CAN’T STOP RUNNING  (Wilma Rudolph)

(By Jonathan Sprout)

Good Dr. Coleman arrives out of breath,

Examines the girl, turns to Momma to say,

 “Wilma’s so sick, she may not walk again,

But we must have hope, anyway.”

At twelve years she’s healthy and finally walking.

Once and for all free at last of that brace.

All over town you can hear people talking,

 “Wilma has run in a race!  Sweet grace!”

            She can’t stop running.

            After all she’s been through

            Can’t stop running.

            A golden dream come true.

            She can’t stop running, yeah, yeah, yes.

            That’s what Wilma loves to do.

Coach Temple trains her to work on her stride.

She runs for the Tennessee Tigerbelle Team.

Soon she is confident, glowing with pride,

Hard on the heels of a dream.  It seems

Refrain 

Bridge:

            Inside that stadium in Rome,

            At the Olympics, far from home,

            She calmly waits for the starting gun.

            A flash of lightning down the track,

            The others only see her back.

            And so the gold is won.

            Wilma loves to run!

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP)

CHOCOLATE KING  (Milton Hershey)

(By Jonathan Sprout & Dave Kinnoin)

Hard work, clear vision,

A stubborn refusal to fail.

Flat broke but not broken.

How does a dream prevail?

Hope’s hurting but it’s far from gone.

Sometimes you gotta keep keepin’ on.

            Believe and never stop.

            Keep your eyes on the mountaintop.

            A little bump in the road doesn’t mean a thing

            To The Chocolate King.

Success tastes sweeter

When shared with another kid.

You feel satisfaction

The way Mr. Hershey did.

Each day is bright and new

When a kind heart is leading you.

            One boy whose lofty aim is

            To make it big some day

            Becomes-the-man whose claim to fame is

            He gave it away.

Refrain

(By Jonathan Sprout & Dave Kinnoin)

I dream of mountains

I hear them calling me back home.

I hear them calling,

Calling – come back home!

Far from the reach of the city,

Where mountains give way to the sky,

This is where I long to wander,

Watching the seasons go by.

Nothing could feel more exciting

Than being there, ready to roam.

No place could be more inviting.

It’s calling me “Come back home!”

            Let me stand in the heart of a redwood grove

            Lightly sprinkled with fresh white snow,

            May I just catch a glimpse of a mountaintop

            Awash with alpenglow,

            Let me live out a dream on Yosemite Stream

            Where my wilderness joys abound,

            To discover the truth of eternal youth

            Upon that sacred ground.

Nature awakens my senses

When I walk among whispering trees

Smelling the sweet-scented cedar

Breathing the crisp glacial breeze.

Hearing a soft creature chorus

Under a star-sparkled dome.

Now who will preserve it all for us

So we can come back home?

Refrain

Bridge:  High flowery meadows

       Sheer canyon walls

       Huge boulder dams

       Lacey white waterfalls

Refrain

Outro:

I dream of mountains

I hear them calling me back home.

I hear them calling,

Calling – come back home!

I dream of mountains

I hear them calling me back home.

I hear them calling,

Calling – come back home!

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP) & Song Wizard Music (ASCAP)

A young girl with a dream to heal

Grows up in an unjust world

Where only men can operate.

As smart as the brightest man,

She learns everything she can,

But her dream will just have to wait.

            She wants to be a doctor.

            "How can she hope to succeed?"

            She wants to be a doctor.

           "A mental contusion, indeed!"

Twenty-seven, twenty-eight rejections

At last an acceptance note.

So many say, “She’ll never pass!”

She proves she can make the cut.

Opens doors that had once been shut.

Graduates first in her class!

            She wants to be a doctor.

            "What a bizarre request!"

            She wants to be a doctor.

            She wants to be a doctor.

            "Only a man can endure!"

            She wants to be a doctor.

            "Only a man for sure!" 

Such a narrow thought: “Dr.” has to be a man.

Then along comes Bessie with her plan.

            She wants to be a doctor.

            "The medical world is inflamed!"

            She wants to be a doctor.

            "Maybe we should feel ashamed."

            She wants to be a doctor!

            "Nothing will be the same!"

            She wants to be a doctor!       

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP)

GOOD FOR ME

 (by Jonathan Sprout, Dave Kinnoin & Jimmy Hammer)

Pretty amazing gift you gave to me --

Helping me understand what I can be.

Talk about self-esteem,

Now I have a dream to dream.

And before this moment slips away,

There’s something that I want to say.

 It’s good for me

            That I found you

            To be the special someone

            I can look up to.

            You’re with me now

            You’ll always be    

            Yes, you’ll always be 

            Good for me.

You always smiled and said the future’s bright

Now I can look ahead and feel all right

Wherever the road may lead

I know … I will succeed

 ‘Cause I’ll always have a part of you

To keep me safe and get me through

            I will honor every gift you give me.

            Every day I live you’re with me in my heart.

            ‘Cause I can see myself reflecting you

            And totally respecting you

            In everything I say and everything I do.

HE WILL NOT GIVE UP  (Jonas Salk)

(By Jonathan Sprout & Dave Kinnoin)

Polio sweeps through the cities.

It frightens and cripples and kills.

This virulent virus is sneaking inside us

Completely resistant to pills.

It’s hard to detect this invader

That seems to come out of thin air.

A doctor works late

With a crushing weight

On his shoulders he chooses to bear.

            He will not give up.

            He will not give in.

            He will find the answer

            Through thick and thin.

            Every day and night

            He will fight the fight,

            And he’ll win.

            He will not give up.

There in his lab he is working.

Seldom takes time to relax.

His focus is keen to find a vaccine

To stop this disease in its tracks.

