You have two nights to complete this homework. You can…. and perhaps should…. collaborate with Mom or Dad to complete the assignment. Your task is to identify a song that highlights the importance of a particular place to the singer, such as the example of Green River and it’s importance to John Fogerty’s childhood. Our unit is on physical geography so please do your best to find a natural place, not a manmade one.
Once you have identified your song with your mom or dad’s help you will need to post a THINK-PUZZLE-EXPLORE. Be sure to try and find a music video of your song (if one exists) and listen to it. Think- What experiences do you think the singer is sharing? What do you think the significance of the song is? Puzzle- What questions or what puzzles you about this song? Does the song reference anything you want to know more about? Explore- How might you explore the puzzles you have around this topic? Your parents may support you throughout the entire exercise. Perhaps the song you end up picking has a connection to them, if so please share this as well. Please use the comment section to post and then be prepared to introduce your song and comment with the class on Friday.
Booker 5-7 
Shenandoah
I think the experience the singer is sharing is of his childhood, since he grew up by the Shenandoah river. I think the significance of the song to the singer is also of his childhood. I am puzzled about exactly where the Shenandoah river is, and I am also puzzled about how a river could have a daughter. I am puzzled of what river could be the Shenandoah’s daughter, and Since “Shenandoah” is a really old song, I am puzzled about who the first person to ever sing “Shenandoah” was. Lastly, I am puzzled about what the first version of the song sounded like. I could easily find out the answers to some of my puzzles with a quick Google search, so I did. Here are some answers:
1. the Shenandoah river is in Virginia, U.S.A.
2. I did not find lyrics for the first version of the song, but I did find lyrics from prior to 1860. You can find them at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Shenandoah
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Hi:
Farewell to Nova Scotia:
Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,
Let your mountains dark and dreary be
When I’m far away, on the briny ocean tossed,
Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?
The sun was setting in the West
The birds were singing on every tree
All nature seemed to be at rest
But, alas, there was no rest for me.
[chorus]
I grieve to leave my native home
I grieve to leave my comrades all
And my parents whom I hold so dear
And the bonny, bonny lass that I do adore
[chorus]
The drums do beat and the horns do alarm
My captain calls; I must obey
Farewell, farewell, to Nova Scotia’s charm
For it’s early in the morning I am bound far away
[chorus]
I have two brothers and they are at rest.
Their hands are folded on their chest.
But a poor and simple sailor just like me
Must be tossed and turned on the deep, dark sea.
[chorus x2]
What experiences I think the singer is sharing:
– How beautiful NS is
– He is also sharing everything peaceful you need to know about NS.
What do I think the significance of the song is:
– I think he used to live in NS when he was a kid and really loved being there with his family and friends.
– I also think he used to do special things in NS, like sailing, camping and fun things with his family.
What questions or puzzles do you have about this song:
– Did he live in NS? If so how many years?
– I wonder if he felt happy there?
– Why does he know so much about NS?
Does the song reference anything you want to know more about:
– “But a poor simple sailor just like me”. Was he really a sailor?
– “When i’m far away on the briny ocean tossed”. If he was a sailor did he need to leave his family a lot?
How am I going to explore the puzzles I have around this topic?
– I will read the lyrics again.
– I will research about the author and more about the song
Maggie
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Think-
I think that Kenny is trying to say that when he is in the islands he is more relaxed. He gets a chance to think about the future and the past.
I think that when Kenny says I’ve seen the world through a bus windshield but nothing compares to the way that I see it to the way that I see it to the way that I see when I sit in that old blue chair means that his normal life is very fast, crazy, hectic and also blurry can’t think clearly. He got over bad relationships and fixed his hear.
Puzzle-
I was puzzled about where cinnamon bay is I knew Kenny had a house in cinnamon bay.
I Was also puzzled by Kenny mean sun rays or stingrays.
I was puzzled by witch songs he wrote in cinnamon bay.
Explore-
Cinnamon bay is in st. John U.S. Virgin Islands.
It means sun rays.
Kenny wrote a whole album in cinnamon bay the album is called Be As You Are.
