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Today’s Immigrant Song

John Fea   |  February 17, 2010 Leave a Comment


No You Tube clip today, but our immigrant song of the day is Pete Seeger’s rendition of “When I First Came to This Land.”

When I first came to this land, I was not a wealthy man
So I got myself a shack, I did what I could
And I called my shack, "Break my back"
But the land was sweet and good, I did what I could

When I first came to this land, I was not a wealthy man,
So I got myself a farm, I did what I could
And I called my farm, "Muscle in my arm"
And I called my shack, "Break my back"
But the land was sweet and good, I did what I could

similarly:

cow, "No milk now"
duck, "Out of luck"
donkey, "Horse gone Wonky"
wife, "Run for your life"
son, "My work done"

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