Well, this is a song
that's been jumping around the country
since before the Civil War,
a long time.
It's been used in all kinds of struggles,
big ones and little ones,
and it's back on the scene again.
And it goes like this.
We shall not, we shall not be moved.
We shall not, we shall not be moved.
Just like a tree planted by the water.
We shall not be moved.
Oh, you know the song, all right.
Back in 1938 in a textile strike
at a hosiery mill,
they used to sing it like this
in Tennessee.
We're not afraid of gun thugs.
We shall not be moved.
We're not afraid of gun thugs.
We shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's
planted by the wa ter,
we shall not be moved.
When I was a kid growing up in Detroit,
used to sing outside the shop gates
while the autoworkers were trying
to fight for pay raises
right after World War II,
and we used to sing,
The union is behind us,
we shall not be moved.
The union is behind us,
we shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's
planted by the water,
we shall not be moved.
Sometimes we say,
Henry Ford's a bastard,
he should be removed.
Henry Ford's a bastard,
he should be removed.
Just like the garbage planted in the alley,
We shall not moved, we not moved.
Early in the 60s,
there was a black woman
by the name of Rosa Parks
who got tired of having to stand up
in the crowded back of the
bus all the time.
One day she said, that's it, that's all,
I've had it, I'm going to sit down.
And with that began the
famous Montgomery bus boycotts,
and they said,
we're walking for our freedom,
we shall not be moved,
we're walking for our freedom,
we shall not be moved,
just like a tree standing by the water,
we shall not be moved.
I got a letter from a friend in Scotland,
he says there's a lake there
called the Holy Lock,
and they sing, we don't want Polaris,
we shall not be moved,
we don't want Polaris,
we shall not be moved,
I got a letter from a friend in Italy
who went down to the station
the day that our dearly beloved President
Richard Milhous Nixon
was go ing to stop off in Italy to
check things out.
Well, he checked them out,
and they checked him out.
He didn't leave the airport.
He just did a little speech
and got back on the plane and split,
because the people over
Remember they were saying basi nucleari,
rispondiamo no,
por gli americani, rispondiamo no,
e se lo gianchi un fucile
si dara.
That means if the Yankees try to give us a gun,
we say no.
Carne dal canone,
meat for the cannons,
we don't want to be that,
even for the Americans.
Carne dal canone, rispondiamo no!
Por le americane, rispondiamo no!
I si lo gianchi un fucile girata,
rispondiamo no!
Well, out in the southwest of the
United States these days,
a lot of people who used to be ashamed of the fact that they grew
up in homes where only Spanish was spoken,
suddenly getting together,
not only fighting to organize
themselves
and have a union and get some rights,
but also fighting for the use
and the appreciation
of the Spanish language
and the Spanish culture.
So they sing the song like this.
They say, fuertes, fuertes.
Fuertes somos ya.
Strong, strong are we.
The rest of it means the same thing.
Fuertes, fuertes, fuertes somos ya.
Fuertes, fuertes, fuertes somos ya.
Como un arbol, viva Cerco al Rio.
Fuerte somos ya.
Sometimes they say, viva Pancho Villa.
Fuerte somos ya, viva Pancho Villa.
Fuerte somos ya como un arbol.
Viva Cerco al Rio.
Fuerte so mos ya.
Viva Che Guevara.
Fuerte somos ya.
Viva Che Guevara.
Fuerte somos ya como un árbol,
vivas el cuadrillo,
fuerte so mos ya
And as you travel around the country these days,
you hear new verses everywhere
The kind of thing you hear is like,
free Huey Newton, we shall not be moved
Free Huey Newton, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree planted by the water
We shall not be moved.
We are the conspiracy
and we shall not be moved.
We are the conspiracy
and we shall not be moved.
Just like a tree that's
planted by the water,
We shall not be moved.
And your jail walls cannot hold us,
We shall not be moved.
And your jail walls cannot hold us,
We shall not be moved.
Just like a tree standing by the water,
we shall not be moved.
You know why?
Because we are the people.
We shall not be moved.
We are the people.
We shall not be moved.
Just like a tree standing by the water,
we shall not be moved.
You know what's happening?
We're coming on to victory.
We shall not be moved.
We're coming on to victory.
We shall not be moved,
just like a tree,
Landed by the water,
We shall not be,
We shall not be moved.
