Now if you pitch your little tent along the broad highway
The Board of Sanitation says‚ “Sorry, you can’t stay”

Homelessness 85 years ago

During the late 1930’s several states, including California, passed laws and posted signs at Ports of Entry stating “No More Migration.” There were armed guards used to enforce the law and turn away migrants. The typical remark was “just keep on moving.” Sis Cunningham took this a step further in this song by asking: How can you keep on moving unless you migrate too?

The California law, along with other states, was declared unconstitutional but the song reflects the attitude towards migrants that prevailed. 

Here are three versions of the song “How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)” as written by Agnes ‘Sis’ Cunningham.

• Ry Cooder from his second album “Into the Purple Valley,” 1972.
• The New Lost City Ramblers, from the album “Songs from the Depression,” 1959.
  Mike Seeger (a half-brother of Pete Seeger), John Cohen and Tom Paley were the New Lost City Ramblers.
• Agnes ‘Sis’ Cunningham.  From the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1976.  Date of the actual recording is not known. Sis Cunningham’s singing career was from 1945 to 1962. She was also the founding editor and publisher of “Broadside” magazine (1962 to late-70s), the foremost “zine” for folk songs both old and new. “A whole generation of song-writers, some of whom have become household names in the America of the 1960s, made their first appearances in Broadside.”

How Can You Keep On Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)

How can you keep on moving unless you migrate too
They tell you to keep on moving but migrate, you must not do
I’ll tell you why I’m moving‚ the reason why I roam
Is to go to a new location and find myself a home

I can’t go back to the homestead‚ the shack no longer stands
They said I wasn’t needed‚ and had no claim to the land
They said, “Come on, get moving, that’s the only thing for you”
But how can you keep moving unless you migrate too?

Now if you pitch your little tent along the broad highway
The Board of Sanitation says‚ “Sorry, you can’t stay”
Go on, get along‚ get moving is their everlasting cry
Can’t stay, can’t go back, and can’t migrate, so where in the hell am I?

And the scenery by the roadside is a mighty dreary sight
If in this whole wide country you’ve got no place to lie
I never was one for rambling, my folks is the settling kind
I’ve got to keep on looking for that home that I hope some day to find

No, I cannot stand the miseries following me around
Unless I’m looking forward to a place I can settle down
So I guess we oughta talk things over and see what we can do
‘Cause how can you keep on moving unless you migrate too?

I guess we oughta round up all the folks and see what we can do
‘Cause how can you keep moving unless you migrate too?

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sis_Cunningham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Lost_City_Ramblers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Seeger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadside_(magazine)