Depressing song lyrics

[claude]

Was in the car yesterday and time from the dark side of the moon (Pink Floyd) came on with these lyrics. Man, I didn't need any more reminders of my mortality!


And you run and you run to catch up with the sun,
but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

[Chris D]

Originally posted by claude
Was in the car yesterday and time from the dark side of the moon (Pink Floyd) came on with these lyrics. Man, I didn't need any more reminders of my mortality!


And you run and you run to catch up with the sun,
but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

It's funny; I think of this song all the time when I'm in a "what have you done lately?" funk.

"Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say...."

[claude]

Originally posted by Chris D
It's funny; I think of this song all the time when I'm in a "what have you done lately?" funk.

"Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say...."

Yeah, I could see it that way also. Just happened that my mind was going in the other direction already and the song struck me as being extra depressing.

[Jazzzoline]

Another way of seeing it would be as a kicking butt song: time for setting your priorities and DO IT, cuz life isn't eternal, yet

[Gentle Giant]

Neil Young, hands down.

DOWN BY THE RIVER
Down by the river, I shot my baby.
Dead, oh, I shot her dead.

OHIO
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?


TIRED EYES
Well he shot four men in a cocaine deal
And he left them lyin' in an open field
Full of old cars with bullet holes in the mirrors.
He tried to do his best but he could not.

Please take my advice, please take my advice
Please take my advice.
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.

Well, it wasn't supposed to go down that way.
But they burned his brother, you know,
And they left him lying in the driveway.
They let him down with nothin'.
He tried to do his best but he could not.

Please take my advice, please take my advice
Please take my advice.
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.

Well tell me more, tell me more, tell me more
I mean was he a heavy doper or was he just a loser?
He was a friend of yours.
What do you mean, he had bullet holes in his mirrors?
He tried to do his best but he could not.

Please take my advice, please take my advice
Please take my advice.
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.

Please take my advice, please take my advice
Please take my advice.
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.

[cookie]

Dark Side of the Moon is one of my all-time favorite desert isle discs. I would love to cover that song as a jazz piece. I like the Kitty Margolis cover of "Money" (another song that I had thought would be a good departure for a jazz rendition). I definitely find the song claude mentioned (what is the title of that tune anyway? It slips my mind) an opportunity to reflect.

Here's one from Steely Dan:
"I'm reading last year's papers
Although I don't know why
Asassins, cons and rapers
Might as well die."

[hornplayer]

I've always thought of "Lush Life" as having the ultimate in depressing lyrics.

[Chris D]

Cookie,
The tune is "Time," the one that starts with all of the alarm clocks going off.

That Roger Waters is one upbeat guy. How about this sunny ditty?

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

[Cem]

Us folks from Eastern Europe and the Middle East tend to have an affinity for depressing music. I don't know whether we like depressing music because there's so much to get down about in that part of the world or maybe all the fighting is because of so much melancholy in the music...?
I usually cry in my bourbon (or raki) listening to Tom Waits. So many more great depressing tunes (by so many others, too), but these two stand out. i guess we could make a distinction between melancholic tunes and depressing tunes...?

Tango Till They're Soar

Well you play that Tarantella all the hounds will start to roar
The boys all go to hell and then the Cubans hit the floor
They drive along the pipeline, they tango 'til they're sore
They take apart their nightmares and they leave them by the door

Chorus
Let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair
Deal out Jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs
I'll tell you all my secrets, but I lie about my past
And send me off to bed for evermore

Make sure they play my theme song, I guess daisies will have to do
Just get me to New Orleans and paint shadows on the pews
Turn the spit on that pig and kick the drum and let me down
Put my clarinet beneath your bed 'til I get back in town

Chorus

Just make sure she's all in calico and the color of a doll
Wave the flag on Cadillac day, and a skillet on the wall
Cut me a switch or hold your breath 'til the sun goes down
Write my name on the hood, send me off to another town

Chorus


Saving All My Love For You

It's too early for the circus,
It's too late for the bars,
no one's sleepin' but the paperboys,
and no one in this town is makin' any noise,
but the dogs and the milkmen and me.

