"The House I Live In" (Paul Robeson)

[stefmagura]

A good song to comemorate the Dr. King Holiday. :)

[daveysan]

I used to live there. Not quite sure where I live now.

[normanefox]

A lot of people make mistakes. Paul's was to idealize the Soviet Union. But he is still great because he was concerned for the little guy and walked the walk. Anyone who has studied American History knows that injustice and lack of freedom did not end slavery and exploitation for African Americans and they are still dealing with the lasting impact of how they were treated. So it is no wonder that Paul would look for another way for the salvation of the underdog and the rich man alike.

[normanefox]

A lot of people make mistakes. Paul's was to idealize the Soviet Union. But he is still great because he was concerned for the little guy and walked the walk. Anyone who has studied American History knows that injustice and lack of freedom did not end slavery and exploitation for African Americans and they are still dealing with the lasting impact of how they were treated. So it is no wonder that Paul would look for another way for the salvation of the underdog and rich man alike.

[jeffs666]

Great voice. great America. Thanks fo sharing.

[thepkboricua]

I go to the school that paul went to (The somerville middle school) but back then it was the Somerville High school

[GRANDMASTERKANE]

what a voice, one of the best of the 20th century, right up there with bill kenny of the ink spots and marvin gaye and all this commie jibba jabba, the problem is, the commies try to control everything when they are only supposed to control the resources, but i think the world needs a new kind of communism, an american kind, where people have more freedom but theres a much smaller gap between rich n poor... bring in the maximum wage.

[devilhunterred]

Ironically, Robeson's career and life was completely ruined by the country he loved so much because of his advocacy for US to find peace with USSR during the Cold War, and Robeson's refusal to claim that he is not Communist.

[Mropera111]

may america learn to be tolerable of each other and stop trying to take over everything but embrace the difference, and find a way to get the job done without having lives lost and forgotten. I do enjoy patriotism and the patriotic songs of America are great, I would ask make sure your patriotic for the right reason and question the origins of our patriotism.

[BrickLaneBetty]

@alg11297 prove to me he was a CP member. you are liar who knows nothing.

[alg11297]

@BrickLaneBetty Robeson attended so many Communist rallys and marches than anyone with any knowledge of US history would know about it. The man was so proud of his race, he even took a role in the musical "Showboat" where he portrayed a shify, lazy black man. So much for committment.

[BrickLaneBetty]

@alg11297 hahaha! Yeah beacuse whites were offering so many WONDERFUL AND PROUD ROLES FOR BLACKS TO PLAY!! Blacks were only seen as subhuman in mainstream entertainment!! Playing role like Joe helped his awareness grow. You don't have a 100th of the patriotism and balls he had so please just stop!

The first to EVER play films and stage roles with dignity and the first black artist to REFUSE to play segregated houses: Othello, Jericho, song of freedom, proud valley

YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!!!!!

[alg11297]

@BrickLaneBetty Hard to believe this brilliant man couldn't write his own songs or plays or even direct or play a musical instrument. The fact is, he said Russia was the future and never denounced Stalin even after he visited the USSR and came back home.

I do know something.

[BrickLaneBetty]

punk ass argument! You are so uneducated. in between being the top student at Rutgers, the greatest football player of his era, a Columbia law school degree and non stop civil rights and trade union activism? literally hundreds of others of achievements? You can't even touch anything he accomplished!

Why denounce ANYONE? why ?because J Edgar Hoover KKK scumbag and Firestone Hitler tires and the other rapists of Africa wanted him too? you don't understand the climate of the times for blacks.

[alg11297]

@BrickLaneBetty It's comforting to know that Paul Robeson High School in Harlem is one of the worst performing schools in the United States and that it's principal was finally fired for drinking on the job. I said the man was a communist and did nothing for his own people. But he did make a nice living singing songs written by Jews as well as the Internationale. You'd think he'd be bright enough to realize that Stalin killed more people than Hitler...but then again, that wasn't his concern.

[MrJarowise]

Happy Fourth and a shout out to Green River, Wyoming...

[Paulboil]

Wish every country could have someone that recognise all the good things their country might have

This music is a reminder for future generation not to discuss about differences, but to be unite in what they have in commom.

