Pete Seeger - Banks of Marble

Pete Seeger singing the classic "workers' rights" tune from the 1950's.
Lyrics below:
BANKS ARE MADE OF MARBLE
I've traveled round this country
From shore to shining shore.
It really made me wonder
The things I heard and saw.
I saw the weary farmer,
Plowing sod and loam;
I heard the auction hammer
A knocking down his home.
CHORUS:
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.
FINAL CHORUS:
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

[@michaelcomerford4030]

A beloved Pete Seeger. I learnt most of his songs, saw him in concert aged 10. Great man

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Michael, now you’ve instantly made me VERY ENVIOUS!

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Fairness and equality is what we ALL should strive for.

[@sponky475]

Amen

[@stevenbaum6505]

Saw and met Mr.Seeger when I was very young. He impacted my life,and still does.

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Steven - I envy you ! He is a legend the on0going march for freedom and equality! God bless.

[@Emmet-sd8og]

I love how he still replies to comments 12 years later.

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Thanks!!

@@DanStedingMrCowMusic based

[@Ash-so2sr]

Perfect song for the times we're living

[@CollinBuckman]

RIP Pete Seeger. If I were able to do even a fraction of the good he did in his life, I'd say I will have succeeded in my own life.

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

Amen!

[@autoicon3550]

Aw, man. Gone too soon, Pete. You will be missed.

[@scottyp1303]

AutoIcon gone too soon? What drugs are you on? He was old AND deserved his rewards

[@garibanibizzeka]

I mean, I would have wanted him to live but he was almost a century old. He definitely didn’t go too soon

[@oeiras99]

Today came new of Pete Seeger's death, inevitable but something difficult to accept, especially since the causes he espoused and the villains he attacked in song are still very much with us, the banks for example. Seeger was also a very decent man and we will never see his like again. R.I.P. and fight fascism wherever you are.

[@SvobodaIliSmert]

seeger has lived, seeger lives, seeger will live. forever.

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

Solidarity forever!

[@trorisk]

normally there is an expression that says "Unlike fairy tales the good guys don't win in the end. But the bad guys end up dying." But here the bad guys never die.

[@namethathasntbeentakenyetm3682]

@@trorisk Not true, J. H. Blair is dead, so are all of the "captains of indsutry" and David Koch

[@mistahcharley7746]

Pete was our brother. He has finished his fight for truth, justice, peace, and love. Let us continue to do what we can with the time we have left to us.

[@44popo44]

The tune itself was composed -- music and lyrics -- by Les Rice, a neighbor of Pete Seeger's in the Hudson River Valley.

[@gioiamancinelli841]

Dan are you the Dan from the farm Is your mother Martha,if you are i am Bennie Trapanis granddaughter i used to go to the farm all the time to bring fruit get eggs and visit with your family

[@michael061282]

Thank you Pete (and the rest of The Weavers) for opening my eyes and showing not WHAT to see, but HOW to see.

[@BazookaTooth707]

Sole did his own version of this song to pay homage. I had never heard the original until the other day. Amazing

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

He was truly a treasure to all who sought equality!

[@RWRizzo]

Pete is a treasure to the world. His thoughtful songs continue to inspire people all over. This is one of the great ones!

[@ljackier]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This song suddenly does not sound dated anymore. It's so great that Pete Seeger is no longer on the black list - he's singing for the president!

[@TheCanterlonian]

bless this man

[@kimchrysanthemum]

I just saw a documentary about him today. I love this guy!

[@markmandel6738]

One of my lifelong heroes

[@blade2nj]

rip Pete, thanks for allthe great songs you sang for us.

[@ifthethunderdontgety]

R.I.P., Pete ~

[@johnjurkewicz9925]

I love listening to Great songs like is and I love it

[@ulexite-tv]

Grat song and your photos really bring it home.

[@KurtKnutsen]

Thanks for the save,Cool song for the Burn!

