Stronger Than You Know
Words & music by Genesee Elementary 4th grade students, their teachers Beth Robinson, Mike Falzarano, Esther Braudrick and Anne Mlod, and Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino, June, 2019
Embedded Files
Lyrics: Stronger Than You Know - 2019
Chorus:
Hey Aunt Harriet, please slow down
Where are you going, are you coming from town?
What’s your hurry, where’s the fire?
I’m out of breath, and now I’m getting tired! (2x)
She is just a blur rollin’ down South Street
Flying' by, with her peddling feet
Aunt Harriet wavin’ as she goes past
What’s the hurry Harriet, you’re going too fast
Walking back to the farm is a really long hike
But it’s so much faster traveling by bike
We’re chasing after her, and runnin’ behind
We know where she's going and we don’t mind. (chorus)
“Come on, keep up, there’s lots to do
Work and food and stories I will tell to you,”
She said “Come on now, help me on the farm,
A little bit of work won’t do you no harm.”
Picking apples was my favorite chore
My cousin had to sweep and scrub the dirty kitchen floor
Pull the weeds, milk the cow,
Plant the seeds, slop the sow. (chorus)
She rang the bell with the clanging sound,
“Now listen here children, it’s time to gather ‘round.”
Eggs and cheese, butter and bread
We did our chores, then we were fed.
We sat and listened as she wove a spell
With powerful terrifying stories she would tell
Dangerous escapes from slavery
Inspiring us with courage and her bravery (chorus)
The freedom seekers knew the signals in her song
With the whistle and the words they knew something was wrong
Afraid of being followed by men with guns
With Moses’ warning song they knew they had to run
She said, “I never lost a passenger on the heaven trail.
They all depended on me; I could not afford to fail.
At Owasco Lake in Auburn, on our way to Freedom Land
I found a home, a family and gave a helping hand.” (chorus)
I asked Moses, “Does your story have an end?
You are a liberator; who will you now defend?”
She said, “I stood with Susan Anthony, to speak for women’s rights
I took her hand; we made our stand to help to win the fight.
One more thing that I would like to share with you,
What I learned from everything that I have been through.
If you believe in yourself, your strength will surely grow.
If you face your fear you are stronger than you know.”
Final chorus:
Hey Aunt Harriet, please slow down
Where are you going, are you coming from town?
What’s your hurry, where’s the fire?
I’ve heard your story now I am inspired (4x)
Words & music by Genesee Elementary 4th grade students, their teachers Beth Jones, Mike Falzarano, Esther Braudrick and Anne Mlod, and Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino,
June, 2019
Student introduction to song:
In June, our two 4th grade classes met for two hours every day with Miss Terry and Mr. Greg (who are known as Magpie) writing lyrics to a song honoring Harriet Tubman. We decided to call the song “Stronger Than You Know.”
To prepare for this week, we visited the Tubman Home and Gravesite, and read books and articles about Harriet Tubman. We learned about her extraordinary courage and her willingness to face enormous risks to help others, as well as how she spent the last fifty years of her life in Auburn.
In our research, we learned how Harriet got around Auburn riding a bicycle. We also learned she loved Auburn so much because she had lots of friends and family here. The chorus of the song includes the phrases“What’s your hurry” and “Where’s the fire.” We used these words because Harriet Tubman was ahead of her time and people were always following her and trying to be like her.
We skyped with noted Harriet Tubman scholar, Kate Clifford Larson, who gave us more information for our song. She told us Harriet grew squash, potatoes and garlic. Harriet also raised pigs and you will hear us say “slop the sows” in the song because one of the chores was feeding the pigs.
The reason we chose the title “Stronger than you know” is because Harriet would let people know if she could find her inner strength to do important things, other people could too.
There were a lot of people who made this possible. We would like to thank Mr. Greg and Ms. Terry, Laurel and the Harriet Tubman Boosters, Hilton Garden Inn, Genesee’s Teacher- Parent Group, Melanie and Martha, Mrs. Mlod, Nicole Darrow and our 4th grade teachers Mr. F, Ms. Jones and Mrs. Braudrick and Miss P, Miss Megan and Mrs. P. for helping to make this project possible.
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