Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Yesterdays Protest Song for Today

THE SECRET MUSEUM
By Jim Webb

On October 15, 2009 CNN reported that home foreclosures hit an all- time record high in the third quarter of this year. One in every 136 US homes is either in default, auction notice or bank repossession. In 1949, a New York State apple farmer named Les Rice wrote a song called Banks of Marble that detailed the plight of the working man, and their struggles against the Banks. Les was a neighbor of folk singer Pete Seeger, and a one-time president of the Ulster County Farmers Union. Pete’s group The Weavers recorded the song in 1950, and it has been a popular union song ever since, particularly in Ireland. American singer / songwriter Iris Dement has also performed the tune live on her recent tours.

Banks of Marble
We've traveled 'round this country
from shore to shining shore
It really made me wonder
the things I heard and saw

I saw the weary farmer
plowing sod and loam
I heard the auction hammer
just a-knocking down his home

But the banks are made of marble
with a guard at every door
and the vaults are stuffed with silver
that the farmer sweated for

I’ve seen the weary miner
scrubbing coal dust from his back
I heard his children cryin'
"Got no coal to heat the shack"
But the banks are made of marble
with a guard at every door
and the vaults are stuffed with silver
that the miner sweated for

I've seen my brothers working
throughout this mighty land
I prayed we'd get together
and together make a stand
Then we might own those banks of marble
with a guard at every door
and we might share those vaults of silver
that we have sweated for

-Les Rice

If Les was still around I know how he would feel about using tax payer money to bail out failing banks. All this talk about home foreclosures reminds me of an old adage: Buy land, it’s the only thing they can’t make more of. I hope no one else loses their job, and you can afford your mortgage payments, or you might wind up singing a certain tune from 1949.
-Jim Webb
webbjuice@comcast.net

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