The girls around here all look like Cadillacs,
no one likes a stranger here,
I'd come home but i'm afraid
that you won't take me back,
but i'd trade off everything just to have you near.

I know i'm irresponsible and i don't behave,
and i ruin everything that i do,
and i'll probably get arrested when i'm in my grave,
but i'll be savin' all my love for you.

I paid fifteen dollars for a prostitute,
with too much makeup and a broken shoe,
but her eyes were just a counterfeit,
she tried to gyp me out of it,
but you know that i'm still in love you.

Don't listen to the rumors that you hear about me,
cause i ain't as bad as they make me out to be,
well i may lose my mind but baby can't you see,
that i'll be savin' all my love for you.

[cookie]

...or this beauty:

Comfortably Numb"

Hello,
Is there anybody in there
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone at home
Come on now
I hear you're feeling down
I can ease your pain
And get you on your feet again
Relax
I'll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts

There is no pain, you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain, you would not understand
This is not how I am
I have become comfortably numb

O.K.
Just a little pin prick
There'll be no more aaaaaaaah!
But you may feel a little sick
Can you stand up?
I do believe it's working, good
That'll keep you going through the show
Come on it's time to go.

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
And I have become
Comfortably numb.

[Brian Olewnick]

How about "Victim", lyrics by Nicole Blackman, performed by her and the Golden Palominos:

I feel the motion of the car before I open my eyes.
The air is blue-black, brown-black, black-black.
Smell of gas, oil, animals.
I'm in the trunk.

My wrists and ankles tied.
Tape over my mouth
it almost covers my nose
but I can breathe barely.
I must have been here for hours,
everything's stiff and my head throbs
like someone's drumming on china.

The car stops.
He turns off the motor -- but there are no traffic sounds.
No people sounds. No wind. What place has no wind?
I turn my head towards the sounds
like people watch radios when something terrible happens.

My palms are sweating. Where am I?
The trunk squeaks as he lifts it up and the sun blinds me.
He almost looks like a faceless Jesus surrounded by light.
He pulls me out of the trunk and bangs my head against the door.
I try to cry out, but it comes like a hum.

He drags me, half-standing, along a dirt road into a house.
I can't see any other houses and it looks like a farm.
The screen door bangs behind me and I feel a deep, deep pressure inside.
All the rules have changed here.

I'm dragged down a hall like a bag and I look for a phone, other doors.
Nothing but bare floors and brown boxes in small rooms.
He pulls me into the bathroom
and I almost crack my head as he pushes me onto the floor.
Tilts his head to the side and gazes at me
as if I was a pet then walks out.

I'm lying there for a long time, trying to get the tape off of me.
My eyes are tearing. I don't make a sound.
I can't get up and I keep rolling from side to side, trying not to make noise.

I've got to get him to talk to me.
If I can get this thing off my face I can talk to him.
I'll tell him my name.
Have you killed other women in here?
I'm thinking you've got hundreds of them nailed down,
hung on walls, hanging from ceiling fans
swinging dead in summer wind.

Why did you pick me?
If I had stayed to finish at the library
I would have been there twenty minutes longer
maybe I'd have been OK.
Would have rushed into the house, books piled up in my arms like a baby,
and blurted explanations why I was sorry.
So sorry I'm late everyone.

Would you have waited for me anyway?
Would you have picked another woman?
Would I have read about her in the paper and said
oh my god, I was there that night...
and called all my friends in a panic.
Telling them then how much I loved them
as if I'd never have the chance again.

I wonder what everyone is doing now. Putting up signs.
Showing my picture on the evening news. Calling old friends.
Maybe I'm not even considered missing yet.

The family will fall apart and my parents will go crazy. Slowly.
My brother will be so quiet at the funeral and insist the casket be closed.
(I never even told anyone what kind of funeral I wanted when I died.)

