How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Hard Times And Live

1. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Hard Times And Live By: Bruce Springsteen Presentation By: Huston Thomas

2. How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Hard Times And Live Well the doctor comes 'round here With his face all bright And he says "In a little while You'll be alright" All he gives is a humbug pill A dose of dope and a great big bill Tell me how can a poor man Stand such times and live? Me and my old school pals Had some mighty high times right here And what happened to you poor black folks Well it just ain't fair Audio

3. He took a look around gave a little pep talk Said "I'm with you" then he took a little walk Tell me how can a poor man Stand such times and live? There's bodies floatin' on Canal And the levees gone to Hell Martha get me my sixteen gauge And some dry shells Them who's got got out of town And them who ain't got left to drown Tell me how can a poor man Stand such times and live?

4. Got family scattered from Texas All the way to Baltimore Yeah and I ain't got no home In this world no more Gonna be a judgment that's a fact A righteous train rollin' down this track Tell me how can a poor man Stand such times and live? Tell me how can a poor man Stand such times and live? Tell me how can a poor man Stand such times and live? Rhyme Scheme

5. Summary: • In my opinion, this song is used to get a point across that for the longest time there have been hardships and that there always will be hardships. It talks about the tough economic times throughout the 20th century. Also, it talks about segregation and natural catastrophes. This song was first recorded by Blind Alfred Reed. Bibliography

6. Biography: Bruce Springsteen • Bruce Springsteen was said to be the future of rock n’ roll in the 70’s. He was later inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999. Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949. He didn’t grow up as a rich snobby kid, but in a middle-class family. He started playing the guitar in high school and when he graduated he moved to New York City to pursue his musician career. At first, he failed but less than a year later he performed in many bands which led to his uprising. • Back

7. Great Big Bill • This part of the song is referring to the fact that the majority of personal bankruptcy is caused by medical bills. Back

8. “I’m With You” • This refers to when hurricane Katrina struck the world and President Bush lets everyone know that he understands and that he is there with them, but just fly's back to D.C. to sit at his desk when he could have made more of an effort to help. Back

9. Levees Gone To Hell • This part of the song is also talking about hurricane Katrina, but specifically about New Orleans when the levees preventing the water from flooding the city broke and the city became a disaster. It states that dead bodies were floating everywhere and that everyone should have evacuated. Back

10. Got Family Scattered • This refers to Katrina again, when those who were lucky evacuated and where scattered all across the U.S. Therefore, their family from New Orleans had no home or place to go for help. Back

11. Blind Alfred Reed • How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Hard Times And Live was first recorded by Blind Alfred Reed on December 4, 1929. • He recorded the song in New York City. • Alfred’s son, Arville Reed played the guitar in this song while Alfred played the fiddle and sang. • He was a protest singer. Audio Back

12. Rhyme Scheme: • The rhyme scheme of this song is abcb aabc. • A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme Back

13. Metaphor: • This line is a metaphor because states that the train is rolling and also righteous. • A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity. Back

14. Allusion: • This part of the song is an allusion because it is referring to the segregation of African Americans. • An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art Back

15. Connotation: • This is a connotation because the song states that people with money could evacuated the city of New Orleans while the ones who didn’t were left to die. • Really, this is a liberal statement because transportation was provided for everyone. • A connotation is a statement that has more meaning than what is said. Back

16. Theme: • This is the main theme of the song being as the chorus is, “How can a poor man stand such times and live”. It states some of the major hardships of our country, specifically hurricane Katrina. • A theme is a subject or the subject matter of a conversation or discussion. Back

17. Bibliography: • Batanga Media Network. "Bruce Springsteen Biography." Biggest Stars. Ed. Batanga      Media Network. Batanga Media Network, n.d. Web. 13 May 2010.      <http://www.biggeststars.com/b/bruce-springsteen-biography.html>. • Blind Alfred Reed. N.d. JPEG file. • "Blind Alfred Reed-How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live." Internet Archive. 78 RPMs, n.d. Web. 17 May 2010. <http://www.archive.org/      details/Reed>. • George W. Bush. N.d. JPEG file. • The Library of Congress. "A Century of Racial Segregation, 1849-1950." With an Even Hand. Ed. Library of Congress. Exhibitions, n.d. Web. 13 May 2010.      <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html>. • Medical Bill. N.d. JPEG file. • New Orleans Broken Levees. N.d. JPEG file. • The United States of America. N.d. JPEG file. Back