leon is a brilliant songwriter and one of those warm human beings.