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Think-Puzzle-Wonder Shane Sommer
Think
I think that the song is about him wanting to go back to his home
I think that he wants to get back to his home because all of the birds have moved back and his garden is ready
I think that his home is a very relaxing place because he the song is very relaxing and calm
Puzzle
I’m was puzzled the first time I listened to the song in the line where he says “Home is wherever we are if there’s love here too” but now that iv listened to the song again it makes sense
I’m puzzled about the line where his says “Cause this place is overgrown, it’s a waxing moon” because is doesn’t make sense to me.
Wonder
I’m still wondering where the home is that he is singing about
I’m wondering what he is trying to understand cause in the song he said “And so I try to understand”
I’m wondering what holes he needs to patch up at his home and if the birds made them and I’m wondering how the birds made the holes if they even did make the holes
Lines that stuck to me
“Home is wherever we are if there’s love here too”
“But I’m bound to lose ’cause I’ll be damned if time don’t win”
You can find the lyrics at http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jackjohnson/home.html
You can find the song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veOnTYVraiM
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This is Jackson’s biggest hit in the UK, selling 1,038,821 copies.
The single sold over three million copies worldwide.
Jackson performed this for the first time in November 1995 on the German celebrity game show Wanna Bet.Jackson explained: “I remember writing ‘Earth Song’ when I was in Austria, in a hotel. And I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the Planet Earth. And for me, this is Earth’s Song, because I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man’s mismanagement of the Earth. And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it’s about some of the joys of the planet as well. But this is my chance to pretty much let people hear the voice of the planet. And this is ‘Earth Song.’ And that’s what inspired it. And it just suddenly dropped into my lap when I was on tour in Austria.”
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Brief Background:
My song is Strawberry Fields Forever, by the Beatles (More specifically John Lennon). This song is about Lennon’s childhood, and him playing in Strawberry Fields, a garden of a Salvation Army children’s home near Liverpool, England, where he grew up.
Think:
Personally I think that this song has a bit of a darker side. Each verse gets a bit darker and more confused with an apparent progressing desire to just leave reality for a while, back to childhood. The song is, on the surface in my opinion, short and sweet, perhaps depicting his childhood…?
Puzzle:
The line “Strawberry Fields… Nothing to get hung about.” I’m wondering about. I’ve looked at lyrics and about half say this line is “Nothing to get hung up about” and half are “nothing to get hung about”. I wonder what this means, and which is correct.
Explore:
So I went a little deeper, and dug up a few interviews (took a while… I guess Lennon liked this song shrouded in mystery). To be exact, I found two. I watch them both, and one of them (luckily) about this line. He said the correct line is “Nothing to get hung about” and the other version was derived by the American term “Hung up” meaning worried. The line in truth came from Lennon and his aunt, Mimi Smith (who raised him) arguing about whether John should go to Strawberry Fields. His aunt didn’t want him to go, thinking that the orphans would hurt or otherwise damage him, mentally or physically. But John loved going and insisted. According to him, Lennon would often use the line “What will they do, hang me?” Which is where the line came from.
Here’s the link:
Kate Legakis
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The most common interpretation of the song’s title involves a reference to the Misty Mountains in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The lyrics refer to the events of the 7 July 1968 “Legalise Pot Rally” in Hyde Park, London, in which police made arrests for marijuana possession. The lyrics reflect Plant’s quest for a better society, a place and time when hangups are replaced with individual freedom and a life of mutual support and rapport. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7CYe6qojb4
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Song Title: Lakeside Park by: RUSH
Song Facts:The “Lakeside Park” is St. Catharine’s, on Lake Ontario in Canada. Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart lived very near Lakeside Park and spent summers as a child working and playing there. This song details his memories, his time spent there, and of how it used to be before they changed it.
The lyrics mention the “24th of May” – This is Victoria Day, commemorating Queen Victoria’s birthday. >>
Neil Peart (from Traveling Music): “Another important setting in my childhood and early teens was Lakeside Park, in Port Dalhousie. When I was 14 and 15, I worked summers at Lakeside Park as a barker (‘Catch a bubble, prize every time,’ all day and night), and there was music: some of the kids brought transistor radios to work, and the music of that summer of 1966 played up and down the midway. At night, when the midway closed, we gathered around a fire on the beach, singing. Lakeside Park resonated in my life in so many deep ways, especially those fundamental exposures to music that would be forever important. It’s all gone now. All that’s left, apart from memories, is the old merry-go-round.” >>
Video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nfpZGtr9BiU (4:08)
Lyrics
Midway hawkers calling
“Try your luck with me”
Merry-go-round wheezing
The same old melody
A thousand ten-cent wonders
Who could ask for more?
