DON'T LAUGH AT ME - 5/3 : Conscience & Concern 良知與關懷

"The Kerrville Folk Festival"
每年初夏, 在 Texas 德薩斯州, Kerrville, Quiet Valley Ranch 舉行為期十八天的民歌節; 1998年的民歌節由 Steve Seskin 主持, 他在該地主理一間名為 "Kerrville Songwriter's School" 與及其他民歌工作坊, 以鼓勵學生民歌創作的興趣, 民歌節除了每個週日的學生民歌比賽之外, 還有知名民歌手表演, Steve Seskin 在台上亦親自演繹一些歌曲, 其中一首是"DON'T LAUGH AT ME"。

Peter Yarrow 理解女兒對這一曲的感受; 繼而, Bethany 帶同父親來到這個民歌節晚會, Peter Yarrow 在現場聽過 Steve Seskin 演繹此曲之後, 亦有感而嘆: "這是我們日常生活的所見所聞, 一首挑起內心感受的歌曲, 亦是不少人的心聲, 實在是令人熱淚難忍的作品"。當時他的組合正在錄製一張専輯, 全是翻唱其他歌手一些有普世價值的舊歌曲。及後, 得到 Steve Seskin 的同意, 把歌曲亦收錄在 Peter, Paul and Mary 正在進行製作的專輯當中。


"Songs of Conscience & Concern"《良知與關懷之歌》
1999年三月, 專輯唱片面世, Peter, Paul and Mary 把原定計畫, 版税收益部份捐給"The Center For Constitutional Rights 憲法權利中心", "Children's Defense Fund 保護兒童基金", "Oxfam America 樂施會"。


TRACK LIST:
  1. Wasn't That a Time
  2. Pastures of Plenty
  3. Power
  4. If I Were Free
  5. Coming of the Roads
  6. El Salvador
  7. The Great Mandala (The Wheel of Life)
  8. All My Trials
  9. All Mixed Up
10. Danny's Downs
11. Don't Laugh at Me
12. Home Is Where the Heart Is
13. There But for Fortune
14. Old Coat
15. Because All Men Are Brothers

Don't Laugh at Me (Remastered Long Version) 1999

I'm a little boy with glasses, the one they call the geek
A little girl who never smiles
'Cause I have braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels to cry myself to sleep
I'm that kid on every playground who's always chosen last
A single teenage mother tryin' to overcome my past
You don't have to be my friend but is it too much to ask?

Don't laugh at me, don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings, don't laugh at me

I'm the beggar on the corner you've passed me on the street
And I wouldn't be out here beggin' if I had enough to eat
And don't think I don't notice that our eyes never meet

Don't laugh at me, don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings, don't laugh at me

I'm fat, I'm thin,
I'm short, I'm tall
I'm deaf, I'm blind
Hey, aren't we all?
Don't laugh at me, don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings, don't laugh at me

Well I'm fat, I'm thin
I'm short, I'm tall
I'm deaf, I'm blind
In a way we're all
I'm black, I'm white
And I am brown
I'm Jewish, I'm Christian
And I'm a Muslim
I'm gay, I'm lesbian
I'm American Indian
I'm very, very young
I'm quite aged
I'm quite well fed
I'm very, very poor

Don't laugh at me, don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings, don't laugh at me
My country, 'tis of thee, oh, sweet land of liberty
It is of thee, that I sing