Nothing has changed..... The author of this song was Hezekiah Jenkins, a white musician, who recorded it on 16 January 1931 in NYC. It was issued as Columbia 14585-D [on the record, his name was wrongly spelled 'Hazekiah']. In the notes to his 'Songsters and Saints Vol I' set, Paul Oliver noted that Jenkins' composition was a remodelling of an earlier theme to describe the devices used by the poor to hustle through the worst of the Depression. The phrase 'the panic is on' had been used as a catch-phrase for earlier economic failures leading to depressions. It had been applied to the 'Panic' of 1893 when Jacob S. Coxley's 'army' of unemployed marched on Washington. Newman White quoted four 'Panic is on' fragments from 1915 and related them to the panic of 1908-09'. Jenkins' song related, of course, to the panic of 1929. [Info from Paul Oliver 'Songsters and Saints' Cambridge Uni Press 1984]. I arranged the song and added some up-to-date lyrics I heard in versions by Eleonor Ellis and Dave Lippman. I'm playing a 1925 Gibson L3, C position standard tuning but a half step down Link to a free lesson with tab (this song should be played more widely) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_N8qYGa3UQ Lyrics What this world is comin' to I sure would love to know If they don't do something bye and bye, The rich will live and the middle-class will die Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on Can't get no work, can't draw no pay, Unemployment getting worser every day Nothing to eat and no place to sleep, All night long folks walkin' the street Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on. All the landlords done raised the rent Folks that ain't broke is badly bent Where they get the dough from, goodness knows But, if they don't produce it, in the street they go Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on I pawned my clothes and everything, Pawned my jewellery, watch and my ring Pawned my razor but not my gun So, if my luck don't change, there'll be some stealin' done Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on. I lost my house and my SUV People I even lost my mp3 Now I got to pay those made me this way So they can live and screw us all another day Dog-gone I mean the panic is on. I reckon those bankers should've never been bailed They should be sweating in the county jail If we do do something, bye an bye We could use the Swedish model, it might fly Dog-gone, I mean the panic is on This recession ruined everything, That's why I'm forced to sing Here's a little someething I want you to know Bankers and politicians got to go Dog-gone, I mean the panic will be gone

• published: 14 Sep 2013
• views: 899