A pocketful of silver
The key to heaven’s door
Lakeside Park
Willows in the breeze
Lakeside Park
So many memories
Laughing rides
Midway lights
Shining stars on summer nights
Days of barefoot freedom
Racing with the waves
Nights of starlit secrets
Crackling driftwood flames
Drinking by the lighthouse
Smoking on the pier
Still we saw the magic
Fading every year
Everyone would gather
On the twenty-fourth of May
Sitting in the sand
To watch the fireworks display
Dancing fires on the beach
Singing songs together
Though it’s just a memory
Some memories last forever
Think
I think that the singer is remembering all his childhood memories at the park, remembering his job and all the things that he had done there. All the rides and games and the beautiful stars in the night at lakeside park. Possibly it was a week long fair or something or a camping ground. “Still we saw the magic faded every year”- I think this means that it’s hinting that as he gets older and the park gets older the fun and the excitement began to fade, until it wasn’t much…I think the significance of this song is even though something is gone, doesn’t mean it disappears.
Puzzle
Some of my questions include;
What’s a barker?
Why is there midway and nature mixed together?
Is the park still there? Is it real? (Yes)
Explore
My mom looked up the park to find out if it’s still there and it is! The have torn down the old pavilion for safety issues and are doing some other constructions. It will be ready by 2017 I believe.
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“I like birds”
Think- I think this song is about the authors mother’s backyard and how much she loved putting up bird feeders and watching the birds eat and how when she dies of lung cancer he continued putting up bird feeders
Puzzle- I wonder why he talks so much about bird turds
Who is he talking about when he says “the mean little people are such a bore”?
Why does he like birds so much
Explore- this song is also about the lead singer’s way of saying that he’s tired of the modern world, and that he just likes to relax in nature sometimes
this song was written in the year 2000 two years after “E’s” mother died
Even though the song sounds happy it is “tinged with sadness” about E’S mother’s death
I couldn’t find a lyrical video but here is the video I watched
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“I like birds”
Think- I think this song is about the authors mother’s backyard and how much she loved putting up bird feeders and watching the birds eat and how when she dies of lung cancer he continued putting up bird feeders
Puzzle- I wonder why he talks so much about bird turds
Who is he talking about when he says “the mean little people are such a bore”?
Why does he like birds so much
Explore- this song is also about the lead singer’s way of saying that he’s tired of the modern world, and that he just likes to relax in nature sometimes
this song was written in the year 2000 two years after “E’s” mother died
Even though the song sounds happy it is “tinged with sadness” about E’S mother’s death
I couldn’t find a lyrical video but here is the video I watched
Here are the lyrics:
I can’t look at the rocket launch
The trophy wives of the astronauts
And I won’t listen to their words
‘Cause I like
Birds
I don’t care for walkin’ downtown
Crazy auto-car gonna mow me down
Look at all the people like cows in a herd
Well, I like
Birds
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
I can’t stand in line at the store
The mean little people are such a bore
But it’s alright if you act like a turd
‘Cause I like
Birds
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
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My song is moon river by Henry Mancini https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ8j-X1hq1I
Lyrics
Moon river, wider than a mile
I’m crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re goin’, I’m goin’ your way
Two drifters, off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waitin’ ’round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you’re goin’, I’m goin’ your way
Two drifters, off to see the world
There’s such a lot of world to see
We’re after that same rainbow’s end, waitin’ ’round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me
(Moon river)
(Moon river, ooh)
Think- I think the singer may of lived by the river for all his childhood. I also think one of his main memories of the river is him looking out at the river while the moon was out, causing him to call it moon river. The line “ I am crossing you in style someday”may mean he was hoping to go back and explore the river on a boat or canoe. The line “ two drifters off to see the world” may refer to him and possibly a sibling leaving to explore the world like driftwood going off to the ocean. When he says “wider than a mile” he probably meant the river was literally a mile wide.
