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OH HAD I A GOLDEN THREAD

(written by Pete Seeger in 1959; learned from hearing him and from Sing Out)

(music to go here)

Oh, had I a golden thread, and needle so fine,
I'd weave a magic cloak of rainbow design,
Of rainbow design.

In it I'd weave the bravery of women giving birth,
In it I'd weave the innocence of children o'er the earth,
Children of all earth.

In it I'd weave the restlessness of men going ever forth,
Through heat of desert sands, through blizzards of the North,
Through the frozen North.

Far o'er the waters, I'd reach my magic band,
To foreign cities, to ev'ry foreign land,
To ev'ry land.

Show my brothers and my sisters my rainbow design,
Bind up this sorry world with hand and heart and mind,
Hand and heart and mind.

Far o'er the waters, I'd reach my magic band,
To ev'ry human being, so they would understand,
So they would understand.

(repeat first verse)

(from miriam berg's folksong collection)