Maybe years from now they'll find my skeleton
on the floor here and they'll have to use dental records to identify me.
My family will say "At least we know now.
We always hoped she was alive somewhere.
We just hope she's in peace."

When I sleep my dreams are crazy -- I'm flying over fields.
I don't think I sleep for more than twenty minutes and when I wake up,
it feels like I'm under a heavy blanket. I'm still here.

As I wake up I hear a dog barking in the distance
and I think I'm in my parents' house in South Carolina.
When I open my eyes, there's a shotgun pressed between them.
I'll never get married.
I'll never have kids.
I'll never go to Europe.
I'll never learn to play piano.
I'll never write a book.

The last thing I hear is a click.

[Cem]

Brian, that's the first thing that came to my mind, but I didn't bother mention it or print the words, because it's beyond depressing. The other day, I played it for a friend who works with street kids. He couldn't take it and asked me to turn it off.

[Brian Olewnick]

Cem, I know what you mean. I hesitated but, hey, they asked for depressing......

[graypencil]

"Strange Fruit" gets my vote ..

[Pete C]

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
The Age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius! Aquarius!

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
The Age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius! Aquarius!

[Brian Olewnick]

Yikes. Talk about depressing!

[steve(thelil)]

Yeah it is depressing if you guys are too jaded to get uplifted by the words of Aquarius. And don't even get me started about Easy to Be Hard.


Depressing Lyric:


For No One

Your day breaks, your mind aches
You find that all the words of kindness linger on
When she no longer needs you

She wakes up, she makes up
She takes her time and doesn't feel she has to hurry
She no longer needs you

And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years!

You want her, you need her
And yet you don't believe her when she said her love is dead
You think she needs you

And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years!

You stay home, she goes out
She says that long ago she knew someone but now he's gone
She doesn't need him

Your day breaks, your mind aches
There will be time when all the things she said will fil your head
You won't forget her

And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years!

[Clay Fink]

Richard Thompson - "End of the Rainbow" from "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight"

I feel for you, you little horror
Safe at your mother's breast
No lucky break for you around the corner
'Cause your father is a bully
And he thinks that you're a pest
And your sister she's no better than a whore.

Life seems so rosy in the cradle,
But I'll be a friend I'll tell you what's in store
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow.
There's nothing to grow up for anymore

Tycoons and barrow boys will rob you
And throw you on the side
And all because they love themselves sincerely
And the man holds a bread knife
Up to you throat is four feet wide
And he's anxious just to show you what it's for.

Your mother works so hard to make you happy
But take a look outside the nursery door
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow.
There's nothing to grow up for anymore

And all the sad and empty faces
That pass you on the street
All running in their sleep, all in a dream
Every loving handshake
Is just another man to beat
How your heart aches just to cut him to the core

Life seems so rosy in the cradle,
But I'll be a friend I'll tell you what's in store
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow.
There's nothing to grow up for anymore

[Clay Fink]

Bill Monroe:

I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling

A little girl taken sick one evening
As she walked home from school.
And in her death bed she called me,
It made us so sad and so blue.

She called me close to her bedside
And whispered these words soft and low,
"Tell Mommy to come to me quickly,
I want to kiss you both and go".

I hear a sweet voice calling
Way up in heaven above.
God has made room for your daughter,
Oh Mommy and Daddy don't cry.

Take care of my little brother,
Tell him I've gone to rest.
I know his little heart is broken,
He is all that we have left.

Then she closed her eyes forever,
Never to see us no more,
Until we meet up darling,
On that bright and peaceful shore.

I hear a sweet voice calling
way up in heaven above.
God has made room for your daughter,
Oh Mommy and Daddy don't cry.