Puzzles- What does he mean by his huckleberry friend? What is he referring to when he says “ dream maker you heartbreaker? How long did Henry Mancini live at moon river? Did he live there for all his life?
Explore- huckleberries refer to him picking them in the summer and his carefree childhood with huckleberry fin by mark twain. Johnny mercer the lyricist lived on moon river as he grew up.
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Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy, won’t you look down over me
Yeah I got a first class ticket
But I’m as blue as a boy can be
Then I’m walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered ’round his tomb
But there’s a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room
Then I’m walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
They’ve got catfish on the table
They’ve got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven’t got a prayer
But boy you’ve got a prayer in Memphis
Now Muriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would
Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
And she said
“Tell me are you a Christian child?”
And I said “Ma’am I am tonight”
Then I’m walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
Think: I think the song is about how his musical experience in Memphis.”W.C. Handy, won’t you look down over me”I think W. C Handy sounds like a person and I think the look down over me part means he has passed and he wants support from this W. C handy. “Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale”I think beale is a type of plant or name for something in Memphis.I think that the “Ten feet of the ground” means he feels empowered and maybe inspired. Puzzle: I puzzle about the “Put on my blue suede shoes” And I puzzle if he means literally or elvis song wise? I also puzzle on the “land of delta blues” I puzzle what the meaning of this is but I think it might be a kind if a blue music probably created a bit earlier than 1991 which was when the song was published. Explore: This song is about Marc Cohns musical experience singing in memphis.
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Title: And it Stoned Me
Author/Singer: Van Morrison
Think: This song is about Van Morrison when he was as a kid. He is about 12 years old and it’s about a time he went fishing with his friend Billy. The song talks about the day he had, what happened and how it affected him. He loved going fishing at his favorite creek. During the song he is remembering the time he goes into a stone building and gets a glass of water from an old man. He says that the water came from a stream and that when he drank it he felt that time stood still, like he was in another dimension.
Puzzle: The line about jelly rolls is puzzling to me.
Explore: The line “it stoned me just like Jelly Roll” refers to a jazz musician that Van Morrison’s father listened to named Jelly Roll Morton. The entire song is about a wonderful experience that he had as a kid and how he looks back on it.
Half a mile from the county fair
And the rain came pourin’ down
Me and Billy standin’ there
With a silver half a crown
Hands are full of a fishin’ rod
And the tackle on our backs
We just stood there gettin’ wet
With our backs against the fence
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Hope it don’t rain all day
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
Then the rain let up and the sun came up
And we were gettin’ dry
Almost let a pick-up truck nearly pass us by
So we jumped right in and the driver grinned
And he dropped us up the road
Yeah, we looked at the swim and we jumped right in
Not to mention fishing poles
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Let it run all over me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
On the way back home we sang a song
But our throats were getting dry
Then we saw the man from across the road
With the sunshine in his eyes
Well he lived all alone in his own little home
With a great big gallon jar
There were bottles too, one for me and you
And he said Hey! There you are
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Oh, the water
Get it myself from the mountain stream
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like Jelly Roll
And it stoned me
And it stoned me to my soul
Stoned me just like goin’ home
And it stoned me
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Song: I like birds by Eels
Song Background: This song was published in the year 2000 by the band Eels on their album “Daisies of the Galaxy”. It is about the lead singer’s (Mark Everett) mother’s back yard and how he loved to be there, because she had bird feeders all around her yard, and there were always birds there. She died of lung cancer in 1998, during the writing of the album. He took the bird feeders to his house and put them in his back yard, just like his mother had. He felt he stayed connected to his mothers memory by putting up bird feeders in his own yard.
I can’t look at the rocket launch
The trophy wives of the astronauts
And I won’t listen to their words
‘Cause I like
Birds
I don’t care for walkin’ downtown
Crazy auto-car gonna mow me down
Look at all the people like cows in a herd
Well, I like
Birds
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
I can’t stand in line at the store
The mean little people are such a bore
But it’s alright if you act like a turd
‘Cause I like
Birds
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
If you’re small and on a search
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
I’ve got a feeder for you to perch on
Think- I think this song is about how a man (Mark Everett) helps to stay connected to his dead mother.
