A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it
Or it could be who's' hungry and where their mouth is
Or who's out of work and where the job is
Or who's broke and where the money is
Or who's carrying a gun and where the peace is

                                                                                                          –Woody Guthrie

Sharleen with Diane Doolittle on flute and Linda Phillips on djembe at the NJ Friends of Clearwater Festival on September 11, 2016.

He brought us together
Like a gathering storm
Raising our voices
In protest and song
And Woody told the truth

What Would Woody Write?

Woody Guthrie spoke plain
’Bout Deportees and Dust Bowl Days
Families forced from the land
He sang the story of Ma & Tom Joad*
On borrowed time
At the edge of the road
With no time left to lose

Singing for the unions
And the working folks
Exposing the lies
Of a system that broke
Woody told the truth

Chorus
So what would Woody write
What would Woody write
Right now in these hard times
What would Woody write
What would Woody write
Right now
In these hard times

Now it’s time to speak plain
’Bout bailed-out bankers having their way
While families are forced to move

People sick and tired of being attacked
Are standing up trying to fight back
With so much more to lose

But the boss is getting  richer
As we go broke
They’re taking our jobs and our homes
And our hope
Say Woody . . . Has that much really changed?

Chorus

So here’s to the mystic
With a guitar strap
Who hitched a ride on a railroad track
But always paid his dues

He fought for the unions
And the working folks
Exposing the greed of a system that broke
And sometimes he broke the rules

He brought us together
Like a gathering storm
Raising our voices in protest and song
And Woody told the truth

Chorus


*Woody Guthrie wrote "The Ballad of Tom Joad" based on Depression-era novel "The Grapes of Wrath” written by John Steinbeck and made into a popular film starring Henry Fonda.

vocals and acoustic guitar
Sharleen Leahey
dobro: Tom DiPaolo
fiddle: Gina Tlamsa

words and music
©2011 by Sharleen Leahey
August Echo Music / BMI
On the CD Rumors of Peace  -  SFP Records

All rights reserved

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WHAT WOULD WOODY WRITE?

In her 2nd song on the new CD, Sharleen pays tribute to Woody Guthrie, the legendary troubadour who “sang for the unions and working folks" paying homage to “Ma and Tom Joad”  . . . and the millions of small farmers who were “forced from the land” during the Great Depression. Seven decades later the roots of their discontents bear no small resemblance to our own.

But the boss is gettin' richer
As we go broke
They're taking our jobs
And our homes and our hope
Say Woody . . . has that much really changed?