All time favorite protest songs. Nominations please.

Mine is

For what it is Worth, Buffalo Springfield

Second is Imagine, John Lennon

Chime in everyone.

A song that is as fitting today as it was when it was written in the sixties.

I also heard Barbara Boxer yesterday saying she was surprised by all the phone calls, letters and flowers. She said she didn't understand, she was just doing her job! What a woman! Wish we had a few more standing up for us, just doing "their job".

You know, representing their constituency. Amazing.

We have to send flower, make phone calls and say thank you to get attention. Did I forget something here, don't they all work for us, "the people", we did elect them right? Whoops, I forgot all those silly voting machines.

Maybe even it be a part of a fundraiser? I know a lot must be involved but wouldn't it be great if we could make it happen?

ducks are in a row permission-wise before any kind of compilation is worked on.

It's a great idea but where property rights are concerned it might get sticky...
best to be certain. Some artists might allow use of their material for free if the
cause/beneficiaries are the correct ones.

Maybe Iraq War victims? you know- the innocent civilians we murdered....

Draft Dodger Rag, Is There Anybody Here, and a personal favorite of mine, We Seek No Wider War.

You know the rest. :-)

i agree :-)

The Revolution Starts Now - Steve Earle
Pride (In the name of love) - U2
Masters of War - Bob Dylan
Last Night I had the Strangest Dream - Pete Seeger (I forget if that's the real title)
We Shall Overcome
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
The Revolution Will Not be Televised - Gil Scott Heron
Maggie's Farm - the original Dylan or Rage Against the Machine version are both great.
Power to the Peaceful - Michael Franti (or is it called Bomb the World? I forget the title)

Now that's a quality protest song..... Cynicism off.

It's more of an issues song, but the message is definitely a protest against the rich/political elite.

Deja Vu (All Over Again)

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you try to read the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

Day by day I hear the voices rising
Started with a whisper like it did before
Day by day we count the dead and dying
Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Could your eyes believe the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

One by one I see the old ghosts rising
Stumblin' 'cross Big Muddy
Where the light gets dim
Day after day another Momma's crying
She's lost her precious child
To a war that has no end

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you stop to read the writing at The Wall
Did that voice inside you say
I've seen this all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again
It's like Deja Vu all over again

John Fogerty
©2004 Cody River Music / ASCAP

www.johnfogerty.com

n/t

We have the momentum. Let's do something with it.

We old timers will never forget and can help the younger generation understand, it's a matter of life or death.

Some of the best music ever made IMHO!

It's no "Masters of War" but I like how it's uplifting.

It's got a funky beat, and I can bug out to it!

for them to play when he spoke at the Dem convention. Imagine was his campaign theme song.

Thanks for mentioning it. I new about Imagine but I had forgotten "power to the People".

Ohio, CSNY:

Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know

Ah, la la la la...

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know

Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Four dead in Ohio
{Repeat last line}


I'd like to change the world, Ten Years After:

Everywhere is freaks and hairies
Dykes and fairies, tell me where is sanity
Tax the rich, feed the poor
Till there are no rich no more

I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you

Population keeps on breeding
Nation bleeding, still more feeding economy
Life is funny, skies are sunny
Bees make honey, who needs money, monopoly

I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you

World pollution, there’s no solution
Institution, electrocution
Just black and white, rich or poor
Them and us, stop the war

I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you

And a big thanks for the lyrics. I sat here at the computer and sang.

Randi Rhodes is doing a great job of bringing all of those memories back by playing some of the great protest songs.

I cry every time I hear it, even now.

On Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

That recording is a masterstroke.

"What we've got here is failure to communicate.
Some men you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here last week,
which is the way he wants it!
Well, he gets it!
N' I don't like it any more than you men." *


Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before


Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before


My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars


D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land


And
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war


Look at the shoes your filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more


My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars


"We practice selective annihilation of mayors
And government officials
For example to create a vacuum
Then we fill that vacuum
As popular war advances
Peace is closer" **


I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need one more war


I don't need one more war
Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've suffered for my music. Now it's your turn."

Actually, that page says it's all Neil Innes' work.

Could be. I know it mainly from Idle & Innes' Rutland Weekend Songbook, rather than from the Python. Either way, ownership is a bit confused.

I think that song, and the events surrounding it had quite a significant impact on my life. I think it made me who I am.

It's the first "grown-up" song I remember. I can see the protest....my Mom hanging onto my hand, and Dad carrying my little brother.

I look back now, and recognize how out of character it was for my parents. They would never attend such an event unless it was for something very serious.

It's a frequent "earbug" for me.

I will understand. Because that is something everywhere does in the same language. I can see by your coat my friend you're from the other side. All I want to know can you tell me please...who won?

not a protest song per say but two lines that have always haunted me from "Wooden Ships"

Vietnam era John Prine Song. It's Perfect for the current climate!!

Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
© John Prine

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

Repeat Chorus:

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."


You're Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore notes

"This next song is for Lois and Ernie, I started out delivering mail to Maywood, then Broadview, and ended up with Westchester - routes nobody wanted. We hated to see Readers Digest come, people who would get them, would get them for the rest of their lives. I didn't read any of it except for 'Humor in Uniform'. At the height of the Viet Nam war, there was a silent majority, they were really quiet - Reader's Digest was part of it, they just stuck these plastic flag decals in their magazine, no reason, they just snuck them in there. The next day, there were flag decals everywhere. Anyway, Lois and Ernie owned the 'Dirty Book Store' and this good old protest song is for them." ~ John Prine, Proviso East High School, Maywood Il, 2/26/00

"This is an old gospel tune I wrote for the Reverend Carl B. Macintyre. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Carl. He’s been going around for a long time. He’s a preacher and his main slogan is "Kill for God" – he’s been going around for years doing that, he gets a lot of headlines too. This is a song that Brenda Lee is going to record… it’s for Carl." ~John Prine, London, August 8, 1976

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes.

20 of the best songs!!
wish i could find it for you now .... ill be looking

Some of these songs were on the CD I sent to southernleftylady. Others were added later or didn't fit in the cd. Here is my list of favorite Antiwar songs.