[@GSDKXV]

Joe Hill never died

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Agreed!

[@pantomime1000]

Added to playlist Tribute to Peter Steeger

[@wichitarick]

Good! Has long been a part of my "workingmans songs" every day is labor day when your surviving to work and working to survive, "PEACE TAKES PRACTICE" Rick

[@adifilms]

Yes, this song is more relevant than ever today. Pete just celebrated his 90th birthday, and he's still going strong. As for singing for Obama, Peter Yarrow was recently in Israel, and he told me that originally Bruce Springsteen was invited by the organizing committee to sing "This Land is Your Land" on his own, and he made his appearance conditional on singing it together with Seeger. Obama's people agreed. And yes, Pete did pay his dues during the McCarthy period.

[@chadhartshorn7060]

r.i.p. Pete

[@treeguyfly]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@MarkiRollmops]

Nice video

[@marakaretsos5204]

🎸⭐️

[@messalalla8911]

Pauvre chevaux ☹😢 tout maigre

[@paulietteburnett7270]

Queen nerferria

[@bluelinebabe1]

Actually written by Les Rice in 1950 -- at least it says so in Rise Up Singing. Give credit where credit is due, though I certainly love Pete Seeger, and have performed with him!

[@mayormccheese9093]

I Love listening to Peete Seeger. Mostly just to prove that his machine couldn't kill fascists

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

:-)

[@ozonekidd]

Poseur? Pete took his knocks while a member of CP and while singing with the Weavers, Woody Guthrie, Robeson, Mahalia Jackson, and scores of other committed activists. He was on the blacklist, got grilled by HUAC, investigated by J.Edgar Hoover, and is still active during his elder years. I never agreed with all of his points of view, being from his left, but I can't dismiss his work with a french insult.

[@Annex_canada]

Ironic how he talks about the workers not getting their silver, yet at the end, he literally says that they would be forced to share it. Other than that song slaps

[@SandfordSmythe]

Bourgeoise singing to bourgeoise, and everyone feeling good about it, rooting for the classic ,vintage working man. Maybe it did help in establishing a strong liberal base - who the workers later didn't like .

[@edwardmiller9611]

The Russians had enough of communism.

[@eldricshadowchaser5454]

Yeltsin was absolutely catastrophic for the living standards of the average russian and indirectly killed a couple million people.

[@An_Cummanach]

The polls say otherwise

[@k.o.h3599]

The flag of the USSR is being raised across the Ukraine as Russia liberates the region... Most former Soviets will tell you that life was much better under Communism.

[@JustClaude13]

Winston Churchill watched the Soviet Union at close range and noted: "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." Everywhere communism has been tried has suffered mass starvation over time, from early Soviet Union to modern N. Korea. Capitalism results in some being rich and others being poor, but a rising standard of living over all. China thought that a fair compromise when they opened their economy.

[@JackReedGaming]

Ah yes, the capitalism in the west that depends on the brutal extraction of wealth from the colonies and neo-colonies.

[@huangzhiguomlm2832]