– I think This song also a part of the authors grief process in dealing with his mothers death.
– I think this song is about how Mark Everett likes being connected to nature instead of to the man made world, as evidenced by the 2nd and 3rd verses.
Puzzle- What puzzles me is why this song sounds so happy when it is about his mother dying.
– What is the first verse all about (astronauts, etc.)?
– Why does he seem so down on the rest of the human society?
Explore- While researching my father and I found out that Mark Everett’s father created the Many-Worlds Interpretation, otherwise known as the multiverse.
– While listening to “E’s” (which he often goes by) other works, I found out that he writes pessimistic songs. The title of a British news article was “Eels: no one does misery like Mark Oliver Everett”.
– E is an agnostic, which might explain why he turns to nature for inspiration.
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song:parkette
artist:bob snider
Bob Snider is a canadian folk singer and busker from bear river. He moved to toronto and busked in the Kensington market. He became a beloved part of the canadian the music scene in the 1990s.
This is his first song from his first major label caterwaul & doggerel in 1995. Now he lives in bear river as a retired folk singer.
When I was a kid
I took a robins egg and hid it
On a timber in an old abandoned shack
In a wide open field
With raspberry bushes
And a crabapple tree around the back
With a stream going by at the bottom of the hill
With a rock in the middle and if you sat still
You could see the minnows swim
and from an overhanging limb
You could listen to the heat bugs trill
Early every day
All my friends and I would play
Digging holes and finding gold among the rocks
And looking for salamanders
And eating all the berries
And rolling down the hill in a box
And then one day they came with their machinery
And tore up the track and hacked up the greenery
And stuffed the stream in a concrete pipe and levelled the hill away
Now they made a couple of mounds
To make it look round
And brought in loads of sod
Then they planted a row of trees
That came up to our knees
Without a speck of shade it looked so odd
And there were no more dragon flies
And no crayfishin’
They called it a Parkette and named it after a politician
Then put up sign sayin’ “No ballplayin'”
And nobody ever went there anymore
I think Bob Snider is singing about his childhood and how he used to love this natural place and the memories of being a kid.
I think song is significant because he want to remember his childhood.
This song is very literal it left me with no questions.
I could not find anything on the internet about this song or Bob Snider’s song making book.
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-Caelin
Mr Blue Sky
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiK9LGhgrDPAhWW14MKHfiJCEgQ3ywIHTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDhFy4qZ0ah8&usg=AFQjCNE9bqYXXLx-JsqxkUBPdQ9SAlC5Mw&bvm=bv.133700528,d.amc
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Song: Hometown Glory
Artist: Adele
Think: I think this song is about how she loves her hometown and doesn’t want to leave home. This song is when she is 18 and doesn’t want to leave her hometown and go to University. This song talks about how she has memories and how no one is going to take her from where she is. I think the verse “and tutting my heel and strutting my feet is there anything I can do for you dear, please Madam I ain’t lost, just wandering around my hometown” means she is protected and safe in her hometown.
Puzzle: I am puzzled with the verse “I’ve been walking in the same way as I did missing out the crack in the pavement”.
Explore: The line “I’ve been walking in the same way as I did” I think it means when she is is in her hometown she is the normal, but when she is somewhere else, she is not. Adele wrote this song ten minutes after her Adele and her mother had a argument about going to university or not. I think this song was like a protest of why she should
The Lyrics:
I’ve been walking in the same way as I did
Missing out the cracks in the pavement
And tutting my heel and strutting my feet
“Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I could call?”
“No and thank you, please Madam. I ain’t lost, just wandering.”
Round my hometown
Memories are fresh
Round my hometown
Ooh the people I’ve met
Are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of this world
Are the wonders of my world
I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque
I love to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades
I like it in the city when two worlds collide
You get the people and the government
Everybody taking different sides
Shows that we ain’t gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united
Shows that we ain’t gonna take it
Shows that we ain’t gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united
Round my hometown
Memories are fresh
Round my hometown
Ooh the people I’ve met
(Do da di di da da da da do do do do oh oh oh yaaaaaa yaa aye)
Are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of my world
Are the wonders of this world
Are the wonders of my world
Of my world
Yeah
Of my world
Of my world yeah
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