Fortunate Son John Fogerty Premonition
War (Alternate Mix) Bob Marley Rastaman Vibration (Deluxe Edition)
Born in the U.S.A. (Live) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band B. Springsteen Live 1975-1985
Ohio Crosby, Stills & Nash Carry On (Disc 1)
If I Had a Hammer Peter, Paul & Mary Peter, Paul and Mary
Where Have All the Flowers Gone The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio - The Capitol Years
I Ain't Marchin' Anymore (Live) Phil Ochs 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Phil Ochs
The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag Country Joe McDonald Country Joe Mc Donald Woodstock: Three Days of Peace & Music (Disc 1)
What's Going On Marvin Gaye Live in Montreux 1980
Find The Cost Of Freedom Crosby, Stills & Nash Carry On (Disc 2
War Edwin Starr 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the '70s
Draft Dodger Rag Pete Seeger P. Ochs A Link in the Chain
Universal Soldier Donovan Summer Day Reflection Songs
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy Pete Seeger P. Seeger Waist Deep in The Big Muddy and Other Love Songs
Chicago Crosby, Stills & Nash Carry On (Disc 1)
One Tin Soldier The Original Caste One Hit Wonders
Joe Hill Joan Baez Hayes/Earl Robinson Woodstock: Three Days of Peace & Music (Disc 1)
Handsome Johnny Richie Havens Richie Havens Woodstock: Three Days of Peace & Music (Disc 1)
For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) The Byrds Pete Seeger & Words from the Book of Ecclesiastes The Byrds: Greatest Hits
Peace Train Cat Stevens Cat Stevens: Greatest Hits
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore John Prine John Prine
Wooden Ships Crosby, Stills & Nash Carry On (Disc 1)
Fortunate Son Pearl Jam J. Fogerty 06/10/03: North America - #47 Little Rock
The Willing Conscript Tom Paxton Ramblin' Boy / Ain't That News
Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation Tom Paxton Ramblin' Boy / Ain't That News
Bridge Over Troubled Water Paul Simon Paul Simon Concert In The Park (Disc 1)
The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan Bob Dylan Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (Remastered)
The Unknown Soldier The Doors The Best of the Doors
Get Together The Youngbloods William Chester Powers, Jr. Get Together: The Essential Youngbloods
Imagine Joan Baez Joan Baez: The Complete A&M Recordings (because iTunes didn't have "Imagine) by John Lennon)
Blowin' in the Wind (Live) Bob Dylan & The Band B. DYLAN Before the Flood
All Along the Watchtower Jimi Hendrix Blue Wild Angel - Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of Wight
Masters of War (Live) Bob Dylan Bob Dylan Real Live Rock
Chimes of Freedom Bruce Springsteen Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11
War (Live) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band B. Strong & N. Whitfield Live 1975-1985
No Surrender (Live) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band B. Springsteen Live 1975-1985

:hi:

Music had such an influence on the anti-war movement and social issues back in the day.

Today we have Clear Channel deciding what is appropriate for us to hear. I will never forget Rummie promoting Darryl Worley's BS propaganda song before the invasion.

John Mellencamp, Fogerty and some of the old timers get little air-time now thanks to the corporate owned/controlled stations.

Our kids are faced with their own Vietnam without the power of the 60's movement playing these great songs on the local FM stations.

On a positive note, the old timers aren't going away and there are new musicians and movements evolving. We can all come together and protest this illegal invasion and get our kids home.

And, that old standbye, "The Internationale"

I Ain't Marching Anymore
Written by Phil Ochs and Bob Gibson
Album: I ain't Marching Anymore

Oh,I marched to the battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British war
The young land started growin'
The young blood started flowin'
But I ain't a-marchin' anymore
But I've killed my share of Injuns
In a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I saw many men lyin'
I saw many more dyin'
But I ain't a-marchin' anymore
CHORUS
It's always the old to lead us to the war
Always the young to fall
Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun
Tell me, is it worth it all
For I stole California from the Mexican land
Fought in the bloody Civil War
Yes I even killed my brothers
And so many others
But I ain't a-marchin' anymore
For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh, I must have killed a million men
And now they want me back again
But I ain't a-marchin' anymore
CHORUS
For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burnin' I knew that I was learnin'
That I ain't a-marchin' anymore
Now the labor leader's screamin' when they close the missile plants
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore
Call it "Peace" or call it "Treason" Call it "Love" or call it "Reason"
But I ain't a-marchin' any more.
No, I ain't a-marchin' any more

Faithless. MKJ

Edited to add lyrics, with the caveat that the music really brings it together...Although the lyrics themselves are powerful.

Faithless - Mass Destruction
Album: No Roots
Written by: Maxi Jazz, Rollo & Sister Bliss

Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether your soaraway Sun or BBC 1
Dis-information is a weapon of mass destruction

You could be a caucasian or a poor asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether inflation or globalisation
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction

My dad came into my room holdin his hat
I knew he was leavin, he sat on my bed told me some facts son

I have a duty, callin on me
You and your sister be brave my little solider, and don't forget all i told ya
Your the mister of the house now remember this
And when you wake up in the morning give ya momma a kiss, then I had to say goodbye

In the morn i woke momma with a kiss on each eyelid,
Even though im only a kid, certain things can't be hid
Momma grabbed me, held me like i was made of gold, but left her in the story untold
I said, momma it will be allright, when daddy comes home, tonight

Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether your soaraway Sun or BBC 1
Dis-information is a weapon of mass destruction

You could be a caucasian or a poor asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether inflation or globalisation
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether Haliburton or Enron or anyone
Greed is a weapon of mass destruction

We need to find courage, overcome
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction

My story stops here, lets be clear
this scenario is happenin everywhere
and you aint goin to nirvana or favana
You comin right back here to live out your karma
with even more drama than previously, seriously
Just how many centuries have we been waiting for someone else to make us free
And we refuse to sleep, the people overseas are just like we
Mad leadership, amigos, unfettered and free
They feed one the people theyre supposed to lead, i dont need it
We need to pray away, for the lord to make it all straight
Its only now we do it right, cos I don't want my daddy, leavin home tonight

Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether your soaraway Sun or BBC 1
Dis-information is a weapon of mass destruction

You could be a caucasian or a poor asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether inflation or globalisation
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether Haliburton or Enron or anyone
Greed is a weapon of mass destruction

We need to find courage, overcome
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction

MKJ

The Fish Cheer (not always fish*)& I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag
Gimme an F!
F!
Gimme an I! (U*)
I!
Gimme an S! (C*)
S!
Gimme an H!(K*)
H!
What's that spell ?
FISH!
What's that spell ?
FISH!
What's that spell ?
FISH!
Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds -
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
Huh!
Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.
And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.
And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

I never heard the studio version of that song until after we went into Iraq - all I ever head was the Woodstock performance.

for?"

get a DU CD going, the best and the greatest. Just a thought, maybe for fund drive or something?

until I heard it played in the background of a tape of a Kerry rally from the 70's

SOmeone brought a boombox & a protest song CD to a protest in December (State St, Madison WI), and we all sang along to this, and it felt great...we made a lot of people smile, and a few Christmas shoppers, et al, stopped to sing along. I wrote this somewhere else in this thread, but Volunteers of America (Jefferson Airplane)is also a good one to get you pumped up!

One of my fave's also:

There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign
on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin'
we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan,
but I am to them
So I try to forget it,
any way I can.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away,
and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life,
and what she's done to it
There's one more kid
that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love,
never get to be cool.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand
We got department stores
and toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes
for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people,
says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn,
got roads to drive.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

I'd also mention "And the Band Played 'Waltzing Matilda'" and "Eve of Destruction."

Words and music by John Kay, Jerry Edmonton, Nick St. Nicholas and Larry Byrom

(Monster)
Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope
Like good Christians, some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon it went
And 'til the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end
While we bullied, stole and bought our homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man

But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light

The blue and grey they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war over
They stuffed it just like a hog

And though the past has it's share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But it's protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey

(Suicide)
The spirit was freedom and justice
And it's keepers seem generous and kind
It's leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
And now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watchin'

Our cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin' the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can't understand
We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole worlds got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who's the winner
We can't pay the cost
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watching

(America)
America where are you now?
Don't you care about your sons and daughters?
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster

One of the most important bands on the American side of the Atlantic, the message in the refrain still rings in my ears.

Pete Seeger. Has always been my personal favorite. However, with this Iraq mess, actually Bob Dylan had it "more right" all along - so I have to nominate these also -

With God on Our Side

Masters of War

They are amazingly accurate.

Thanks.

EOM

(one the best anti-war songs IMO)

John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore.
His mama sure was proud of him!
He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all.
His mama's face broke out all in a grin.

"Oh son, you look so fine, I'm glad you're a son of mine,
You make me proud to know you hold a gun.
Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get,
And we'll put them on the wall when you come home."

As that old train pulled out, John's ma began to shout,
Tellin' ev'ryone in the neighborhood:
"That's my son that's about to go, he's a soldier now, you know."
She made well sure her neighbors understood.

She got a letter once in a while and her face broke into a smile
As she showed them to the people from next door.
And she bragged about her son with his uniform and gun,
And these things you called a good old-fashioned war.

Oh! Good old-fashioned war!

Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come.
They ceased to come for about ten months or more.
Then a letter finally came saying, "Go down and meet the train.
Your son's a-coming home from the war."

She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around
But she could not see her soldier son in sight.
But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last,
When she did she could hardly believe her eyes.

Oh his face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off
And he wore a metal brace around his waist.
He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she did not know,
While she couldn't even recognize his face!

Oh! Lord! Not even recognize his face.

"Oh tell me, my darling son, pray tell me what they done.
How is it you come to be this way?"
He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move
And the mother had to turn her face away.

"Don't you remember, Ma, when I went off to war
You thought it was the best thing I could do?
I was on the battleground, you were home . . . acting proud.
You wasn't there standing in my shoes."

"Oh, and I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here?
I'm a-tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'.
But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine."

Oh! Lord! Just like mine!

"And I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink,
That I was just a puppet in a play.
And through the roar and smoke, this string is finally broke,
And a cannon ball blew my eyes away."

As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock
At seein' the metal brace that helped him stand.
But as he turned to go, he called his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand.



Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
Cause none of them can stop the time
How long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
Some say it's just a part of it
We've got to fulfill the book"

"St. Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go...I owe my soul to the company store."

have a new war song, "Where Is the Love"

:kick:

n/t

I think we may be coming up with a hit list. Top 40 is back.

called "Let's get Retarded." It's pretty funny, but not so PC

-- Reagan-era pathos in Central America. More than just one song, but collectively they rank very high among protest songs.

"Power" by Orleans / John Hall, opposing nuclear power plants.

There's also great music in support of the independence of women generally and in opposition to shit-headed macho male dominance specifically, such as "Woman of Heart and Mind" by Joni Mitchell and the incredible song by Dar Williams, "When I Was a Boy."

And on a lighter touch, there's Tom Paxton's "I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler."

