I stood before the judge that day As he refused me bail And I knew that I would spend my time Awaiting trial in jail I said there is no justice As they led me out the door And the judge said, "This isn't a court of justice son This is a court of law." They first sent me to Windsor And then to Stoke on Trent In a holding cell in Liverpool Three days and nights I spent My solicitor can't find me And my family doesn't know I keep telling them that I'm innocent They just say, "Come on son, in you go." I was picked up on suspicion of something I haven't done Here I sit in 'F' wing waiting for my trial to come It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand
I ended up in this jail Built in 1882 When one man to one prison cell Was a Victorian value Now three of us are squeezed in here And you can't escape the smell Of that bucket in the corner And we eat in here as well They let me out of this cage To slop that bucket out To get my food and bring it back And if I'm lucky, get a shower Apart from one hours exercise I'm locked in here all day You don't turn criminals into citizens By treating them this way Is the price of law and order the stench of Wormwood Scrubs With judges quick to sentence sending more down from above It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand
Blind Lemon Jefferson: "Prison Cell Blues" Bukka White: "Parchman Farm" Julius Daniels: "99 Year Blues" from Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music
billy bragg also has a song about the japanese internment camps. i cant remember the name of the song, but i can sing it for you if you like. i know that's no help.
id also like to point out that i cant stand "spoken word" poetry or whatever theyre calling it these days. but that mike ladd track on the unbound project is one major exception. that shit is dope.
Seems like a lot of obvious things have been missed.
Nina Simone - I shall Be Released I would kick things off with that.
Dylan has another song with the refrain "pity the poor immigrant", but I don't know of any good versions.
Woody Guthrie - Deportees, Sweeet Honey In The Rock did an accapela you can mash. I always liked the way Judy Collins did it. I can't imagine you doing this project with out this song. Another must.
Woody Guthrie - Pastures Of Plenty.
Woody Guthrie - Do Ray Me, about coming to California.
Blind Alfred Reed - How Can You Keep On Moving, again about American migrants, Ry Cooder covered it.
Violionaires - Salt Of The Earth, doesn't mention immagrants or jail directly, but a better Rolling Stones penned song than Gimme Shelter. Better captures the immagrant experience I think. The Violinaires version will make you cry.
By The Rivers Of Babylon - The ultimate coming to a new land song (though it is about slavery of course). Melodians are the classic, no? I heard Sweet Honey In The Rock do this live, if it is on lp there is your accapela.
Georgia Sea Island Singers - The one with the refrain "Before I'll be a slave I will be buried in my grave". I've heard Sweet Honey do this one as well. Either version would be accapela.
There are so many blues and country prison songs. The blues one I would look for is Parchment Prison Blues (also known as Baby Please Don't Go and Another Man Done Gone). The Folkways site should have some accapelas.
I think it is Keb Mo who does a mournful version of Cash's Fulsom Prison Blues (Johnnys might be a little celbratory). Mama Tried is about deserved imprisonment and might not be what you are looking for. I think a rapper needs to take that sentiment (mama tried but I fucked up anyway) and make a song out of it.
On the edge of my conciousness is a Texas songwriter's song about crossing the Rio Grande.
There are some really moving Irish folksongs about coming to America. I wish I could remember this one I heard Martin Carthy (or was it John Renbourne) do with some female singer (Maddy Prior?) in concert 25 years ago, but it is another memory just out of reach.
I should also be able to come up with a Jewish immagrant song, but I can't right now.
Check that Smithsonian Folkways site everyone was talking about a few weeks ago. I don't know how easy a subject search is, but there should be lots of stuff and lots of accapelas.
If it were me I would look for songs that say, "I've been kicked around, but I am not down". I would want the overall message to be one of hope in triumph in the faces of struggle.
It took me 2 hours to write this so I am sure other have said some of the same things in the interum.
Seems like a lot of obvious things have been missed.
Nina Simone - I shall Be Released I would kick things off with that.
Dylan has another song with the refrain "pity the poor immigrant", but I don't know of any good versions.
Woody Guthrie - Deportees, Sweeet Honey In The Rock did an accapela you can mash. I always liked the way Judy Collins did it. I can't imagine you doing this project with out this song. Another must.
Woody Guthrie - Pastures Of Plenty.
Woody Guthrie - Do Ray Me, about coming to California.
Blind Alfred Reed - How Can You Keep On Moving, again about American migrants, Ry Cooder covered it.
Violionaires - Salt Of The Earth, doesn't mention immagrants or jail directly, but a better Rolling Stones penned song than Gimme Shelter. Better captures the immagrant experience I think. The Violinaires version will make you cry.
By The Rivers Of Babylon - The ultimate coming to a new land song (though it is about slavery of course). Melodians are the classic, no? I heard Sweet Honey In The Rock do this live, if it is on lp there is your accapela.
Georgia Sea Island Singers - The one with the refrain "Before I'll be a slave I will be buried in my grave". I've heard Sweet Honey do this one as well. Either version would be accapela.
There are so many blues and country prison songs. The blues one I would look for is Parchment Prison Blues (also known as Baby Please Don't Go and Another Man Done Gone). The Folkways site should have some accapelas.
