1940s
Take the A Train (1938, Billy Strayhorn)
You must fight the Germans
And host 100,000 (a hundred thousand) other soldiers
1,400 (Fourteen hundred) women
Will pack up and depart with their new husbands
But your kids can go to Health Camps
Maintain teeth that shine like headlamps
Alas! What of the Treaty?
One hundred years from signing we’re reminded
Of the promises made then.
1950s
Hound Dog (1952, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller)
I wouldn’t want to be a Springbok in 1956
I wouldn’t wanna be a Springbok in 1956
When the All Blacks win at Eden and they send them home with nix
But back another 3 years, that is quite a time
Jump back another 3 years; that is quite a time
There’s a visit from Elizabeth and Edmund’s famous climb!
1960s
Hello Dolly (1963, Jerry Herman)
Goodbye, railways
Yes, so long, assets
We enjoyed the opportunities for wealth
These User Pays changes challenge all ranges
After medical and Uni bills
We’re left with … health
At least the pub’s serving
All the deserving
And the pill allows for family planning, too
Hey, brave UK people
Pack up and head our way, people
NZ may never grow this way, again.
1970s
Sing a Song (1972, Joe Raposo)
March, march along
Claim our ground
Show we’re strong
Speak for ancestors gone
Let their stories live on
Hey! Women, too.
We’ve been stifled and now it’s time we flew
Some worry while others act in ways to rectify what was wrong
We march, march along.
1980s
Thriller (1983, Rod Temperton)
It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight they feel a jolt that almost stops their heart
They spring to life
Their sinking ship is not imagination
Their only crime was stepping up to controversial lines
(There were no signs)
On this the terror, terror night
The secret agents bomb the Greenpeace ship without a fight
This is a terror, terror night
And France’s flat denial only serves to heighten the slight.
1990s
You’ve Got a Friend in Me (1995, Randy Newman)
They’ve got some land for me
They’ve got some land for me
Thanks, Waitangi, help them see
Uphold the Treaty and its bold decree
With the Tribunal settle 2 and 3
Return stolen land to me
Won’t you please?
Give back my land to me
(Bridge)
Some folks might be a bit more conservative
Naïve and frightened, too
But with the new Human Rights Act
We’re free to be ourselves with glee
And as the years go by
These issues could fade and die
If we work towards unity
Fair treatment sea to sea
It’s our plea
Same opportunities
Let it be
Grant what is right to me!
