Click on the headline to link to a "YouTube" film clip of a performance of "Hobo's Lullaby"
CD Review
Give Us Your Poor, various artists, Appleseed Recordings, 2007
Sure, I have been homeless. Oh, not the desperate, day in, day out, year in, year out homelessness that drives the stories in this compilation of musical and storytelling artistic efforts to get people who are not homeless, have never been homeless, and hope never to be homeless to pay attention. And to not just walk away, around, or over the problem. I have been homeless enough though , and in dire enough straits at times to have a pretty good sense that the streets are not for dreaming, or for living in, and are definitely to be avoided at all costs. Those are mean streets out there, brothers and sisters. And asking for the occasional spare change, spare cigarette, spare anything is just the tip of the iceberg.
But, hell, let some real folks tell the story. And that is what they do here, interspersed with some celebrity performances, by some people that Appleseed Records (and U/Mass-Boston) has been fortunate enough to garner in and who, in their own ways, give a damn. Especially give a listen to “Land of 10,000 Homeless” –Minnesota” and the story that brother has to tell and Danny Glover’s recitation of “My Name Is Not “Those People”’. For those who are moved by celebrity, listen to Bonnie Raitt and Weepin' Willie Robinson on “Walking The Dog” and Sweet Honey In The Rock on “Stranger Blues”. And for those who want to get misty-eyed about the romance of the road- hobo style, at least vicariously, give a listen to Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger on a song made famous (although not written by) Woody Guthrie, “Hobo’s Lullaby”.
Let me finish with this little thought. I grew up dirt-poor and it was a long time before I knew, for real, that there was some other condition. One of the virtues, and maybe the only one, of being poor is that the vicissitudes, the ups and downs, of the world economy kind of pass me by, personally. However, I have elected, and rightly so, to fight so that poor is a word that is placed in the archives of human history through the struggle for our communist future where being homeless will be merely a relic of a barbaric age. But just in case, I will keep myself in shape. Brother (sister), can you spare a dime?
Hobo's Lullaby
by Goebel Reeves
Go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Can't you hear the steel rail humming
That's a hobo's lullaby
Do not think about tomorrow
Let tomorrow come and go
Tonight you're in a nice warm boxcar
Safe from all the wind and snow
I know the police cause you trouble
They cause trouble everywhere
But when you die and go to heaven
You won't find no policemen there
I know your clothes are torn and ragged
And your hair is turning grey
Lift your head and smile at trouble
You'll find happiness some day
So go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Don't you feel the steel rail humming
That's a hobo's lullaby
©1961,1962 (Renewed) Fall River Music, Inc. (BMI)
All Rights Reserved.
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