I've traveled round this country 我游历这个国家 From shore to shining shore 从西海岸到东海岸 It really made me wonder 一路所见所闻 The things I heard and saw. 令我困惑不已 I saw the weary farmer 我看到劳累的农夫 Plowing sod and loam 在土地上耕作 l heard the auction hammer 我还听到拍卖会上拍卖棰的敲击声 A knocking down his home 将他的小屋夺去 But the banks are made of marble 但银行座座金碧辉煌 With a guard at every door 每扇门都有门卫把守 And the vaults are stuffed with silver 保险箱里塞满金银 That the farmer sweated for 是那农夫汗水的结晶 l saw the seaman standing 我看到水手 Idly by the shore 颓废地站在海岸边 l heard the bosses saying 还听到老板说 你已经被开除了 But the banks are made of marble 但银行座座金碧辉煌 With a guard at every door 每扇门都有门卫把守 And the vaults are stuffed with silver 保险箱里塞满金银 That the seaman sweated for 是那水手汗水的结晶 I saw the weary miner 我看到疲倦的矿工 Scrubbing coal dust from his back 正擦洗背上的煤屑 I heard his children cryin 还听到他的孩子们在哭泣 Got no coal to heat the shack 哭诉没有燃煤来温暖他们的棚屋 But the banks are made of marble 但银行座座金碧辉煌 With a guard at every door 每扇门都有门卫把守 And the vaults are stuffed with silver 保险箱里塞满金银 That the miner sweated for 是那矿工汗水的结晶 I've seen my brothers working 我还在这片伟大的土地上 Throughout this mighty land 见过无数辛勤劳动的兄弟们 l prayed we'd get together 我祈祷我们能够团结起来 And together make a stand 坚定地团结起来 Then we'd own those banks of marble 这样我们就能夺回金碧辉煌的银行 With a guard at every door 哪怕每扇门都有门卫把守 And we'd share those vaults of silver 这样我们就能共享那成堆的财富 Got no work for you no more 不必再为糊口的工作 That we have sweated for 而累死累活

[@ufodeath]

This is a brilliant song depicting the exploitation of silver/coal miners where they have no coal to heat their shack yet the banks hog all the resources (silver) that the miners mined.

[@janescarfield8104]

Not to forget the even more sickening irony of the coal miners struggling to heat their homes.

[@jeanpi314159]

@@janescarfield8104 It was the same in France and Belgium : Watch the movie Borinage !

[@jeanpi314159]

@@janescarfield8104 Borinage ( 1934) by Joris Ivens and Henri Storck. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGLJlnZ8jLCSras

[@Pinkdam]

It does a much better job illustrating the power of the credit monopoly; neither the miners nor the bankers eat silver or marble - the silver that the miner sweated to extract now extracts sweat from others as currency. That the miner is no longer needed in the process does not change the resultant fact.

[@SujayGhosh187]

​@@jeanpi314159also the movie How Green was my value

[@FAEMINOSMITH]

once upon a time Edmund Wilson dared to say that USA would be socialist... at that time workers knew they were workers. Now they are just consumers... I saw on the last Michael Moore movie that there is only one socialist at the parliament... only one!!! Let's not forget who we are, whoe our grandparents were and their struggles for rights!!!

[@jeanpi314159]

It's better to have one true, than to have 50 false. But even 50 true are not enough. Strength come from the working class organized by itself. In France, we get our Health system from the Communist minister Ambroise Croizat...after the defeat of nazism. He was son a worker, became a unionist in steel industry, then a communist from 1920? Later in 1936, he was elected at the Parliament, sentenced to jail in 1939 ( as all communist being arrested before nazi occupation).But as he was jailed in Algeria , he was free in 1943 and joined the resistance till the Liberation... he died in 1951, very soon, because he spent his strength day and night for the working class.

[@charlesford7887]

Let’s hope that one socialist in Congress becomes the next president.

[@abdallahmanasrah2317]

@@charlesford7887 amen

[@jacksonthesyndicalist2771]

@@charlesford7887 or we must start the revolution

[@nathanj2018]

POV: Upton Sinclair has reunited America

[@jvbiddington]

I absolutely agree about putting the banks under democratic control - and that there should be absolutely transparency about what the banks do with the deposits and who they pay in the political system and for what. I won't bank with a corporate bank - I use a credit union - a local one and they are more democratic, better managed and behave in the interests of the community. The big banks won't get any money from me.

[@Pinkdam]

It's what used to be called 'social credit' until people started using the term to refer to Chinese systems of social control.

[@Daken_07]

"That we have sweated for"

[@MrUtah1]

This song is relevant now more than ever

[@danunderwood6240]

Awesome song but sad that it applies to today as well, and maybe even worse. We must stand with the people and the workers and institute the government we need as a country. Break up these banks of marble and put our silver back to work for us. Get out and vote Bernie Sanders. He is the only one that is for the workers and little guys.