[Clay Fink]

And this:

Old Shep

When I was a lad
And old Shep was a pup
Over hills and meadows we'd stray
Just a boy and his dog
We were both full of fun
We grew up together that way

I remember the time at the old swimmin' hold
When I would have drowned beyond doubt
But old Shep was right there
To the rescue he came
He jumped in and then pulled me out

As the years fast did roll
Old Shep he grew old
His eyes were fast growing dim
And one day the doctor looked at me and said
I can do no more for him Jim

With hands that were trembling
I picked up my gun
And aimed it at Shep's faithful head
I just couldn't do it
I wanted to run
I wish they would shoot me instead

He came to my side
And looked up at me
And laid his old head on my knee
I had struck the best friend that a man ever had
I cried so I scarcely could see

Old Shep he has gone
Where the good doggies go
And no more with old Shep will I roam
But if dogs have a heaven
There's one thing I know
Old Shep has a wonderful home

[Chris D]

Well, you could do pretty much the whole Richard Thompson songbook if you so desired.
Such as "Withered and Died":

This cruel country has driven me down
Teased me and lied, teased me and lied
I've only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died

Once I was bending the tops of the trees
Kind words in my ear, kind faces to see
Then I struck up with a boy from the West,
Played run and hide, played run and hide.
Count one to ten and he's gone with the rest
My dreams have withered and died

Silver moon sail up and silver moon shine
On the waters so wide, waters so wide
Steal from the bed of some good friend of mine
My dreams are withered and died

If I was a butterfly, live for a day,
I could be free just blowing away

This cruel country has driven me down
Teased me and lied, teased me and lied
I've only sad stories to tell to this town
My dreams have withered and died

[gnhrtg]

Schubert's "Winterreise" - poems of Wilhem Mueller set to music by Schubert. Unfortunately I couldn't find anywhere online offering a decent translation of the poems and I don't have the disc with me, butr rest assured that if you follow the text with the music there's a fair chance that you'll want to take a number of breaks before the cycle finishes (was 24 songs I believe).

[Chris D]

More sunshine from Richard T. Maybe the most upbeat song about death I can recall.

Dirty people take what's mine
I can leave them all behind
They can never cross that line
When I get to the border
Sawbones standing at the door
Waiting 'till I hit the floor
He won't find me anymore
When I get to the border

Monday morning, monday morning
Closing in on me
I'm packing up and I'm running away
To where nobody picks on me

If you see a box of pine
With a name that looks like mine.
Just say I drowned in a barrel of wine.
When I got to the border
When I got to the border

A one way ticket's in my hand
Heading for the chosen land
My troubles will all turn to sand
When I get to the border

Salty girl with yellow hair
Waiting in that rocking chair
And if I'm weary I won't care
When I get to the border

Monday morning, monday morning
Closing in on me
I'm packing up and I'm running away
To where nobody picks on me

The dusty road will smell so sweet
Paved with gold beneath my feet
And I'll be dancing down the street
When I get to the border
When I get to the border

[jeff54]

Not depressing but certainly the saddest

Henry Clay Work (1832-1884)

"Come Home, Father!"


'Tis The
SONG OF LITTLE MARY,
Standing at the bar-room door
While the shameful midnight revel
Rages wildly as before.


Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes one;
You said you were coming right home from the shop,
As soon as your day's work was done.
Our fire has gone out our house is all dark
And mother's been watching since tea, --
With poor brother Benny so sick in her arms,
And no one to help her but me. --
Come home! come home! come home! --
Please, father, dear father, come home. --


[Chorus] Hear the sweet voice of the child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam!
Oh who could resist this most plaintive of prayers?
"Please, father, dear father, come home."


[Solo] Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes two;
The night has grown colder, and Benny is worse
But he has been calling for you.
Indeed he is worse Ma says he will die,
Perhaps before morning shall dawn; --
And this is the message she sent me to bring
"Come quickly, or he will be gone." --
Come home! come home! come home! --
Please, father, dear father, come home. --


[Chorus] Hear the sweet voice of the child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam!
Oh who could resist this most plaintive of prayers?
"Please, father, dear father, come home."