Buffalo Springfield

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

~~~~~~
We Shall Overcome

We shall overcome some day

Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day

We'll walk hand in hand some day

We shall all be free some day

We are not afraid some day

We are not alone some day

The whole wide world around some day

We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day

I suggest:

Universal Soldier - Buffy St. Marie

NPWA - Billy Bragg and the Blokes

Bombs Over Baghdad - John Trudell

Soldiers of Peace - Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

There were so many good songs already named, I was going to post Trudell's great Bombs over Baghdad, from the first Gulf War. And on NPWA, Billy Bragg did a great acoustical version over the Thanksgiving holidays in 2002 (in NY, heard it on local radio) -- it replaced my traditional listen of Alices Resturant (hey, there's one nobody posted yet).

Several mentioned Power to the People, but no one has yet mentioned Patti Smith's radio baghdad yet -- the two songs together, peacable kingdom rolling into radio baghdad are a killer (from Trampin').

So all this good music...what could I possibly add... How about Tough Enough by The Last Poets?

***

I'd love to see a thread focused on contemporary protest music, see what's cooking today that might not have found its way to my ears yet...?

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an athiest, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.

Steve Goodman

The Ballad Of Penny Evans

Oh my name is Penny Evans and my age is twenty-one
A young widow in the war that's being fought in Viet Nam
And I have two infant daughters and I do the best I can
Now they say the war is over, but I think it's just begun.

And I remember I was seventeen on the day I met young Bill
At his father's grand piano, we'd play good old 'Heart and Soul'
Well, I only knew the left hand part and he the right so well
He's the only boy I ever slept with and the only one I will.

It's first we had a baby girl and we had two good years
It was next the 1A notice came and we parted without tears
It was nine months from our last good night our second babe appears
So it's ten months and a telegram confirming all our fears.

And now every month I get a check from an Army bureaucrat
And it's every month I tear it up and I mail the damn thing back.
Do you think that makes it all right, do you think I'd fall for that ?
And you can keep your bloody money, it sure won't bring my Billy back.

I never cared for politics, and speeches I don't understand,
And likewise never took no charity from any living man
But tonight there's fifty thousand gone in that unhappy land
And fifty thousand 'Heart and Soul's' being played with just one hand.

And my name is Penny Evans and I've just gone twenty-one
A young widow in the war that's being fought in Viet Nam
And I have two infant daughters and I thank God I have no sons
Now they say the war is over, but I think it's just begun.


I still can't read those lyrics and not cry...

Laura

i remember has utterly speechless i was when i first heard it ... i think the version i first heard was by Joan Baez but i'm not sure ...

Goodman has always been one of my favorite musicians ...

Classic call and response, and it's great for marches, too.

on edit:
Number 2... arlo guthrie.. alices restaurant

n/t

Bake

Bake

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

They are as prophetic today as 40 years ago.

Bake

...All you Fascists; lots of RATM.

Lots and lots of great music out there.

but I'm biased!

Sh-sh-sh-sh-shame on me!

Remember the censorship battle the Smothers Brothers had with CBS over whether or not they could have Seeger perform this song. I think it's especially appropriate today the way that Iraq is like Viet Nam and we are just wading in over our heads.

Marvin Gaye...What's Going On

Abraham, Martin And John
by Dion

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
You know, I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he's gone.

Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked 'round and he's gone.

Didn't you love the things that they stood for?
Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?
And we'll be free
Some day soon, and it's a-gonna be one day ...

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walk up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.

when I was a young teeny-bopper back in the late '50s and early '60s...he was my poster boy, my rock 'n' roll heart-throb, but how much more I loved him when he recorded this song. This is one of the best.

It is a reminder of how much we lost during that period in history.

My favorite one to play before a protest is 'Volunteers of America' by Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane...The lyrics aren't the best but the music and spirit gives me power...

Look what’s happening out in the streets
Got a revolution got to revolution
Hey I’m dancing down the streets
Got a revolution got to revolution
Ain’t it amazing all the people I meet
Got a revolution got to revolution
One generation got old
One generation got soul
This generation got no destination to hold
Pick up the cry
Hey now it’s time for you and me
Got a revolution got to revolution
Come on now we’re marching to the sea
Got a revolution got to revolution
Who will take it from you
We will and who are we
We are volunteers of america

Sung by -- of all groups -- The Fifth Dimension. It is the Declaration of Independence set to music, and hearing the words sung drives home just how powerful -- and revolutionary -- that document is. It was recorded in 1970 as a medley with "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "People Gotta Be Free" (the Rascals song).

When I play it, it literally sends chills down my spine. You just have to stop whatever you're doing and listen. The music and the message are stirring.

This song was very controversial when it came out. It only got airplay on underground and college stations, and Armed Forces Radio banned it. The group performed it at a White House reception for governors, and when they finished there was silence -- until Richard Nixon began to applaud.

It was a good protest song for the Vietnam era, and is especially appropriate -- if not even more so -- today. An obscure gem.

...but I'm kinda fond of the song linked in my signature.

I love the old stuff, too, just wanted to pimp the song to y'all. :D

n/t

Bruce Cockburn

I-Feel-Like-I?m-Fixin?-To-Die Rag
words and music by Joe McDonald
© 1965 renewed 1993 Alcatraz Corner Music Co BMI

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He?s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We?re gonna have a whole lotta fun.
And it?s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for?
Don?t ask me, I don?t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it?s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain?t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we?re all gonna die.
Well, come on generals, let?s move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds-
The only good commie is the one who?s dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we?ve blown ?em all to kingdom come.
And it?s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for?
Don?t ask me, I don?t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it?s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain?t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we?re all gonna die.
Huh!
Well, come on Wall Street, don?t move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There?s plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.
And it?s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for?
Don?t ask me, I don?t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it?s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain?t no time to wonder why
whoopee! we?re all gonna die.
Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don?t hesitate,
Send ?em off before it?s too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.
And it?s one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don?t ask me, I don?t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it?s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain?t no time to wonder why,
whoopee! we?re all gonna die.

"Beat on the Brat" with a baseball bat.

