Stelle Cadenti

My Oklahoma home
Unknown Author

When they opened up the strip I was young and full of zip,
I wanted a place to call my own.
And so I made the race, and staked me out a place,
And settled down along the Cimarron.

It blowed away, it blowed away,
My Oklahoma home, it blowed away.
It looked so green and fair when I built my shanty there,
But my Oklahoma home, it blowed away.

I planted wheat and oats, got some chickens and some shoats,
Aimed to have some ham and eggs to feed my face.
Got a mule to pull the plow, got an old red muley cow
And got a fancy mortgage on the place.

It blowed away, it blowed away,
All the crops I planted blowed away.
You can’t grow any grain if there isn’t any rain;
All except the mortgage blowed away.

It blowed away my rooster and it blowed away my hens;
The pigs and cattle went astray.
All the crops that I sowed went a-foggin’ down the road.
My Oklahoma farm, it blowed away.

It blowed away, it blowed away,
Everything I owned blowed away.
I hollered and I cussed when my land went up in dust,
When my Oklahoma farm, it blowed away.

It looked so green and fair, when I built my shanty there,
I figured I was all set for life.
I put on my Sunday best with my fancy scalloped vest
And went to town and picked me out a wife.

She blowed away, she blowed away
My Oklahoma woman blowed away.
Just as I bent and kissed her, she was picked up by a twister;
My Oklahoma woman blowed away.

Then I was left alone a-listenin’ to the moan
Of the wind around the corners of my shack;
So I took off down the road when the south wind blowed,
A-travelin’ with the wind at my back.

I blowed away, I blowed away
Chasin’ a dust cloud up ahead.
Once it looked so green and fair, now it’s up there in the air;
My Oklahoma farm is overhead.

Now I’m always close to home no matter where I roam,
For Oklahoma dust is everywhere.
Makes no difference where I’m walkin’, I can hear my chickens squawkin’
I can hear my wife a-talkin’ in the air.

It blowed away, it blowed away,
My Oklahoma home blowed away.
But my home is always near; it’s in the atmosphere,
My Oklahoma home that blowed away.

I’m a roamin’ Oklahoman, but I’m always close to home
And I’ll never get homesick ’til I die.
No matter where I’m found, my home is all around;
My Oklahoma home is in the sky.

It blowed away, it blowed away,
My farm down upon the Cimarron.
But all around the world, wherever dust is whirled,
Some is from my Oklahoma home.

It blowed away, it blowed away,
My Oklahoma home blowed away.
Oh it’s up there in the sky in that dust cloud rolling by,
My Oklahoma home is in the sky.

Jacob’s Ladder
Unknown Author

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
Brothers, sisters, all

Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
Brothers, sisters, all

We are dancing Sarah’s circle
We are dancing Sarah’s circle
We are dancing Sarah’s circle
Sisters, brothers, all

Every round a generation
Every round a generation
Every round a generation
Sisters, brothers, all

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
Brothers, sisters, all

Erie Canal
Unknown Author

We were forty miles from Albany
Forget it I never shall.
What a terrible storm we had one night
On the E-ri-e – Canal.

Chorus:
O the E-ri-e was a-rising
And the gin was a-getting low.
And I scarcely think we’ll get a drink
Till we get to Buff-a-lo-o-o
Till we get to Buffalo.

We were loaded down with barley
We were chock-full up on rye.
The captain he looked down at me
With his gol-durned wicked eye.

Two days out from Syracuse
The vessel struck a shoal;
We like to all be foundered
On a chunk o’ Lackawanna coal.

We hollered to the captain
On the towpath, treadin’ dirt
He jumped on board and stopped the leak
With his old red flannel shirt.

The cook she was a grand old gal
Stood six foot in her socks.
Had a foot just like an elephant
And her breath would open locks.

The wind begins to whistle
The waves begin to roll
We had to reef our royals
On that ragin’ canal.

The cook came to our rescue
She had a ragged dress;
We h’isted her upon the pole
As a signal of distress.

When we got to Syracuse
Off-mule, he was dead;
The nigh mule got blind staggers
We cracked him on the head.

The cook is in the Police Gazette
The captain went to jail;
And I’m the only son-of-a-sea-cook
That’s left to tell the tale.

Oh, Mary, don’t you weep
Unknown Author

Well if I could I surely would
Stand on the rock where Moses stood
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

Well Mary wore three links and chains
On every link was Jesus’ name
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep
Go!

Go!

Well one of these nights bout 12 o’clock
This old world is gonna rock
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

Well Moses stood on the Red Sea shore
Smote’ the water with a two by four
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

Alright!

