Song picture
Outhouse Blues
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The original lyrics are by Nita. I added the lyrics to the chorus to make the song flow better musically
acoustic folk social commentary political satire western massachusetts oil coal climate change fracking incineration music for social change nuclear energy
Folk singer, social commentary, satire, people's stories, children's music
Hi Folks, The Bard Insurgent here. My comrade D.O. (the Poet Roofer) and I got that handle (The Bard Insurgents) from traveling town to town performing songs and poetry about people's lives. I've been performing since I was 3 years old, cutting my vocal chords on liturgical and classical music. I was a concert soloist as a child, when I wasn't herding cows, throwing hay and shoveling manure. During the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war, I began writing songs about social change. I left the country in 1970 and my dozen years in other countries, mostly in Africa & South America, have provided a global perspective to my music. My travels helped me realize that people all around the world are essentially the same in their basic life needs and their desires to live peacefully in their communities. These experiences have informed my commitment to working for international understanding as I organize at home. A powerful way to educate and inspire is with music. I tell people's stories, do social commentary with a touch of satire that I hope you enjoy and share with your friends, as well as sing together in the streets and in your living rooms. I also have children's music written for the children in my life with Jacob and Kayla as primary muses. Looking forward to seeing you on the road, Tom
Song Info
Charts
Peak #101
Peak in subgenre #5
Author
words by Juanita Nelson, music by Tom Neilson
Rights
Tom Neilson
Uploaded
October 15, 2015
Track Files
MP3
MP3 6.0 MB 160 kbps 5:12
Story behind the song
Juanita used an outhouse behind her house on the Beanpatch. She wrote a poem about it. One autumn day in 2004, taking a break from putting up wood, I put it to music and sang it to her at her kitchen table.
Lyrics
Outhouse Blues by Juanita Nelson Well, I went out to the country to live a simple life. Get away from all that concrete & avoid some of that strife. Get off the backs of poor folks, stop supporting uncle Sam In all that stuff he’s putting down, like bombing Vietnam. Oh, but it ain’t easy, ‘specially on a chilly night When I beat it to the outhouse with my trusty dim flashlight. That seat is absolutely frigid, not a BTU of heat… That’s when I think the simple life is not for us elite. I got the outhouse blues I got the outhouse blues It ain’t no thrill in the January chill. I got those outhouse blues. Well I try to grow my own food, competing with the bugs. I even make my own soap & my own ceramic mugs. I figure that the less I buy, the less I compromise With Standard Oil & ITT & those other gouging guys. Oh but it ain’t easy to leave my cozy bed To make it with my flashlight to that air-conditioned shed. When the seat’s so cold it takes away that freedom ecstacy. That’s when I fear the simple life maybe wasn’t meant for me. Well, I cook my food on a wood stove & heat with wood also, Though when my parents left the South I said, “This has gotta go.” But I figure that the best way to say all folks are my kin Is try to live so I don’t take nobody’s pound of skin. Oh, but it ain’t easy, when it’s rainy and there’s mud To put on my old bathrobe & walk out in that crud; I look out through the open door & see a distant star & sometimes think this simple life is taking things too far. But then I get to thinking, if we’re ever gonna see The end of that old con game the change has got to start with me. Quit wheelin’ & quit dealin to be a leader in any band, & it appears the best way is to get back to the land. If I produce my own needs, I know what’s goin down. I’m not quite so footsy with those Wall Street pimps in town. ‘Cause let me tell you something, though it may not be good news, If some folks win you better know somebody’s got to lose. So I guess I’ll have to cast my lot with those who’re optin out. & even tho on freezing nights I will have my naggin doubts. Long as I talk the line I do & spout my way out views I’ll keep on usin’ the outhouse & singin the outhouse blues.
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