First Congregational Church

1. First Congregational Church Folk Music Service 2014 Jenny Chapman Brandon Chavez Barb Doyle Georg Gehrung Lee Lehmkuhl Peter Rule Chris Reimer Paul Schwotzer Dave Seyfert

2. There But For Fortune (Phil Ochs) Show me the prison, show me the jail - Show me the prisoner whose life is growing stale And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why, There but for fortune, go you or go I Show me the alley, show me the train - Show me the hobo who sleeps out in the rain And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why - There but for fortune, go you or go I Show me the famine, show me the frail - Eyes with no future, that show how we’ve failed And I'll show you the children with so many reasons why - There but for fortune, go you or go I Show me the country where bombs had to fall- Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall And I'll show you a young land with so many reasons why - There but for fortune, go you or go I

3. Pretty Boy Floyd (Woody Guthrie) Born in Georgia in 1904, Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd is best known for his constant run-ins with police and violent bank robberies. Floyd vowed never to steal again after he was arrested for a payroll robbery at the age of 18, but he nevertheless went on to rob numerous banks. He was often protected by Oklahoma locals, who called him "the Robin Hood of the Cooksoon Hills." Floyd was gunned down and killed by FBI agents in 1934. "Regarding the lyrics of this song: I had relatives living in "the town of Shawnee"; my grandparents were close to being "poor starving farmers" during the Dust Bowl/Great Depression; I've hunted along "the Canadian River shore"; and my parents lived in Oklahoma City when Pretty Boys' groceries arrived "for the families on relief."  I have no idea what my family thought about the outlaw, but Woody Guthrie liked him well enough to compose a sympathetic song. He paints Floyd as  twentieth century Jesse James. I heard the song in the 1960s when Joan Baez did it . . . put it in my personal song book . . . for singing today.”Jim White Come gather 'round me, people, This story I will tell 'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw, Oklahoma knew him well It was in the town of Shawnee, On a Saturday afternoon, His wife beside him in a wagon As into town they rode The deputy sheriff approached them, In a manner rather rude, Using vulgar words of language, his wife she overheard Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain, And the deputy grabbed his gun, In the fight that followed, He laid that deputy down Now, he took to the hills and timber, To live a life of shame, Every crime in Oklahoma was added to his name He took to the trees and timber on the Canadian river shore And Pretty Boy found a welcome at many a farmer's door

4. Pretty Boy Floyd (Woody Guthrie) But many a starvin' farmer The same old story told, How the outlaw paid their mortgage And saved their little homes Others tell you about stranger that came to beg a meal, And underneath his napkin left a thousand dollar bill T'wasin Oklahoma City, It was on a Christmas Day, Came a whole train load of groceries and a letter that did say: You say that I'm an outlaw, You say that I'm a thief, Well here's a Christmas dinner for the families on relief It's through this world I've rambled I've seen lots of funny men, Some rob you with a six-gun, some with a fountain pen As through this world you ramble, as through this world you roam, You'll never see an outlaw drive a family from their home Born in Georgia in 1904, Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd is best known for his constant run-ins with police and violent bank robberies. Floyd vowed never to steal again after he was arrested for a payroll robbery at the age of 18, but he nevertheless went on to rob numerous banks. He was often protected by Oklahoma locals, who called him "the Robin Hood of the Cooksoon Hills." Floyd was gunned down and killed by FBI agents in 1934. "Regarding the lyrics of this song: I had relatives living in "the town of Shawnee"; my grandparents were close to being "poor starving farmers" during the Dust Bowl/Great Depression; I've hunted along "the Canadian River shore"; and my parents lived in Oklahoma City when Pretty Boys' groceries arrived "for the families on relief."  I have no idea what my family thought about the outlaw, but Woody Guthrie liked him well enough to compose a sympathetic song. He paints Floyd as  twentieth century Jesse James. I heard the song in the 1960s when Joan Baez did it . . . put it in my personal song book . . . for singing today.”Jim White

5. Follow the Drinking Gourd (traditional) The American folksong Follow the Drinking Gourd was first published in 1928. The Drinking Gourd song was supposedly used by an Underground Railroad operative to encode escape instructions and a map. These directions then enabled fleeing slaves to make their way north from Mobile, Alabama to the Ohio River and freedom. Taken at face value, the "drinking gourd" refers to the hollowed out gourd used by slaves (and other rural Americans) as a water dipper. But here it is used as a code name for the Big Dipper star formation, which points to Polaris, the Pole Star, and North. Chorus: Follow the drinking gourd, Follow the drinking gourd, For the old man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom, Follow the drinking gourd When the sun comes up and the first quail calls, Follow the drinking gourd For the old man is a waitin' for to carry you to freedom, Follow the drinking gourd … Chorus Now the river bank'll make a mighty good road, Follow the drinking gourd, Left foot, peg foot, travelin' on, Follow the drinking gourd … Chorus Now the river ends between two hills, Follow the drinking gourd, There's another river on the other side, Follow the drinking gourd … Chorus Where the great big river meets the little river, Follow the drinking gourd, For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom, Follow the drinking gourd … Chorus

6. How Could Anyone (Libby Roderick) How could anyone ever tell you You were anything less than beautiful? How could anyone ever tell you You were less than whole? How could anyone fail to notice That your loving is a miracle? How deeply you’re connected to my soul

7. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen) Men walkin’ long the railroad tracks Goin’ someplace there’s no goin’ back Highway patrol choppers comin’ up over the ridge Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge Shelter line stretchin’ ‘round the corner, Welcome to the new world order Families sleepin’ in their cars in the Southwest No home no job no peace no rest Chorus: The highway is alive tonight Where it's goin' everybody knows I'm sittin’ down here in the campfire light Searchin’ for the ghost of ole Tom Joad This song was written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and was based on the character of Tom Joad, the protagonist in John Steinbeck's 1939 Pulitzer prize winning book The Grapes of Wrath, which depicted the hardships of migrant workers during the Great Depression and the Dustbowl era.  The song relates Tom's response to his mother's question of when she will see him again as he leaves his family toward the end of the story.  Through the song, Springsteen suggests the economic hardships experienced by the Joad family are much the same hardships experienced by today's poor and homeless.

8. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen) He pulls a prayer book out of his sleepin’ bag, Preacher lights up a butt and he takes a drag Waitin’ for: “the last shall be first and first shall be last”, In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass Got a one way ticket to the promised land You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand Sleepin’ on a pillow of solid rock Bathin’ in the city aqueduct … Chorus (Now Tom said:) Mom wherever there’s a cop beatin’ a guy, When a hungry new-born baby cries Where there’s a fight against the blood and hatred in the air, Look for me Mom I'll be there Wherever somebody’s fightin’ for a place to stand, Or a decent job or a helpin’ hand Wherever somebody's strugglin’ to be free, Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me … Chorus This song was written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and was based on the character of Tom Joad, the protagonist in John Steinbeck's 1939 Pulitzer prize winning book The Grapes of Wrath, which depicted the hardships of migrant workers during the Great Depression and the Dustbowl era.  The song relates Tom's response to his mother's question of when she will see him again as he leaves his family toward the end of the story.  Through the song, Springsteen suggests the economic hardships experienced by the Joad family are much the same hardships experienced by today's poor and homeless.

10. Women Hold Up Half The Sky (Barb Doyle, Cathy Schwotzer) Shy young girl, downcast eyes, Fingers twisting anxiously, Exchanged for gold, honor sold, As two men barter for her prize Culture casts her final fate, Enslaved for life, tortured by hate Chattel by her gender chained, Girl of twelve dons a wedding gown, Silent cries from child bride, As blows from her new family rain down Killed for honor, no one will tell, Abuse that tolls a mourning bell Women hold up half the sky ... Women hold up half the sky The sky weeps tears of forsaken lives, Yet knowledge creates the will to survive, Sisters worldwide we shall uphold, Their scarlet stories must be told

11. Women Hold Up Half The Sky (Barb Doyle, Cathy Schwotzer) Knowledge belongs to the world, When shared by all, keeps us alive, But half the sky is denied, Kept in darkness by the unwise In solidarity we shall rage, Change to cleanse these unjust ways Women hold up half the sky ... Women hold up half the sky We will shout til all are heard, We will work to end this war, We will seek to understand, Knowledge belongs to everyone Empowering women transcends all lives, As knowledge creates the will to survive Emancipate women around the globe, By sharing these stories that must be told

12. Why Me Lord (Kris Kristofferson) Why me Lord? What have I ever done To deserve even one of the pleasures I've known Tell me Lord... what did I ever do that was worth love from you Or the kindness you've shown Chorus: Lord help me, Jesus, I've wasted it, So help me, Jesus, I know what I am Now that I know that I've needed you so, Help me, Jesus, my soul's in your hand Tell me Lord... if you think there's a way, I can try to repay all I've taken from you Maybe Lord... I can show someone else What I've been through myself On my way back to you This song, written in 1972 by Kris Kristofferson, came out of a deeply personal experience. He had played the night before for Dottie West’s high school band in Cookeville, Tennessee. One of the other performers, Connie Smith, asked him to go to services with him that next morning, Sunday, at Reverend Jimmie Snow’s church. In his own description of the event, he confessed that he didn’t go to church a lot, but once there, he felt drawn to come forward to the altar railing and ask for Jesus’ help and forgiveness. This was, by his own admission, completely out of character…and totally honest…and led to the question, “Why me, Lord?”

13. Pioneer (The Band Perry) For those who have gone before us, who have had the courage to work for peace and justice in spite of being marginalized by forces to the contrary. Oh pioneer I sing your song, It's the hymn of those who've gone before and those who carry on Pioneer, Your work is hard, But the future of us all rests on the shoulders of your heart Chorus: Where are we going… Oh I don't know But still I've got to go What will become of us… Oh I don't care, All I know is I'll go anywhere Pioneer Oh pioneer So young and brave, Be careful of the careful souls who doubt you along the way Pioneer You orphaned child, Your mother is adventure and your father is the wild … Chorus I won't run when bullets chase me, I won't rest where arms embrace me I will love when people hate me, I won't hush, no you can't make me Send the dark but it won't break me, You can try but you can't change me Take my life, they will replace me, I won't hush, no you can't make me I won't hush, no we will sing ... Chorus

14. A Better Place (MermansMosengo and Jason Tamba ) “A Better Place” is part of a global effort by the Playing for Change Foundation to improve the world through folk music.  Audio and video of “A Better Place” was recorded by musicians all over the world, patched together, and posted on YouTube.  The main mission of Playing for Change Foundation is musical education for children in all kinds of communities around the world.   The idea is if we all make music, we can make this world “A Better Place.” Chorus: Freedom and Justice… It’s the melody that let us shine on If ya feel it… through the music We can make this world a better place Live together ... Love forever, It’s the only thing we can do Hold my hand ... By me stand, We’re gonna make it through! African, American …. Red, Yellow, Black or White, We are all the same, All children of God Salut, Salaam, Shalom … Asian, European We’re gonna make it through!