Freedom, by Charles Mingus (excerpt)
- This mule ain't from Moscow,
- this mule ain't from the South.
- But this mule's had some learning,
- mostly mouth-to-mouth.
The lyrics, "This mule ain't from Moscow", might be a reference to a Moscow Mule, a drink made of vodka and ginger beer popular in the 1950s, but is likely also referring to African-American slaves as the "mule".
Mingus performed a number of other songs with spoken poetry or narration:
- "Scenes in the City"
- "The Chill of Death"
- "The Clown"
- "Weary Blues" (read by Langston Hughes).
Several of his other pieces have lyrics:
- "Fables of Faubus"
- "Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me"
- "Devil Woman"
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Famous quotes containing the word freedom:
“What we want is not freedom but its appearances. It is for these simulacra that man has always striven. And since freedom, as has been said, is no more than a sensation, what difference is there between being free and believing ourselves free?”
—E.M. Cioran (b. 1911)
“If parents award freedom regardless of whether their children have demonstrated an ability to handle it, children never learn to see a clear link between responsible behavior and adult privileges.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“Is a Bill of Rights a security for [religious liberty]? If there were but one sect in America, a Bill of Rights would be a small protection for liberty.... Freedom derives from a multiplicity of sects, which pervade America, and which is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society. For where there is such a variety of sects, there cannot be a majority of any one sect to oppress and persecute the rest.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)