The Harder They Come, written by Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff, performed by Willie Nelson and Ryan Adams, Live, David Letterman Show 2002.
Got the Saint Augustine,
Woody Blues
by Mike Marcellino
First it was my army backpack.
Then
my old yellow T-shirt
with The Lillies on
gone.
The day after
Friday the Thirteenth
they took
my real leather beach shoes
right on your birthday.
One an' all.
One an' all.
Got the Saint Augustine,
Woody Blues.
Mike Marcellino performs at Gallery RIVAA on Roosevelt Island in New York City
So, this becomes
your birthday song
from the sand beaches
of the Great Recession
to dust bowls
of the Great Depression.
One an' all.
One an' all.
Got the Saint Augustine,
Woody Blues.
"As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said 'No Trespassing.'
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me."
So Woody, tell me,
Is this still our land -
"From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters?"
Or is it just a den of greed and thieves?
Did you have to nail stuff down,
back then
on the box car roads to California?
Or, just watch out
gettin' beat up bound for glory?
One an' all.
One an' all.
Got the Saint Augustine,
Woody Blues.
Now, another century
Jammin'
on Roosevelt Island.
Makin' up some songs
on the streets of Cleveland.
Trekking cross country
thumb out all the way.
Nothin' to lose anymore,
except everything
when the trucker fell asleep.
One an' all.
One an' all.
Got the Saint Augustine,
Woody Blues.
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| Add caption |
American folk singing legend Woody Guthrie, born July 14, 1912, Okemah, Oklahoma; died October 3, 1967 in New York City, at age 55 from Huntington's disease
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me."
Thanks for the borrowed lines.
They're mighty fine.
One an' all.
One an' all.
Got the Saint Augustine,
Woody Blues.
Got the Saint Augustine,Woody Blues by Mike Marcellino, copyright 2012
"This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie
"This Is Your Land," Bruce Springsteen, Los Angeles, 1985
