Intro to “Old Dan Tucker”
"Thank you….let´s hear it for the horn section back there….get some light on ´em…. woo!…alright…a 150-year-old Bob Dylan song (chuckles)….get out the way!…."
Intro to “Erie Canal”
"This is a great work song….possibly one of the only love song written to a mule…. but mules were really, really important….surely before this song was written back in 1905 when they used mules and horses to haul freight along the Erie Canal, upstate New York…."
Intro to “My Oklahoma Home”
"Merci….un chanson….un chanson sur la depression Americain….here´s ´My Oklahoma Home´…."
Intro to “Mrs. MgGrath”
"(the crowd continues singing the tune of ´If I Should Fall Behind´) Oh, very nice, very nice….very nice…..this is, uh….un grand, un grand ballad irlandais contra la guerre…"
Intro to “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?”
"Thank you, this is, uh….uh….un chanson sur la tragedia de la Nouvelle-Orleans…. this was, uh, huh? si? (chuckles)(?) was a song originally written in the 1930s by a guy named Blind Alfred Reed, I rewrote the last three verses, we, uh, our first stop was in New Orleans and it´s hard to explain the, uh….so much, you know, it´s the mother city of American music, so much beautiful music came out of that town, uh, found its way from over here over there (chuckles) and uh….it´s hard to explain the devastation of, of, of, of one of, one of our most….it was, uh, the best thing I can say it was a place where there was still a place there (chuckles) it hadn´t been erased yet ….it was still New Orleans….it still will be….so, uh….but anyway we, uh….our president managed to, uh, completely corrupt and corrode the only agency that was gonna be able to provide help to (?) citizens….this is what happens when people play political games with other people´s lives and, uh, so we dedicate this to President ´Bystander,´ this is called ´How can a poor man stand such times and live?´…."
Intro to “Jacob´s Ladder”
"Here´s a great gospel song, we are climbing Jacob´s ladder….I guess that whole thing was Jacob was a guy that was, uh, always, uh, fucking up in God´s eyes and God kept giving him tasks until he got it right, it´s a long story of doing it wrong to get it right in the end, I guess, so he was climbing that ladder rung by rung by rung…. oh…this was, uh….let´s just do it, ready, boys? (chuckles) I´ve run out of words, that´s very unusual (chuckles) very, very, write that, write this down: ´Tonight Bruce ran out of words,´ will you write that down? (chuckles)…."
Intro to “We Shall Overcome”
"Oh yes….oh yeah….woo!….this is, uh, probably the most important political protest song of all-time, it´s sung around the world, wherever people are struggling, recently as a week ago in the States during the immigration rallies, this song is one of those songs that will last for ever and ever…."
Intro to “Open All Night”
"Come on, Charles….oh, hold that thing, brother man, ladies and gentlemen, from the streets of New York City to Paris, the lovely Lisa Lowell, Soozie Tyrell and Miss Patti Scialfa…."
After “Pay Me My Money Down”
"(chuckles) That´s pretty good (chuckles) you could be in a band, you´re well-conducted…."
Intro to “Buffalo Gals”
"Oh, thank you….par tradition je, uh, invite mon ami Elliot Murphy….and tonight we have….Mr.Garland Jeffreys….mon freres (?)….aah, yes (chuckles) get some light on these gentlemen….this is a song, oh yes….Garland, Garland, Elliot and myself, we all started at the same time and, uh, uh, in the, uh, not-too-distant 70´s (chuckles)
and, uh, it is my honor to be onstage with such great songwriters….and we will sing a song, un chanson my grandmama, however you say that (chuckles) sang to me…."
Middle of “You Can Look”
"I heard a tapping on the window and a voice in the dark said ´Hey you….come on out of the car….license….registration….what….what….what….what….what can a poor boy do….except play in a ragtime band?…."
Intro to “Bring ´Em Home”
"This is a song for….for soldiers everywhere…."
Intro to “When the Saints Go Marching in”
"Thank you….we got one more….this was, uh…..(?)….cet, let me get this right here (someone yells) uh, thank you, my friend, he told me to take my time, I will do that (chuckles) this is, uh….c´est la chanson (?) de la Nouvelle-Orleans, un prière pour la Nouvelle-Orleans et pour vous….this song sort of, uh, explains our whole project tonight, which, uh, I wanna thank you all for coming out to, to the show tonight…it´s, uh….I´ve had a lovely….lovely audience and a lovely relationship with my audience here in France and, uh….it´s getting better too (chuckles) just, uh….it´s nice of you to come along on this little adventure with me so (chuckles)…."
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi. |