[Solo] Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes three;
The house is so lonely the hours are so long
For poor weeping mother and me.
Yes, we are alone poor Benny is dead,
And gone with the angels of light; --
And these were the very last words that he said
"I want to kiss Papa good night." --
Come home! come home! come home! --
Please, father, dear father, come home. --


[Chorus] Hear the sweet voice of the child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam!
Oh who could resist this most plaintive of prayers?
"Please, father, dear father, come home."
Notes

1] This temperance song was for years sung in the melodrama Ten Nights in a Barroom (1864-).

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu
Everybody knows it's coming apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows



by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson

[Underhound]

Maybe not so much depressing as kinda sad.

"The Wrong Child"
by REM

I've watched the children come and go
A late long march into spring
I sit and watch those children
Jump in the tall grass
Leap the sprinkler
Walk in the ground
Bicycle clothespin spokes
The sound the smell of swingset hands

I will try to sing a happy song
I'll try and make a happy game to play
Come play with me I whispered to my new found friend
Tell me what it's like to go outside
I've never been
Tell me what it's like to just go outside
I've never been
And I never will

I'm not supposed to be like this
I'm not supposed to be like this
But it's okay

Hey, those kids are looking at me
I told my friend myself
Those kids are looking at me
They're laughing and they're running over here
They're laughing and they're running over here
What do I do?
What can I do?
What should I do?
What do I say?
What can I say?

I said I'm not supposed to be like this
Let's try to find a happy game to play
Let's try to find a happy game to play
I'm not supposed to be like this
But it's okay, okay

[patricia]

These are the lyrics of the totally depressing mammoth hit of the Billie Connolly composition, huge when I was a teenager. Both Ray Peterson and Richie Valens recorded it.

Tell Laura I Love Her

Laura and Tommy were lovers
He wanted to give her everything
Flowers, presents and most of all
A wedding ring

He saw a sign for a stock car race
A thousand dollar prize it read
He couldn't get Laura on the phone
So to her mother Tommy said

Tell Laura I love her
Tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura I may be late
I've something to do that cannot wait

He drove his car to the racing ground
He was the youngest driver there
The crowd roared as they started the race
from the track they drove at a deadly pace

No one knows what happened that day
How his car overturned in flames
But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck
With his dying breath they heard him say

Tell Laura I love her
Tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura not to cry
My love for her, will never die

Now in the chapel Laura prays
For her Tommy who passed away
It was just for Laura he lived and died
Alone in the chapel she could hear him cry

Tell Laura I love her
Tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura not to cry
My love for her will never die.

[patricia]

And this is a song which made me angry and sad when I listened to it back in the sixties by Joan Baez. I'm not absolutely sure, but I think that Peter Paul and Mary wrote it, but I do know that they recorded it.

Deportee

The crops are all in, the peaches are rotting
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps
They're flying us back to the Mexican border
To pay all our money just to wade back again

Some of us are illegal an some are not wanted
Our work contract's out and we have to move on
Six hundred miles to the Mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like thieves on the run

Chorus
Goodbye to my Juan, good-bye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane
All they will call you will be deportee

The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon
A fireball of lightning that shook all the hills
Who are these friends now all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says they are just deportees

We died in your hills, we died in your deserts
We died in your valleys and we died on your plains
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes
Both sides of the river, we died just the same

Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves and to rot on the topsoil
To be called by no name except
Deportees?



;

[GoodSpeak]

Blues stay away from me
Blues why don't you let me be
Don't know why you keep a-hauntin' me.
True love was never meant for me.
It seems somehow we never can agree.

My life is full of misery
And dreams are like a memory,
They're bringing back your love that used to be.
I got tears so many I can't see
And years don't mean a thing to me
Time goes by I can't be free.

Blues stay away from me,
Blues why don't you let me be,
Don't know why you keep a-haunting me.


I'll never be free.


-Delmore Brothers/Asleep At The Wheel

[Pete C]

Originally posted by patricia
And this is a song which made me angry and sad when I listened to it back in the sixties by Joan Baez. I'm not absolutely sure, but I think that Peter Paul and Mary wrote it, but I do know that they recorded it.

Deportee

Woody Guthrie wrote it.