This reminds me of what we as hunan beings cannot forget

[sianirob]

And what do you know of the fight for freedom and equality? Not much I should think. Obama is having the same struggle to get out of the 'Bush' as his ancestors did, and it's all down to the elitist gentleman's club that make and break the rules. Britain should follow his example and fight for an egalitarian society. Don't forget that without the toilet cleaner the Lord would be up to his neck in shit.

[mgathena]

@ugha323a

I can't believe how misguided and hateful you are!

[mgathena]

@ugha323a

I can't believe how misguided and hateful you are!

[ThisFlagBowsToNoKing]

HE was an American and America means fair play to all a fair hearinf fora ll opinions.

[ifuliki]

Really? Then why did Noam Chomsky have problems getting his books reviewed in the USA. Chomsky gets more exposure in UK and Canada than he does in his own land.

Aled

[antjuanoden]

BEAUTIFUL.

[kensingsrobeson]

please listen to my friend Kenneth Anderson on youtube kensingsrboeson He is 80 and has a wonderful bass voice. He has always promoted Paul Robeson and sounds great too.

[mechmusicman]

It's a shame he was forced to change the words. The original words included "all races, all religions" .

[purplerosegoldheart]

during which stanza?

[Anglagard1]

Thank you.

[99Collie88]

For those who are interested, there is a biography written and it is excellent. What a tradgedy in how he and other blacks were treated.

[1ampixie]

That's BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

[EbenezerIan123]

Its extraordinary that Paul is largely unknown in America. I'm planning a presentation here in England on his life & music.

As soon as I mentioned it, the response was enthusiastic.

I dreamed Paul Robeson stood right here,

alive as you & me,

I said, "but Paul, you're long years dead."

"I never died," said he.

"McCarthy stopped your mighty voice,

he silenced you," said I.

"Our freedom songs live on, said he,

our hopes & dreams can't die."

[lskarin]

I hope you're wrong about this magnificent man being unknown. Your cause is my cause. And his talents extended far beyond mere singing. How ironic my use of "mere" is because he is the definitive bass.

[acheciny]

I first heard this song, nearly fifty years, ago, in grade school, when we were shown a short film with Frank Sinatra singing it. Since then, it has always been special. Hearing Paul Robeson singing it made me cry. If he had such faith in this country, there may still be hope left for our country and for our people. Thank you for posting it.

[mslevine3]

Lewis Allan (aka Abel Meeropol) also wrote "Strang Fruit" hauntingly sung by Billie Holliday. He and his wife adopted the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

[RReady555]

Yes, a man of valor and integrity in a time of scoundrels...

[weakestlink41]

@RReady555 why was it a time scoundrels?

[redsunrise1111]

As a young child in the 50's this Paul Robeson song and his Ballad for Americans were my favorites. Our family was in culture shock after moving from Illinois to a segregated Tennessee. I was called a heathen because I was Unitarian. I couldn't understand why they thought I was going to hell when they hated negroes and treated them cruelly. Robeson and his music kept me proud. To learn today about the life of Lewis Allan (Abel Meeropol), I'm deeply moved..

[mslevine3]

To learn more about Abel Meeropol, you can read the book Strange Fruit, by David Margolick. It's the story of the song, Holliday, Meeropol and the Cafe where the song was first sung. Martin Duberman wrote an excellent biography of Paul Robeson.

[TheWWWJTFORG]

@BrickLaneBetty

That doesnt change the fact that Robeson was a Communist until the day he died.

[BrickLaneBetty]

@TheWWWJTFORG

YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIM!!

ANYTHING CIVIL RIGHTS WAS SO CALLED "COMMUNIST!!" ANYTHING ANTI-IMPERALSIM WAS Communist! ANYTHING Feminist WAS Communist!! ANYTHING THAT WAS NOT WHITE SUPREAMCY WAS Communist!!

No commie card EQUALS no commie. sorry loser!!!! Had he been a true member he'd have been lynched LIAR!!!

[TheWWWJTFORG]

@BrickLaneBetty

The guy was a Communist who went to live in the USSR praising Stalin. When did it become cool to be a Communist?

