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Immigrant Song (Ballad of Carlos Bulosan)

from Hold That Tiger by The Muddy Basin Ramblers

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    NOMINATED FOR BEST RECORDING PACKAGE AT THE 2020 GRAMMYS! CD comes in a 7"x 7" sized sleeve designed by Onion Design Associates' Fongming Yang and Andrew Wong, who also earned a Grammy-nomination for our previous release "Formosa Medicine Show (2013)." To coincide with the album's themes, the CD design adopts color schemes and visual elements from traditional Taiwanese folk religion, mixed with 1950s Sci-fi kitch (Jug Band Futurism, if you will). Lyric sheets in English on one side and Chinese translations on the other. For more info on the design: www.behance.net/gallery/72382763/Hold-That-Tiger
    (Thanks to Onion Design for the photos)

    CDs will be sent registered mail (Chunghwa Post) with a tracking number. Shipping times: 10-14 days to most places.

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lyrics

**Dedicated to the memory of Filipino-American writer Carlos Bulosan (1913-1956)**

I'm broke and I'm hungry
I'm ragged, I'm dirty too
I'll clean up, kind madam,
And then just ask one thing of you:
Remember me, when I am gone
Remember me, when you hear this song

Policemen, they robbed me
They beat me, through and through
For the crime of my skin
For the crime of "being not one of you"
California, land of the free
California, shattered dreams

I toil in your fields
My arms tattooed with dirt
I hear the call to organize
It's time to unionize our work
My body's broken, my mind is burnt
My body's broken, my soul is hurt

I once was a rambler,
a hobo, a gambler, too
When a man's got nothing,
He needs something to lose
Love and money, be the death of me
Love and money, mean nothing to me

I taught myself to read and write
I taught myself to speak the truth
They say "America is in the heart"
It's so kind, and yet so cruel
Oh mother, your children are gone
Oh father, all that's left is this song

credits

from Hold That Tiger, released November 1, 2018

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The Muddy Basin Ramblers image

The Muddy Basin Ramblers Taipei, Taiwan

Hello! We're Formosa's Favorite Hepcats, playing jug band, blues, string band and swing jazz...and original music inspired by all of the above. Founded in 2003 by US/UK expats living in Taipei,Taiwan. 大家好！我們是泥灘地浪人！

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