"Every Man a King" is a song cowritten by
Louisiana's Governor and
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...
and
Castro Carazo
Castro Carazo (died 1981) was a Costa Rican-born American composer. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Barcelona. Carazo collaborated on multiple songs with governor and senator Huey Long, including several of Louisiana State Uni ...
. Long was known for his
political slogan
The following is a list of notable political slogans.
Political slogan (listed alphabetically) A
* Abki baar Modi Sarkar – Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign slogan for 2014 Indian Parliamentary Elections
* ACT UP, Fight Back, Fight AIDS – ...
"Every man a king," which is also the title of his 1933
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
and the catch-phrase of his
Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth was a movement that began in February 1934, during the Great Depression, by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana. Long first proposed the plan in a national radio address, which is now referred t ...
proposal during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. The song's lyrics include the lines "With castles and clothing and food for all/ All belongs to you". The song was co-written in 1935 by Huey Long and Castro Carazo, the band director of
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
, a former orchestra leader at the
Roosevelt Hotel in
brought to LSU by Long himself.
Origin
The phrase "Every man a king, but no one wears a crown" was adopted from
Democratic presidential candidate
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...
. Long also used the phrase as a political slogan and as the name of
his autobiography.
Lyrics
Recordings
The song was recorded by the Louisiana Boys in January 1935 (Bluebird B-5840) and again by the Louisiana Ramblers in October 1935, just a few weeks after Long's death (Decca 5151).
Singer-songwriter
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...
recorded the song on his 1974 album ''
Good Old Boys''.
References
References
Works cited
*
External links
"Every Man a King" at the Tulane University Digital Library
{{Huey Long
Works by Huey Long
Political songs
1935 songs