Reader Adrianne Aron of Berkeley, California has come up with new words for the ballad by the great working-class folksinger Utah Phillips, “I’m All Used  Up.”

Utah Phillips’ original is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx0xg32qf6c

Adrianne Aron wrote:

Listening to Utah Phillips’ “All Used Up,” its catchy verses and melody inspired this new set of lyrics in honor of Coronatime. Feel free to use it, sing it, pass it around. And afterwards. WASH YOUR HANDS!
Adrianne Aron, Berkeley

BUST THAT BLOCKADE

For years I paid taxes to states and the Fed / I didn’t have much but they took what I had,

And now I’ve been coughing, been coughing real bad / And spitting up Healthcare for All.

He took away science, he took away truth / He tweeted and groped and he acted uncouth.

He injured the old and neglected the youth / And laughed about Healthcare for All.

The students are drowning in rivers of debt / A curse called Corona won’t let them forget

The tests that we need aren’t available yet / My god! We need Healthcare for All.

Some people are counting on lockdowns and laws / To keep COVID-19 inside people’s jaws

That’s unrealistic, if only because / The answer is Healthcare for All.

They blame Europeans, they blame the Chinese / “It’s not a pandemic, it’s just a disease”

And soon they’ll blame you, friend, and soon they’ll blame me / Because we want Healthcare for All.

I cough and grow weak but they don’t have a test / They promise that Washington always knows best.

We know that old saw, they should give it a rest / And think about Healthcare for All.

They’ve outlawed the scientists, silenced the pros / Kicked out the doctors, and meanwhile it grows.

And where is it headed? Well, nobody knows / That’s why we need Healthcare for All.

Corona in Cuba is under control / They’re using a drug that can make people whole,

But the U.S. blockade won’t allow for a soul / To import it for Healthcare for All.

I shelter in place and I cough and I spit, But I can’t be tested because there’s no kit.

Make them lift that blockade! Call a strike! Throw a fit! / Demand we have Healthcare for All.

–Adrianne Aron   March, 2020  www.adriannearon.com