Every Man a King (song)
{{short description|Song cowritten by Huey Long}}
{{About|the song by American politician Huey Long|Long's autobiographical book|Every Man a King (autobiography)|the album by James Reyne|Every Man a King (album)}}
{{Huey Long series}}
"Every Man a King" is a song cowritten by Louisiana's Governor and United States Senator Huey Long and Castro Carazo. Long was known for his political slogan "Every man a king", which is also the title of his 1933 autobiography{{cite book|title=Every man a king: the autobiography of Huey P. Long|author=Huey Pierce Long|date=21 March 1996|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-80695-7}} and the catch-phrase of his Share Our Wealth proposal during the Great Depression.
Text of Huey Long's [https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hueyplongking.htm Every Man a King] at AmericanRhetoric.com
The song's lyrics include the lines "With castles and clothing and food for all / All belongs to you".
{{Cite web |url=http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/long/share.html |title=Between the Wars: Every Man A King |access-date=2019-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017053915/http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/long/share.html |archive-date=2014-10-17 |url-status=live }}
The song was co-written in 1935 by Huey Long and Castro Carazo, the band director of Louisiana State University, a former orchestra leader at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans brought to LSU by Long himself.
[http://www.bands.lsu.edu/band_history/index.php LSU Band History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012141532/http://bands.lsu.edu/band_history/index.php |date=2007-10-12 }} from the Louisiana State University website
Origin
The phrase "Every man a king, but no one wears a crown" was adopted from Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.Brinkley (2011) [1982], p. 20. Long also used the phrase as a political slogan and as the name of his autobiography.{{cite news|date=June 8, 2018|title=Find of the Week: Huey P. Long's 'Every Man a King' was a slogan, an autobiography — and a song|url=https://wgno.com/news/find-of-the-week-huey-p-longs-every-man-a-king-was-a-slogan-an-autobiography-and-a-song/|work=WGNO|location=New Orleans|access-date=October 25, 2020}}
Lyrics
{{quote|
Land of brave and true
With castles, and clothing, and food for all
All belongs to you
Every man a king! Every man a king!
For you can be a millionaire
But there's something belonging to others
There's enough for all people to share
When it's sunny June and December too
Or in the wintertime or spring
There'll be peace without end!
Every neighbor a friend
With every man a king!}}
Recordings
The song was recorded by the Louisiana Boys in January 1935 (Bluebird B-5840)Discography of American Historical Recordings: [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200019094/BVE-87696-Every_man_a_king Victor matrix BVE-87696] and again by the Louisiana Ramblers in October 1935, just a few weeks after Long's death (Decca 5151).Discography of American Historical Recordings: [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000288197/60084-Every_man_a_king_Goodbye_Huey_Long Decca matrix 60084]
Singer-songwriter Randy Newman recorded the song on his 1974 album Good Old Boys.{{cite news |last=Davis|first=Stephen|date=January 21, 1997|title=Good Old Boys|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/good-old-boys-95294/|work=Rolling Stone|access-date=June 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426125340/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/good-old-boys-95294/|archive-date=April 26, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Frazier|first1=Ian|last2=Hertzberg|first2=Hendrik|date=December 2, 1974|title=Randy Newman|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/12/09/randy-newman|work=The New Yorker|access-date=June 17, 2020}}
References
=References=
{{Reflist}}
=Works cited=
- {{cite book|author=Brinkley, Alan|title=Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression|location=New York |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|year=2011|orig-year=1982|isbn=9780307803221|ref=Brinkley}}
External links
- [https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A19147 "Every Man a King" at the Tulane University Digital Library]
{{Huey Long}}