Forget Lennon and B.S. Thats lame.

Not exactly a protest song, but....

"My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell
Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we're the same"




http://www.worldwar1.com/sfcitt.htm

I tear up every time I hear Joan Baez sing this song...it's especially apt today. The last 2 verses:




So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To mourn grieve and the pity.
And the band plays 'Waltzing Matilda,'
And the young men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more young men disappear
Someday, no one will march there at all.

Waltzing Mathilda, Waltzing Mathilda
Who'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come a-waltzing Mathilda with me ?

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death’s construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait ’till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
As the war machine keeps burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!

Doin' the Perp Walk

http://www.jimhinde.com/discography.asp

World leaders are trying to beseech Bush.

All of my friends are trying to defeat Bush.

I’ve even seen some signs that tell me to impeach Bush.

That ain’t gonna cut it for me.

I won’t be happy ‘til I see him do the perp walk.

Handcuffs and leg irons swingin’ to the perp walk.

Bright orange jumpsuit, stylin’ for the perp walk,

On his merry way to cell block D.

He raided my National Treasury.

Invaded a nation’s sovereignty.

That’s why I won’t be happy ‘til I see him do the perp walk

Exiting the White House, shuffling to the perp walk.

Live on TV, smirkin’ to the perp walk.

That’s democracy for me.

Lest we neglect the Bush Administration,

That gang hell bent for world domination.

Live at The Hague for their humiliation.

That is what I’d truly like to see.

‘Cause I won’t be happy ‘til I see ‘em do the perp walk.

Rove and Rummy marching to the perp walk.

Colin and Johnny dancing to the perp walk,

Getting finger printed on TV.

They acted preeminently,

Searching for those WMDs.

And now I won’t be happy ‘til I see ‘em do the perp walk.

Condoleezza Rice practicing the perp walk.

Bunker bust Cheney and make him do the perp walk.

That’s democracy for me.

But we won’t stop there, with this administration.

Set a precedent for future generations

To not be messin’ with the Peoples reputation.

And that’s the way it oughta be.

If you mess with us you get to do the perp walk.

Don’t matter if you’re rich you get to do the perp walk.

Especially Richard Nixon should have had to do the perp walk.

It’s what we call equality.

That’s the hallmark of grass roots liberty,

And U.S. Constitutionality.

So you Supreme Court Judges ain’t immune to do the perp walk.

Senators and Congressmen take turns to do the perp walk.

This whole damn government may learn to do the perp walk.

That’s democracy for me.

From "The Legend of Billy Jack"

from the pre-Iraq invasion protests... still powerful!

http://homepage.mac.com/prolesunited/iMovieTheater18.html

Regime change begins at home!

Yeah, mock me if ya must, but it inspires me... :)

Made me think. So since i did not se either one, i'll go with these two>

Cult Of Personality- Living Color

Shortest Straw- Metallica

>>edit<<

Had to add *uck The Police by Rage, it's one of my all time faves :D

I did seem to forget my alltime favorite. Man In Black By Johnny Cash(Rip)

"Man In Black"

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

Johnny Cash is said to have infuriated Richard Nixon on one occasion - by performing the anti-authority song "What Is Truth" during a performance at the White House.

The old man turned off the radio
Said, "Where did all of the old songs go
Kids sure play funny music these days
They play it in the strangest ways"
Said, "it looks to me like they've all gone wild
It was peaceful back when I was a child"
Well, man, could it be that the girls and boys
Are trying to be heard above your noise?
And the lonely voice of youth cries "What is truth?"

A little boy of three sittin' on the floor
Looks up and says, "Daddy, what is war?"
"son, that's when people fight and die"
The little boy of three says "Daddy, why?"
A young man of seventeen in Sunday school
Being taught the golden rule
And by the time another year has gone around
It may be his turn to lay his life down
Can you blame the voice of youth for asking
"What is truth?"

A young man sittin' on the witness stand
The man with the book says "Raise your hand"
"Repeat after me, I solemnly swear"
The man looked down at his long hair
And although the young man solemnly swore
Nobody seems to hear anymore
And it didn't really matter if the truth was there
It was the cut of his clothes and the length of his hair
And the lonely voice of youth cries
"What is truth?"

The young girl dancing to the latest beat
Has found new ways to move her feet
The young man speaking in the city square
Is trying to tell somebody that he cares
Yeah, the ones that you're calling wild
Are going to be the leaders in a little while
This old world's wakin' to a new born day
And I solemnly swear that it'll be their way
You better help the voice of youth find
"What is truth"

Are Gone"

To add to all those already listed. Each voice cited already is unique and true.

And there are other fronts in this same war. Ochs's "Bracero" and "Ballad of Oxford (Jimmy Meredith)" and, well, just read through the the whole collection of lyrics.

From: Phil Ochs Lyric Index http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics.html


A Toast to Those Who Are Gone
By Phil Ochs

C Am
Many's the hour I've lain by my window
C Am
and thought of the people who carried the burden
C Am
Who marched in the strange fields in search of an answer
C Am G
And ended their journeys an unwilling hero

Am Em Am G
Here's a song to those who are gone with never a reason why
Em Am
And a toast of the wine at the end of the line
D7 G
And a toll of the bell for the next one to die

Back in the coal fields of old Harlan county
Some talked of the union, some talked of good wages
And they lined them up in the dark of the forest
And shot them down without asking no questions

Here's a song to those who are gone with never a reason why
And a toast of the wine to the end of the line
And a toll of the bell for the next one to die

And over the ocean, to the red Spanish soil
came the lincoln brigade with their dreams of a victory
But they fell in the fire of Germany's bombing
And they fell 'cause no one would hear their sad warning

Here's a song to those who are gone with never a reason why
And a toast of the wine at the end of the line
And a toll of the bell for the next one to die

In old Alabama, in old Mississippi
Two states of the union so often found guilty
They came on the busses, they came on the marches
And they lay in the jails or they fell by the highway

Here's a song to those who are gone with never a reason why
And a toast of the wine at the end of the line
And a toll of the bell for the next one to die

The state it was texas, the town it was Dallas
In the flash of a rifle a life was soon over
And nobody thought of the past million murders
And the long list of irony(?) had found a new champion

Here's a song to those who are gone with never a reason why
And a toast of the wine at the end of the line
And a toll of the bell for the next one to die



Notes:

Chords supplied by cody but Jan Hauenstein says: "but I hear a (G7) right after the last word of each verse and the chorusses. In the last chorus, the (G) is held- no (G7) there. Ochs plays a (C/B) to lead to the (Am) most of the time. Example: (C)Many´s the hour (C/B)I´ve (Am)lain by my window..."

If you want to find out more about the "Lincoln Brigade" and the Spanish Civil War, see The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives
Last modified 2 Nov 02 by trent



What Are You Fighting For
By Phil Ochs

C F Em
Oh you tell me that there's danger to the land you call your own

F Em Am
And you watch them build the war machine right beside your home

C F Em
And you tell me that you're ready to go marchin' to the war

Dm G7 C
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Before you pack your rifle and sail across the sea
Just think upon the Southern part of the land that you call free
Oh, there's many kinds of slavery and we've found many more
I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fighting for?

