Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems  



Do As the Doukhobors Do

Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1962 by author as "The Doukhobor Do." The Doukhobors are a social sect of Russian Christians who through various repressions have been exiled (or voluntarily moved) to other world locations, including western Canada. This song refers to an incident that took place during a campaign speech by Canada's Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Diefenbaker was speaking at Trail, British Columbia, on May 28, 1962, when several Doukhobor women disrobed in public to protest some of his policies that negatively affected the group. This unusual form of protest, though identified with certain elements of the Doukhobor community, is not accepted by most of it.


There's a new tactic to use, my dear,
If you have a protest no one wants to hear,
Just attend a rally where the big shots meet
Strip to your hide and walk down the street.
Way up in Canada, Doukhobor lads
Were sent to public schools disapproved of by their dads,
So the Doukhobor mamas said "That's enough"
And they went to the meeting in the buff.

Chorus:
Do as the Doukhobors do, honey,
Do as the Doukhobors do.
If public policy gets on your nerves
And no one pays attention to you
Throw away your dresses and your lingerie too,
And do as the Doukhobors do.

Our women hold meetings to stop atom tests,
They're not afraid of billy clubs, cops and arrests,
They sign those petitions 'til they're sad in the face
And still they seem to be getting no place.
They little boat EVERYMAN couldn't leave port,
Bomb tests continue of every sort
We've got to do something that's wild and new,
And do as the Doukhobors do.

(Chorus)

Of course, down in Cannes on the coast of France,
You'd get no attention minus bras and pants,
If you'd hit the beach in a grin or less,
They'd think you had on last year's bathing dress.
But up there in Canada at twenty below
People keep covered from head to toe.
Kennedy would send a cup of coffee or two
If we did as the Doukhobors do.

(Chorus)


Malvina Reynolds songbook(s) in which the music to this song appears:
---- [none]

Other place(s) where the music to this song appears:
---- Broadside No. 7 (June 1962)

Malvina Reynolds recording(s) on which this song is performed:
---- [none]

Recordings by other artists on which this song is performed:
---- The Best of Broadside 1962-1988 (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings SFW CD 40130, 2000)


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This page copyright 2006 by Charles H. Smith and Nancy Schimmel. All rights reserved.

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