1/23/08: Tom Johnson “School Bus” (c. 1973)

In the aftermath of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—and the associated political pandering—let’s salute this lost recording from the heyday of the busing controversy. That was an important moment in American history. People of all races came together to complain about the Leftist lunacy of sending kids to different schools out of some fantasy of creating a level educational playing field. Not surprisingly, there are still minorities in San Francisco (and other places) fighting this unique brand of idiocy.

Tom Johnson tried to plea for sanity with “School Bus.” This spoken-word piece begins with children laughing, and then a musical background of piano, bass, and drums. Tom tells his tale:

         The schoolhouse stands decaying
         In our little Southern town
         An epitaph to freedom
         It, too, is crumbling down
         One year ago September
         That’s when we got the word
         Our school will not reopen
         Our protests went unheard
         They said to get a school bus
         And our kids were reassigned
         To a school across the river
         Where the races were combined

         We all thought this was stupid
         For a little town so small
         We only had one schoolhouse
         Where the kids went, one and all
         Our pleading fell on deaf ears
         And they forced us to comply
         So we bought that old used school bus
         The best one we could buy
         At six o’clock each morning,
         The little kids would load
         And cross that muddy river
         12 miles up the road

         But then one rainy evening
         The old school bus was late
         Soon terror gripped our little town
         When word came of its fate

         I’d like to forget what happened
         And that terrible scene that night
         As they brought them from the river
         Little bodies, black and white
         As they drug that ancient school bus
         From the river in the rain
         And as the mud began to wash away
         These words burned into my brain
         On the back of that old bus, we had painted in despair
         “Compliments of your Department of Health, Education, and Welfare”

Then a kiddie chorus arises with the opening of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” and there’s not a dry eye in the house.

Make it your own: Sorry, folks, we have no idea. In fact, this entry—like the one for “The Fable of Fun Country”—mainly exists for people attempting an internet search about the recording. Some tunes are simply Songs That Google Forgot. The only known sighting of “School Bus” was a 45 rpm single with a plain orange label. Any further information is welcome.

 

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