[@RedAgent2020]

"Bernie sanders" LOL

[@danunderwood6240]

Pro-gun Red Still better then the two crap choices the force on us. Who would you go with? But when your hero is Putin you should probably not laugh at anyone else.

[@danunderwood6240]

***** Damn right we are screwed and if Donny Tiny Hands gets his way the rest of the world will be as well. I wouldn't say they are long past. We have a chance with parties like Freak Power. I agree that socialism is really the only government that works for the people. Freak Power party is like socialism on steroids.

[@danunderwood6240]

Pro-gun Red Still nothing but silence from the Pro-Gun coward.

[@thatguy8556]

Dan Underwood sorry pal, but at less capitalism is good right.

[@aniketchakraborti0920]

LYRICS..... I've traveled round this country From shore to shining shore. It really made me wonder The things I heard and saw. I saw the weary farmer, Plowing sod and loam; I heard the auction hammer A knocking down his home. [Chorus:] 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. [Final Chorus:] 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.

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

THANK YOU for posting the full lyrics!!!! I really appreciate you!!

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

How true! The voice of truth never grows old, does it?

[@betsy1947]

My dad used to sing this. I love it.

[@noahhughes2501]

The left has much better music overall. Pete Seeger completely knocks Ain't I Right out of the park, all his songs are good. But the only good rightist song that isn't a dictatorial anthem is Ain't I Right and the lyrics to it are shit anyway.

[@TroelsMathiasMikkelsen]

Still relevant!

[@patearly9492]

One of the most peaceful activists there ever could be. Thank you God and please help us carry on Pete's work

[@battery1707]

Great to see so many comments are recent

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

I agree!!! People are seeing the need to understand the significant gaps in our country.

[@ArcturusOTE]

@@DanStedingMrCowMusic Not to mention many coming from the HOI4 Red Flood mod and learning more about America's left populist history

[@kapitanpufferfish5164]

@@ArcturusOTE Well, Kaiserreich in my case

[@thoughtsurferzone5012]

Good, old-fashioned, pinko labor tune.

[@nooksak1]

Looks like one percent of people who watched this don't get it.....

[@kotomo1]

"By trusting your own heart, you shall gain more confidence in other men. For all our penny-wisdom, for all our soul-destroying slavery to habit, it is not to be doubted, that all men have sublime thoughts; that all men value the few real hours of life; they love to be heard; they love to be caught up into the vision of prnciples." - The Divinity School Address (1838) by Ralph Waldo Emerson

[@RoosterPlaysGamesFR]

Beautiful

[@mistyautumnwoods]

This song radicalized me and put a voice to what I knew to be true when I was an angsty 15 year old. If the working people of the world can get past the arbitrary divisions that have been carved into us, there’s nothing we can’t do. 🚩

[@ScunneredMan]

Huh! Even when a UK bank is 80% owned by the taxpayers we still have a struggle telling them what to do.

[@briankiernansmith2433]

simply beautiful! thankyou.

[@wichitarick]

Sadly the American labors pics are not as relevant, but also worse by just changing the faces to foreign faces, as we now import more than we produce and their wages and conditions are much worse or not looked at by anyone :( But another drastic change has taken place in that a generation now outright refuses to even consider eating all that dirt or consider working to exhaustion simply to feed themselves or their family's, why do that when someone will just GIVE IT TO THEM :( "Peace Takes Practice" Rick

[@TheDudeWithTheHatN2]

Red flood?

[@coolchic480]

great song

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Isn't it the truth? Thanks for your comments! Dan

[@jvbiddington]

Don't shoot the guards ! they are workers too and I don't reckon that they earn very much money either. Workers already suffer enough at the hands of the Banks - they need to be tightly regulated.

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Great points; all. Thanks for the commentary -- right on the "money".

