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#48-History (1984)
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One of more ambitious historical/political songs...Think Sympathy For The Devil meets I Ain't A Marchin Anymore meets the book Lies My Teacher Told Me
folk funny political sixties novelty gentle prolific idiosyncratic lehrer jefferson airplane ochs paxton steve goodman
Artist picture
Tom Paxton meets Jefferson Airplane. Extremely prolific singer songwriter with a wide range of styles from bizarre novelty tunes and surrealistic poetic songs t
With more than 300 songs and counting and for more than 30 years, I have written in a variety of acoustic styles from novelty tunes to love songs to historical ballads to poetic surrealistic songs to retro-acoustic pop. From bizarre to traditional from funny to poignant, whatever style the song is in, the melodies are usually memorable and the lyrics unpredictable. This site will eventually contain rough often first take demos of my entire song catalogue. Many of the earliest songs when I first started writing will of course be shaky. So expect the songs to get better as time goes on. Feel free to come back and browse often as I will constantly be adding songs, one by one in chronological order, starting in 1974. If you are looking for some unusual songs to cover from a little known but unique artist, you have come to the right place. Just e-mail me. If you find a song here that intrigues you, but you don't like a line or two, or you think it needs a bridge, drop me an e-mail and maybe you can earn writer's credit if it gets that song to be recorded or performed.... otherwise just enjoy. You can become a Rob Lincoln fan at no cost to you. I promise that if you keep coming back there will be some real surprises along the way. While mostly acoustic, some original material will veer into folk rock and even 60's pop, but the garage rock and loudest material will also be found in full band arrangement at soundclick.com/abrasiveflowers Eventually some of these 300+ tunes may be rerecorded and make it on to CD, including a novelty CD that would be suitable for Dr. Demento or an historical ballad CD or a political song CD--but until then, this is the only site you can hear most of these songs. (A few of my songs CAN be found on songramp.com/RobLincoln and myspace.com/lessickandlincoln)
Song Info
Charts
Peak #500
Peak in subgenre #43
Author
Rob Lincoln
Rights
1984
Uploaded
April 23, 2007
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.7 MB 128 kbps 5:10
Story behind the song
I wanted to write a song that traced our leaders' consistent pattern of lying to get into a war. Remember this was 20+ years before GW. Whether it was the Mexican War the Vietnam War or Operation Iraqi Freedom, the facts were distrorted in order to get the American people behind the war. This will continue to happen until people start learning their history. The song is in chronological order. Mp3 listeners have thus far rated this an average of 3.8 out of 5.... Listeners' comments have included "Actually my first association for History was Dylan's 'WIth God on our Side.' Needless to say you won't make a fan out of RUsh Limbugh with this song(Actually I've always been a fan of the haberdasher)."
Lyrics
I was there when little George chopped down the cherry tree And with a golden tear in his eyes he told the truth to me I was sewing blankets for my friend Old Hickory Never heard of the small pox, it was such a damn pity Some say I tell very tall tales Some say I just lie But their talk is cheap My words are free So have another drink on me We're living in a land that's free To tell its history I went down to Texas beside General Zachary The Mexicans attacked us, we never crossed their boundaries I overheard Tennessee Johnson whispering loudly How he tried to do his best to end all slavery Some say I tell very tall tales Some say I just lie But their talk is cheap My words are free So have another drink on me We're living in a land that's free To tell its history I remember the Maine so well but not the Phillipines You say there were concentration camps I don't know what you mean I heard Woodrow Wilson's words ringing loudly We'd fight a war to end all wars, not for aristocracy Some say I tell very tall tales Some say I just lie But their talk is cheap My words are free So have another drink on me We're living in a land that's free To tell its history The haberdasherer was tough, he was a great man he tried so hard to save so many lives, esppecially in Japan I was petting Checkers behind the scenery Its little owner's daddy oh he felt no self pity Some say I tell very tall tales Some say I just lie But their talk is cheap My words are free So have another drink on me We're living in a land that's free To tell its history I was holding an umbrella near a Dallas grassy knoll I heard three shots, I was so shocked, one madman took his toll I was in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 The commies they attacked us and forced us into war Some say I tell very tall tales Some say I just lie But their talk is cheap My words are free So have another drink on me We're living in a land that's free To tell its history Now Saddam was a liar He hated our country He was such an evil threat To all of our safety And I'm feeling real good now better all the time As long as you don't know your past I'll have another line Some say I tell very tall tales Some say I just lie But their talk is cheap My words are free So have another drink on me We're living in a land that's free To tell its history
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