And before you walk out on your job in answer to the call
Just think about the millions who have no job at all
And the men who wait for handouts with their eyes upon the floor
Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?


Turn on your TV, turn it on so loud
And watch the fool a smiling there and tell me that you're proud
And listen to your radio, the noise it starts to pour
Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Read your morning papers, read every single line
And tell me if you can believe that simple world you find
Read every slanted word till your eyes are getting sore,
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

And listen to your leaders, the ones who won the race
As they stand right there before you and lie into your face
If you ever try to buy them, you know what they stand for
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Put ragged clothes upon your back and sleep upon the ground,
And tell police about your rights as they drag you down,
And ask them as they lead you to some deserted door,
Yes, I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fightin' for?

But the hardest thing I'll ask you, if you will only try
Is take your children by their hands and look into their eyes
And there you'll see the answer you should have seen before
If you'll win the wars at home, there'll be no fighting anymore

Notes:

Toby Everett supplied this from memory, Al Barker (albee@earthlink.net) supplied corrections based on the sheet music, then Toby provided more corrections.
21 Apr 97 trent

!!

I wasn't even alive during the Kent State massacre, but the song gives me chills every time I hear it.

cops of the world-ochs
jacob's ladder-chumbawumba

9-11 got branded
9-11 got sold

Compared to What

Love the lie and lie the love
Hangin' on, with a push and shove
Possession is the motivation
that is hangin' up the God-damn nation
Looks like we always end up in a rut (everybody now!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what?

Slaughterhouse is killin' hogs
Twisted children killin' frogs
Poor dumb rednecks rollin' logs
Tired old ladies kissin' dogs
Hate the human, love that stinking mutt (I can't stand it!)
Try to make it real — compared to what?

The President, he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one gut (God damn it!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what? (Sock it to me, now)

Church on Sunday, sleep and nod
Tryin' to duck the wrath of God
Preacher's fillin' us with fright
Tryin' to tell us what he thinks is right
He really got to be some kind of nut (I can't use it!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what?

Where's that bee and where's that honey?
Where's my God and where's my money
Unreal values, crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind ol' young King Tut (He did it now)
Tried to make it real — compared to what?!


© Eugene McDaniels
by Eugene McDaniels
as performed by Les McCann

but nobody does protest like Roger Waters(Pink Floyd)

Dogs
The Gunners Dream
What God Wants
The Bravery of Being Out of Range(written for Daddy Bush after Gulf war I Lyrics below...)



You have a natural tendency to squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties, you wear the right masks
You're old but you still like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change, you're at home on the range
You open the suitcase behind the old workings
To show off the magnum, you deafen the canyon
A comfort a friend only upstaged in the end by the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you, remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next

I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a US Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools and lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the frontline boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find on their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next

Hey bartender over here, two more shots and two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound, the war has started on the ground
Just love those laser-guided bombs, they're really great for righting wrongs
You hit the target and win the game from bars three thousand miles away
Three thousand miles away
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim with the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train with the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain with the bravery of being out of range
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range

Rog has a new album coming out this year and you can bet he's got alot to say.. watch for it...

That song brings tears to my eyes. Written by Ralph Chapin at Paint Creek, WVA.

"It is we who plowed the prairies, built the cities were they trade
dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad layed.
Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonder that we have made
But, the Union keeps us strong."

"For What It's Worth" is a perfect song and another favorite of mine that I think suits the neocons...

One Tin Soldier.

Listen children to a story,
That was written long ago.
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain,
And the valley folk below.
On the mountain was a treasure,
Buried deep beneath a stone,
And the valley people swore,
They'd have it for they're very own.

Chorus:
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowin'
Come the judgement day.
On the bloody morning after,
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley,
Sent a message up the hill.
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.
Came an answer, from the kingdom,
"With our brothers, we will share,
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."

Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses,
Draw your sword"
And they killed the mountain people,
So they won their just reward.
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red,
Turned the stone and looked beneath it,
"Peace on earth"
Was all it said.

Chorus:
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowin'
Come the judgement day.
On the bloody morning after,
One tin soldier rides away.

If I had a hammer

http://members.aol.com/Oxym0r0n99/nena.html

GERMAN:

Hast du etwas Zeit fuer mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht g'rad an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt
99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man fuer Ufos aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn's (sie?) war
Dabei war'n da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons
99 Duesenjager
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons
99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Kring und wollten Macht
Mann, wer hatte das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons
99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keine Platz fuer Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr
Und auch keine Duesenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh' die Welt in Truemmern liegen
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen


ENGLISH:

You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base bugs in the software
Flash the message, something's out there
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

99 red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
Where 99 red balloons go by

99 Decision street
99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by

99 knights of the air
Ride super high tech jet fighters
Everyone's a super hero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify, and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you, and let it go

(English version is not very close to the original German)

"All I Am Saying Is Give Peace A Chance" - John Lennon.

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.

"House Un-American Blues Activity Dream"
(excerpt)

When I strolled down the Prado, people looked at me weird
Who's that hippie-hoppy character without any beard?
Drinkin' juice from papaya, singin' songs to the trees
Dancin' mambo on the beaches, spreadin' social disease
Now the Castro convertible was changin' the style
A whole lot of action on a blockaded isle
When along come a summons in the middle of night
Saying, "buddy, we're about to indict."

When I went up on the stand with my hand, good people,
You've got to tell the truth in the booth, good people.