[@Daken_07]

"That we have sweated for"

[@TroelsMathiasMikkelsen]

Stadig relevant. Måske noget for Nordea og Danske Bank?

[@LEEboneisDaMan]

Solidarity comrades

[@ArcturusOTE]

Did you get any boom of viewer #s when Red Flood had this music at one point?

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

Actually, I’m not sure. When was that??

[@JohnLelandWhiting]

Read "Parenting" by James Kwak on The Baseline Scenario, whose 7-year old daughter discovered this song and declared it her favorite!

[@podcastshmodcast]

still my favorite version of this song. Even Leonard Cohen is here on you tube with an interpretation, but very poor quality. Go seee the Documentary about Pete Seeger after you hear this. Talk about a real MANS man....

[@robertoconnor76]

Timeless.

[@danielpoursac6931]

une autre de Peter Seeger pour lui rendre un hommage mérité

[@thatssofetch3481]

How had I not heard this yet? This is a great song!

[@raulstanoiev7323]

black block forever , eat the rich !

[@miscurvendora7733]

god bless him ! love that !

[@DanStedingMrCowMusic]

@paxamericanafilms - thank you.

[@gifyifhkhmcucyk6865]

Hopefully hes up there, watching ober this country still, watching for the time we will take it back just like the song says...

[@mariolopez420]

Category: Sports

[@joshuamarx8209]

A long forgotten legacy. A long forgotten truth..

[@mariolopez420]

anyone know what chords hes playin here. tabs online put this as d-a7-g but it sounds like its in B

[@koarthakke]

De skiednis wjerhellit him.Tsjoch wa de lêste krisis feroarsake hat!

[@Bozohotep]

2 marble-heads.

[@TheRblockells]

wonderful

[@KurtisHord]

needs a drop

[@ArkRed1]

At least Pete didn't wear a tu tu. Hoover was a tyrant.

[@end9409]

Huey Long was right!

[@zevaronxz7288]

thoroughly unbased and cringepilled

[@MrWarhulk13]

Not even a filthy commie but i like this song

[@zevaronxz7288]

bevcome a filfty commie bootlicker

[@MrWarhulk13]

@@zevaronxz7288 No

[@zevaronxz7288]

Qrahin yes

[@michaelsansonia4102]

You should be ashamed. You take this song that you didn't write, that you didn't sing. It's a song that says something about legalized theft in our society. And you use i legally steal. You make yourself an example of the evils this song warns us about. Do you truly believe its principles? It's ok if you do. Then take down the ad! It's also ok if you don't. But then you are the most cynical and opportunistic type of hypocrite.

[@nanchaukninjamaster7]

I don´t think you can control that youtube puts ads on your videos

[@michaelsansonia4102]

There are no ads on my youtube channel. That's a choice I've made, specifically because a number of the songs there are anti-capitalist.

[@nanchaukninjamaster7]

huh, i don´t know much about how youtube ads work, but i guess if you have a choice to put them on, than you are right about this song being used in an ironically terrible way

[@stickypepsi3236]

+Michael Sansonia If there's a copyright claim on this video, KZbin automatically puts ads on the video whether the uploader wants it or not.

[@michaelsansonia4102]

No. Most of what's on my channel is copywritten. There are no ads on my channel. And if there IS a copyright claim by the owner of the channel, that is theft.

[@madklear7868]

This is so Un-American it makes me want to cry...

[@turloughmulbarr]

Mad K Lear possibly the most American song ever written, behind All You Fascists Bound To Lose.

[@madklear7868]

Yeah, but when you're not from the US, you tend to think that this kind of beautiful anti-capitalist music cannot exist in the US, but now I know I was wrong. There is hope. :D

[@darris321]

We aren't outnumbered, comrade. We are out-organized. Look up and join and support the People's Congress of Resistance.

[@opossumlvr1023]

If this is American then we need a Spanish inquisition, Pinochet style over seen by Joe McCarthy.

[@JackReedGaming]

Voken, you are a dumbass.