His family suffers his absence.

They know he must finish the race.

But the children roll by and the parents cry,

So little time,

“The future lies in imagination

So much to do.

And in the courage of those who will dare.”

 Refrain 

(By Jonathan Sprout, Dave Kinnoin & Jimmy Hammer)

Refrain:  Hey, Mr. Peanut Man! 

        I said hey, hey, Mr. Peanut Man!   

       You sure knew what a peanut could do.  

       It was you who’s pursue every new nutty clue.  

       Here’s to The Peanut Man!

Cocoa, cooking oil, peanut beverage flakes

Flour, milk & lard, tasty peanut cakes

Lotion for your skin, nitroglycerine

What would he dream up?  What would he dream up next?

Refrain

Wall board, diesel fuel, Tutti Frutti cheese

Pickels, shaving cream, cattle feed and grease

Laxatives and paste.  Nothing went to waste.

Oh, what would he dream up?  What would he dream up next? 

Refrain

He could serve a truly scrumptious meal.

The salad, soup and chicken had delectable appeal.

The candy, cake and ice cream were, in fact ideal!

Then he would reveal none of it was real!

Well, actually, it was made entirely from peanuts! 

Refrain 

Coffee, vinegar, cream and glue

Buttermilk, dandruff cure, shampoo… 

Rubber, Peanut Lemon Drink

Salad oil, curds and ink… 

Quinine, metal polish, dye

Insecticide! I testify! 

Mayonnaise and chili sauce…

Carver is the peanut boss! 

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP) & Song Wizard Music (ASCAP), Sync Track (ASCAP)

POCAHONTAS

(By Jonathan Sprout, Dave Kinnoin & Jimmy Hammer) 

I was captured by Algonquin warriors.

Taken to the Indian King.

Brought forth in a crowded longhouse.

She sat, listening.

Thrown down on my knees, they bound me.

I gasped for my final breath.

She rose, threw her arms around me,

Saving me from certain death.

The braves were pacing.

My heart was racing.

How would I survive?

            Pocahontas, Pocahontas        

            Saved my life that night!

            Pocahontas, Pocahontas        

            Saved my life that night!

One cold winter I returned

To Werowocomoco.

She rushed to my hut concerned

With secrets I must know.

Stern whispers and teary eyes

Warned me of a night attack.

I left ‘ere the moon could rise,                       

Gave thanks, and safely made it back.

I do confess her thoughtfulness

Kept this man alive!

Chief Powhatan’s daughter

Secured my release --

This Princess of friendship and peace.

 Refrain 

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP) & Song Wizard Music (ASCAP), Sync Track (ASCAP)

 SI SE PUEDE! (YES WE CAN!)   (Cesar Chavez)

(By Jonathan Sprout, Dave Kinnoin & Jimmy Hammer)

In these hot dusty fields we harvest the grapes.

From dawn until dark, we are locked in our fates.

These jobs are like prisons. Nobody escapes.

A dollar an hour is all they will pay.

It’s hardly enough to survive through the day.

We live for the hope there must be a better way.

But now, campesinos, they talk of a man

Who says we must stand and unite.

            Si se puede!  We can do it, yes we can.

            Si se puede!  We can do it, yes we can.

            He will help us unite as we stand for what right.  He’s our man!

            Si se puede, yes we can!

We strike –Huelga-- boycott.  We picket the gate.

The growers, they fight and they retaliate,

But Cesar says truth is much stronger than hate.

So we march from Delano and shout for la causa

Our campeon leading the way.

 Refrain Si! Se puede --  un milagroSi! Viva la causa!Si! Se puede -- igualdadUn mejor manana Refrain 

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP) & Song Wizard Music (ASCAP), Sync Track (ASCAP)

THE LEAST I COULD DO  (Jane Addams)

(By Jonathan Sprout & Dave Kinnoin)

On an early fall day she first opened the door

At Hull House, Chicago’s west side.

With the hungry, the helpless, the sick and the poor,

That’s where she would reside. 

She became Sister Jane to the immigrants there

As she taught them the skills to survive.

Bringing strength to the weak with respect and great care,

Miss Jane Addams came alive. 

Finally there was laughter.

And the love in that neighborhood grew.

And if you’d asked why she moved there,

She’d probably say 

Refrain:          It was the least I could do --  

        The most I could give. 

         In my heart, I knew 

         It was the only way I could live -- 

         The least I could do. 

In the year 1917, the world was on fire

As battle cries blazed through the land.

But her passion for peace was so strong a desire,

She made a lonely stand. 

And when all the fighting was over,

And the winds of war no longer blew,

If you’d asked why she stood her ground, she’d probably say

Refrain

 Always working for justice

And one of the few

Who would say, if you asked,

Why she lived life that way 

Refrain 

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP) & Song Wizard Music (ASCAP)

WHAT HE WROTE  (Thomas Jefferson)

 (By Jonathan Sprout & Dave Kinnoin)

 Seventh & Market Street, Philadelphia, PA,

Second floor apartment, hot summer day.

Young Mr. Jefferson, thoughts swirling in his head,

Holds high his hopes and dreams that freedom isn’t dead.

History is on the brink.His pen dips into the ink.

 Refrain:          What he wrote 

         It was a Declaration of an emerging nation.  

We hold these truths to be self-evident

All men are created equal.

 And on it went.

Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness…

He spelled democracy and nothing less.

He made it crystal clear

So all the world could hear. 

Refrain 

Let justice kick the King out and send his troops away.

Let freedom bells ring out our Independence Day!

 Refrain 

© 2009 Kanukatunes (ASCAP) & Song Wizard Music (ASCAP)