I think it is Keb Mo who does a mournful version of Cash's Fulsom Prison Blues (Johnnys might be a little celbratory). Mama Tried is about deserved imprisonment and might not be what you are looking for. I think a rapper needs to take that sentiment (mama tried but I fucked up anyway) and make a song out of it.
On the edge of my conciousness is a Texas songwriter's song about crossing the Rio Grande.
There are some really moving Irish folksongs about coming to America. I wish I could remember this one I heard Martin Carthy (or was it John Renbourne) do with some female singer (Maddy Prior?) in concert 25 years ago, but it is another memory just out of reach.
I should also be able to come up with a Jewish immagrant song, but I can't right now.
Check that Smithsonian Folkways site everyone was talking about a few weeks ago. I don't know how easy a subject search is, but there should be lots of stuff and lots of accapelas.
If it were me I would look for songs that say, "I've been kicked around, but I am not down". I would want the overall message to be one of hope in triumph in the faces of struggle.
It took me 2 hours to write this so I am sure other have said some of the same things in the interum.
Dan
I think this is a good topic for a music thread, but I don't see much creativity or energy here. I mean Johnny Cash is great, but isn't that just a little obvious?
Ok, I just got back from dinner with friends and have these suggestions.
Richie Havens - Pity The Poor Immigrant, cover of Bob Dylan song.
Los Super 7 - Deportees, hip Tex-Mex version of the Woody Guthrie song.
Leadbelly - Hangman, another one you can pick up at the Folkways site. With the Refrain "hangman hangman slacken your rope, slacken for a while, under comes my..."
New Lost City Ramblers - When First Unto This Country (or something like that). Another one from the Folkways site. This might be a version of that Irish song I was talking about. I heard it done by the John Renbourne Group I think, a friend is checking his records for you.
Tish Hinaojas does do that song about crossing the Rio Grande, a friend is checking her cds for that song.
The advantage of working with the Folkways catalog is less insturmentation. Also getting clearence to use a Dylan song or Jagger/Richards is much harder than clearence on a song that is in the public domain.
The Heptones - Country Boy Mighty Threes - Nearer to Africa LKJ - It Dread Inna Inglan (both immigration and imprisonment) Nina Simone - New World Coming Boris Gardner - Melting Pot
I'm making a mix CD for a non-profit that deals with immigration & the criminal justice system in the US. The idea they had was to do an entire CD of mashups with all kinds of songs about immigration and imprisonment. They wanted hip-hop, reggaeton, bhangra, reggae, classic rock and all kinds of stuff.
remember this, way back on page 1 of this thread?
preferably stuff that will mix with what I already have
this is a mixtape not hillbilly jackoff hour
Not sure if that last was aimed at me or not. Personally I thought your classic rock selections kinda sucked. I think if you want to express the immigration experience then looking to people who have been kicked around a little more than Phil Collins has might be a good idea.
So I did suggest some hillbilly songs. I was under the impression you had a enough talent to give them hip-hop, reggaeton, bhangra, reggae remixs. I guess I took that "all kinds of stuff" part a little to seriously.
If you think there are classic rock songs that express the emotion you want better than Deportees, then I will be of no help.
oops sorry dan. i was drunk when i wrote that last night. thanks for the suggestions. disclaimer: the phil collins and all that shit was not my idea. the non-profit gave me a list and a CDR that was on it.
oops sorry dan. i was drunk when i wrote that last night. thanks for the suggestions. disclaimer: the phil collins and all that shit was not my idea. the non-profit gave me a list and a CDR that was on it.
I was starting to think after I wrote, that maybe you were in the UK, and dealing with different immigrant experiences than in the USA.
Comments
Billy Bragg - Waiting On Remand
I stood before the judge that day
As he refused me bail
And I knew that I would spend my time
Awaiting trial in jail
I said there is no justice
As they led me out the door
And the judge said, "This isn't a court of justice son
This is a court of law."
They first sent me to Windsor
And then to Stoke on Trent
In a holding cell in Liverpool
Three days and nights I spent
My solicitor can't find me
And my family doesn't know
I keep telling them that I'm innocent
They just say, "Come on son, in you go."
I was picked up on suspicion of something I haven't done
Here I sit in 'F' wing waiting for my trial to come
It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands
Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand
I ended up in this jail
Built in 1882
When one man to one prison cell
Was a Victorian value
Now three of us are squeezed in here
And you can't escape the smell
Of that bucket in the corner
And we eat in here as well
They let me out of this cage
To slop that bucket out
To get my food and bring it back
And if I'm lucky, get a shower
Apart from one hours exercise
I'm locked in here all day
You don't turn criminals into citizens
By treating them this way
Is the price of law and order the stench of Wormwood Scrubs
With judges quick to sentence sending more down from above
It's a cruel unusual punishment that society demands
Innocent till proven guilty, rotting on remand
Bukka White: "Parchman Farm"
Julius Daniels: "99 Year Blues" from Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music
They may not be country to country immigration, more like displacement - is that OK, too?