[BrickLaneBetty]

@TheWWW Paul NEVER lived in the USSR, he travelled there for total of two yaers combined over a 30 yaers period. HE NEVER WAS IN EXILE THERE> That is a factoid LIE!. He praised Stalin (as many of other famous artists did-many who won Nobel prizes and who are on stamps)when he was still our ally and because Stalin was the only barrier to domination of right capitalism. Hindsight he did not have. Who judges people who there at the start of movements, with a21st century hindsight? That's LAME

[TheWWWJTFORG]

@BrickLaneBetty

I never claimed he was exiled there. It was his choice as your choice should be China, not the USA

[BrickLaneBetty]

@TheWWWJTFORG You have read nothing about him. You just believe what you are told. The Communist ideal is bountiful and beautiful. It's human greed that messed it up. But hey, everything YOU WEAR IS FROM COMMUNIST CHINA SO LIVE WITH YOUR COMMUNIST FURNITURE AND CLOTHING and KNOW THAT YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO COMMUNISM!! BE PROUD!!!

[TheWWWJTFORG]

@BrickLaneBetty

If Communism is so beautiful, they you are living in the wrong country and should get out as soon as you possibly can.

[BrickLaneBetty]

@TheWWWJTFORG It's not for me because it can't work with humans the idea is beautiful though. Now go put on your clothing made in China and get some fresh air! hahaha EVERYTHING YOU OWN AND EVEN YOUR SHOES AND SOCKS ARE ALL MADE IN A COMMUNIST COUNTRY!! HYPOCRITE!

[TheWWWJTFORG]

@BrickLaneBetty

China is hardly Communist any more, but it is a military dictatorship.

[KennBurch]

@mslevine3 Abel Meeropol came up with the pseudonym "Lewis Allan" by combining the first names of his two sons, both of whom had died as children. I've always thought that was an incredibly beautiful way to honor their memory.

[BrickLaneBetty]

Thank you!!

[RReady555]

My pleasure and honor!

[avlgal]

Today, Nov. 5, 2008, this song has extra special meaning. Thank you for sharing it.

[RReady555]

You are entirely welcome...the song was a good sixty years ahead of its time. May America take its harmonious place again among the world's nations.

Warmest regards,

-RR

[Daisy4dk]

Great song performed by a great artist. Such a beautifull basso.Paul Robeson was a beautiful human being.

[RReady555]

Thanks, Daisy. Almost unfair for one man to be so supremely talented--certainly unfair that he was so unjustly reviled.

[Daisy4dk]

Yes it is heartbreaking how bad this brave and extremely gifted man was treated.

Thank you for posting the lyrics to this powerful song. The more Mr. Robeson the better.

[Derventio74]

RIP Paul - you were incredible!

[RReady555]

An incredibly brave and gifted artist!

[Derventio74]

Paul was indeed brave. He had the courage to stand up for what he believed in when it was unfashionable to do so.

[RReady555]

His persecution was an unhappy chapter in America's history.

[Derventio74]

It was indeed.. Those responsible (if still alive) should hang their heads in shame. I understand Nat King Cole received some shoddy treatment, too..

[SholomGootzeit]

Earl Robinson, I think also wrote Ballad for Americans, another terrifc patriotic ballad sung by Paul Robeson, we need more songs like this, to inspire us all to greater things, as they did sixty years ago, but we need them now.

[RReady555]

Yes, you're correct. "Ballad for Americans" is posted elsewhere on YouTube...a fine, stirring and *genuinely* patriotic work.

Best,

-RR

[sclaverus]

So very true... I was at a convention in California last weekend and just had a wonderful time with many folks...Louisiana, Hawaii, California, Texas, and Kenya... Will be using your Robeson in a blog... In Your Neighborhood, Tacoma News Tribune, either Saturday or Sunday...

Keep up the good videoing

[RReady555]

Thanks, Father! Yours is a gorgeous corner of the country. Our young people are so thirsty for heroes and wisdom--may great Art help show them the way.

[sclaverus]

Thank you for this wonderful song... it really touches me at this time when we are celebrating the Fourth of July

sclaverus

[RReady555]

Thank you, Father Joseph. It's a patriotic ballad in the best sense of that word. Added the lyrics this evening.

Best regards,

-RR

[rodsteyr]

Great! Paul Robeson was great and so it this song.

[RReady555]

Thanks! Nobody quite like Paul since...

[pottyfrog]

One of the most moving songs out there.

[RReady555]

Thanks, young friend...it truly is.

-RR