Song picture
Homeless and Homeschoolees
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folk satire
acoustic folk social commentary political satire western massachusetts oil coal climate change fracking incineration music for social change nuclear energy
Folk singer, social commentary, satire, people's stories, children's music
Hi Folks, The Bard Insurgent here. My comrade D.O. (the Poet Roofer) and I got that handle (The Bard Insurgents) from traveling town to town performing songs and poetry about people's lives. I've been performing since I was 3 years old, cutting my vocal chords on liturgical and classical music. I was a concert soloist as a child, when I wasn't herding cows, throwing hay and shoveling manure. During the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war, I began writing songs about social change. I left the country in 1970 and my dozen years in other countries, mostly in Africa & South America, have provided a global perspective to my music. My travels helped me realize that people all around the world are essentially the same in their basic life needs and their desires to live peacefully in their communities. These experiences have informed my commitment to working for international understanding as I organize at home. A powerful way to educate and inspire is with music. I tell people's stories, do social commentary with a touch of satire that I hope you enjoy and share with your friends, as well as sing together in the streets and in your living rooms. I also have children's music written for the children in my life with Jacob and Kayla as primary muses. Looking forward to seeing you on the road, Tom
Song Info
Charts
Peak #24
Peak in subgenre #5
Author
tom neilson
Rights
2013
Uploaded
October 12, 2017
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.9 MB 128 kbps 5:22
Story behind the song
Greenfield, MA Mayor Bill Martin said he was going to reduce the library budget by $30,000 so as not to subsidize its use by the homeless and home school children.
Lyrics
I read in the paper the other day that the mayor was going to take away 30 K from the library so the town could avoid redundancy. Billy says he won’t foot the bill so the homeless can have a library chill And the public school’s got enough money. So the library’s not for the homeschoolee. Lindel Hart, library trustee, says these cuts are shortsighted as they can be More people than ever coming through the door, good folk of the town, the rich & the poor Seek help with a project, research to do, Greenfield High School & 4 Corners School. But Billie knows he won’t play the fool for the homeless and homeschoolees. Wendy’s daughter with a thirst to quench for language materials in English & French, Sought out the help of Jess and Kay, & Wendy says she was just blown away By all of the programs they had at hand for a little girl from Haiti land But Willie says he’ll take a stand, ‘gainst the homeless & homeschoolees. Faith asks the mayor, “Where else can you go to get books for your kid or a video?” On line database to build family trees, And if you can’t make the trip, homebound deliveries. But the homeless just give Willie the fits. They can go to the jungle or to the Ritz They don’t need a computer or to read the news. The library’s not their place to use. We wonder if the mayor has a library card. Is loving the library really so hard? The benefits just seem to multiply; free passes, story time, chess, & wi-fi. A place to meet, interlibrary loans, children’s computers complete with headphones If more of his time he was spending there, of global warming, he’d be more aware. Losing money for staffing can decertify cause it closes the doors and can disqualify. The regional sharing & state aid will die, but Willie is willing to let it pass by Maybe Willie’d be willing to show some care if these books were for burning to poison the air. A renewable energy source to be had, then funding the library would not be so bad
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