Cheech and Chong (sans the Chong).
this dude rules.
billy bragg also has a song about the japanese internment camps. i cant remember the name of the song, but i can sing it for you if you like. i know that's no help.
id also like to point out that i cant stand "spoken word" poetry or whatever theyre calling it these days. but that mike ladd track on the unbound project is one major exception. that shit is dope.
is this some sort of benefit for something? like, are you selling it and giving the proceeds to some non-profit or some such? if so, rock on.
that unreleased resident alien album that prince paul produced is full of shit you could use.
i've got it on mp3 if you want it posted.
Imprisonment - War: Four Cornered Room
And Daze: I loooove John Prine's first album. "Hello In There" gets me every time.
The KLan or the Bottle would suffice.
Nina Simone - I shall Be Released I would kick things off with that.
Dylan has another song with the refrain "pity the poor immigrant", but I don't know of any good versions.
Woody Guthrie - Deportees, Sweeet Honey In The Rock did an accapela you can mash. I always liked the way Judy Collins did it. I can't imagine you doing this project with out this song. Another must.
Woody Guthrie - Pastures Of Plenty.
Woody Guthrie - Do Ray Me, about coming to California.
Blind Alfred Reed - How Can You Keep On Moving, again about American migrants, Ry Cooder covered it.
Violionaires - Salt Of The Earth, doesn't mention immagrants or jail directly, but a better Rolling Stones penned song than Gimme Shelter. Better captures the immagrant experience I think. The Violinaires version will make you cry.
By The Rivers Of Babylon - The ultimate coming to a new land song (though it is about slavery of course). Melodians are the classic, no? I heard Sweet Honey In The Rock do this live, if it is on lp there is your accapela.
Georgia Sea Island Singers - The one with the refrain "Before I'll be a slave I will be buried in my grave". I've heard Sweet Honey do this one as well. Either version would be accapela.
There are so many blues and country prison songs. The blues one I would look for is Parchment Prison Blues (also known as Baby Please Don't Go and Another Man Done Gone). The Folkways site should have some accapelas.
I think it is Keb Mo who does a mournful version of Cash's Fulsom Prison Blues (Johnnys might be a little celbratory). Mama Tried is about deserved imprisonment and might not be what you are looking for. I think a rapper needs to take that sentiment (mama tried but I fucked up anyway) and make a song out of it.
On the edge of my conciousness is a Texas songwriter's song about crossing the Rio Grande.
There are some really moving Irish folksongs about coming to America. I wish I could remember this one I heard Martin Carthy (or was it John Renbourne) do with some female singer (Maddy Prior?) in concert 25 years ago, but it is another memory just out of reach.
I should also be able to come up with a Jewish immagrant song, but I can't right now.
Check that Smithsonian Folkways site everyone was talking about a few weeks ago. I don't know how easy a subject search is, but there should be lots of stuff and lots of accapelas.
If it were me I would look for songs that say, "I've been kicked around, but I am not down". I would want the overall message to be one of hope in triumph in the faces of struggle.
It took me 2 hours to write this so I am sure other have said some of the same things in the interum.
Dan
I think this is a good topic for a music thread, but I don't see much creativity or energy here. I mean Johnny Cash is great, but isn't that just a little obvious?
Ok, I just got back from dinner with friends and have these suggestions.
Richie Havens - Pity The Poor Immigrant, cover of Bob Dylan song.
Los Super 7 - Deportees, hip Tex-Mex version of the Woody Guthrie song.
Leadbelly - Hangman, another one you can pick up at the Folkways site. With the Refrain "hangman hangman slacken your rope, slacken for a while, under comes my..."
New Lost City Ramblers - When First Unto This Country (or something like that). Another one from the Folkways site. This might be a version of that Irish song I was talking about. I heard it done by the John Renbourne Group I think, a friend is checking his records for you.
Tish Hinaojas does do that song about crossing the Rio Grande, a friend is checking her cds for that song.
The advantage of working with the Folkways catalog is less insturmentation. Also getting clearence to use a Dylan song or Jagger/Richards is much harder than clearence on a song that is in the public domain.
Good Luck, keep us updated.
Dan
You have the whole album? I've been wanting to hear this for 13 years or so. Check your PM.
anything off that first Fugees album? They always talked about the Haitan thing...
this is a mixtape not hillbilly jackoff hour
The Heptones - Country Boy
Mighty Threes - Nearer to Africa
LKJ - It Dread Inna Inglan (both immigration and imprisonment)
Nina Simone - New World Coming
Boris Gardner - Melting Pot
I guess the last two are more conceptual.
Not sure if that last was aimed at me or not. Personally I thought your classic rock selections kinda sucked. I think if you want to express the immigration experience then looking to people who have been kicked around a little more than Phil Collins has might be a good idea.
So I did suggest some hillbilly songs. I was under the impression you had a enough talent to give them hip-hop, reggaeton, bhangra, reggae remixs. I guess I took that "all kinds of stuff" part a little to seriously.
If you think there are classic rock songs that express the emotion you want better than Deportees, then I will be of no help.
Dan
I was starting to think after I wrote, that maybe you were in the UK, and dealing with different immigrant experiences than in the USA.
Dan