August 2006 • Issue 392



The banks are made of marble

I’ve travelled round this country
From shore to shining shore.
It really made me wonder
The things I heard and saw.

I saw the weary farmer,
Ploughing sod and loam;
I heard the auction hammer
A-knocking down his home.

But the banks are made of marble
With a guard at every door,
And the vaults are stuffed with silver
That the farmer sweated for.

I saw the seaman standing
Idly by the shore.
I heard the bosses saying:
‘Got no work for you no more’.

But the banks are made of marble
With a guard at every door,
And the vaults are stuffed with silver
That the seaman sweated for.
I saw the weary miner,
Scrubbing coal dust from his back;
I heard his children cryin’:
’Got no coal to heat the shack’.

But the banks are made of marble
With a guard at every door,
And the vaults are stuffed with silver
That the miner sweated for.

I’ve seen my brothers working
Throughout this mighty land;
I prayed we’d get together,
And together make a stand.

Then we’d own those banks of marble
With a guard at every door;
And we’d share those vaults of silver
That we have sweated for.

Words and Music by Les Rice
Sung by Pete Seeger, photograhed here by Christopher Felver.

Pete Seeger



Language Tools
Powered by Ultralingua

Join over 10,000 people just like you. Get e-mail updates about new content, issue alerts, contests, and more!

other articles
FROM THIS ISSUE

One laptop at a time?
A small but powerful $100 laptop designed for school children in the Majority World.

Bolivian land returned to the people
Two million hectares have been earmarked for women and indigenous peoples.

Paradise Regained
Chagos islanders resist superpowers

The trouble with models
View from Lagos by Ike Oguine

The privatization of Patagonia
Fences are marching across the Patagonian wilderness, displacing indigenous peoples and turning pure water into private property. Tomás Bril Mascarenhas reports on another conquest, this time by foreign investors.

recently
IN THIS COLUMN

Human rights - the facts
Human rights refer not just to personal civil and political rights, but collective economic, social and cultural ones too. Worldwide, they are more violated than respected.

Breathless in Beijing
Sam Geall reports on broken promises at the Olympics.

Who killed Maksim Maksimov?
Not that no-one knows. Maria Yulikova reports on the brutal assassination of a journalist in Russia.

A guide through the maze
The Declarations, Covenants and Conventions that make up the International Bill of Rights.

Off the buses
The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed).

The eternal minority
The Roma – still widely known as ‘Gypsies’ – have had a raw deal for centuries and are only now starting to raise their voice on the international stage. Eleanor Harding looks at their plight in Romania, while the NI traces their history back to India.






Voices from the margins:

Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.

House of Hunger Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
Raised Voices video:
Atossa Soltani from Brazil on the Climate Change
Desmond Desai from South Africa on Corporate Power
Iranian Women Speak Out
Iranian women speak out
3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
Raised Voices audio:
Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
Vinayan from India on agriculture