Hi Folks
How are you doing? I thought I'd share my latest offering on YouTube. My one and only song about a train. You can check it out here. (expired link)
All the best
Alan
With the Muslim ban, Trump's Presidency is beginning to look bleak. In response I wrote this little song as a reminder of what it means to be civilised, based on the United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights.
Everyone is born free equal rights and dignity
Entitled to their freedom right to live as a person
No-one shall be in slavery or tortured for their liberty
The law protects your privacy innocent before guilty
So don't assault, arrest, detain, persecute or make false claim
You have the right to come and go, have the right to your own home
Yet retain your nationhood, conscious thought and your selfhood
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There's now over 5 million (and rising each second) that have signed the open letter to Trump at
(expired link)
Dear Mr. Trump,
This is not what greatness looks like.
The world rejects your fear, hate-mongering, and bigotry. We reject your support for torture, your calls for murdering civilians, and your general encouragement of violence. We reject your denigration of women, Muslims, Mexicans, and millions of others who don’t look like you, talk like you, or pray to the same god as you.
Facing your fear we choose compassion. Hearing your despair we choose hope. Seeing your ignorance we choose understanding.
As citizens of the world, we stand united against your brand of division.
Sincerely,
It would be remiss of me if I let Donald's big day go by without marking his inauguration with a song! The words are set to a Celtic Scottish tune 'Donald Where's Your Troosers'. (Scots for trousers). Here's the youtube link (expired link)
Donald Wears A Toupee (Lyrics)
Well folks they say that I am golfing mad
I'm not very good and my breath is bad
But I’m the richest sugar dad
That sports a yellow toupee
Chorus (sung after each verse):
Let the wind blow high,
Let the wind blow low,
To the White House I will go…
The democrats they shout oh no!
Donald wears a toupee
My baseball cap is my delight,
It’s made to measure and fits just right
I keep it on both day and night
In case I lose my toupee
Yeah, I promised jobs for all
On the back of coal and oil
And I promise you I’ll build that wall
And stand proud with my toupee
Global warming’s not my thing
It’s just a hoax like everything
Windmills all they do is spin
And mess up all my toupee
The Russians love me, anyway
And that man Vladimir, well he’s okay
But I’m no puppet, I won’t obey
It’s me who wears the toupee
So let’s make America great again
With all of my chosen men
White supremacists rise and then
Swear allegiance to my toupee
Thanks to everyone who shared the previous post about Aleppo. It has been quite an eventful year to say the least!
On the musical front it was a pleasant surprise to find out that the song ‘William Ogilvie’ had shot back up the charts to end the year top of the UK Celtic charts and in the top ten globally. It still remains a mystery to me as to how these things work!
I’m not a great one for making resolutions but looking forward to 2017 my thoughts can best be summed up in the following poem, which was previously published as part of a small poetry collection of mine.
O What If?
O what if the warly race resigned,
And wealth it was redesigned?
Money had no real utility,
Just Nature’s own currency!
O what if kings and queens and lords,
All proclaimed in one accord?
Rank and titles have had their day,
Now all hail democracy!
O what if politicians for once just tried,
To speak their mind and say “I lied?”
And stand as one to bear the gree,
And face the music of liberty!
O what if God said please no more,
And all religions closed their door?
Every person found their own bliss,
Their conscience it demanded this!
O what if the child spoke for us all,
Their constant cry became a call?
Then we learned to love each other,
Like a sister and a brother!
(Scots words: warly, greedy; gree, to agree)
Hope you have a good one..
When I think of Aleppo, Joseph Campbell (author of ‘The Power of Myth’) comes to mind when he said chaos in the world today is not an illumination of humanity but the bungling of politicians motivated by greed and self-interest.
The atrocities committed in Aleppo are truly horrific: bombed-out hospitals, with thousands killed and children too traumatised to speak. Assad creates a desert and calls it peace. And world leaders fail to act. All I can do is share a song to express solidarity. Yet music is not enough.
If you’re so inclined, sign the petition (at (expired link)) started by Dr Hamza Al Khatib, one of the last doctors still working in east Aleppo. It has reached over 600,000 signatures. This petition - along with ones calling for aid drops and safe evacuations - will be handed to UK Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama. At the time of writing there are some 50,000 people still trapped in east Aleppo waiting to be evacuated.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote over the weekend on a French-drafted proposal to ensure the operation is co-ordinated by international observers, with humanitarian aid allowed into Aleppo and hospitals given protection.
Firstly thanks to everyone for your continued support. The William Ogilvie song has maintained its position in the Celtic charts and just hit number two spot globally. It’s all a mystery to me as to how these things work, but I’m forever grateful.
I was musing on events of recent weeks, what with Bob Dylan getting the Nobel prize for literature and Donald Trump gaining power. What a contrast! I thought long and hard about what song to upload next, and decided on 'Change is Gonna Come' - it’s kind of dylanesque, to reflect current times. There’s no doubt there is a hunger for change with many people feeling left behind by deindustrialisation on both sides of the Atlantic.
Whether Trump will be a positive force for good on the world stage, time will tell, but certainly from my small corner of the world here in Scotland - where his mother hails from - he is generally viewed with derision. Might I suggest that a little bit of self-education about his Scottish heritage and the merits of greater equality would not go amiss, perhaps starting with Robert Burns. For Dylan, Burns was his biggest inspiration and Abraham Lincoln always carried a copy of Burns’s poetry, so The Donald would be in good company.
For me, the above image says it all about the kind of sentiments President-elect Donald Trump ought to be expressing. It’s taken from a documentary about Joe Hill, whose life was celebrated last year, being the 100th anniversary of his death.
About Alan Dickson
Originally from Leith, Alan describes his music as being in the celtic 'roots' tradition drawing on his Scottish literary interests; Scottish, Irish and American folk.. His lyrics are often infused by his social and political conscience, focused on everyday lives and aspirations. He accompanies himself on guitar (plectrum and fingerstyle) and harmonica.
Alan was one of the first acts to appear at Danny Kyle's Open Stage at Celtic Connections. Currently he is reworking Scottish songs and lyrical poems, under the banner of 'Strains of Eden', from the 18th/19th century, many of which have been forgotten by the established folk-canon.
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