(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(Pharaoh’s army got drownded)
(O Mary don’t you weep)

Well old Mr. Satan he got mad
Missed that soul that he thought he had
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

Brothers and sisters don’t you cry
There’ll be good times by and by
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

Well O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(Pharaoh’s army got drownded)
(O Mary don’t you weep)

God gave Noah the rainbow sigh
“No more water but fire next time”
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
O Mary don’t you weep

Everybody!
(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(Pharaoh’s army got drownded)
(O Mary don’t you weep)

O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn
Pharaoh’s army got drownded
Oooooooh, Mary don’t yoooooou

(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn)
(Pharaoh’s army got drownded)
(O Mary don’t you weep)

Traduzione

Se potessi sicuramente lo farei
Starei in piedi sulla roccia dove stava Mosè
L’esercito del faraone è annegato
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto
L’esercito del faraone è annegato nel mar rosso

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Maria aveva tre anelli di una catena
Su ogni anello c’era il nome di Gesù
L’esercito del faraone è annegato
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto
L’esercito del faraone è annegato nel mar rosso

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Una di queste notti, attorno alle 12
Questo vecchio mondo sarà scosso
L’esercito del faraone è annegato nel mar rosso
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Mosè era in piedi sulle rive del Mar Rosso
Comandò l’acqua con un due per quattro
L’esercito del faraone è annegato nel mar rosso
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto
L’esercito del faraone è annegato

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Il vecchio signor satana si è arrabbiato
Ha perso quell’anima che pensava di avere
L’esercito del faraone è annegato
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Fratelli e sorelle non piangete
Verranno tempi migliori
L’esercito del faraone è annegato
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto
L’esercito del faraone è annegato nel mar rosso

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime
Oh, Maria, non versa lacrime, non essere in lutto

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto
L’esercito del faraone è annegato nel mar rosso

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime, non essere in lutto
L’esercito del faraone è annegato

Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Dio diede a Noè il segno dell’arcobaleno
Disse “niente più acqua, la prossima volta sarà il fuoco”
L’esercito del faraone è annegato
Oh, Maria, non versar lacrime

Mrs.McGrath
Unknown Author

”O Mrs. McGrath,” the sergeant said

“Would you like a soldier of your son, Ted?
With a scarlet coat and a big cocked hat
Now Mrs. McGrath would you like that?”

Now Mrs. McGrath lived on the shore
And after seven years or more
She spied a ship come into the bay
With her son from far away

”O Captain dear where have ye been?
You been sailing the Mediterranean?
Have you news of my son Ted?
Is he living or is he dead?”

Then came Ted without any legs
And in their place two wooden pegs
She kissed him a dozen times or two
And said “My God Ted is it you?
Now were ye drunk or were ye blind
When ye left yer two fine legs behind?
Or was it walking upon the sea
That wore your two fine legs away?”

Now I wasn’t drunk and I wasn’t blind
When I left my two fine legs behind
A cannonball on the fifth of May
Tore my two fine legs away

”My, Teddy boy,” the widow cried
”Yer two fine legs were yer mother’s pride
Stumps of a tree won’t do at all
Why didn’t ye run from the cannonball?”

”All foreign wars I do proclaim
Live on blood and a mother’s pain
I’d rather have my son as he used to be
Than the King of America
And his whole Navy!”

Traduzione:

Signora McGrath,” disse il sergente
“Vuole che il suo figlio Ted diventi un soldato?
Con una giubba rossa e un gran capello
Signora. McGrath non le piacerebbe?”

La signora. McGrath visse lungo la costa
E dopo sette lunghi anni o forse più
Vide una nave che entrava nella baia
Con suo figlio da tanto lontano

“Oh, caro Capitano, dove sei stato?
Hai navigato per il mediterraneo?
Hai notizie di mio figlio Ted?
È vivo o è morto”

Poi venne Ted senza gambe
Al loro posto due protesi di legno
Lo baciò una o due dozzine di volte
Dicendo “Dio mio Ted sei tu?”
Eri ubriaco o eri cieco
Quando hai lasciato le tue due gambe?
O forse era quando camminavi sopra il mare
Che ha consumato le tue due belle gambe?”

No non ero nè ubriaco nè cieco
Quando ho perso le mie due gambe
Una palla di cannone il cinque maggio
Portò via le mie due belle gambe

“Teddy figlio mio” pianse la vecchia vedova
“Le due belle gambe erano l’orgoglio di tua mamma
Quei pezzi d’albero non vanno bene
Perché non sei corso via da quella grossa palla di cannone?”

“Ogni guerra in terra straniera, io proclamo
Vive sul sangue e sul dolore di una madre
Preferirei avere mio figlio come era
Piuttosto che il Re d’America
E tutta la sua flotta!”

Jesse James
Bill Gashade

Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man,
He robbed the Danville train,
He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor,
He’d a hand and a heart and a brain.

CHORUS:
Poor Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life,
Three children, they were brave;
But the dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard
Has laid Jesse James in his grave.
It was Robert Ford, that dirty little coward,
I wonder how he does feel,
For he ate of Jesse’s bread and he slept in Jesse’s bed,
Then he laid poor Jesse in his grave.

Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,
He’d never see a man suffer pain,;
And with his brother Frank, he robbed the Chicago bank,
And stopped the Glendale train.

It was on a Wednesday night and the moon was shining bright,
They robbed the Glendale train,
And the people they did say for many miles away,
It was robbed by Frank and Jesse James.

lt was his brother Frank that robbed the Gallatin bank,
And carried the money from the town;
lt was in this very place that they had a little race,
For they shot Captain Sheets to the ground.

They went to the crossing not very far from there,
And there they did the same;
With the agent on his knees, he delivered up the keys
To the outlaws, Frank and Jesse James.

It was on Saturday night and Jesse was at home
Talking with his family brave,
Robert Ford came along like a thief in the night
And laid poor Jesse in his grave.

The people held their breath when they heard of Jesse’s death,
And wondered how he ever came to die.
It was one of the gang called little Robert Ford,
He shot poor Jesse on the sly.

Jesse went to rest with his hand on his breast,
The devil will be upon his knee.
He was born one day in the county of Clay,
And he came from a solitary race.

Traduzione

Jesse James era un giovane
Che uccise molti uomini,
Rapinò il treno per Glenville
Rubò dai ricchi
E diede ai poveri
Aveva una mano ed un cuore ed un cervello

E’ stato Robert Ford
Quel piccolo sporco codardo
Mi chiedo cosa prova ora
Mangiò il pane di Jesse
E dormì nel letto di Jesse
Poi mise il povero Jesse nella sua tomba.

Jesse aveva una moglie
Che piangesse in lutto per la sua morte
Tre bambini
Erano coraggiosi
Ma quel piccolo sporco codardo
Che sparò Mr. Howard
Mise Jesse James nella sua tomba

Jesse era un uomo
Amico dei poveri
Non avrebbe mai derubato una madre o un bambino
Non c’era nessun uomo con
la legge in mano
Che avrebbe potuto prendere Jesse James vivo

Era un Sabato sera
E la luna risplendeva forte
Rapinarono il treno per Glendale
E la gente lontano
da molte miglia disse
Che erano stati quei banditi Frank e Jesse James.

Jesse aveva una moglie
Che piangesse in lutto per la sua morte
Tre bambini
Erano coraggiosi
Ma quel piccolo sporco codardo
Che sparò Mr. Howard
Ha messo Jesse James nella sua tomba

La gente trattenne il respiro
Quando sentirono della morte di Jesse,
Si chiesero come era potuto morire
Robert Ford e questo è risaputo
Sparò Jesse alla schiena
Mentre Jesse appendeva un quadro al muro

Jesse andò al riposo con la mano sul petto
Il diavolo sul suo ginocchio
Era nato un giorno nella contea di Clay
E proveniva da una razza solitaria

Old Dan Tucker
di Daniel D.Emett

Now old Dan Tucker’s fine old man
Washed his face in a fryin’ pan
Combed his head with a wagon wheel
And died with a toothache in his heel

Get out of the way old Dan Tucker
Get out of the way old Dan Tucker
Get out of the way old Dan Tucker
You’re too late to get your supper

Now old Dan Tucker is come to town
Riding a billy goat leading a hound
Hound dog bark and the billy goat jump
Landed Dan Tucker on top of the stump

Now old Dan Tucker he got drunk
Fell in the fire and kicked up a chunk
Red hot coal got in his shoe
And oh my lord how the ashes flew

Now old Dan Tucker is come to town
Swinging the ladies round and round
First to the right and then to the left
Then to the girl that he loves best

Old Dan Tucker
di Daniel D.Emett

Il vecchio Dan Tucker, era un simpatico vecchietto,
che si lavò la faccia in una padella
Si pettinò i capelli con la ruota di un carro
Morì in seguito ad un mal di dente

Levati di mezzo! vecchio Dan Tucker,
Levati di mezzo! vecchio Dan Tucker,
Levati di mezzo! vecchio Dan Tucker,
Sei in ritardo per la cena

Il vecchio Dan Tucker, arrivò in città
Cavalcando una capra e con un cane da caccia
Il cane da caccia abbaiò, la capra saltò in aria
Fece cadere Dan Tucker sopra un ceppo

Levati di mezzo! vecchio Dan Tucker,
Sei in ritardo per la cena
Levati di mezzo! vecchio Dan Tucker,
Sei in ritardo per la cena

Il vecchio Dan Tucker si ubriacò e cadde
Nel fuoco e fecce un gran confusione
Un pezzo di carbone finì nella sua scarpa
E oh dio mio, la cenere volò dappertutto

Levati di mezzo! vecchio Dan Tucker,
Sei in ritardo per la cena
Levati di mezzo! vecchio Dan Tucker,
Sei in ritardo per la cena

Adesso il vecchio Dan Tucker, è arrivato in città
Fa ballare le donne volteggiando
Prima verso destra, poi verso sinistra
Poi verso la fanciulla che ama di più