Sunday, March 16, 2008

"Rosa's Stew"

I love it when Ben calls me up and sings to me.

Before you go any further, please say the following two phrases out loud, one after the other:
  • Rosa's Stew
  • Roses, Too!

(Roses, Too! is the Coven my best friend and I co-founded in Philadelphia in 1993.)

Now you know all you need to know. Enjoy!

"Rosa's Stew"
lyrics by Benjamin Newman
ttto: "Bread and Roses" by James Oppenheim, set to music by Mimi Farina

/ G CG-- / C D / 1st / DA D /: G - / C(Am) D :/ G - /

As we go marching, marching
To fight the noble fight
A band of angry women
Can work up an appetite

All day we've walked together
Voices raised in songs of protest
And we sing a little louder
When the potluck is at Rosa's

As we go marching, marching
Singing songs of love and toil
In Rosa's cluttered kitchen
Something good is on the boil

When marching makes us hungry
There's one thought that sees us through
Yes, it is bread we fight for
What we crave is Rosa's stew

It's often said of Martha
That her sourdough never fails
But leave it out all April
And it gets a little stale

When bread and hearts have hardened
There is just one thing to do
There's no crust that will not soften
When it's dunked in Rosa's stew

Now, stew can be nutritious
But this is so much more
In it we have a foretaste
Of the world we're fighting for

At Jane's pie and Sarah's salad
We will not turn up our noses
But for hungry souls and bellies
There's no cooking quite like Rosa's

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