Pie in the sky: Música, Religiom e Política

Este é um escrito sobre frikerio musical... no que ti tamém podes colaborar

Fai uns meses meu pai amosou-me como curiosidade a cançom "The preacher and the slave", escrita por Joe Hill em 1911 e incluída no Little Red Songbook da IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). A IWW é umha antiga associaçom de trabalhadores, hoje vida bastante a menos, pero moi importante fai um século, quando eram moi activos nos USA, cumha linha moi reivindicativa. Um dos brancos das suas críticas era a organizaçom religiosa conhecida como Exército de Salvaçom (Salvation Army), cujos cánticos parodiavam. "The preacher and the slave" ataca as promesas de outra vida melhor no ceo, na que os trabalhadores poderiam por fim, segundo o Exército de Salvaçom, comer "pie" (empanada ou pastel), mentres que nesta vida tinham que conformar-se com trabalhar, rezar, e comer erva. A letra é genial (note-se a alusom ao Salvation Army como Starvation Army ou "exército da fame"):

Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet

You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die

And the Starvation Army they play,
And they sing and they clap and they pray,
Till they get all your coin on the drum,
Then they tell you when you're on the bum

Holy Rollers and Jumpers come out
And they holler, they jump and they shout
Give your money to Jesus, they say,
He will cure all diseases today

If you fight hard for children and wife-
Try to get something good in this life-
You're a sinner and bad man, they tell,
When you die you will sure go to hell.

Workingmen of all countries, unite
Side by side we for freedom will fight
When the world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters we'll sing this refrain

You will eat, bye and bye,
When you've learned how to cook and how to fry;
Chop some wood, 'twill do you good
Then you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye

Musicalmente a cançom nom está mal, e pode atopar-se em multitude de versiões. Por exemplo, a deste fulano:

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Bem, pois pouco despois de conhecer esse clássico, estava eu escoitando umha das minhas canções favoritas dos Dropkick Murphys, "Worker's Song" -um nº 1 nas listas punkarras de Arbolícia-, quando ao chegar o estribilho dei-me de conta que umha frase que nunca entendera di precisamente... "pie in the sky"! Vede vós mesmos:

Yeh, this one's for the workers who toil night and day By hand and by brain to earn your pay Who for centuries long past for no more than your bread Have bled for your countries and counted your dead

In the factories and mills, in the shipyards and mines We've often been told to keep up with the times For our skills are not needed, they've streamlined the job And with sliderule and stopwatch our pride they have robbed

CHORUS: We're the first ones to starve, we're the first ones to die The first ones in line for that pie-in-the-sky And we're always the last when the cream is shared out For the worker is working when the fat cat's about

And when the sky darkens and the prospect is war Who's given a gun and then pushed to the fore And expected to die for the land of our birth Though we've never owned one lousy handful of earth?

CHORUS (x3)

All of these things the worker has done From tilling the fields to carrying the gun We've been yoked to the plough since time first began And always expected to carry the can.

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Nom queda aí a cousa. Hai outra cançom, um autêntico clássico ademais, que todos teredes escoitado algumha vez (espero) e que já desde o começo fai referência ao "pie in the sky". Dei-me de conta mentres a escoitava por enésima vez, indo num trêm de Udine a Venezia o passado setembro. Trata-se de "The harder they come" de Jimmy Cliff, um dos melhores temas saídos de Jamaica -e por suposto nº 1 de reggae durante várias semanas em Arbolícia-, e di assi:

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Well they tell me of a pie up in the sky Waiting for me when I die But between the day you're born and when you die They never seem to hear even your cry

CHORUS:So as sure as the sun will shine I'm gonna get my share now of what's mine And then the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all Ooh the harder they come the harder they'll fall, one and all

Well the officers are trying to keep me down Trying to drive me underground And they think that they have got the battle won I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done

CHORUS

And I keep on fighting for the things I want Though I know that when you're dead you can't But I'd rather be a free man in my grave Than living as a puppet or a slave

CHORUS

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A cousa nom acaba tampouco aqui: hai várias canções que levam por título "Pie in the sky", de gente tam diversa como a E.L.O. ou Frank Black, entre outros. Pero nom atopei nengumha mais onde essa referência tenha esse carácter reivindicativo, fiel à original, que si tenhem as que ponho aqui. Assi que quedades invitados a informar de qualquer outro achádego nesse aspecto.