Digital Tradition Mirror

The Ballad of F.D.R

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

The Ballad of F.D.R
(Almanac Singers)

It was on a Saturday night and the moon was shining bright,
They passed the Conscription bill.
And the people they did say for many miles away,
T'was the president and his boys on Capitol Hill.

cho: Oh Franklin Roosevelt told the people how he felt,
     We damned near believed what he said.
     He said "I hate war and so does Eleanor but
     We won't be safe till everybody's dead.

When my poor mother died, I was sitting by her side,
Promising to war I'd never go.
Now I'm wearing khaki jeans and eating army beans,
And I'm told that J. P. Morgan loves me so.

I have wandered over this land a roamin'workingman,
No clothes to wear and not much food to eat.
Now the government foots the bill, gives clothes, and feeds me swill,
And gets me shot and put underground six feet.

Note: this commemorated the passing of the Selective Service Act
     of 1940, the U.S.'s first peacetime conscription. It was
     violently opposed by most U.S. left-wingers, at least until
     Germany invaded the U.S.S.R. RG
Recorded by Almanac Singers, Songs for John Doe
RG

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!