Started out with information kinda remote
When a patriotic mother dragged me down by the throat
When they ask you a question, they expect a reply
Doesn't matter if you're fixing to die

Well I was lying there unconscious feelin' kind of exempt
When the judge said that silence was a sign of contempt
He took out his gavel, banged me hard on the head
He fined me ten years in prison and a whole lot of bread
It was the red, white and blue making war on the poor
Blind Mother Justice on a pile of manure
Say your prayers and the pledge of allegiance every night,
and tomorrow you'll be feelin' alright.

Richard & Mimi Fariña

These songs make me cry. I wish they were played everywhere, all day long. Sometimes you can get to people with a song.

There's another sad, but lovely war song sung by Roger Whittaker, "For You are Beautiful" that also reminds me of the horrible loss of war.

This is a good thread, so very sad, but preaching to the choir. Sad to say, preaching to the choir.

Ye sons of toil, awake to glory!
Hark, hark, what myriads bid you rise:
Your children, wives and grandsires hoary-
Behold their tears and hear their cries!
Behold their tears and hear their cries!
Shall hateful tyrants mischief breeding
With hireling hosts, a ruffian band-
Affright and desolate the land,
While peace and liberty lie bleeing?

Chorus:
To arms! To arms! ye brave!
Th'avenging sword unsheathe!
March on, march on, all hearts resolved
On Victory or Death.

(More verses to this, The Marseillaise by Rouget de Lisle)

I'm a sucker for anti-war songs. Also, "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie.

The People's flag is deepest red.
It shrouded oft our martyred dead;
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their life blood died its every fold.

Chorus:
Then raise the scarlet standard high
Beneath its folds, we'll live and die.
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We'll keep the red flag flying here.

(There are more verses to this and it is sung to
the tune of O Tannenbaum).

Another good old IWW favorite of mine is


I Love My Flag
(by anonymous)

I love my flag, I do, I do
Which floats upon the breeeze
I also love my arms and legs,
My neck, and nose, and knees.
One little shell might spoil them all
Or give them such a twist,
They would be of no use to me;
I guess I won't enlist.


I love my country, yes, I do
I hope her folks do well.
Without our arms, and legs and things,
I think we'd look like hell.
Young men with faces half shot off
Are unfit to be kissed,
I've read in books it spoils their looks.
I Guess I WON'T ENLIST!!

And anything by Joe Hill. (IWW)














An injury to one is an injury to all.

It never fails to make me cry

Patriot Game

words and music by Dominic Behan

Come all ye young rebels, and list while I sing,
For the love of one's country is a terrible thing.
It banishes fear with the speed of a flame,
And it makes us all part of the patriot game.

My name is O'Hanlon, and I've just turned sixteen.
My home is in Monaghan, and where I was weaned
I learned all my life cruel England's to blame,
So now I am part of the patriot game.

This Ireland of ours has too long been half free.
Six counties lie under John Bull's tyranny.
But still De Valera is greatly to blame
For shirking his part in the Patriot game.

They told me how Connolly was shot in his chair,
His wounds from the fighting all bloody and bare.
His fine body twisted, all battered and lame
They soon made me part of the patriot game.

It's nearly two years since I wandered away
With the local battalion of the bold IRA,
For I read of our heroes, and wanted the same
To play out my part in the patriot game.


I don't mind a bit if I shoot down police
They are lackeys for war never guardians of peace
And yet at deserters I'm never let aim
The rebels who sold out the patriot game

And now as I lie here, my body all holes
I think of those traitors who bargained in souls
And I wish that my rifle had given the same
To those Quislings who sold out the patriot game.

Just for the irony!

Hey, Charlie, if you're lurking, what happened dude? How did you go from a liberal icon to a guy who bought into the rightwing definition of liberal instead of just listening to the liberals himself?

run across:

John Vanderslice's "Heated Pool and Bar"

my cousin is in columbia
hunting down the rebels
over fields of bright and shiny coca

over the jungle floor
one-handing a 32
he says: “bring her down low now, I’m ready to go.”

“I hunt kids in camouflage
rain down bullets in flight, white light,
barefoot boys run for your lives.”

but you can’t be nice
you put your gun to their head
and you pull back the pin
and you can’t be good

my friend is based in afghanistan
he goes from cave to cave and pulls the trigger
at the first sight of a man

it’s total anarchy
shooting tracer bullets at night
a high and holy patrol into poppy fields

but you can’t be good
you hold up the bloody knife
and let it shine in the sun
you gotta be everywhere

I’m a guard in guantanamo
I bring the prisoners in
the hoods come off and torture slowly begins

the screams I’ve overheard
it’d fuck up a weaker man
but I’m cold, I’m so untouchable

and you can’t be nice
I got a flak jacket
on my soul with me tonight
and you can’t be good

Find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down ...

written by Richie Havens and, interestingly enough, Lou Gossett Jr.

too soon!

You Get What You Give - New Radicals

Wake up kids
We've got the dreamers disease
Age fourteen
They got you down on your knees
So polite
You're busy still saying please

Frienemies
Who when you're down ain't your friend
Every night
We smash their mercedes-benz
First we run
And then we laugh 'till we cry

But when the night is falling
And you cannot find the light
If you feel your dream is dying
Hold tight

You've got the music in you
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget you only get what you give

Four a.m. we ran a miracle mile
We're flat broke
But hey we do it in style
The bad rich
God's flying in for your trial

But when the night is falling
And you cannot find a friend
You feel your tree is breaking
Just then

You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
You only get what you give

This whole damn world can fall apart
You'll be ok follow your heart
You're in harms way I'm right behind
Now say you're mine

You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
You only get what you give
Don't let go
We feel the music in you
Fly high
What's real can't die
You only get what you give
You're gonna get what you give
Just dont be afraid to leave

Health insurance rip off lying fda big bankers buying
Fake computer crashes dining
Cloning while they're multiplying
Fashion mag shoots
With the aid of 8 dust brothers beck hanson
courtney love and marilyn manson
You're all fakes
Run to your mansions
Come around
We'll kick your ass in

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Backstage/1687/ygwyg.html

I could not find a link for the song, sorry, maybe someone else can help?

So long, Mom, I'm off to drop the Bomb
So don't wait up for me...



He said ,prefacing it, something like ,"All wars have great songs but if we are going to have songs about World War 3 we had better start writing them now."

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when you’re older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and dawn
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town
And they tell him,
Take your time, it won’t be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and dawn
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur
Coming true
There’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.
And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE RAIN)

(chorus:)
Lay down lay down, let it all down
Let your white birds smile up at the
Ones who stand and frown
Lay down lay down, let it all down
Let your white birds smile up at the
Ones who stand and frown

We were so close, there was no room
We bled inside each others wounds
We all had caught the same disease
And we all sang the songs of peace

chorus

So raise the candles high cause if you
Don't we could stay black against the night
Oh raise them higher again and if you
Do we could stay dry against the rain

chorus

We were so close, there was no room
We bled inside each others wounds
We all had caught the same disease
