The Inauguration Is Set to Rock

All week I have been seeking the official word on who will perform at the inaugural events next week. Today, a list of names was published including such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow, Garth Brooks, Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Beyonce, amongst others. So now that I know to whom the Obamas and the rest of the nation will be be rockin', I want to know what songs will be droppin'.  But I have to tell you, this seems like a closely held secret.

Rumor has it Bruce Springsteen will be singing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land." If this is so, we all might benefit from reviewing the lyrics.  'Ya wanna know them? Here they go:

This Land is Your Land

 by Woody Guthrie, 1940

 Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin'  -  I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side  .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

 On Another Note

Don't get me wrong, I'm down with a good old American folk song, 

but, since I am a child of the '60s, I want to hear a song from the 

civil rights era. No, I am not hankering for "Lift Every Voice and Sing," or "We Shall Overcome."

Rather, I want to hear the song my parents played repeatedly for my brother and 

me after we integrated New Jersey private schools in 1965 and 

1967, respectively. 

Ya wanna see the lyrics? Here they go: 

To Be Young, Gifted and Black 

by Ms. Nina Simone, 1969 

To be young, gifted and black,
Oh what a lovely precious dream
To be young, gifted and black,
Open your heart to what I mean

In the whole world you know
There are billion boys and girls
Who are young, gifted and black,
And that’s a fact!

You are young, gifted and black
We must begin to tell our young
There’s a world waiting for you
This is a quest that’s just begun

When you feel really low
Yeah, there’s a great truth you should know
When you’re young, gifted and black
Your soul’s intact

Young, gifted and black
How I long to know the truth
There are times when I look back
And I am haunted by my youth

Oh but my joy of today
Is that we can all be proud to say
To be young, gifted and black
Is where it’s at.
 

What songs would you like to hear performed during the inaugural celebration?