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New filk: Fleeing From America

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xub...@gmail.com

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Feb 16, 2017, 1:35:54 AM2/16/17
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To the tune of "Coming to America"

Far,
We've been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star

Free,
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes
They're leaving America
Never looking back again,
They're leaving America

Home
Don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're traveling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm

Home
To a new and a shiny place
Make our bed and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm

(to) Other lands around the world
They're leaving (from) America
Ev'ry time that flag's unfurled
They're leaving America

Got a dream to take them there
They're leaving America
Got a dream they've come to share
They're leaving America

They're leaving America
They're leaving America
They're leaving America
They're leaving America
Today, Today,
Today, Today, Today

My country 'twas of thee (today)
Once land of liberty (today)
Of thee I sing (today)
Of thee I sing
Today, Today, Today
Today, today, today......

--------------

Yes, this was inspired by recent events. It's rather disturbing how little the original lyrics needed to be adjusted for this one…

Arthur T.

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Feb 16, 2017, 3:20:59 AM2/16/17
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In
Message-ID:<2f454563-1482-4559...@googlegroups.com>,
xub...@gmail.com wrote:

>To the tune of "Coming to America"
<snip>
>Yes, this was inspired by recent events. It's rather disturbing how little the original lyrics needed to be adjusted for this one

It looks like you wanted to make minimal changes to get your
point across. And you did.

But I was a bit bothered by the scansion on the often repeated
line
>They're leaving America

The original has an extra syllable: "They're coming to America".

If I were writing this, I might put an adjective before
"America". Maybe "new", "this", or "Trump's". Or I might change it
a bit more to "They've set out from America".

But, it's your song to change or leave as you please.

--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" pobox "dot" com

Gary McGath

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Feb 16, 2017, 10:49:11 AM2/16/17
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On 2/16/17 1:35 AM, xub...@gmail.com wrote:
> To the tune of "Coming to America"
>

> On the boats and on the planes
> They're leaving America
> Never looking back again,
> They're leaving America

Too true. And sometimes on foot.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/11/world/canada/trump-migrants-canada.html


--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

Rich Brown

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Feb 16, 2017, 1:23:12 PM2/16/17
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On Thu, 16 Feb 2017 10:49:06 -0500, Gary McGath wrote:

> On 2/16/17 1:35 AM, xub...@gmail.com wrote:
>> To the tune of "Coming to America"
>>
>>
>> On the boats and on the planes They're leaving America Never looking
>> back again,
>> They're leaving America
>
> Too true. And sometimes on foot.
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/11/world/canada/trump-migrants-
canada.html

Maybe it's time for "KEEP following the Drinking Gourd" or suchlike.

John Davis

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Feb 16, 2017, 2:37:37 PM2/16/17
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On 2/16/2017 1:35 AM, xub...@gmail.com wrote:
> To the tune of "Coming to America"
>

> On the boats and on the planes
> They're leaving America
> Never looking back again,
> They're leaving America
Like the song but keep thinking there is a word missing. (don't have the
original handy to compare with

But as I recall it
"They're leaving for America was the original, if I'm not mistaken

So "They're Leavign FROM America...?

But all in all a good job.

Lee Gold XP

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Feb 16, 2017, 6:13:21 PM2/16/17
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On 2/16/2017 10:21 AM, Rich Brown wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Feb 2017 10:49:06 -0500, Gary McGath wrote:
>
>> On 2/16/17 1:35 AM, xub...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> To the tune of "Coming to America"
>>>
>>>
>>> On the boats and on the planes They're leaving America Never looking
>>> back again,
>>> They're leaving America
>>
>> Too true. And sometimes on foot.
>>
>> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/11/world/canada/trump-migrants-
> canada.html
>
> Maybe it's time for "KEEP following the Drinking Gourd" or suchlike.
>

Runaway slaves sometimes crossed into Canada for safety during the time
of the Fugitive Slave Act.

I grew up reading Benet's "Freedom's a Hard Bought Thing."
"This is Canada and I'm free."

--Lee

Jeff Urs

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Feb 17, 2017, 8:01:21 AM2/17/17
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Or, perhaps, even "fleeing from".

--
Jeff

Lee Gold XP

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Feb 17, 2017, 12:40:15 PM2/17/17
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On 2/17/2017 5:01 AM, Jeff Urs wrote:
> Or, perhaps, even "fleeing from".
>

Sounds like a song from WEST SIDE STORY.

I want to flee from America.
What do you see in America?
Racists feel free in America.
No room for me in America.

--Lee
http://www.westsidestory.com/site/level2/lyrics/america.html

xub...@gmail.com

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Feb 17, 2017, 10:37:19 PM2/17/17
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On Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 12:20:59 AM UTC-8, Arthur T. wrote:
> In
> Message-ID:<2f454563-1482-4559...@googlegroups.com>,
> xub...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >To the tune of "Coming to America"
> <snip>
> >Yes, this was inspired by recent events. It's rather disturbing how little the original lyrics needed to be adjusted for this one
>
> It looks like you wanted to make minimal changes to get your
> point across. And you did.
>
> But I was a bit bothered by the scansion on the often repeated
> line
> >They're leaving America
>
> The original has an extra syllable: "They're coming to America".
Yep. The thing is, the tune gives the word "to" a short note, and "from" doesn't fit as well into that space. I figured excising the extra syllable was, in this case, the lesser of two evils. YMMV.
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