And we all sang the songs of peace
Some came to sing, some came to pray
Some came to keep the dark away

So raise the candles high
Cause if you don't we could stay
Black against the sky
Oh oh raise them higher again
And if you do we could stay dry against the rain

chorus

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

John Brown- Blind Boy Grunt (aka B. Dylan)

John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore.
His mama sure was proud of him!
He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all.
His mama's face broke out all in a grin.

"Oh son, you look so fine, I'm glad you're a son of mine,
You make me proud to know you hold a gun.
Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get,
And we'll put them on the wall when you come home."

As that old train pulled out, John's ma began to shout,
Tellin' ev'ryone in the neighborhood:
"That's my son that's about to go, he's a soldier now, you know."
She made well sure her neighbors understood.

She got a letter once in a while and her face broke into a smile
As she showed them to the people from next door.
And she bragged about her son with his uniform and gun,
And these things you called a good old-fashioned war.

Oh! Good old-fashioned war!

Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come.
They ceased to come for about ten months or more.
Then a letter finally came saying, "Go down and meet the train.
Your son's a-coming home from the war."

She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around
But she could not see her soldier son in sight.
But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last,
When she did she could hardly believe her eyes.

Oh his face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off
And he wore a metal brace around his waist.
He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she did not know,
While she couldn't even recognize his face!

Oh! Lord! Not even recognize his face.

"Oh tell me, my darling son, pray tell me what they done.
How is it you come to be this way?"
He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move
And the mother had to turn her face away.

"Don't you remember, Ma, when I went off to war
You thought it was the best thing I could do?
I was on the battleground, you were home . . . acting proud.
You wasn't there standing in my shoes."

"Oh, and I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here?
I'm a-tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'.
But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine."

Oh! Lord! Just like mine!

"And I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink,
That I was just a puppet in a play.
And through the roar and smoke, this string is finally broke,
And a cannon ball blew my eyes away."

As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock
At seein' the metal brace that helped him stand.
But as he turned to go, he called his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand.



Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

missed this. Terrific contributions, lots of good tunes.

This was directed against the type of people who are Shrub's base.

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
by Sainte Marie, Buffy
INTRO:
Indian legislation on the desk of a do-right Congressman
Now, he don't know much about the issue
so he picks up the phone and he asks advice from the
Senator out in Indian country
A darling of the energy companies who are
ripping off what’s left of the reservations. Huh.

1.
I learned a safety rule
I don’t know who to thank
Don't stand between the reservation and the
corporate bank
They send in federal tanks
It isn’t nice but it’s reality

chorus:
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
Deep in the Earth
Cover me with pretty lies
bury my heart at Wounded Knee. Huh.

2.
They got these energy companies that want the land
and they’ve got churches by the dozen who want to
guide our hands
and sign Mother Earth over to pollution, war and
greed
Get rich... get rich quick.

chorus...

3. We got the federal marshals
We got the covert spies
We got the liars by the fire
We got the FBIs
They lie in court and get nailed
and still Peltier goes off to jail

chorus...

4.
My girlfriend Annie Mae talked about uranium
Her head was filled with bullets and her body dumped
The FBI cut off her hands and told us she’d died of
exposure
Loo loo loo loo loo

chorus...

We had the Goldrush Wars
Aw, didn’t we learn to crawl and still our history gets
written in a liar’s scrawl
They tell ‘ya “Honey, you can still be an Indian
d-d-down at the ‘Y’
on Saturday nights”

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
Deep in the Earth
Cover me with pretty lies
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee. Huh!

(The music in this song is hot, listen to it).

You poisoned my sweet water.
You cut down my green trees.
The food you fed my children
Was the cause of their disease.

My world is slowly fallin' down
And the airs not good to breathe.
And those of us who care enough,
We have to do something.......

(Chorus)
Oh.......oh What you gonna do about me?
Oh.......oh What you gonna do about me?

Your newspapers,
They just put you on.
They never tell you
The whole story.

They just put your
Young ideas down.
I was wonderin' could this be the end
Of your pride and glory?

(Chorus)

I work in your factory.
I study in your schools.
I fill your penitentiaries.
And your military too!

And I feel the future trembling,
As the word is passed around.
"If you stand up for what you do believe,
Be prepared to be shot down."

(Chorus)

And I feel like a stranger
In the land where I was born
And I live like an outlaw.
An' I'm always on the run..........................

An I’m always getting’ busted
And I got to take a stand........
I believe the revolution
Must be mighty close at hand.......................

(Chorus)

I smoke marijuana
But I can’t get behind your wars.
And most of what I do believe
Is against most of your laws

I'm a fugitive from injustice
But I'm goin' to be free.
Cause your rules and regulations
They don’t do the thing for me

(Chorus)

And I feel like a stranger
In the land where I was born
And I live just like an outlaw.
An' I'm always on the run..........................


And though you may be stronger now
My time will come around
You keep adding to my numbers
As you shoot my people down


(Chorus)
Repeat
lyrics sung during final chorus
I Won’t go
What about me Now.
I ain’t lookin’ for no trouble

I hadn't heard QSM on commercial radio in years - fortunately, XM Radio's Deep Tracks channel plays a lot of them.

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet

Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last

Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believing in prayer

Don't tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on saying "Go slow!"

But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Washing the windows
"do it slow"
Picking the cotton
"do it slow"
You're just plain rotten
"do it slow"
You're too damn lazy
"do it slow"
The thinking's crazy
"do it slow"
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know

Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

I made you thought I was kiddin' didn't we

Picket lines
School boycotts
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
for my sister my brother my people and me

Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie

Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying "Go slow!"
"Go slow!"

But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Desegregation
"do it slow"
Mass participation
"do it slow"
Reunification
"do it slow"
Do things gradually
"do it slow"
But bring more tragedy
"do it slow"
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know

You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam

That's it!

Artist: Don Henley
Album: Actual Miles: Greatest Hits
Title: The End Of The Innocence


Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn't have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standing by
When "happily ever after" fails
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly
But i know a place where we can go
That's still untouched by man
We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence
O' beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They're beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales