BIG

LYRICS

A Brief History of the Orange Line

In the Sixties they were building lots of single-family homes
The suburbs were the place to have your child, dog and cat
Businessmen and housewives each had a swimming pool
Prescription drugs, a big car and a generic welcome mat
All the suburbs needed highways and they were being built
In every state, from the east coast to the west
But when in Boston, Massachusetts they came to build a highway
At GM and DOT's behest
In front of their bulldozers there in Jamaica Plain
From all around, people came and stood
They asked should we have commuters or community
A highway or a neighborhood
The governor said we hear you but you just don't understand
It's the way things are, the order of the day
Is that progress must go on, the economy must grow
And this state needs another highway
A whole bunch of people protested, a whole bunch were arrested
The cops figured that was that
But folks kept coming back, where the backhoes were supposed to dig
That's just where people sat
They asked would you have a fast lane here, with big trucks spewing diesel
Or keep your homes of wood
It was the Anti-Highway Movement, who said the national is local
And the people of JP
Against all of those in power, the biggest business interests
Federal as well as state authority
But perseverance won and the highway was abandoned
The neighborhood remains
Instead they built a subway line, a long, thin park
Playgrounds and bicycle lanes
The people had spoken, the question had been answered
As one would think it should

A Christmas Song
I'm a big fan of the season, I like this time of year
When everyone's out shopping and drinking lots of beer
When folks are taking holidays to visit mom and dad
Telling jokes and stories about good times they had
But when I leave the house to go most anywhere
I find myself accosted and now it's more than I can bear
So to the scum who run Clearchannel I must offer this rebuke
If I hear another Christmas song I think I'm gonna puke
Well I like going sledding, riding in a sleigh
In fact I might just take my kid to a good hill today
But if I hear those jingle bells ring one more fucking time
I might just lose my shit in Macy's and commit an awful crime
Next time I go out shopping it won't be a pretty sight
When I hear one more person crooning about Christmas being white
I wish I could make Sinatra eat his god damn uke
If I hear another Christmas song I think I'm gonna puke
I just love those furry reindeer and I'd like to see one fly
And I'd like to see a red-nosed one light up the night-time sky
But all five hundred versions of it make me feel so bleak
When I have to hear each one of them a thousand times a week
I don't care if it's a big band, rock & roll or what
Each time I hear that ballad I can feel it in my gut
I start getting queasy like I just swallowed Santa's tewk
If I hear another Christmas song I think I'm gonna puke
Now I'm sure Frosty was a good guy, he was made of snow
And I'm sure that the North Pole is a place I'd like to go
But if they play that song again on the radio
Then there's something that seems only fair for you all to know
Next time I go out to a restaurant or walk into a store
It's quite likely I will make a big mess upon the floor
It will be an accident but it will not be a fluke
'Cause if I hear another Christmas song I think I'm gonna puke

A Dream Foreclosed
Life used to be so normal I remember how normal it was
Take a shower, eat breakfast, go to work every morning
Do the things a fella does
We paid our mortgage every month Managed that OK
But when the mortgage doubled Then we couldn't pay
And now life takes a turn I never had supposed
Living in a dream foreclosed
I'd go off to work My kids would go to school
I even joined the Army once Now I feel like such a fool
It's not that life was easy then But at least it made some sense
You weren't worried about freezing to death
Not like living in these tents
You weren't worried about the cops Getting out a firehose
Lots of folks in town don't realize How we're living these days
But you can see it in the childrens' Thousand-mile gaze
I've got a head full of home movies About all the things I miss
They say we need four walls
But they weren't talking of walls like this
Maybe we'll go find another country to live in
'Cause life in this one blows

Adelaide
I was a cynic long before we met, I think that's how it tends to be
You go around the block, that's where you get
And that's how it was with you and me
But there isn't a single day that passes by
When I don't ask if I could've made the grade
When I don't see your name and wonder why I didn't go to Adelaide
Perhaps when I was a younger man, Back when I believed in fate
I would not have turned and ran, I would have known I'd found my mate
I would've known this was something of a different kind
I would've known I had it made, I would've known when to change my mind
And I would've gone to Adelaide
Woodford in the summer is a hot place, In the coming weeks it got hotter still
Each day I look up and I see your face, Staring at me just above my windowsill
I said I I was already taken, But maybe I was just afraid
To leave a woman's heart forsaken, If I went to Adelaide
When it's daytime where I sit, For you it's usually night
But every other day I still get hit, By what should be a familiar sight
Each time I see your name appear on my screen I feel like I've been flayed
If we chat I just try not to mention How much I long for Adelaide
They say time heals everyone, This is something I have come to disbelieve
Because each time a new day is done I think of all the things I never will achieve
Such as being the father of your child Hiking with him in a forest glade
Such as having my heart beguiled By the hottest Red in Adelaide
Sometimes I wish I were a Buddhist Not just a worshipper of dirt
Then I could make up for all I missed And live a life in someone else's shirt
I'd live in the southern hemisphere I would be the guy who stayed
Each and every day I'd hold you near In our little home in Adelaide

After the Revolution (2 pages)

It was a time I'll always remember Because I could never forget
How reality fell down around us Like some Western movie set
And once the dust all settled The sun shone so bright
And a great calm took over us Like it was all gonna be alright
That's how it felt to be alive After the revolution
From Groton to Tacoma On many a factory floor
The workers talked of solidarity And refused to build weapons of war
No more will we make missiles We're gonna do something different
And for the first time Their children were proud of their parents
And somewhere in Gaza a little boy smiled and cried After the revolution
Prison doors swung open And mothers hugged their sons
The Liberty Bell was ringing When the cops put down their guns
A million innocent people Lit up in the springtime air
And Mumia and Leonard and Sarah Jane Olson
Took a walk in Tompkins Square
And they talked about what they'd do now After the revolution
The debts were all forgiven In all the neo-colonies
And the soldiers left their bases Went back to their families
And a non-aggression treaty Was signed with every sovereign state
And all the terrorist groups disbanded With no empire left to hate
And they all started planting olive trees After the revolution
George Bush and Henry Kissinger Were sent off to the World Court
Their plans for global domination Were pre-emptively cut short
Their weapons of mass destruction Were inspected and destroyed
The battleships were dismantled Never again to be deployed
And the world breathed a sigh of relief After the revolution

Solar panels were on the rooftops Trains upon the tracks

Organic food was in the markets No GMO's upon the racks
And all the billionaires Had to learn how to share
And Bill Gates was told to quit his whining When he said it wasn't fair
And his mansion became a collective farm After the revolution
And all the political poets Couldn't think of what to say
So they all decided To live life for today
I spent a few years catching up With all my friends and lovers
Sleeping til eleven Home beneath the covers
And I learned how to play the banjo After the revolution

After We Torture Our Prisoners

We'll get rid of the dictator, rebuild your country
Make sure all your kids go to school
We'll clean up the cities, get the sewage plants running
Institute parliamentary rule
We'll bring you autonomy, senators and judges
And a shiny new blue banner
We'll bring you pride and prosperity, food in your bellies
In every home a phone, fax and scanner
After we torture our prisoners
We'll bring you decades of peace, spiritual release
Free religious expression
You can say what you want in the papers you run
We'll never force a confession
The oil will flow just where it should go
Across the desert and into the sea
And you'll thank your God and the CIA
That finally you are free
You'll all be safe with us to protect you
And keep you out of harm's way
You'll thank creation and your liberation
From the dark into a new day
You can all jump for joy, each girl and boy
And look boldly into the distance
You'll be so happy for all that we've done
For such invaluable assistance
You won't have to worry about tyrants and bullies
Now that you have sovereignty
You can hold your head high, kiss Saddam goodbye
Say hello to democracy

Age of Oil
It was as if there was a contest To see how many holes could be dug
To see how much of it could be sucked from the ground
To kill off every beetle and bug
To kill off every woman and child To kill off every man
And they put it all in barrels Then they put the barrels into cans
That's how it was at the end of the age of oil
It was like a competition To see how big everything could get
From the highways to the strip malls To the giant TV sets
From the MOABs to the draglines Monster trucks and SUVs
And the massive roaring chainsaws That cut down all the trees
It was like they were trying to see
How many garbage dumps they could fill
How many flagpoles they could squeeze Onto a single windowsill
How many countries could be bombed
How much black gold they could drill
How much coal could they extract If they just blew up the hills
It was as if there was some kind of test And the only way to pass
Was to turn the planet's atmosphere Into a cloud of poison gas
It was like the only thing that mattered Was the death of life on Earth
That seemed to be the proof That you had made your money's worth
And now here we are Rotting in this bubble
And I'm looking at my grandchildren framed in by the rubble
Wondering what I coulda done To avert this fate
But I was too busy playing concerts Saying fuck isn't life great

All The Ghosts That Walk This Earth

I'll tell you what happened I was walking downtown
Making something for May Day Pounding the ground
Some kid pulled a trigger And then I was dead
'Cause that's what happens When a shotgun blows off your head
I was just 24 Much too young to die
My reason for living I didn't know why
I had no time to show What my life could be worth
Now i'm just another Of all the ghosts that walk this earth
Yes, I wander the world And I see all the others
The dead and forsaken My sisters and brothers
All of us wondering What are we doing here
Just stuck on this planet Who knows how many years
In Auschwitz or Baghdad It's always the same
Forgotten and restless No one calling their name
I visit my old friends They make love and give birth
While I'm just another Of all the ghosts that walk this earth
And I wish I could show you All the places I've been
Where the flowers grow wild Where the napalm meets skin
I wish I could trade it And be back in my life
Maybe we'd live in China Maybe you'd be my wife
Maybe I would feel something Not just angry and sad
Always just wishing For the life that I had
But I just watch you and your lover In such glorious mirth
For I'm just another Of all the ghosts that walk this earth

Alligator Song
Everybody's getting cancer At a geometrical rate
Maybe it's something you drank or breathed
Maybe it's something you ate
Perhaps this doesn't concern you Hey, we've all gotta go sometime
But maybe I can tell you something To make you change your mind
The alligator dicks are shriveling up Soon they'll all be through
Yeah, the alligator dicks are shrinking fast And it will happen to you
It will happen to you, boys It will happen to you
the alligator dicks are shriveling up and it will happen to you
They're an indicator species Like canaries in the mine
They're the first to kick the bucket
When things might otherwise seem fine
So let's be frank and honest As the situation begs
Boys, what are you gonna do About that thing between your legs
I'm not beating around the bush I'm making you a promise
Say goodbye to Long Dong Silver Hello to Tiny Thomas
You can forget about Viagra Boys, what I mean is
It's all a matter of minutiae When you've got a half-inch penis
PCBs in the water Pesticides in the ground
Radiation in the wind There's poison all around
So if you care about your love life And that good old whoop-dee-doo
We've got to stop pollution, boys That's what i'm telling you

An American Song
I drive on an American highway In my American car
I watch American Idol I'm gonna be an American star
Hey there's an American road sign This is an All-American town
I like to eat American burgers That I buy from an American clown
I live in an American house I have a great big American flag
I'm such a proud American I blow my nose in an American rag
I have an American iPhone Though it isn't quite American-made
But at least my American machine gun is
And my American switchblade
My dad was an American soldier He fought in American wars
Now he installs American locks To go on American doors
I shop in an American supermarket
Put my stuff in an American bag
I'm such a proud American I blow my nose in an American rag
I work for an American company They pay me in American bills
I drink American lager I pop American pills
I snort American cocaine I smoke American grass
I use American toilet paper When I wipe my American ass
Bury me in American graveyard A stone with an American tag
He was such a proud American
He blew his nose in an American rag

Assata
Special Agent Ford got on TV to put a price on someone's head
Two million dollars, bring her back alive or dead
On the very anniversary of the killing of Osama
In the endless War on Terror, the next victim of Obama
Enemy number one of those who brought us Cointelpro
It's the FBI's Most Wanted, a real-life cop show
It's not enough to kill them or have them jailed, old and gray
You have to double the bounty for the one that got away
(But) if Assata is a terrorist
What does that make you?
She was born in Alabama in an apartheid state
Ended up up north, where she found another shade of hate
Terrorized by racism in the schools and in the street
Terrorized by policemen for giving children food to eat
Terrorized by agents sent to disrupt and kill on sight
Terrorized for daring to stand her ground and fight
They tried to frame her for whatever, take your pick
Finally they found something and they managed to make it stick
One racist cop was dead, Assata's hands were in the air
She didn't fire a shot, the all-white jury didn't care
They tortured her in prison, years alone in a basement cell
Her comrades liberated her and broke her out of solitary hell
For years they tried to find her, but in 1984
She made her way to Havana and found asylum on the Cuban shore
And they terrorize the Cuban people, try to bring them to their knees
But despite the terror of the empire this so-called terrorist is free

Atif and Sebastian (2 pages)

Atif and Sebastian lived in Vancouver That's where they were from
Atif's family moved to the USA And Sebastian thought he'd come
They both went off to college Atif to Cornell
What would happen at the end of his freshman year Who on Earth could foretell
Atif and Sebastian went to a movie And to get some food to eat
Then they drove back home To that suburban Bellevue street
Inside what they saw Was far too much to understand
That such acts could be carried out By a human hand
Atif's parents had been bludgeoned Blood and brains were everywhere
And beneath the shawl Upon his mother's matted hair
They asked the skies above How could such a thing be done
Then the two boys picked up the phone And they called 9-1-1
Atif's father he had enemies Who wanted him dead it seems
But from the time the cops arrived Upon this gruesome scene
The only suspects they considered Were Sebastian and Atif
They questioned them for days Amidst their shock and disbelief
Without a bit of evidence They blamed them for this crime
Though there were witnesses to prove They were elsewhere at the time
They had gone across the bridge To Seattle's downtown core
And someone else's DNA Was found amidst the blood upon the floor
Whose DNA was that? The Bellevue cops just didn't care
Though Atif's father's friend would soon Have his awful fate to share
Just like Atif's dad He had a contract on his head
And a few scant years later He also turned up dead
The cops didn't have the evidence So they wiretapped a session
With undercover thugs To scare up a confession
The stories didn't match up The kids were terrified, they lied
So the cops just changed their story To make it match the way the family died

The judge and prosecution Just like the cops, they had no shame
And entrapment and coercion Was the name of this railroad game
The trial was a sham And the jury took the bait
And now Atif and Sebastian Are living out their fate
Serving up their lives In maximum security
While the real killers Are somewhere running free
Some might call this justice I don't know about you
I call it putting innocent men in prison For a crime they didn't do

Aurora Massacre (2 pages)

The survivors will hug and tell their stories
With flashing lights the living and the dead
Will be taken to the morgues and to the hospitals
We'll hear about the last words that they said
At least if it was a notable occasion
Like if it happened just down the road from Columbine
If the victims numbered in the dozens
The murder plan especially malign
The governor will talk about the senselessness
The madness that must explain the crime
Some will ask about the guns, six thousand rounds of ammunition
He bought legally all at the same time
If the murders were especially dramatic
This man will have his week of fame
But by around this time next year
Just a few will remember his name
Fewer still will remember his victims
In this great nation that seems to have no peer
And who can blame us for our amnesia
With fourteen thousand killed by guns last year
But for now they'll talk about his methods
They'll ask how he came to be this way
They'll hire more policemen in the theaters
It's another massacre in the USA
They'll ask about his schooling
Who could have seen these warning signs
Some will ask why he had access
To buying an assault combine
Former victims will speak out on the TV
They'll have a platform for just a little while
Until something else takes over
Like a storm or a fire or the latest summer style
They'll talk about violent films and video games

The social disconnection of the youth

They'll talk about the cubicles and headsets
With each one separated in a little booth
They'll talk about bullying in schools
They'll talk about all sorts of social ills
They'll ask if he smoked marijuana
And if he was on any kinds of pills
The corpses will be removed from the theater
They'll replace the seats and wash away blood stains
The NRA will lay low for a week or two
While pouring money into electoral campaigns
The President will praise the First Responders
And ask God for these madmen to be cured
The Assault Weapons Ban will be voted down in Congress
And the next massacre will be assured

Ballad of a Cluster Bomb

I was born Between factory walls
And I was conceived Amongst the ivory halls
And in this world I knew my role
I went to work With a single goal
I traveled the earth To far-off lands
From the Asian jungles To the African sands
I flew in planes Of camoflage green
Before I settled Upon this scene
Like a shooting star I came to rest
And this farmer's field Is where I nest
Just watching the seasons Come and go
Watching the long grass Grow and grow
Years go by And I lay here still
For my purpose is clear For me to fulfill
The sun was out It was the middle of May
When the farmer's three children Came out to play
They ventured near I lay in wait
One unknowing step Sealed their fate
One thousand shards Of plastic rose
From where I lay And through their clothes
Into their bodies The shrapnel sank
Here in this field By a river bank
The blood poured down Shone in the sun
And one cluster bomblet's Job was done

Ballad of Eola Park

In the land of Minnie Mouse and Mickey things are getting icky
Since the municipality
Of Orlando, Florida passed a moritaria
Against feeding hungry people in their city
The mayor said with a scoff we'd all be better off
Without these food terrorists lurking like a shark
So he did declare -- semaritans beware!
No more feeding hungry people in the park
And if you do you'd better raise your bail
'Cause you will be fined five hundred bucks and sent to jail
There are many things that you can do when you're passing through
That are much more acceptable than that
Go on amusement rides, eat things that are fried
Buy each one of your kids a little hat
You can stay in a hotel, pretend everything is swell
Go to Sea World and hear the seals bark
But whatever else you have in mind you will be in a bind
If you feed the hungry people in the park
Yes you can drink some wine, have yourself a good time
Have a good vacation, then retire
But if you want to stir up trouble, if you'd deign to pop the bubble
And try to feed the hungry people of the shire
In such a public place, we can't suffer such disgrace
Though the logic may seem a little stark
What would the neighbors say, where will the children play
If you keep feeding hungry people in the park

Ballad of Saed Bannoura

Saed Bannoura is a friend of mine But I'm lucky to know him, to be sure
He is from a land called Palestine From the town of Beit Sahur
His house was a mile from where Jesus was born
And a mile from a military base
He grew up under occupation Such a lovely town but such a terrifying place
When the First Intifada started Saed was facing off with tanks
So many of the youth then became martyrs And Saed almost joined their ranks
He was running from a death squad
Soldiers shot him in the chest and in the back
They shot him six times altogether
But Saed said you guys just don't have the knack
He wouldn't die, he wouldn't die They tried hard to kill him
But he just spat in their eye He wouldn't die, he wouldn't die, he wouldn't die
A soldier came and kicked him to turn him over
A blow that broke four of his bones
A local doctor ran to try to help him The soldiers said you leave him alone
It was hours before they took him To hospital where he got surgery
But after they cut out half his lung
And patched him back together most sloppily
To stop the intifada They tried different strategies
First they tried packing the prisons Then they tried brutalilty
Neither one of these things worked So they tried assassination
But now he's sitting right in front of me Working at his station
Yes they tried to kill Saed Bannoura And they succeeded with so many more
But now Saed is a citizen of Portland
My neighbor, by the Willamette River shore
And now Saed is a journalist Reporting from his wheelchair
Though twenty years ago he took six bullets
Which was quite a lot more than his share

Barack Obama
His first name is the last name of an Israeli Prime Minister
His middle name's the last name of Saddam
And his last name's middle syllable
Quite conveniently is bomb
Some people call him Mr. President, some people call him an elitist
Some people call him Mr. Smart Bomb
Some people call him Mr. Drone Strike, some people call him a wanker
Ralph Nader calls him Uncle Tom
But his name's Barack Obama, Barack Obama
Barack Obama, Barack O-bomb-a
Some people say it's wonderful, a black man in the white house
And his kids are awful cute, he's got a feministic spouse
But he's locking up his people, throwing away the key
He could have skin as white as birch or as black as ebony
He's still Barack Obama...
They say he's in his second term now, he can show his true progressive side
He can tax the rich, bring the troops home and fill his base with pride
He can stop the frackers in their tracks, spend money on the schools
He can stop all the evictions
he can free all the whistleblowers
he can triple the minimum wage
he can take away the assault rifles
he can jail corrupt bankers
he can start building windmills
he can shut down the dirty coal plants
he can shut down Guantanamo
he can at least start trying to do these things
Or he can just keep playing us for fools
I'm talking about Barack Obama...

Battle of Blair Mountain

1921 was the year Seems like yesterday to me
Let me tell you about what happened then Back in the mine country
We were fightin' hard to build a union 'Cause at forty cents a ton
There was no way to feed a family When the minin' day was done
The strike had lasted for a year When they shot down Smilin' Sid
He was a lawman who stood up for us miners That's the only crime he ever did
A hundred miners locked up with no trial There in Mingo-town
But the last straw came in Sharples When they gunned the women down
We're marchin' on to Mingo Ten thousand men and countin'
Here in the hills of West Virginia At the Battle of Blair Mountain
We shouted through the hillsides In every union hall
We're marchin' on to Mingo Teach them a lesson, once and all
We commandeered every freight train To the Kentucky line
Took every car that crossed our path And all the guns and ammo we could find
The union leaders tried to stop us Mother Jones told us to turn back
But we had learned ourselves from the gun thugs
There's a time to talk and a time to attack
We had no leader, we didn't need one
We all knew the way through Logan County
And we all knew once we got there
We're gonna hang Sheriff Chapin from a sour apple tree
For three days and nights we fought them The front was ten miles wide
All the cops and scabs in West Virginia Were there on the other side
They dropped explosives from their airplanes Such a thing you never saw
They shot us with machine guns It was the operator's law
We dug trenches and wore helmets That we brought from the Argonne
All the way from France to Logan We fought from dusk to dawn
President Harding sent in the Army And we left our line to them
But the hills of West Virginia Will long remember when

Before the Oil Wells Ran Dry

Were you drinking wine from Argentina Or Indonesian coffee
Did you take some in a plane And go fly across the country
Did you go to work the next week Drive your daily twenty miles
Stop off at Sears to see The latest Chinese styles
When you did these things Did you wonder how or why
In the years before the oil wells ran dry
Were you watching the news Did you wonder when
They'd bomb another country Or start up the draft again
As you tried to stop the war That might decide the planet's fate
Did you stop to question How that food got on your plate
As you stuck your fork Into that slice of pie
When you went back to college To get another PhD
Or you went into the studio To record one more CD
Did it occur to you That your time might be spent better
Digging in the earth Or learning to knit a sweater
Did you prepare for all the changes Or at least pretend to try
When the cars and planes stopped running
And the dollar hit the floor
And the hordes of hungry children
Were knocking on your door
When unemployed men in the streets said
Blame the Arabs for our plight
Did you shout with dirt held high Farmers of the world unite
Did you ride an ox into town
And say join the Green Revolution or die

Behind the Barricades

When the world has gone crazy And it's all becoming clear
When they're gunning down our comrades
And it seems the end is near
As they're loading up the launchers For the tear gas grenades
We can take off our bandanas (for a moment)
And kiss behind the barricades
When it's madness all around You can see this at a glance
We will cry and we will sing
And we will laugh and we will dance
As they shout their marching orders
Beneath the helicopter blades
We will seize the moment For a kiss behind the barricades
They will try to break our spirit And at times they may succeed
But our love for the world Is stronger than their greed
When the building is surrounded And hope begins to fade
In my final hour A kiss behind the barricades
As the movement grows There will be hills and bends
But at the center of the struggle
Are your lovers and your friends
The more we hold each other up The less we can be swayed
Here's to love and solidarity
And a kiss behind the barricades

Berkshire Hills
I was raised in Massachusetts On the farm where I was born
From the time I was a young lad To the fields I was sworn
Before our corn could go to market It was stolen from the mill
And sent to Mother England From here in the Berkshire hills
So when I heard there'd be a rising I put on a uniform
Slept barefoot in the mud Beneath the thunder storms
In war there is no glory Just friends and comrades killed
Shattered lives and broken homes
Then began the nightmare All over once again
The revolution's debtor's prisons
Filled with good upstanding men
We said to hell with King John Adams
Of this farce we'd had our fill
And we set our sights on liberty
Their courts they couldn't function Their judges on the run
Each new day we had our farms Was a victory we'd won
For years we ruled our land Stood our ground until
We made our last stand by Great Barrington
My name is Daniel Shay And I'm speaking to you now
If I fought a revolution Maybe you can tell me how
I was born a poor man And I'm a poor man still
Bury me beneath the hemlock

Berlin
I saw it in a photo It said all I need to know
It's an image that has followed me Wherever I may go
When I stare into your eyes
I can only guess at where you've been
Looking at the skyline of Berlin
The buildings are all shattered As in a silent roar
The streets are all just rubble The year is 1944
I guess I just don't understand This world we live in
When I look into your face I can hear the dying cries
And the sadness of the world Reflected in your deep blue eyes
The picture of a city Flattened like a tin
You can talk about the blitz And all those good people gone
You can claim you were fighting evil
You can ask which side I'm on
But all I see is horror A war only death would win

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

Can't stand the news It's always the same old song
Another corporate scandal Another story of bad gone wrong
Another corporate bailout Another piece of the pie
It's the best democracy money can buy
They rigged the elections And only millionaires can play
And you've got to be cynical You got to look into the camera and say
"I'm serving the public" When you know it's a corporate lie
Yeah there they go Fighting for oil
'Cause there the profits lie Beneath that foreign soil
And they don't know what they'll do When the wells run dry
They're filling the prisons Their latest industry
Which lines their pockets And helps us all be free
'Cause you gotta do something with the unemployed
If they won't move to Shanghai
They're patenting life Selling our genes
They would patent oxygen If they had the means
They'll patent their drugs And some will get you high
But we've got two parties Maybe someday we'll have three
Maybe Tweedledumber Tweedledum and Tweedledee
But one thing's fairly certain It won't be you or I
And when it's finished And they've finally achieved
The most corporate dollar-ocracy That could ever be believed
The Martians will come to visit our graves
And when they go back to the sky

Bevar Christiania (2 pages)

In '67 it was abandoned as a military base
In 1971 it was squatted
Folks needed some land to implement their plans
And make the new society they had plotted
Some moved into barracks, some built little shacks
Of all sorts of dubious design
Some built cafes and workshops, built windmills, planted crops
Painted things the color of sunshine
Folks came for the ride, from up and down, far and wide
To find out just what was going down
From Jutland and from Greenland, India and Holland
Everybody came to Kobenhavn
An opera, a jazz club, a sauna and a hot tub
A Pusher Street where you could get your hash
The best falafel in town, beer to wash it down
Lots of space to eat and drink and smoke your stash
Bevar Christiania May Christiania always be
Bevar Christiania May the Free State remain free
It became the center of tourism in Denmark
Christiania was the very place to go
Folks came to see the house, to wander by the water
And to watch the hippies grow
The state left it alone or at least that's how it was
Before the Left Party was elected by the Right
They said Christiania should be "normalized," broken up and
capitalized
They said this massive hippie commune is a blight

The cops developed a new beat right there on Pusher Strreet

Then came one day to bulldoze someone's shack
Several dozen women and men built the house again
And by the morning the place was back
Now it's been some time and to stop communal crime
The government is at it now some more
All that they can say is these hippies have to pay
And they say they're gonna raze it to the floor
The powers that be just can't stand to see
This example of a world without cops
Overwhelmed by what they saw, life with the Common Law
It's too much for them, they want to see it stop
They cut Ungdomshuset short, but the Free State's got support
From young and old, here and everywhere
The rulers may not know, but they'll reap the seeds they sow
And soon they'll have a million communards shouting in the air

Beyond the Mall

There are places Where there are hills
They're not just called hills, they're really hills
There are places Where there are forests
Not like "Twelve Pines," but really forests
There are places where the birds sing And you can hear the eagle call
I know they're out there Somewhere beyond the mall
There are places Where there are rivers
Not surrounded by concrete, but living rivers
With fish in them And frogs and little tadpoles
With ducks and deer drinking by the sinkholes
There are places far away The trees turn colors in the fall
There are places You can see the sky
Not neon signs and billboards, but just the sky
There are places with dirt on the ground
Without the miles of asphalt, not a car around
Where on and in the soil Good little critters crawl
There are places like that And things don't have to be like this
I mean not just cosmetic changes Things really don't have to be like this
There are places where people know their neighborhood
Where people live there And they think that life is good
There are places like that Somewhere on this spinning ball
There are places That I know I've gotta find
Otherwise I will undoubtedly lose my mind
Otherwise I'll end up just like you
On Ritalin or Prozac or whatever things you do
I'm going where the water is blue And the trees are oh so tall

The Biggest Windmill

It was in the 1970's, the fuel crisis had begun
The choices were presented to us as if we had none
Leaders of industry said they could solve the problem
By mastering the power of the radioactive atom
Some folks in western Jutland got a notion in their heads
They thought there might be something they could offer up instead
A few hundred people gathered in a little place called Tvind
And declared their will to harness the power of the wind
We're gonna build the biggest windmill in the world
There were many who said their science wasn't sound
That such a mighty windmill would simply topple to the ground
Some of them were scientists, the vast majority were not
But they knew with years of effort you could do a lot
Word about the project spread far and wide
A hundred thousand visitors came to help and to advise
Until one day these windmill builders drove in with a crane
And lifted up their giant wings with a mighty chain
When Tvindkraft was completed it reached up to the sky
Its wings churned in the air at 54 meters high
The critics all fell silent, no one now was jeering
As even industry agreed this was some damn fine engineering
The wind regaled Jutland from the north Atlantic sea
As it was seamlessly converted into electricity
It was power for the people, leukemia for none
When they declared in Denmark just south of the midnight sun
They gave away the patents, they said knowledge should be free
And their plans were copied by a new-born industry
Soon Denmark would be known as the windmill-building nation
And it all started with some hippies at the Tvindkraft power station
Debates were held in parliament about which way things should go
Build a nuclear reactor, the majority said no
It could have gone quite differently -- in much of the world it did
Except for those in Ulfborg who said we're getting off the grid

Black Flag Flying

Come all you sailors near and far You honest men know who you are
All of you who'd dare be free Combine with us upon the sea
Together we will drink a toast Ride the wind on down the coast
See the merchant ship to board Raise a jar and swing a sword
Watch to see the merchant captain crying
When he sees the black flag flying
The war with Spain is over now No more Jack over the bow
We fight for no one but our class We're gonna kick some captain's ass
All you who'd live before you die Come give an honest life a try
Sail beneath the skull and bones Pay no heed to crowns and thrones
No more greedy princes lying
No more whips and no more chains To live free or die is what remains
If life is too short either way You might as well live free today
All for one and one for all We'll board the ship and make the call
Join us, all you good men And have your liberty again
Watch the crew now leave their captain frying
Here's to Fly and Roberts, brave and true And Mary Kelly's gallant crew
It seems to me the world is ours Watch as the mighty Navy cowers
We have no nation but the sea No creed but that we will live free
We'll loot and burn all that we can That's run by a dishonest man
Their end is near and there is no denying
If I could predict the future then I would But all I know is this is good
1720 is the year And there is nothing left to fear
We may live or we may die Perhaps our destiny is nigh
I don't know what the future may hold
But I know these ships are filled with gold
That was stolen from the poor as we lay dying

Bomb Ourselves
The President got on TV and there was nary a dry eye, he said he loved his country
and mom and apple pie
He said he was a proud man and he liked his home fries grilled, and as for countries
harboring terrorists, those people should be killed
He said we'd send our bombers to deal with rogue states and all those evil people
would have to meet their fates
So it was with some trepidation that I looked up to the skies, 'cause I was driving
past Fort Benning when I came to realize
That I guess we're gonna have to bomb Columbus, Georgia, home of the infamous
SOA
'Cause they train the death squads of Colombia who commit a massacre every day
Civilians are their targets, folks just like you and me
I guess that makes them terrorists, any idiot must agree
And I was heading further south for a vacation to spend some time hanging on the
beach
Soaking up some sun and playing volleyball with all my troubles out of reach
And then I saw Brothers to the Rescue flying in the clouds above my head
And I thought this trip might not be too restful if tomorrow I am dead
'Cause I guess we're gonna have to bomb Miami, with all those insurgents running
loose
Killing Cubans at the Bay of Pigs and elsewhere, they say they've got some kind of
excuse
But isn't terror terror irregardless if your victim is a fan of Karl Marx
So let's bring on the cluster bombs and napalm, kill off some people, fish and sharks
Well I thought I would head north, go someplace where I might feel safe
These thoughts all seemed a bit unsettling, I was feeling a bit like a lost waif
It was then I thought I'd move to Costa Rica, though such a thing seemed terribly
uncouth
Because I suddenly realized with horror, the terrifying clear and present truth
I guess we're gonna have to bomb Washington, DC, 'cause terrorists are lurking all
around
Sending soldiers, guns and money wherever death squads and dictators may be
found
So let's appreciate the situation, take your Orwell off the shelves
If we are to listen to our President then we're going to have to bomb ourselves

Bonobo Song
There are lots of different monkeys on this lovely planet Earth
There are long ones, there are little ones, there are monkeys wide of girth
There are monkeys that live in trees and those that live in mountain streams
There are those that soak in hot springs, getting lost in their day dreams
But then there are the monkeys who live the way I'd like to do
And I want to be a bonobo with you
There are monkeys who solve problems by forming gangs and swinging
sticks
Where the biggest, meanest male is the one the girl picks
But then there are the monkeys who never find the need to fight
Who find time only for affection and the occasional love bite
Those are the monkeys who live the way I want to do
And I want to be a bonobo with you
Bonobos wake up in the morning, greet each other with a kiss
Gather berries, make love and pursue a life of monkey bliss
They only greet a stranger in the most welcoming way
In every combination, that's how they meet the day
Those are the monkeys who live the way I want to do
And I want to be a bonobo with you

Brad
I remember when we met Surrounded by police
It was the one block in the city Where protest was allowed
And they were there to keep the peace
You said hey my name is Brad
And I think we surely will Mess up these meetings
These jokers will remember us In this city on the hill
Id see you at the rallies Guitar on your knee
The calm inside the storm From Prague to San Francisco
Miami to DC We traveled on the same roads
You were everywhere With a smile on your face
In the redwood forests Or the streets of Tompkins Square
Ill go down to the water And with the morning dew
I will watch the sun rise And Ill smoke this joint for you
I can see you on a bicycle Reclaiming the street
Digging up the asphalt To plant a bandit garden
And grow some food to eat I got an email from Quito
You said youve got to see this place Everyone is rising up
Come and see the future Of this lovely human race
The last time that I saw you It was in New York town
Sitting on a rooftop Talking about relationships
And how to live them down I heard you went down to Oaxaca
To join the battle that was there I saw your picture in the paper
With a bullet in your chest In your eyes a distant stare

Breivik (2 pages)
They say he acted alone for a Europe white and free
A sick and twisted man from an otherwise sane society
The image of Aryan blond, almost iridescent
With a manifesto quoting from the Crusades to the present
But he stood on many shoulders, of this we can be sure
A millenia of xenophobes who slaughter to be pure
Since before the First Crusade, when a mighty Christian band
Hacked and stabbed and burned their way to the Holy Land
They say he acted alone but in his mind he was another
Of those who came before him, his mighty Christian brothers
Who rode, covered in armor, and served their masters well
They vowed to chastity, they vowed to kill the infidel
They marauded west and east in the name of Christendom
They killed Jews, pagans, Muslims, fellow Christians by the thousand
In the name of Jesus, from the Jordan to the Rhine
The red cross on their chest plates, their terrifying sign
In the shadow of the Knights Templar
They say he acted alone, no one said this of the Pope
Whose victims were left burning or hanging from a rope
The Lord's own Inquisition for six centuries
The ethnic cleansing of a continent, a Christian tyranny
European Jews and European Muslims
Fled the Christian Caliphate to be protected by the Sultan
For five hundred years they prospered beneath the Turkish sky
For those left behind: convert or die
They say he acted alone but he's living in a country
Where the xenophobic right is the second-biggest party
And he's living on a continent that is over-run
With Prime Ministers who tell us multiculturalism is done
They talk of their traditions, they swell with Christian pride
For their civilization built on holocaust and genocide
Anders Breivik pulled the trigger but he didn't write the play
That script was being written a thousand years ago today

They say he acted alone and they want us to believe

That moderating rhetoric is the best we can achieve
but moderating rhetoric will bring us nowhere near
To the understanding that the problem is right here
European empires, European greed
European Christians, poison European seeds
European racists running European states
European tolerance for European hate

Burn It Down
Rodney Coronado was arrested for a speech
That he gave one evening by the San Diego beach
He stated his opinions, they sounded just like mine
And now they want to put him behind bars til 2029
The prosecutor said the problem was the speech it showed intent
I couldnt figure out exactly what he meant
You cant describe an action and say you thought that it was swell
So whatll happen when we sing this, who the heck can tell
We dont like the condo* and were gonna burn it down
Corporate terrorists, drive them out of town
Well bring a lot of gasoline, pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer and run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, were going to burn it down
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down
Now if you just sang that chorus then you just broke the law
To be an eco-terrorist now you just gotta flap your jaw
And hey who knows by the time you have a chance to blink
Whether youre a criminal might depend on what you think
Now they come for Rod, maybe next they come for you
And Ill tell you what I think all of us should do
Sing this song with me, raise your fist and caterwaul
If we fight together they cant arrest us all

Butcher For Hire

If you wanna have a protest in the USA
You wanna speak your mind in the American Way
If there are some rich white men with whom you disagree
And thought you have the right of assembly
There's a man that you should know
'Cause he will follow you wherever you go
John Timoney, butcher for hire
He's a brutal thug and a dirty liar
He's a cop among cops, a man among men
And, oh my God, he's back again
And he'll protect our freedom in his own special way
By smashing in your face today He'll spray tear gas in your eyes
He'll look into the camera and tell lies
And if you complain the deal is raw He will declare martial law
He'll ban dancing, he'll ban art He'll ban medics on go-carts
He'll ban meetings, he'll ban signs He'll ban circles, he'll ban lines
He'll stand up upon his throne
And say "go back to your free speech zone"
But someday he'll meet his end
He's already half-way round the bend
He'll take stock of what he's done
Stare at the notches on his gun
He'll look into the mirror and at his poor wife
And say, "Oh my God -- I've been a scumbag my whole life"

By the Time They Nuke DC

I want to write this song Because it should be written now
And these thoughts should be between us
As far ahead as time will allow
For once the suitcase has exploded In this country some call free
Thoughts like these might not be tolerated
By the time they nuke DC
By the time they nuke DC Will it be too late to wonder
If there might have been another path
Than that of rape and plunder
When the mushroom cloud is rising And it's all revenge and unity
Who will ask these questions
By the time they nuke DC And there are millions lying dead
From the radioactive wasteland Will more angry words be said
Who will recall the empire The years of global tyranny
The millions slaughtered by our bombers
By the time they nuke DC Will it be too late
To stop this vicious cycle And turn around the planet's fate
If this eye for an eye continues Will we have security
And will anyone believe that
By the time they nuke DC Will the rulers think again
Before they push the button To kill a billion women and men
Must we wait to find out Or might we change history
Will we stop the madness

Cannabis Cafe
I wish I was up in Vancouver
At the Cannabis Cafe
Smoking good old sensemelia
At the beginning of the day
But here I am in New York City
Hiding out in Central Park
Getting kidnapped by the police
Today sometime before dark
The judge looked down upon me, frowing
He said, "kid, get on your way
"Just don't start out your morning
"With espresso and a j"
I hitched a ride out to Portland
Caught one up to B.C.
Took a bus over to Hastings Street
To have a bowl with my coffee

Children of Jerusalem
Did you see them praying And the Army marching in
As they clubbed old women Did you see the general grin
Watch the stones fly And the snipers taking aim
On Shatila's birthday It's a calculated game
They're gunning down the children of Jerusalem
Did you hear the screaming See the horror on his face
As he hid for cover In a tiny, unprotected space
Did you hear his father pleading "There is a child here"
Trying to protect his son Who yelled in terror and in fear
Did you feel the wind blow From the helicopter blades
Did you smell the tear gas See the demolition raids
Did you see the rockets And the dum-dum bullets fly
Did you feel the horror To watch one more young boy die
Did you see the roadblocks Letting nobody go past
Watch the blood flow As time is running fast
See someone's brother Taking his last breath
So close to the hospital But closer still to death
Did you hear the fatcats Say "It's not what it appears
"It's an armed uprising "A realization of our fears
"Do you hear them chanting "That this is their homeland
"They want what's ours "And we've got to make a stand
Some want power And it seems the world's theirs to give
Some just want peace And a decent place to live
Some talk of destiny And what their God has willed
And a mother weeps That her nine-year-old's been killed

Comets of Kandahar
The Twin Towers came down in 2001
Bush said Bin Laden must pay for what he'd done
The Taleban offered to turn him over to a court
But the USA said to them we'll have nothing short
Of an invasion of your country by imperial command
We'll bomb your villages, steal your land
Your children can cower in fear just before they die
As the comets of Kandahar are streaming through the sky
We'll overthrow your government and put there in its place
A kleptocratic oil man, a national disgrace
Who can bleed your country dry, make sure your people pay
While we kill innocent civilians every single day
With missile strikes from above the clouds, an F-33
And we'll call it liberation, we'll call it democracy
We'll send the death squads out to kill you if you dare to
question why
And as your nation crumbles, as the rubble turns to dust
As the Russian tanks and helicopters blacken with the rust
As the children die and their parents take up arms
To defend their dignity, their religion, their cities and their
farms
Canadian crusaders will meet the fate of ages
Facing men who say of them as the battle rages
If I had a rocket launcher some son of a bitch would die

The Commons
First you told us only through you could we know God
And if we dared to question then He wouldn't spare the rod
For you we worked the soil, for you we dug the moors
For you we shed our blood and fought so many pointless wars
And now you build your fences and say there's nothing we can do
You say the world around us belongs fairly to the few
But about six billion people no doubt will agree
This world is our home, not your property
It's the commons, our right of birth
And to you who would enclose the land* all around the Earth
Our future is your downfall, when we cut this ball and chain
You who'd sacrifice the public good for your private gain
With our sweat we built the railroads, built cities on these shores
But because you own the money you say that it's all yours
We laid the phone lines and the pipelines and then right before our eyes
You say these things our taxes paid for you now will privatize
Privatize the hospitals, privatize the schools
Privatize the prisons for all those who break your rules
And preparing for the day when all the wells run dry
You say you own the very rain that falls down from the sky
You claim to own the harvest with your terminator seeds
You claim to own the genomes of every animal that breeds
You claim to own our culture and the music that we play
And with every song we download to your coffers we must pay
You would even own my name and you say it's for the best
Maybe you'll let us on your radio stations if our songs can pass your test
You own country, you own western, you say you've given us a choice
You may own the airwaves but you'll never own my voice

Contras, Kings and Generals

Missiles flying in the Third World
Towards a people stranded on their knees
Bombs falling over Baghdad
Killing children who are starving by degrees
There are those of us who'd question
What's the goal and what's the cost
One million dead, malnourished children
A U.N.-sanctioned holocaust
Missiles flying in the Third World From Hanoi to Wounded Knee
Bombs falling over Baghdad And each one shouts, democracy
Contras, kings and generals Brandish stars and stripes
From Rangoon to Los Angeles Selling oil, guns and crack pipes
Missiles flying in the Third World And each one will kill a child
Bombs falling over Baghdad And hunger and death is running wild
We had to destroy the village In order to save it
To help this jungle grow First we had to pave it
Missiles flying in the Third World But fits and starts are everywhere
From the mountains of Chiapas To the streets of Central Square
Empires fall This one will, too
So here's to the day When this one is through

I am a fisherman, so were my parents

Cordova
Here in Cordova on Prince William Sound
I'm not a treehugger but I love the mountains
And hauling in the gill net with the ocean all around
Life was good here, you could raise a family
With a hundred thousand tons of Herring sent out every year
1989, the tanker grounded
Nothing has ever been the same around here
Senator Stephens said not one drop Of oil would spill on Alaska's shores
And if it happened it would be cleaned up
But our beaches were still covered, as was the ocean floor
Four years passed, each run collapsed
It was then we knew for sure the Herring weren't coming back
Exxon's promises of compensation
Were about as empty as a used up paper sack
It was August 20th, 1993
When we fishermen decided something must be done
We packed some groceries, we made some banners
We headed out to Valdez Narrows beneath the midnight sun
One hundred vessels took to the water
Pushed through a storm and to the Valdez sea
We lined up our boats, formed a blockade
And waited for whatever might be
A tanker was approaching
It was a sight to see there in the twilight of the day
We saw it turning and we all cheered and cried
As tanker after tanker after tanker turned away
A Coast Guard gunship from Seattle
Would take three days to get up to the sound
We held the line til then, then we went back
Home to Cordova, to this hallowed, oiled ground

Corporations Are People, Too

A corporation doesn't have to feed a familyA corporation cannot be unemployed
A corporation can't get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Heart disease, brain tumors or hemroids
A corporation is set up with one motive And that is not to judge what's right or fair
A corporation's only goal is making money That's why a corporation doesn't care
A corporation can never sense the breeze upon its skin
Never know what it's like to miss a meal
A corporation doesn't have to worry Because a corporation cannot feel
A corporation can never know the beauty
It cannot wake up in a grove of ancient trees
It only sees a hundred thousand dollars And some mill jobs it can ship out overseas
A corporation can't care for a child Sickened by a toxic oil spill
A corporation only stands to profit From interest on the loan for the hospital bill
A corporation never goes to funerals Of any victims who may die along the way
A corporation cannot feel remorse A corporation never really has to pay
A corporation doesn't have a mouth But it often has many a mouthpiece
A corporation cannot shoot a gun But it can employ an army of police
A corporation can never go to prison No matter how horrible the crime
But a corporation can send lobbyists to Congress
To make sure more of us are doing time
A corporation doesn't feel the pain Of a child raised by a TV set
And the corporations will just get bailed out
If their clients fall too deeply into debt
Corporations can't be rounded up and shot
A corporation can't be tortured through the night
A corporation can't be blown up by an IED A corporation cannot ever see the sight
A corporation can't be killed by a tsunami
A corporation cannot drown beneath the tide
A corporation doesn't care who wins the war
If they can just sell weapons to both sides A corporation exists only to make money
A corporation never questions why A corporation doesn't suffer consequences
Because a corporation doesn't live and doesn't die

Crashing Down
It can happen in a moment And sometimes it does
When what could be is And what shouldn't be was
There are times When you gotta stand steady
There are other times When you gotta be ready
The window can open Seems so wide but
You can never tell When it's gonna slam shut
One day you're a target On the firing ranges
The next day all of a sudden Everything changes
When it all, when it all, when it all,
when it all comes crashing down
So easy to feel Like you're standing still
Then the scene is revealed And you're on top of the hill
At that point you know You can let it go by
Or spread your wings And take to the sky
When what you know May all be true
But sometimes all that's real Is what you do
Some moments are coming Others have came
And then there are those When you've just gotta take aim

Deadhead in Prison
It was all about living And the good folks of the earth
It was all about loving This crazy accident of birth
It was all about traveling And hearing those shoe-bells ring
It was all about dancing And hearing the fat man sing
And it's like a bad trip in hell
Stranded and broke
Twenty years in this cell
It's like a life up in smoke
Once I sought vision With a sweet gypsy tribe
It was about feeling The pulse of a vibe
And sure I smoked kind bud Did windowpane
And soaked up the beauty Of the warm summer rain
I slept in the shadows Of Golden Gate Park
Watched the moon shine Felt the breeze in the dark
The whole world was mine But I lived for a song
Now I'm caged in this cell And the good days are gone
And I never hurt no one Never did harm
Wouldn't want to cause Any undue alarm
I used to believe In karma and fate
And it scares me to wonder If there's no time to hate

The Death of David Chain

Tom Brokaw got on TV And repeated the Big Lie
See the mill all boarded up Hear the sympathetic sigh
He summed it up succinctly With these vicious words
"It's your paycheck or your planet The loggers or the birds"
Pete Wilson and his cronies Were nowhere to be found
They said "Big Timber is our business
And to the dollar we are bound"
Their absence was a message "We'll turn a blinded eye
Don't expect us to give a damn If anyone should die"
Charles Hurwitz told the nation "The battle lines are drawn
These eco-terrorists won't stop 'Til all your jobs are gone"
The PR team worked overtime To build up every wall
"These bomb-throwers and tree-spikers Just want to kill you all"
A man stood with a chainsaw Knowing only what he knew
Every lesson that he learned Said it's either me or you
His saw lanced through the redwood Many hateful words were said
And several seconds later David Chain was lying dead
Some will call this man a killer Some will call this man a thug
Some will cover it with lies And sweep it 'neath the rug
But from Oakland to Fortuna Sacramento to D.C.
There is murder in the air And there are killers running free

The Death of Rachel Corrie

When she sat down in the dirt In front of your machine
A lovely woman dressed in orange You in military green
If you had met her in Jerusalem You might have asked her on a date
But here you were in Gaza Rolling towards the gate
As your foot went to the floor Did you recall her eyes
Did her gaze remind you That you've become what you despise
As you rolled on towards this woman
And ignored all the shouts to stop
Did you feel a shred of doubt As you watched her body drop
And as your Caterpillar tracks Upon her body pressed
With twenty tons of deadly force Crushed the bones within her chest
Could you feel the contours of her face As you took her life away
Did you serve your country well On that cool spring day
And when you went back across the Green Line
Back to the open shore
Did you think that this was just another day In a dirty war
And when you looked out on the water Did you feel an empty void
Or was it just one more life you've taken
One more home destroyed

Democrats Make Me Wanna Vomit

Wilson said he was an isolationist
And he would not send our young men off to die
But as soon as he won the race for president
That turned out to be just another lie
Truman said he wouldn't kill civilians
And he didn't want to hurt nobody's mom
But as soon as he had the opportunity
He went and dropped the fucking atom bomb
Kennedy, he said he was a man of peace But with the battle plan unfurled
He sent the US Navy to the Cuban shore
And then he just about blew up the world
Democrats make me wanna vomit Liberals make me wanna hack
They love to talk like they are friends of you and me
And then every time they stab us in the back
Every time they stab us in the back
Then there is that guy we knew as LBJ He was the one for great society
He sent his Air Force down to blow up Vietnam
To make sure that those folks were good and free
Jimmy was the one who talked of human rights
Human rights for everybody, ha ha ha
He was opposed to dictatorship and torture
That's why he loved Suharto and the Shah
Bill was from a little town in Arkansas He was just another Joe
That's why when all the people said don't do it
He went and signed the WTO
Some people might think I'm cynical And I don't know why that would be
So even though they voted for the war
Now I'm going for Barack and Hilary

The Draft Is Coming

The draft is coming It's blowing down the door
So pack your bags, boys and girls We're all going off to war
You can be the next to die for Halliburton
Pull the cord, drape the flag and draw the curtain
You can pull the trigger for the Exxon Corporation
Watch the cities burn around you while you're standing at your station
You can shoot the children as they throw stones at your Humvee
And you can die for Kerry or maybe for Dick Cheney
When your tours are over and you come back
Maybe you can go to college if you survive Iraq
With DU dust in your lungs you can learn a trade
In your dying years you'll have it made
And when you're coughing up your last breath beneath the overpass
You'll be praying for the fortunes of the military brass
But you can be happy about the cause for which you died
At least you fought for freedom unlike the other side
They were setting off car bombs while you dropped them from the sky
You sold the country off to whatever company would buy
Shut their papers down and shot them for their liberty
So as you die you know you left the world a bit more free
Yes you can die for oil and watch history repeat
Fight for empire in the desert and go down in defeat
Or maybe it could happen that now in the second round
We will take the struggle higher and this time hear the sound
Of the chimes of freedom ringing when we take Washington, DC
'Cause opportunity is knocking, oh say, can you see

Drink of the Death Squads

Coca-Cola came to Colombia Seeking lower wages
They got just what they came for But as we turn the pages
We find the workers didn't like the sound
Of their children's hungry cries
So they said we'll join the union And they began to organize
So Coke called up a terrorist group Called the AUC
They said "we've got some problems At the factory"
So these thugs went to the plant Killed two union men
Told the rest, "you leave the union Or we'll be back again"
Now Coke did not complain About this dirty deed
Why give workers higher wages When Coke is all they really need
They phoned the AUC Said "thanks, without you we'd go broke
And to show our appreciation Here's one hundred cases of Coke"
The baby drinks it in his bottle When the water ain't no good
The dog drinks it But he don't know if he should
Some folks say It's the nectar of the Gods
But Coke is the drink of the Death Squads
Well the workers wouldn't take This situation lying down
Some went up to Georgia Said "look what's happened to our town
You American workers got downsized And as for us we just get shot
And those of us who survive Our teeth begin to rot"
Well now that's the situation What are you gonna do
'Cause death squads run Colombia And they're paid by me and you
We can let Coke run the world And see what future that will bring
Or we can drink juice and smash the state Now that's the real thing

DU
My name is Mikhaelo I like to play with shiny toys
I'm just a child Like other little boys
What's leukemia Won't somebody tell
Is it as pretty As this little bullet shell
My name is Hanan I'll be dead within a year
But if I could speak And if somehow you could hear
I'd ask some questions Maybe some that you could answer
Like what's uranium And why was I born with cancer
I'm Juanita For me, life's been short and strange
Born with no arms Here beside the bombing range
They call it DU The stuff that made my life this way
And my parents were arrested At the protest yesterday
I have no name On this military base
Born and died here A child without a face
To serve his country My father went off to war
And it followed him home Back to the Mississippi shore
I am your baby The poisoned children of the earth
And I will haunt you Wherever you give birth
In the war zones Whichever side you're on
Because the dust is never settled Once the battle's dead and gone
Yes, I'm the future Of a planet on it's knees
Radiation Sickness and disease
I'm all the armies I'm the life that couldn't be
And when you see another baby Think of me
When you see another baby Think of me

The Dying Firefighter

I saw the plane hit the building The flames and the billowing smoke
I saw the glass, paper, metal and stone Everything shattered and broke
I was there with my people Engine Company 24
We rushed into the building Got as far as the 35th floor
The black smoke and the heat was like nothing
I'd seen in all of my years
With each step in that blazing inferno You could feel destiny near
In the midst of the falling girders
The sheet rock and God knows what else
I tried to find the survivors Those who made it to the stairwells
I carried the wounded to safety If that's what you might call the street
With bodies and boulders and metal All crashing down by your feet
As #2 was collapsing When only ten floors still stood
Everything was falling around me
Like it was made out of cardboard and wood
It was just then I heard someone Trapped underneath the debris
I started pulling at something And that's when the fire got me
I was pinned 'neath the rubble And the flames were licking my coat
And the pain, the unbearable agony And then that was all that she wrote
But I just wish I could tell you Before I am taken away
That I've seen a lot of this world And there's something that I gotta say
I don't believe in politics I believe in the human race
I believe in the goodness of people In New York or some far-away place
I believe in my daughter And I believe in my wife
And may nobody's father be taken To avenge the loss of my life
People may call me a brave man And this may very well be
But the firefighters of Kabul Are just as brave men as me

East Tennessee
I grew up on this mountain Came back here to dwell
Maybe have a family Plant some corn and dig a well
I was all done with the Army Back from Vietnam
Where I learned how to shoot a rifle And how to set a bomb
I grew up on this mountain It's in my very soul
So when the company moved next door
Started digging for the coal
Tearing up the mountain With drillers and draglines
I knew then what needed To happen to those mines
10, 9, 8 Sometimes that's just how it goes
3, 2, 1 Get out before it blows
The guard, he was sleeping On duty thru the night
I stepped gently on the ground And stayed well out of sight
I tied sticks to the equipment Switched the timer on
Then I knew that in ten seconds These dozers would be gone
I had to leave the mountain I headed to the west
The cops were on my trail And I figured it was best
And I figured I did my small part To make the world free
In my humble manner In East Tennessee

Egyptian Rag
People are mysterious, they have many mysterious ways
For four thousand years in Egypt, when someone reached the end of their days
They'd be carried out to the desert, preserved in an oily broth
And they'd be buried beneath the ground wrapped in twenty pounds of cloth
And they called it Egyptian Rag
People are mysterious, some mysteries last a while
With half a billion people buried in the sands beyond the Nile
So when the British came to build a railway connecting west to east
With every trench they dug, they unearthed the deceased
Wrapped up in Egyptian Rag
People are mysterious, like one wealthy man in Maine
Who heard about these mummies discovered as the British built their train
He formed a corporation to make good use of this find
He sent steam ships across the water where there were graveyards to be mined
Filled with Egyptian Rag
People are mysterious, where there is money to be made
By turning linen into paper in the body-snatching trade
The boats were sent across the sea for fifty years or more
Shipping cargo over to the New England shore
Filled with Egyptian Rag
People are mysterious, and in the paper mills they thought
There was something strange about these tons of cloth they were brought
For they'd throw it on the floor and wonder at what they were seeing
As the linen sprang into the shape of a human being
And they called it Egyptian Rag
People are mysterious, and we may never know
All the many consequences of what we reap and what we sow
But next time you hold a book printed in the nineteenth century
If you believe there is a God, perhaps you want to pray for mercy
For what they once called Egyptian Rag

Election
The candidates lined up in a row
Turn on the cameras, time to start the show
They kissed babies with a tie Tried every soundbite that might fly
But be they congressmen or preachers The only ones who made the features
Were those who knew their station Is that a man or a corporation?
And each spineless spam who won that round
Went on to the big buck battleground
They bought some ads and they bought some more
And they got freebies by the score
Hired thugs went door to door Especially if you're black or poor
Said your vote might be against the law Don't tell me the deal is raw
And we had an election, it ain't no lie
It was the best one money could buy
The news reported every word Uttered by these two old birds
As if their tongues were heaven-sent They didn't tell us what was meant
No voting record to analyze And watch as they feign surprise
When history proves to us again The thieving crooks who are these men
And on the TV not a word From those dirty commie peacenik nerds
There will be debates, slogans will fly But only rich men need apply
There's only room up there for two Tweedledee and tweedledoo
Uncounted ballots will litter the floor In this banana Republican class war
And when it all is said and done The pundits will say democracy won
Some will cry into their socks Some will sit and watch more Fox
Where scandals, wars and desperation
Are all the fault of the United Nations
While those who drill the oil and make the tanks
Laugh out loud all the way to the bank

Evening News
The cities are full of criminals And all of them are Black
They'll shoot you for your shoes Or to get a little crack
But the police are protecting us Locking up these thugs
Making us all safer By being tough on drugs
There was a truck bomb in Baghdad Blew up the UN
These fanatics do not have a care For innocent women and men
They don't like civilization It's just destruction that they crave
There is no rhyme or reason For the way that they behave
It's hard to believe But I know it's true
I saw it on the evening news
There's a war on in Colombia And it's all about cocaine
And the FARC is running drugs From Mexico to Maine
It's an ugly situation But soon it will be whipped
We just need to send along More helicopter gunships
There was a suicide bomber in Jerusalem Blew himself up on a bus
He was a funny-looking Muslim Not like one of us
He didn't like the Jews And he says that God is great
Don't know what his problem is He's just so full of hate
Evil men are plotting To blow up Washington, DC
'Cause they don't like freedom And democracy
They're fans of the Dark Ages They are all around
They're marching from the desert sand And coming to your town

Every Minute of the Day

i could be holding you all morning
and still holding you at noon
i can hope the day is coming
i can hope its coming soon
i can fantasize affection
keep dreaming it all night
because the truth is I don't tire
being squeezed with all your might
every minute of the day
every minute of the day
outside the sky is falling
it can keep falling as it may
but wether the sun is shining
or the clouds are wet and grey
there's a blanket on the bed
there's a flower in your hair
truth is i won't complain
if we just stay right there
there's lots of work to do in texas
that's true all around
but sometimes we just must realize
to this bedpost we are bound
there are things that need to be discovered
they must be heard and felt and seen
some will look to outside
but i'll look in between

Everything Can Change

First you have to have a problem
That part isn't hard
The second step is everybody realizing
They're like you -- they're holding the same card
Step three is finding there's a tactic
When everyone believes it could be true
That if all the people work collectively
There just might be something we can do
Everything can change so quick
The Congressmen and businessmen and TV sets
Will try hard to make sure it isn't so
"You don't have a problem and if you do it's not the SAME problem
"And if it is, well, there's just nowhere you can go"
But it's happened many times, the history is rich
Though we easily forget
How a meme can take hold and grab you
How it can spread out like a net
They'll say that we are lost, or we're dreaming
Or they'll make a dream for us
They'll try to come up with a good story, a convincing narrative
About why we belong at the back of the bus
About why we belong in this position
About how we don't know what we meant
About how there most certainly isn't any such thing
As the 99%

Everything Looks the Same

I'm just driving down this highway Past a shopping mall
I see billboard after billboard Hear the advertiser's call
I see cars and I hear cars and I smell cars All just like mine
I see a world covered with asphalt You're in parking lot G9
It's just sprawling on forever It doesn't even have a name
It's the land where everything looks the same
See the signs rise high above us Flashing day and night
Verizon Wireless, Holiday Inn Coca-Cola Lite
There once was grass here, maybe forest But none of that's here now
It's just product after product As much as time and space allows
Am I in Tennessee or Texas Baltimore or Burlingame
Ancient forests, family farmers Or the commons, heart of town
Does it make money, that's the question
If it don't we'll knock it down
There's not a bicycle for miles Not a soul in sight
That can't be seen behind a wheel A few feet from the headlights
I don't know my neighbors And I feel ashamed
If you don't like the Wal-Mart Take these drugs and you'll feel OK
Now go sit behind the register And pass your life away
Eat these burgers from the factory And if you should get fat
Just give us some more money And we've got some drugs for that
In this nation of individuals Is there one that we can blame
As I'm driving past the clearcut With the brand new multi-cinema
And the massive mural praising The latest enema
I think of moving eastward Maybe Gant or Amsterdam
Far from Ronald McDonald And his greedy Uncle Sam
Where life looks more like life And not some cardboard money game

The Face of Victory

I lost my job and joined the army To get an education
And I most surely did Wanted to have some kinda steady job
Lead a decent life Support me and my wife and kid
First I was based in Texas Then it was off to Germany
Then they sent us to Iraq So many ruined buildings
So many burned up bodies Twisted railroad track
We were sent off to Falluja Told to keep the peace
Amidst such hunger and despair I was just nineteen
I didnt have a clue What we were doing there
Now they say the war is over And Im back at home
Here in the land of the free And youre looking at the face of victory
Patrolling thru Falluja Driving on the rubble
Shattered pavement and shattered glass They sent us on the search for weapons
We looked in every basement Never found a single barrel of gas
And when we saw the cities looted While we watched the oil pipelines
It all began to seem so clear We were fighting for Exxon
And dying for Chevron Thats what we were doing here
They told us wed be welcomed As troops of liberation
And once again they lied We got shot at every day
Everywhere we went A bunch of my buddies died
A rocket launcher hit my tank Started up a fire
Blew my legs right off of me And now youre looking at the face of victory
They sent me back to Michigan Put some plastic on my stumps
Sent me on my way And now I roll on down the city streets
Looking at the people While they turn their eyes away
Down at the Burren They were talking about the government
And how its all a ruse And I get a little madder
Every time I see the president Smirking on the evening news
And I think of how they duped me And so many more good people
And I think of the price we paid The rich keep getting richer
And the bastards are already scheming About the next nation they want us to invade
And I just keep on thinking About this situation
I think of Oklahoma City Yeah, youre looking at the face of victory

Falluja
Maybe you'll hear about me When you watch the evening news
So I write this letter for you, my friends
The truth then you may choose
I had a good time at Oxford And the world I did roam
When my studies were finished Then I went back home
All I wanted were good things Land and liberty
And all the sorts of things we learned At the university
I'm not a fan of dictatorships I'd rather say live and let live
But for those who would threaten my family
There's nothing I won't give
I will fight for my country I'll defend this land
I will stare at the whites of your soldiers' eyes
With this Kalashnikov in my hand With this Kalashnikov in my hand
When you break down the doors of my neighbors
When you say that might makes right
When you say you're looking for terrorists
In their bedroom late at night
When you torture my brother at gunpoint On his head a canvass sack
All I can say to you, soldier Is you'd best watch your back
When you come with your tanks on our city streets
And you say these streets are yours
When you say you'll rebuild us with bombers
And oil tankers on our shores
When you have gunned down my child in Fallujah
You needn't wonder why
I look at you through the blades of your 'copter and say
It's a good day to die

Flag Desecration Rag

They tried to pass an amendment in the U.S. Congress
Seems these thugs have some grievance to redress
They said we all must pledge allegiance, 'cause that is what they
need
We may not desecrate their symbol of hypocrisy and greed
But the flag is just a rag (2x)
Just a worn-out, tired, dirty, blood-soaked rag
Pledge allegiance to the symbol, well how about the deed
Allegiance to democracy or blind authority
It's a flag of war from L.A. to Vietnam
It desecrates itself each time the Air Force drops a bomb
Like they say in Mexico*, "Yankee Go Home"
Uncle Sam and his club thinks the world's there to roam
And to make the point well they do the traditional thing
Light a match and let freedom ring
So burn it, stomp it, tear it up or at least hang it upside-down
Tie it to your foot and drag it on the ground
Let everybody know how many lives are gone
'Cause of idiots who said, "My country right or wrong"

*Fill in the blank (i.e., Serbia, Puerto Rico, Big Mountain, Iraq,
Colombia, etc.)

Flight 800
Flight 801 left Italy, got to New York town and then
Expected to leave New York, go back to Italy again
It was a normal evening at first at TWA
The flight took off an hour late after a slight delay
And it was wheels up, there was excitement in the air
For some it was the first time they'd ever been up there
But this time Flight 800 barely lifted off the ground
Before it was shot down over Long Island Sound
Scores of people saw it and they wondered why
A light had left the Earth and arced into the sky
They saw it hit the aircraft, saw the craft burst into flame
People asked who fired the rocket, others asked the same
And what was to be another flight over the Atlantic Sea
Was a flight that wouldn't be
Was it a Navy missile going where it wasn't supposed to go
Or a terrorist attack, we may never know
The CIA announced we understood the popular confusion
What appeared to be a missile was an optical illusion
And for some reason which we cannot explain
There are 230 people dead, and dead they will remain

Floating Down the River

Theres an upright piano And the church where it was played
I can still hear the fire Of the music that they made
These wild priests of Coltrane As high as you could get
Now their pictures in the water With a broken clarinet
And the bodies floating down the river
Theres the very heart of harmony A diminished minor chord
A demitasse of Cafe du Monde Into which a poet poured
From a melior of coffee Freshly brewed and filled
I saw his notebook passing by And the coffee that he spilled
Theres a cracked and sunken altar And Jesus on a cross
And hanging from a pole The soiled work of Betsy Ross
The sidewalk muralist is shouting People can you see
All the broken promises Of Lady Liberty
Theres the ghost of Lincoln Lying in the mud
Mother Marys playing Zydeco And shedding tears of blood
The last vestige of democracy Was just shot for looting bread
The levees were all busted Now theyre good as dead
Theres a Hummer driving Down the boulevard
Theres Halliburton contractors And the Army National Guard
Blackwater Security Ready to attack
Theres no food and theres no doctors And it smells just like Iraq
The prisons are all empty now The dead men have been cleared
They drowned inside their cells When the guards all disappeared
But I saw somebodys uniform As it was passing by
Words on it spelled in blood I guess now were gonna die
Now many months have passed And it all just looks the same
So many dead and missing No one knows their names
No one to clear the rubble No one to rebuild
Some say the city died I say it was killed

Four Blank Slates

Beside an unused union hall And an abandoned factory
By the Allegheny River In another rust belt city
You can see the well-dressed families On Memorial Day
Reading the names on the walls Of all those who went away
Who went off in a ship And came back in a bag
Packed into a coffin Wrapped up in a flag
I saw a war on every stone I read a name on every line
And when I reached the end A chill ran down my spine
Four blank slates For battlefields yet unknown
That soon some will call their own
A wordless message in a frame
Four blank slates For the dice that arent yet tossed
For the lives that arent yet lost For a war without a name
What will be written on that stone Will it be on Persian soil
Will they say it was for freedom Or Venezuelan oil
The only thing thats certain Is it will be across the sea
And the new names on this rock
Will have died in someone elses country
How many other nations Are already planning their next war
How many people know Itll be on someone elses shore
Will there come a time When all good people are enraged
To see a slate awaiting A war thats not yet waged

Four More Years

You can say you are a man of the people
And you have our interests in mind
You can say you stand with the working class
And you would march on our picket lines
You can say you're with the underdogs
Not the billionaires on Wall Street
And you look so earnest as you shake the hands
Of all the good people you meet But you don't fool me
You can call yourself a man of action
You can say we've got to make haste
You can talk so convincingly About all the hazards we face
You can talk about green jobs With nukes and natural gas
You can reminisce about your youth
And the time that you smoked some grass
You can say you are a man of peace
You can talk like you know the score
Yeah, if you were in the Senate at the time
You would've voted against the war
You can say that every drone Strikes a blow for liberty
You claim this is not an empire You just want everyone to be free
You can make a speech about hope and change
You can bring us all to tears
You can list all your accomplishments Say give us four more years
You can make the case your party is So different from the other
You can say that you have got my back
You can call yourself my brother

Free
I grew up in the land of houses in rows
I had asthma, that's how it goes
When you're in LA and there are cars everywhere
See the sky and smell the air
I left home, looked around
Trying to find some solid ground
I found life in the northern wood
And I knew that this was good
I saw the dozers, the death machines
Tearing apart everything green
I built a platform, sat in a tree
Said if you're taking her down, then you're taking down me
I saw the highways, I saw the mall
I saw the eagle, heard the clarion call
Voices of reason were talking to me
So I burned down a couple of SUV's
Among the words and the deeds in the war for the west
A chapter was written and I was the test
To shut us all up and drive us apart
All who have life and love in our hearts
The judge did the math then he did some more
He was a man out to settle a score
An illegal sentence in a stolen land
With life or death in the palm of his hand
And now here I am, so long behind bars
For trying to breath in a nation of cars
Sanity jailed and madness in power
Our time it is short and now is the hour
So may you hide in the darkness and stay safe in the night
Find whatever you need to stay in the fight
There's a planet at stake and that's all that I see
And my thoughts will be with you until I am free

Friends
I was in Texas this morning, now I'm in Montreal
Such a wintry spring evening to sing songs about the fall
When I saw that smile once I would have kissed your face
But maybe that doesn't matter -- different time, same place
But all that I can think of is I knew you when
And it's so hard to be friends
If I saw you sitting there about this time last year
I would say your name and you'd come over here
I'd put my hand upon your belly, underneath your shirt
I would not feel nervous and you would not feel hurt
How much more must we keep going til we make it round the bend
It's so hard to be friends
Standing here across from you, I don't know how to say
Something other than I think about you almost every day
We can talk about the world and all that's been going on
We can talk about the night and how there must come a dawn
But I wish I understood why such a good thing has to end
It's so hard to be friends

From Kabul to Khartoum

From Guatemala to Korea
To the tunnels beneath Hanoi
From Tulsa to El Chorillo
Fat Man to Little Boy
We fought them in Nicaragua
And upon the Cuban shore
We killed Khaddafi's daughter
See what the fatwa's got in store
We're gonna bomb our way to freedom
With the cruise missiles of justice
And the spent shells of democracy
Oh, say, can you see
From Kabul to Khartoum
Where Allah's martyrs bled
To the Iraqi desert
Two hundred thousand people dead
From the School of the Assassins
To Argentina's dirty war
From Arizona to Nevada
We'll nuke our way to heaven's door

Glory and Fame (2 pages)

I pulled the stones for the emperor, stacked 'em up and made that wall
I thought, a mountain lasts forever but the rain must always fall
I worked the mines in Chile for conquistador
Died there in the pitshaft, joined my family with the ore
I tapped the trees for Leopold, and then he took my hands
The sap sailed to Brussels and my blood stained the lands
I cut down the sugar cane on the islands off the coast
Oh but the sweet taste of freedom is the stuff that I love most
Tell me who am I Do you know my name
Will I lie forgotton Or arise in glory and fame
I fought with Poncho Villa, stood with him side by side
When the Bluecoats took the land, I thought how long is freedom's ride
I was there at Haymarket with the martyrs eight
For striking in Chicago, death would have to be my fate
I cut the timber in Centralia, nearly broke my back
Tried to organize a union and they tied me to the tracks
I fought in Barcelona, kept the fascists there at bay
Then when Hitler's tanks came rolling, I knew we couldn't stay
I mined the ore in Arizona, last of the Navajo
Got that radium a-glowin' then it was time for me to go
I marched in South Africa, found myself in Sharpeville
Once the police came and went I was lying oh so still
I campaigned for Allende for a nation without fear
Didn't look behind me for the day I'd disappear
I spoke at Tiananmen to revive the revolution
Didn't think for Deng Xiaoping, rolling tanks were his solution

I grew the mangos in Somalia for the people in the west

And when the price of fruit went down, I went down starving with the rest
I worked the plant in Bangkok, breathed the dusty air
When the cotton started burning, I knew my life would not be spared
The cops beat me in Los Angeles but I would not be scared
When they sent the Army in, I thought next time we'll be prepared
Yes I've been yearning for a new day, all the world wide
Some day my time will come and you will have to step aside

God bless all the Indians living in their reservations

God Bless the USA
God bless all the strippers and their bodily gyrations
God bless Trump Towers reaching up so high
God bless the Blue Angels screaming through the sky
God bless Appalachia, mountains and moonshine
God bless the creeks, bulldozers and strip mines
God bless the megachurches and all of those who speak in tongues
God bless the corporate ladder, every single rung
God bless the homeless families living under bridges
God bless the golden valleys and the mountain ridges
God bless the beaches and the swamps and the alligators
God bless the NFL and the Oakland Raiders God bless the USA
God bless the conspiracy theorists and the Jewish bankers
God bless ExxonMobil and all their oil tankers
God bless Clearchannel, Toby Keith and Taylor Swift
God bless anorexia, lyposuction and facelifts
God bless the mighty rivers and the nuclear reactors
God bless Fox, Rupert Murdoch and X Factor
God bless all the lobbyists and their envelopes of cash
God bless Miley Cyrus and her birthday bash
God bless the President and his very moving speeches
God bless Idaho's potatoes and Georgia's peaches
God bless Florida oranges and Wisconsin cheese
God bless the internment camps and penitentiaries
God bless Wyoming's rolling fields of hay
God bless high school massacres and the NRA
God bless each member of the Congress and all the oil billionaires
God bless sodium thiopental and electric chairs
God bless the open highways and the traffic jams
God bless the Patriot Missiles and inboxes full of spam
God bless the redwood forests and the paper mills
God bless the plastic Jesuses sitting on the window sills
God bless carpet bombing and men in uniform
God bless the firefighters, the cops and Desert Storm
God bless the immigrants and the I-C-E
God bless the offshore oil rigs from sea to shining sea

Good Kurds, Bad Kurds

Saddam Hussein gassed the Kurdish people Killed thousands in a single day
And twelve long years later Uncle Sam said "you can't treat your Kurds this way
"And furthermore all Kurds are freedom fighters "Who's resist this Iraqi tyranny
"And Uncle Sam will give them guns and maybe sometimes ammunition
"So the brave Kurds can fight until they're free"
Meanwhile in southeastern Turkey The Turkish Army had a unique plan
We'll go in and burn down three thousand villages
Get rid of what they call Kurdistan
Well some of these pesky Kurds decided That they would rather fight instead of die
So Uncle Sam said, "You are terrorists "Because Turkey is our ally"
Geopolitics is confusing In fact, it can be quite absurd
Especially if you value your freedom You live in Turkey and you are a Kurd
Yes, when Iraqi Kurds are massacred We say this is genocide
OK, we armed the Army through the eighties
But now we proudly take the Kurdish side
But in Turkey it's an internal matter And for us to get involved would be wrong
So we'll sell some tanks and 'copters to Ankara
And hope these poor folks can get along
Yes, geopolitics is confusing And you can't take the Yankees at their word
At least that's distinctly how it looks If you live in Turkey and you're a Kurd
So when they talk about American interests
And it somehow seems that they're not yours
Going all over the world Bombing countries and starting up wars
You'd better leave it to the experts Go on back to your Playstations
'Cause our foreign policy only makes sense To CEO's of multinational corporations
'Cause geopolitics is confusing
And if you feel like you're not being heard
Just imagine how much worse it could be
If you lived in Turkey and you were a Kurd

Guanajuato
I was raised in Guanajuato That's where I was born
For a thousand years that's where My family grew the corn
Farming's what we lived by And farming's all we knew
Then the government signed Nafta
And our farming days were through
I had to leave the village There was no other way
I had to find work somewhere Or starve if i should stay
In Ciudad de Mexico I tried to survive But the colonias were full
And there was no work to stay alive
I went to Tijuana The maquila factories
Saw people living by the sewage Dying on their knees
It was then in desperation I knew I had to go
Leave the country I was born in The only one I know
Cross the unknown deserts To the other side
Around the wall that stretches on A hundred miles wide
I trudged on for days Don't know how far I got
But I never knew in all my life The sun could be so hot
My feet had turned to blisters My water bag run dry
I thought about mi madrecita As I looked up at the sky
I lay down for the last time Parched upon the ground
Maybe someday My body will be found
Eaten by the vultures Bones bleached in the sun
Maybe I'll go to heaven If there is one
And I guess someone in California
Who wants to make their fields green
Is gonna have to find another Mexican To keep their dishes clean

Guantanamo Bay
The conquistadors came with their sabres and guns
And they raped and they slaughtered until they were done
They hacked and they killed and left no one alive
Then they brought in the slaves who they allowed to survive
Welcome to the New World, you could hear the men say
As they sat on the shores of Guantanamo Bay
And after four hundred years independence was short
That's just how it is with a deep water port
The battleships came and they never left shore
Tasting the conquest, they just wanted more
The sign it said welcome to the US of A
In the Republic of Cuba, Guantanamo Bay
Past the barbed wire fence and the field of mines
You can see the men who left their families behind
To burn 'neath the sun to be tortured and killed
Where their stomachs are empty and their spirits are grilled
If you're looking for freedom this is the price you must pay
It's written in blood on Guantanamo Bay
The vultures they circle at ease overhead
The living may live and the dead will be dead
the time it may come in this tropical heat
That they'll have to go somewhere else to eat
Maybe a storm will come wash it away
But still the guard towers glitter on Guantanamo Bay

Halliburton Boardroom Massacre

I joined the army when high school was through I didnt know what else to do
Thought Id take care of that traveling jones
Then maybe take out some student loans
They sent me away to the land of the dead
Where I didnt know a word that they said
I got shot at a lot, I was nearly toast
But its the ones that I killed that hurts the most
Most of the time I didnt know what was going on
The rest of the time I knew there was something going wrong
Every reason we were there turned out to be a lie
I thought of that each time I saw another person die
I was supposed to stay for a year, they kept me for four
By the time I got back home no one knew me anymore
Of the man I once was there didnt seem to be a trace
And when I looked me in the mirror I didnt recognize my face
I wasnt home too long before the time that I fell ill
It was like the air was thick as mud and I ached enough to kill
I didnt know Id been fighting in a nuclear war
DU was in my blood and I was knocking on deaths door
I cant tell you how it felt to be betrayed at every turn
Like the earth was spinning backwards, like my heart began to burn
Like I had to do something while I still had the strength to stand
While I still could run with a machine gun in my hand
I thought of Halliburton and the military brass
And the things they get away with all for their ruling class
But Im not a pawn and I cant just let it be
And if Im gonna die, Im gonna take some of them fuckers with me
Ill spare you the details, I did what I had to do
Theres a boardroom blown to hell and soon I will be, too
You can say I lost it, you can say that Im insane
But may no one ever say that my death was in vain

Hang A Flag In The Window (2 pages)

We want a safer country And it's in God we trust
So we'll bomb you during Ramadan Turn your world into dust
But pull up on your boostraps And stand on your own two feet
While we blow them off with cluster bombs Disguised as something to eat
We stand for freedom And prosperity
So we'll bomb your schools and hospitals And make sure you live in misery
All you evildoers And your children and your wives
With our B-52's we'll show you How we value civilian lives
Give us your hungry, your restless We'll show you democracy
A military trial Or detention indefinitely
We'll have homeland security Thomas Ridge all hail
We may not find the terrorists But we can throw the left in jail
And we will all be safe And we shall have no fears
Once our retinas have been scanned And all the walls have ears
And we're all in good hands When the FBI is in the know
We're sure they'll look after us Just like they did with COINTELPRO
So hang a flag in the window And all hail to the chief
Follow the leader And suspend your disbelief
Our country right or wrong You know what to do
Sing God bless America Oh that red, white and blue
When facing anyone with boxcutters We'll say put up your dukes
As we spend fifty billion On bombers and nukes
We're a beacon of light And just to make the point
We'll cut taxes on the rich And throw the poor into the joint
Yes we'll bail out the airlines Put on your green fedoras
And for all the laid-off workers We've got maquiladoras
Yes capitalism will save us For have you ever seen a
More convincing proof Than Enron and Argentina

The Axis of Evil We'll bomb 'em down the skids

There'll be no more terrorists Once we kill their kids
People may starve And economies may crumble
But those folks'll just Have to learn to be more humble
And give us your money Debt repayments with aplomb
While we scour the map For some targets left to bomb
And as another city falls Upon our sacred American soil
At least we got our Daisy Cutters And that Alaskan oil

He Called Me Dad
I grew up in Lawrence, there by the water
In the shadow of a textile mill
Sometimes I feel just like that building Empty but standing there still
I liked the President, I liked the union I believed in the Rights of Man
So I signed up when it was time to fight Hitler
And they sent me off to Japan
I couldn't describe it, it was all just so bad I kept my head down, tried to stay alive
I got shot in the leg, took me out of the action So I was lucky enough to survive
I came home from the war, met a good woman named Maria
We had ourselves a son
When I first saw Jim's face, the first thing I thought
I hope he never has to carry a gun
It was a long time ago, another life that I had
A little boy who called me dad
I'd have terrible dreams of my time overseas But otherwise life was alright
I had a job and a wife and a fine little lad With eyes so cheery and bright
When his number came up I said let's move up north To Halifax, what do you say?
But my Jim wouldn't have it, he said if I'm gonna be drafted
I don't want to run away
After just a few months the letters stopped coming
And one morning a knock on the door
Two nervous young men handed me a flag Said your son died in the war
He gave his life for his country was what the man said
He didn't believe it and neither did I
I closed the front door, dropped the flag on the floor
And I sat down in Jim's room and cried
It was less than a year when my wife said to me You look so much like our little Jim
She had to go, I don't blame her, you know I also remind me of him
Now it's been forty years, I'd be a grandpa by now But instead I just sit here alone
No one calls much these days, but anytime the phone rings
I think maybe the boy's coming back home

Henk
There are those who will tell stories of their youth so long ago
They will talk of past adventures like a wild picture show
They'll talk of comrades lost, and lovers found along the way
They'll tell of how they almost didn't live to see today
And then there are the many who never made it through
Who leave their friends and family to wonder if they knew
Who leave their friends and family to wonder if they knew
And to always ask the questions about what they didn't do
To always ask the question, why did they survive
While others died to see the day that they would be alive
For some the liberation was a great, heroic feat
For others it's all much more bittersweet
We didn't want another hero
A noble struggle to employ
We just want our lieve jongen
We just want our boy
Henk Streefkerk was born in Naarden, and as the story goes
He went to work for Phillips to work on radios
He lived through the Depression, next came the German tanks
Friends joined with the Resistance, Henk also joined their ranks
He lived an unassuming life beneath Holland's cloudy sky
Working quietly at night, not to draw a German eye
Henk Streefkerk was killed, that's how history is made
Until this day no one knows how he was betrayed
He was standing on the sidewalk, he was executed there
Left lying on the pavement, blood spattered his blond hair
Four days later the war was over, they say the Allies won
Many people celebrated while the Streefkerks buried their only son
It was more than sixty years after the occupation's awful toll
Someone noticed Henk wasn't on the Honor Roll
And on a wall somewhere perhaps now his name will be engraved
They'll thank him for his courage and the families he saved
He'll join the thousands of Nederlanders, and millions more
All the lieve jongens killed in the world wars

Henry Ford was a Fascist

Ford built tanks for the Nazis And the Nazis used those tanks
To kill off lots of soldiers In the U.S. Army ranks
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist And a nasty one was he
He'd build tanks for anyone For the proper fee
Henry Ford spoke to his lackeys And he said, "isn't this great?
"We'll attack our enemies "And we'll retaliate!"
Henry Ford was a fascist And a cunning liar, too
A brownshirt with a swastika Draped in red, white and blue
Henry Ford spoke to his workers
And he said, "you dare not strike!
"You must be patriotic "And take on my Third Reich!"
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist And he had not a care
About the dying soldiers That made him a billionaire
Ford built tanks for the Nazis And he built many more
To kill off lots of peasants In Peru and Salvador
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist I heard that when he died
The last words to leave his lips Was "arbeit macht frei"
The dollar was his icon On whichever shore
And Henry's only motto Was "make money and make war"
Yes, Henry Ford was a fascist That's all I have to say
I will spit on Henry's rotting grave Until my dying day

Here At the End of the World

Standing here on a highway Turned into a lake
Born on this planet That I didnt make
The ice caps are melting You can measure the rise
Of the poisoned oceans Hear all the lies
Of the political pundits And corporate crooks
Their accountants and scientists Cooking the books
With hardly an inkling Of what its about
Wedded to profit In flood and in drought
I'm talking to you from here at the end of the world
Standing here on the bayou Amidst mountains of soil
Washed off from the farmland And covered in oil
One ton every acre Lost every year
And along with the pesticides It ends up right here
Millions of miles Of chemical wheat Challenging all To try to compete
And lay waste to your country Like weve done to ours
Let them eat coffee Sugar, coca and flowers
And here in the city Shrouded in smoke Ten million people
This morning awoke To a future of cancer Industrial disease
So lets build some more suburbs And buy SUVs
Lets cut down the mountains And burn all the coal
And put all the money In a humungous bowl Theyll call it progress
And theyll blame it on you To end life as we know it To enrich the few
Yes I speak to you now From an occupied place
You might call it your home Or a terrorist base
Theyll send your sons and your daughters To make sure that its theirs
While they sit in their mansions On their plush leather chairs
And everyones waiting For us to decide From dust we were born
And in dust we reside Will we realize the commons
Is to shepherd and share Here in this war zone Called land, water and air

Hills of Tennessee
Beneath the Nashville skyline There on Music Row
Songwriters churn out lyrics Behind the laptops' glow
Country stars go shopping Looking for the perfect fit
A&R men roam the streets Looking for another hit
While just a couple hours' drive And a hundred light years from the city
They're blowing up the hills of Tennessee
The scope of devastation Is a challenge to compare
If you've been to Hiroshima Then perhaps you're almost there
Cause that's how much dynamite Is used up every week
To make barren wasteland From what was once a mountain peak
Where all the watersheds and rivers And forests used to be
They used to have miners Send them underground
But people are expensive So they found a way around
Just bomb the hills to hell And buy off the EPA
With ten percent the workforce And twenty times the pay
Do it in the name of God And private property
Like an invisible tsunami Man-made and hidden from our eyes
Where every living thing is killed And the rest of it just dies
For a four inch seam of coal They'll just wipe out life on earth
Look on the New York Stock Exchange To see how much it's worth
Sam won't be making moonshine No more banjo on his knee
And back in Nashville The cancer wards are filling up
They've got to filter the water Before they put it in a cup
Can't go vacation on Blair Mountain Not here in real life
It's only good for songs now No place to take the wife
Cause there's nothing left there But mudslides and misery

Hiroshima
Ten thousand children played in the playground
Swinging on the swings, didn't hear the sound
Of the single plane that flew overhead
The third shift workers were just going to bed
There was a flash of light and a rumbling noise
And gone in a flash, parents, girls and boys
Ten thousand mothers were boiling rice
A thousand POW's were rolling dice
Hoping they'd survive this terrible storm
When each young man in his uniform
Vanished in the air in the blink of an eye
One moment they lived, the next they all die
Hiroshima, Hiroshima
Ten thousand chickens were sitting on eggs
Heads in their wings, resting their legs
Ten thousand farmers were looking at their fields
Planning the harvest, guessing at yields
Dreaming of life after the war
The next second they weren't living no more
Ten thousand lovers made lover to each other
Each one of them thinking they might not get another
Living so long with death everywhere
Much more than one person alone can bear
But there wasn't time for a final kiss
Who could've known it would end like this
A hundred thousand people were living their lives
Grandparents, children, fathers and wives
Now they're just shadows on the street
In such a quick burst of incredible heat
Now listen to them talk about doing it again
From whence came the souls of these terrible men

Holy Land 5 (2 pages)

They grew up among the bombs of the occupation
Bulldozed houses, that was the situation
Refugee camps, Khan Yunus and Shatila
Children gunned down in the Intifada
Poverty and hunger, a place to slowly die
These five men decided at least they had to try
From their homes in Texas to the stateless nation
They started up the Holy Land Foundation
They sent food and medicine, that's all they ever did
Aside from sending toys for little kids
Feed the hungry, they say that's a good deed
But apparently it all depends on who you want to feed
If they're living in the ghettos under IDF command
If they think they don't deserve to starve in their homeland
If Sharon says all that's theirs is mine
If they're from a place called Palestine
The Holy Land is crying out Leaving little room for doubt
From ruined homes the kids ask you What in the world will you do?
They sent money to the Zakat Committees
The same ones funded by USAID
But these were Arabs aiding Palestinians
They opposed the occupation and they were Muslims
Their phones were tapped for years but nothing could be found
So with an executive order Bush shut them down
Freezing all their funds, taking food from kids
That's exactly what the US government did

These men supports Hamas, the government proclaimed

Although they couldn't find a cent sent in their name
But they had evidence, for the first time in a court
An anonymous Israeli would submit his report
Behind a veil with no rights to cross-examination
He could smell Hamas, this was his explanation
First the jury hung, so they tried them again
And for feeding hungry people they were sent to prison
Now five men are in cells, no one knows what for
Every Muslim an unindicted co-conspirator
Be careful what you say, be wary what you hear
Or end up in a CMU for 65 years
Cut off from the world, held in a little box
Back home kids are getting shot for throwing rocks
No one stops the charities sending money for tanks
For illegal settlements all over the West Bank
This is justice in America, if you didn't know it now you do
And a retrial was denied, I should mention that, too
A retrial was denied and who knows who's next to go
To be tortured in a Little Guantanamo
The Constitution's suspended, they just haven't let us know
It's easier that way, just say it isn't so
The Holy Land Foundation, you know it's true
They did what all of us should do

Hot Tub Song

The turnpike is ahead with a frost of morning dew
It reminds me of a feeling and a place that I once knew
There's a dozen gigs behind me and a dozen more to come
Before I will get to see you and I can get me some
My last roaches have been smoked
And I don't know what to do
Oh to be in California
In a hot tub, with a blunt and you
What's up with the kids today, I just don't know
They don't party like they used to,
where did the hippies go
Organizing is a virtue, yes, for goodness' sake
But I wonder what they do when it's time to take a break
The revolution's round the corner
and I hope you know the way
But what happens when we win, I wonder what you'd say
Do we have a house of worship, do we have a family
Is there a hot tub in the commons,
is there a guitar on your knee

Houseboat
I was staying with a friend in Hackney
One day I took a walk to a canal
I got swept up as I wrote
By a man in a trench coat
Who lived inside a ship called Happy Sal
I asked him if he missed life off the water
He said no, he didn't give that any mind
I just live here with the flow
Going where the rivers go
So glad to leave that landlord far behind
I want to live in a houseboat on the river
I want the locks to pick me up and let me down
I want the morning dew to make me shiver
As I ride from Hebden Bridge to London town
We moored on the banks right by the commons
Where we had front row seats to the fair
We stayed about a week
Then we drifted down the creek
Our destination: anywhere
Some folks just really want to be
Upstanding members of society
Well whatever floats your boat
Have a castle with a mote
While I drift along the valley to the sea

How Far Is It From Here To Nuremberg?

Is there a flag upon your house And a flag upon your car
And a ribbon on your mailbox With the stars and bars
Do you support the president And the war for oil
Do you think your sons belong There on someone else's soil
How far is it from here to Nuremberg?
Did you hear about Falluja And the hundred thousand dead
Did you hear about the torture In the newspapers you read
Did you pretend it didn't matter Did you blame a few bad men
Did you think your leaders Wouldn't just do it all again
Did you design the software That ran the engine in the tank
Or were you pushing papers At City Bank
Were you in Seattle Turning bombers into gold
Or did you pull the trigger `Cause you did what you were told
Or did you take your kids to school Go off to your job
Send your taxes off in April To help support the mob
Did you vote the lesser evil And think it's all a shame
Did you think that this alone Could take away the blame

Hummer
Here it comes, flying down the center lane
Like a cross between a tank and some kind of trackless
train
Towering over anything with only four
Wheels to the pavement, cruising from shore to shore
Radar on the dashboard and the red, white and blue
Streams from the antennae and the bumper stickers, too
Four tons of molten metal just to get a cup of coffee
Ready for the battle in whatever suburb it may be
Its another hummer humming down the highway
See the soldier change his tire, stranded by the road
Maybe that yellow ribbon is some kind of secret code
Cause the hummer drives on by with a passing stare
Saying I support the troops but dont expect me to care
Three miles to the gallon all the way to the shopping mall
How to say fuck you to the Kyoto Protocol
The only thing its missing is a machine gun turret
But it still looks to me like a military target

I Have Seen the Enemy

He has no feelings for the dead He's just calling out for more
ExxonMobil likes it So he's happy to make war
He'll send your child to die Somewhere far across the sea
Bombing Afghan villages In the name of liberty
He says you're with us or against us And he is keeping score
His agents are all over They might be breaking down your door
He lives for death He is the evil axis
And I am sick of theory Let's talk about praxis
I have seen the enemy He's right there in the spotlights
And if this song were a rifle I would have him in my sights
He's found his raison d'etre He is the global cop
With peace he'd lose his purpose So the fight will never stop
He'll always find the villain That's the nature of the game
He'll always be at war In fact, it's his middle name
He's got a master plan It's called global domination
A new world under God And one massive corporation
He says he's fighting for our safety He's an expert at disguises
But security for him Is when the Dow Jones rises
And let me tell you something With each ball that he's cuing
This old friend of bin Laden Knows exactly what he's doing
It's a family tradition To win at any cost
Never mind the lies Or all the lives that must be lost
And let me tell you something else This song is not a gun
And it will cause harm to no one When all is said and done
'Cause it's just words, and we need action So let me clearly state
This is the time to change the world
Because soon enough may be too late

I Know A Man
I know a man He has brown eyes
Most mornings he gets up Around sunrise
He likes to put butter On just about everything
He likes to walk in the park Listen to the birds sing
I know a man He has two gorgeous kids
He likes to take them on trips Like his father did
At the end of the day They all come over to my place
Where we talk about school And what happened on MySpace
I know a man He plays basketball
He's about five feet Ten inches tall
He tries to grow flowers They usually don't bloom
He's got a picture of Elvis On the door to his room
I know a man He thinks life is good
And everything will be fine As he knows that it should
And the eyes of the people And the eyes of the law
Would soon be open To the things that he saw
I know a man With a beautiful family
Who knows that someday Right here in this society
We'll all walk taller And fences will mend
When I can say proudly This is my husband

I Remember Warsaw
First they occupied our country Then they spread their vicious lies
Evil propaganda Filled our ranks with double-dealing spies
They cordoned off a reservation Built a wall all around it
Packed us all into this ghetto And our city'd never be as the Nazis found it
At first no one believed it Just what horrors lay in store
The sound of boots upon the staircase Of leather gloves upon the door
Some of us they sent to labor To slave for them to the last breath
Most of us they sent to Auschwitz
Half a million people sent to a pointless, early death
There were those of us who worked with them A desperate effort to survive
Even when our numbers were so few Maybe sixty thousand left alive
And people said we had no chances By then we all knew they were right
It was 1943 And we, the walking dead, made up our minds to fight
I remember Warsaw We stood side by side
The Star of David flew above the ghetto There we lived and there we died
We cleansed the ghetto of their agents Dug a maze of tunnels underground
We begged the Allies, give us weapons But empty words were all we found
So we saved each precious bottle Made bombs of rags and gasoline
And in this script of mindless carnage We waited in the shadows for the final scene
It was the month of April The SS came marching in
Singing songs to praise Der Fuehrer And all his Aryan kin
To see the shock upon their faces We'd show the world on this day
We'd not go like sheep off to the slaughter
With the last blood running through our hearts we'd make the devils pay
We had taken our positions With each escape route planned
We rained down molotovs upon them With each retreat another stand
Yes, we killed the Nazi bastards They lay dying by the score
We made each scarce bullet count
And as the fascist demons ran we killed some more
For one full month the battle raged And the word spread all around
That it wasn't over 'Til every building had been levelled to the ground
I am the ghost of the apocalypse And these few words I have to tell
Let it never be forgotten
That for four long weeks we fought and we stood up before we fell

I Wanna Go Home
I was born a refugee And I don't know if I'll ever see
The old farmhouse I've heard about
But it's where I belong, there is no doubt
'Cause my whole family is from that farm
And we never did nobody harm
And if you're confused by what you've heard
Let me boil it down to a single word
I wanna go home...
And I have heard my grandpa say
That on the street most every day
The neighbors' kids would kick a ball
With my dad when he was small
We were Christians, they were Jews
But it was no big deal, religious views
So it was strange when at the point of a gun
Across the river we had to run
We had dabkeh, we had songs
And we all knew where we belonged
We grew crops, life was good
There in the land where Jesus stood
Now we're scattered everywhere
But there's no peace anywhere
I'm just searching for some kind of sign
For some way back to Palestine

If I Die Tomorrow
If I die tomorrow Maybe in a speeding car
You know I like to travel With my notebook and guitar
But there's too many cars out there Not enough train tracks
I tried flapping my wings But I just don't have the knack
Don't talk to me of accidents In this great democracy
America will be the death of me
If I die tomorrow My body blown apart
By some child with a shotgun Raging fire in his heart
Killed in some concrete jungle warzone
By some kid who never learned to write
Raised by desperation And surviving the long night
In the wrong place at the wrong time
In this land of opportunity
If I die tomorrow From a pipe bomb beneath my seat
Or from drowning in the bathtub Or choking on a piece of meat
You can rest assured I did not mean to slip upon the grass
It was no one that I knew Who rammed the plunger up my ass
It's just that I was told To speak freely
But I may not die tomorrow And my death will not give pause
To the coroner who may say That I died of natural cause
Lungs black from breathing city air
Cancer coursing through my veins
I'll be glowing in the dark From the radiation rains
So here's a toast to Uncle Sam And to mortality

If I Were Captain of the Pirates

We'd spot an island where we could hide
Find some caves in the Caribbean where we could meet inside
We'd gather up our forces, draw maps in the sand
And when we were good and ready we'd set sail for the mainland
Given my druthers that's what we would do
If I were captain of the pirates and you were my gallant crew
We'd disguise ourselves as fishermen,
which would more or less be so
But this time we'd be setting out to catch a CEO
We'd set our course for Texas and this lovely pirate horde
Would storm the ivory tower and the meeting of the board
We'd take everybody hostage, that's what we would do
If I were captain of the pirates and you were my gallant crew
If the suits complained we'd ignore their every plea
We'd set sail for their oil rig out on the stormy sea
We'd give them pen and paper, let them write down their last will
While they smelled the putrid air above their toxic oil spill
Then we'd present our demands, that's what we would do
If I were captain of the pirates and you were my gallant crew
We'd say you can shut down your oil rigs,
your drilling days are done
Ten million bucks per fisherman, each and every one
No need to empty out your savings, we'll just take the bloody bank
And with each day you delay, we'd say, the next one walks the plank
It's all eminently reasonable, I hope you think so too...?
If I were captain of the pirates and you were my gallant crew

If Only It Were True

I turned on my TV, though it was hard to see These men who'd be head of state
What a great country, from sea to shining sea We watch the Republican debate
Newt stood with his third wife, and said you bet your life The president is a red
He wants to tax the rich a lot and take your limo and your yacht
He wants to have the bankers' heads
And if he gets in again he'll paint the White House pink and then
He'll hire Chavez as his VP
Then we'll be right on track to give capitalism the sack
Along with the insurance industry
If only it were true, if only it were true I'd be so happy -- wouldn't you?
If only it were true, if only it were true, If only it were true
He'll give everyone food stamps and wheelchair ramps
He'll subsidize windmills and maple syrup
He'll cripple industries with eco-friendly policies
And pretty soon we will be just like Europe
He'll shut down oil wells and deliver solar cells
To each home in Delaware and Illinois
He'll ban logging in the parks, he'll send the works of Karl Marx
To the homes of every American girl and boy
He'll abolish pesticides, he'll be giving out free rides
And free lunches, too, inside his high-speed trains
He'll start lots of public works, full of union perks
He'll fill all the cities up with bicycle lanes
Watch out, his critics tell, this shall be our death knell
He'll pull the troops out and end all of our wars
He'll gut military spending, our empire will be ending
And soon we'll be invaded by the Moors
He'll legalize all drugs, give away beer mugs
And hookas to every child -- and Korans
He'll ban religions from the schools, give 40 acres and a mule
To every person who makes less than 50 grand
He'll shut down Guantanamo, to torture he'll say no
He'll make us all drive electric cars
He'll reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, take off that damn flag pin
And he'll put Rupert Murdoch behind bars

I'm A Better Anarchist Than You

I don't drive a car because they run on gas
but if I did it'd run on biomass
I ride a bike or sometimes a skateboard
so fuck off all you drivers and your yuppie hordes
sitting all day in the traffic queues
I'm a better anarchist than you
I don't eat meat I just live on moldy chives
or the donuts that I found in last week's dumpster dives
look at you people in that restaurant I think you are so sad
when you coulda been eating bagels like the ones that i just had
I think it is a shame all the bourgeois things you do
I don't wear leather and I like my clothes in black
and I made a really cool hammock from a moldy coffee sack
I like to hop on freight trains I think that is so cool
it's so much funner doing this than being stuck in school
I can't believe you're wearing those brand new shiny shoes
I don't have sex and there will be no sequel
because heterosexual relationships are inherently unequal
I'll just keep on moshing to anti-flag and crass
until there are no differences in gender, race or class
all you brainwashed breeders you just haven't got a clue
I am not a pacifist I like throwing bricks
and when the cops have caught me and i've taken a few licks
I always feel lucky if I get a bloody nose
because I feel so militant and everybody knows
by the time the riot is all through
I don't believe in leaders I think consensus is the key
I don't believe is stupid notions like representative democracy
whether or not it works I know it is the case
that only direct action can save the human race
so when I see you in your voting booths then I know it's true

I'm Taking Someone With Me When I Go

For all the times you sat around the dinner table
For all your paintings that they put up on the wall
For all the times they'd read to you a fable
For all the times they'd come each time you'd call
For all the times you showed up in new clothing
For all the times you showed off your new tan
For all the times you went off on vacation
Driving off in your camper van
For all the times when I was left with nothing to show
I'm taking someone with me when I go
For all the things you said when you thought I couldn't hear
For all the times you talked as if I wasn't there
For the way your perfect smile always turns into a jeer
For all the times you thought that I just didn't care
For every jock who walked the halls with a girl on each arm
For every line of coke that got them to his car
For every time that you drove past shouting out the window
For every wound that didn't have a scar
For every time I've thought you reap the seeds you sow
For every time you went to church in false humility
For every time you bent your knees in prayer
For every time you gloated that this was your lot in life
That it was just your fate to have it made
For each time you mocked me and thought I'd never get you back
For each time that you thought I was no one
For soon I will be remembered and you will be no more
By the time this school day is done
You can call me Dylan, Jack or you can call me Cho

In One World (2 pages)

In 1948 I fled my village The Stern Gang drove my family from the lands
We ran into the desert
Where I've spent these decades living by my hands
Life in Haifa wasn't easy
But so much better than this hellhole with the soldiers and barbed wire
And the closures, and the hunger
The humiliation and the checkpoints, the machine gun fire
And each day I wonder after Haifa
The home that we abandoned when the Zionists had won
Is there a family with a child
Does it's father love it as I loved my only son
Before the soldiers shot him down
Riddled him with bullets in his back and in his head
Home in Haifa, in my house
Does someone's father know the pain there is in an empty bed
In 1960 I fled my country
Left the Tigris River for this foreign place
I had to leave home, I didn't want to
But they were rounding up the leftists and the papers had my face
And my son, a student leader
On the streets of Baghdad was nowhere to be found
So I walked through the mountains
Just the shirt upon my back, knowing not where I was bound
Now here I am, this town of Haifa
In this little house, but at least I'm still alive
And each night I wonder how is Baghdad
Would I recognize my friends if any did indeed survive
It took a long time, but I made a home here
And I wished my son could be here in this town upon the shore
I was with my wife, it was the Sabbath
When an old Arab couple knocked upon our door

We asked them in, gave them tea

For that's what you do with strangers, and we could see they meant no harm
They told their story, we told ours
Us of our life in Baghdad, them of their family farm
And of this house, which they once lived in
Where once they raised a family, long before their hair turned grey
Of their son, and the troopers
And of ours, who we cry for every day
So much in common, so much gone bad
So much running, and never coming home
You can hear the cards falling down
See the faces of the children, forever forced to roam
And here we were, in this house
Fearing that tomorrow would be just like yesterday
So much resentment, so much at stake
And I really don't remember who was the first to say
In one world
In one village
In one home
Let us live together

In the Name of God

I woke up this morning And I turned on the news
It was a Sunday morning They were sitting in the pews
The doctor's wife was in the choir She was about to sing
She saw it all in front of her And she heard that awful ring
In the name of God he held his pistol
Pointed at the doctor's head
In the name of God he pulled the trigger
Now the doctor's lying dead
Dr. Tiller had a family Three daughters and a son
Two girls were both doctors
Who were proud of what he'd done
They knew someone had to do something
Before they left this world behind
If it wasn't them then who would serve
The cause of womankind
This is not Afghanistan It's the Heartland USA
Where a girl has to wonder If she'll get acid in her face
Where they bomb the women's clinics
Because the preacher told them to
Where the man there on the TV
Tells them that's what they should do

International Terrorists
International terrorists are scheming They want to bring the planet to it's knees
They're hiding in their bunkers and they're plotting
With bombs and guns and biological disease
Any means to reach their ends is worth pursuing
If lives are lost then that's the way it goes
It's the game of world domination The stakes are high as everybody knows
International terrorists are flying in their jets
Looking for the city they want to hit today
For all of the injustice in the world They are going to make somebody pay
They'll make sure their people will support them
Through the use of their powerful cartel
If you are to prosper this is their decision
Whether you will starve or else live well
And the international terrorists are busy Trying to win your heart and mind
They're making news and writing press releases
So that you can have your thoughts defined
And they say that they're the voice of reason
And they want to keep the world free
And they will villify, disappear and torture Anyone who would dare disagree
The international terrorists are many Every color, size and shape and height
Some are only small and local bullies Content to bomb a building in the night
While some are in each pocket of the world Looking for a nation to attack
They're training in their bases somewhere near you
And they're flying in the skies above Iraq
The IMF is the name of their cartel And CNN's their propaganda arm
And if they don't brainwash and starve you into line
They'll make damn sure all your people come to harm
They'll decimate and carpet-bomb your country
With a million mercenaries and machines
Striking fear into the people of the world
The US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines

Invisible Man
Once he had a family, once he was someone's little boy
He even went to high school in Carbondale, Illinois
He had a job for years before he lost it and fell through the cracks
If he tries looking for one now, people turn their backs
That's his home there on the sidewalk, now he gets by as best he can
He talks to people as they walk by, but they don't listen
He's just one more invisible man
He used to go out clubbing, now and then he'd even score
But that was in another lifetime, so long before
Before he was evicted, back when he could pay the rent
When he had friends that he could count on,
before he packed it up and went
Headed to the west coast, became best friends with a can
He talks to people as they walk by, but they don't listen
He's just one more invisible man
He dreamed of buying a house once,
he dreamed of being someone's groom
Now he dreams of a hot breakfast and to sleep in a dry room
But he'll settle for some Food Stamps, he'll settle for another beer
He'll settle for a bus pass to somewhere south of here
But for now he'll sit there on the sidewalk, try to come up with a plan
He talks to people as they walk by, but they don't listen
He's just one more invisible man

IRV
Poor Al Gore complained most bitterly
The Greens had stole the vote from the Democratic Party
The election was lost 'cause of that three percent
And now you look at how the whole thing went
You say you want the elections to be free and fair
Well then let's see how much freedom you can bear
I-R-V
It rhymes with democracy
I-R-V
Let's hear for a third party
Give me a second, I'll tell you how it works
If you're tired of choosing between two jerks
If the tally doesn't go the way you hopefully reckoned
Your first choice then becomes your second
And if the so-called Democrats don't like the news
They can't blame us next time they lose
It may not bring us paradise
But perhaps a little competition might be nice
But you know they're worried about domino effects
We get this, what might be next
Pretty soon we might set a new norm
When we pass campaign finance reform

Israeli Geography 101

Netanyahu is in a tizzy, his eyes are filled with hate
He said the problem with those Arabs is they won't recognize a
Jewish state
He said those Palestinians just won't come around
To accepting Jewish rule on their holy ground
He said the Arabs don't accept their new neighbors in the 'hood
Those ungrateful regimes don't respect us as they should
Well I don't want to upset anyone or to unduly take to task
But if a state wants recognition it seems reasonable to ask
Where are your borders?
I heard him speaking to the Congress, getting his 29th standing o
He said we need our security from those terrorists, don't you know
If you want security, I wonder if you'd say it's true
That the Palestinians should have security too
'Cause if you want security it seems only fair
That you should also grant it to the people over there
And maybe you could answer, though the question is a sin
Just where your country ends and your neighbors' lands begin
He said we're the only democracy in the Middle East
Or actually, he said, the only viable one at least
The PA isn't viable 'cause they didn't vote Abbas
They voted for those terrorists that they call Hamas
So we can't recognize them -- though we wish they would agree
That we stole their land quite fairly here by the Mediterranean Sea
We stole it fair and square -- we stole it just like you
If you don't like you're an anti-Semite -- whether you're a Muslim or
a Jew

Jenin
Oh, child, what will you remember When you recall your sixteenth year
The horrid sound of helicopter gunships The rumble of the tanks as they drew near
As the world went about it's business And I burned another tank of gasoline
The Dow Jones lost a couple points that day
While you were crying in the City of Jenin
Did they even give your parents warning
Before they blew the windows out with shells
While you hid inside the high school basement Amidst the ringing of church bells
As you watched your teacher crumble by the doorway
And in England they were toasting to the Queen
You were so far from the thoughts of so many Huddled in the City of Jenin
Were you thinking of the taunting of the soldiers
Or of the shit they smeared upon the walls
Were you thinking of your cousin after torture
Or Tel Aviv and it's glittering shopping malls
When the fat men in their mansions say that you don't want peace
Did you wonder what they mean As you sat amidst the stench inside the darkness
In the shattered City of Jenin
What went through your mind on that day At the site of your mother's vacant eyes
As she lay still among the rubble Beneath the blue Middle Eastern skies
As you stood upon this bulldozed building
Beside the settlements and their hills so green
As your tears gave way to grim determination Among the ruins of the City of Jenin
And why should anybody wonder As you stepped on board
The crowded bus across the Green Line
And you reached inside your jacket for the cord
Were you thinking of your neighbors buried bodies
As you made the stage for this scene
As you set off the explosives that were strapped around your waist
Were you thinking of the City of Jenin

Jewel of Bucharest
After half your life spent in the breadlines
Watching the world turn
In a dress of red polyester So many important things to learn
Like never to be in a hurry Time is what you make it
And if you get a chance to travel You'd be a fool not to take it
And that's how I met you Like a bird out of her nest
Five thousand miles from your homeland
The jewel of Bucharest
Yes, it's such a long way From your father's factory
To the lonely strip malls And a foreign university
And that's how I found you So far across the sea
Making sense out of the madness With your wistful poetry
And it's such a pleasure To have your head upon my chest
My sweet Latin lover
Outside in New Haven The wind it blows so cold
Inside the smell of cabbage Is like a story seldom told
For the comfort of this bed And the blanket that you made
No treasure trove of platinum Would be rich enough to trade
Ah, there might be many ways To have my soul caressed
But please grant me one more evening

John Brown
Owen Brown was an abolitionist John was Owen's son
He grew up in New England He was born in Torrington
John Brown was a tanner And a man of many skills
And he stood up for the workers Who toiled in the mills
He stood up for the Indians He stood up for the women
For the oppressed and the exploited This good man stood with them
So when Kansas was bleeding He went and joined the fray
If the slave-trade wanted Kansas Then the slave traders had to pay
Riding through the Kansas prairie With a fine and loyal band
Glory, Hallelujah Beecher's Bible in his hand
With two thousand of New England's Best and bravest sons
Captain Brown fought in Kansas With a Bible and a gun
When Free Lawrence was on fire Lighting up the night
The ruffians would flee John Brown would stand and fight
Lincoln called him a fanatic And he was a Christian who
Thought you should do unto others As you'd have others do unto you
Christ said love your neighbor And if your neighbor's held in slavery
He was one who felt his duty Was to fight to set them free
He drove the slave trade out of Kansas
Then went to bordering Missouri
Raided the plantations No compromise, said he
Broke the chains and shackles Rode at night to Canada
Out of the nightmare The devil's friend, America
He was caught in Harper's Ferry His family lying dead
They questioned him for hours As he lay there and bled
They hanged him on the gallows And laid him in his grave
John Brown was a Christian And he died to free the slave

Judi Bari
I dreamed I saw Judi Bari last night
Alive as you and me
Says I, "but Judi, you're two years dead"
"I never died," said she
"I never died," said she
"The timber bosses killed you, Judi"
"They bombed you, Judi, says I"
"Takes more than bombs to kill a woman"
Says Judi, "I didn't die"
Says Judi, "I didn't die"
"In Oakland, Judi, by God," says I
Her standing by my bed
"They maimed you with a pipe bomb"
Says Judi, "but I ain't dead"
Says Judi, "but I ain't dead"
And standing there as big as life
And smiling with her eyes
Says Judi, "what they forgot to kill
"Went on to organize
"Went on to organize"
From Garberville up to Maine
In every logging town
Where folks stand up to corporate greed
There Judi can be found
There Judi can be found

The Key
Let me tell you about a lady Known as grandma to me
She died back in 1982 She liked to tell stories
Of how things used to be Just like other old ladies do
She talked about her neighbors Muslims and Christians
Arabs, Britons and Jews They'd come over for dinner
In her house in Jaffa And they'd talk about business and news
We got along fine A long time ago
Before everything started to change I never imagined
Back in those days I'd end up here on this firing range
There on a string around her neck Dangling in front of her heart
The key to her home The key to her people
The key to her world blown apart
I recall the days well 1948
The year of the Catastrophe With machine guns and torches
They drove us away To the land of the refugee
We all thought it would pass But the decades dragged on
And my heart turned to flame To those who live in my home
Where is your conscience Do you feel the remorse and the shame
Now after two generations I and her grandchildren say
The key is theirs and mine And all over the world
We cry for Al-Awda Home in Palestine
Maybe we will prevail But come what may
As empires fall and rise Nothing will change
The memory Of the tears in my grandmother's eyes

Khader Adnan, Bobby Sands (2 pages)

Khader Adnan grew up near Jenin City
You could say he was a product of his time
Ever since he was a kid he'd get arrested
Though he was never charged with any crime
Spending half his life in prison
A life lived like so many of his friends
Arbitrary and indefinite detention
Never knowing if your jail time would end
Khader Adnan was arrested last December
Again he wasn't told the reason why
He was shackled, he was beaten, he was tortured
There beneath the Middle Eastern sky
Perhaps there was a moment when he realized
That right then, with his body, he'd say no
But from then on he refused to eat another meal
Like in Belfast not many years ago
Khader Adnan grew up in a war zone
But all the tanks and planes were only on one side
It was a type of war that they call occupation
Settlement, removal, fratricide
And anyone who talked about resistance
Who thought they did not deserve to be a slave
Would be looking down the barrel of a gun
And often find themselves inside an early grave
Khader Adnan loves his wife and daughters
And he likes to eat his daily bread
But in prison he can't see his children
Or live life with the lady that he wed
So on behalf of all the children without fathers
He decided he had to strike a blow
He said I will have dignity or death

Each time Khader Adnan was arrested

In prison he would learn a little more
And soon he became the teacher
And he'd talk about the times that came before
They talked about civil disobedience
They talked about the ballot and the gun
They talked about the Occupied Six Counties
And the H Blocks in 1981
Khader Adnan talked of perseverance
And how someday their people might be free
How someday they might hear their children laughing
Unafraid, how someday things could be
And then at 3:30 on one morning
The soldiers came, their rifles pointed low
And they took Khader Adnan from his family
They say Khader Adnan is a terrorist
Just like they said of Bobby Sands
Because he dares speak out against injustice
Because he dares to make a stand
Because he dares believe that he is human
And he does not deserve to live this way
Because he dares to consider an alternative
Because he dares imagine a new day
Khader Adnan lost his liberty before he was born
To fight for life it's death he must embrace
But just like others come before him
There are others waiting to take his place
And even the great powers can lose interest
In supporting such a vicious status quo
Because you can't break a man who won't be broken

Kick It While It's Down

I'd say the verdict now is clear Capitalism really sucks
Privatizing everything for years Left most of us shit outta luck
The dreams most of us once had are dead The jobs around don't pay
Shit I barely have a roof over my head
And I've heard most of my neighbors say
If this is the glory of the market Tent City, USA
Then let's take this powder keg and spark it After all it's the American
Way
Let us now look through a different prism
Let us work for the common good
Let us put an end to capitalism Let us do now as we should
Kick it while it's down
The capitalists are parasites The bane of society
They don't give a shit for human rights All they care about is money
The billionaires buy the Congress Then they make up all the rules
So if voting is no way to seek redress Then we must use other tools
Half the country is in drought Burning up and blowing away
It's a climate crisis there's no doubt But be that as it may
The market says it's time to drill for oil
The market says cut down all the trees
The market says build pipelines 'neath the soil
But in recent years the market's on its knees
We need solar panels not coal mines We need food not bombs
But the market doesn't care about the bread lines Or your hungry mom
The market only cares about the market What's behind the guarded gate
So you can take your limousine and park it Trade it in for a welfare state

Korea
Fifty years ago today we stood in rubble
The sun rose each morning through the smoke
Your planes flew above us looking for something left to bomb
Our factories, our schools lied ravaged and broke
And now you wonder why there is this anger
As we remember all too clearly a time that we once knew
When every home and every dam and so many, many people
Were flattened to the ground by the things you had to do
When Korea was just another name For bombs falling from the sky
And home was just another word For this place where people die
Fifty years ago today you killed my mother
I've lived my whole life and I never knew
The love she might have given, the joy she might have felt
To sit in the garden where her grandchildren grew
And now you wonder why we might feel attacked
You wonder at the stand our leaders take
But it was you, I remember, who gave us this lesson
Of the sound of a city when it breaks
Fifty years ago today you killed my father
He was shooting at your planes when he died
Just one of how many million dead soldiers
Fighting and falling side by side
And now you wonder at what you call an evil axis
You throw words that someday will explode
We remember the last time you said these things
When crater was another word for road

Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler

We came to Canada a long time ago
But the Brits showed us no mercy and we had to go
Our cities fell and we set sail
From the shores of La Nouvelle France out into the gale
In Louisiana we started again
We fished and farmed, made a new life here and then
We celebrated a new day And we sang Laissez les bon temps rouler
All we wanted was to be left alone
On a patch of paradise that we could call our own
Fish the Gulf, dance and pray
But when the Revolution came we went and joined the fray
And when we came back from the awful fight
The Battle of Baton Rouge gave us nightmares day and night
But we got the fiddles out to play
We fished the seas and when we came back
It was time for fais do do and all the crawfish you could pack
La Grand Derangement a memory
That had long ago been traded for shrimp and joie de vivre
The Great Upheaval far in the past
Now we had found a new world that we all thought would last
Cajun music there by the bay
When the oil companies began to drill
We did our best to get along and we kept fishing still
It was hard but we persevered
We brought our catch to market like we'd done two hundred years
Some went to Texas to work the oil But most of us stayed here on this Cajun soil
We'd work the Gulf, come home and say
We survived Katrina and so much more
But when the oil started gushing out on the ocean floor
I guess it's time to say good-bye
There's no life here for a fisherman when all the fish do now is die
Maybe California is where I'll land
I've heard that there's still fish there beyond the golden sand
But now I can only cry to hear some fool say

Landlord
The patroons came from Holland to America, became landlords where none had been before
Soon one man owned half a million acres on both sides of the Hudson River shore
He invited families to move in and give him thirty percent
Of everything they grew each year, this is how they'd pay the rent
His name was Rensselaer, he became one of the richest men on Earth
In today's terms ninety billion dollars is how much he'd be worth
All this for doing nothing but saying all of this was his
I have the power of the state behind me and I'm in the landlord biz
After two hundred years of this and one revolution won
Another Rennsalaer had another son
And this Rennsalaer was greedier than his ancestors dead and passed
It was now the 1840's and things started changing fast
It was the straw that broke the back, the bottle was uncorked
They started organizing meetings, the tenant farmers of New York
They found the strength of numbers, they found the power of suggestion
They found each other asking the same question
Who gave you the right to be a landlord, to live a life of ease while others toil
Who gave you the right to be a rich man, while the rest of us pay you so that we can work this
soil
They vowed that they would stop the rent collection, they vowed they'd bring this madness to
an end
And when one blew the tin horn of distress, they'd soon find they had a thousand friends
Dressed in calico skirts with masks upon their faces, on horseback, armed with knives and
guns
They chanted and they yelled, they kept their farms, and they kept the sheriffs on the run
They asked...
Chorus
The governor passed laws to try to stop them, but nothing could be done to break their will
And by 1848 the landlords buckled and sold their holdings to the farmers in the hills
Yes they overthrew this feudal system, but it's replaced now by speculators and banks
And you can still hear the homeless families asking of all the landed gentry in our ranks

The Last Lincoln Veteran

They were old when I was young Now they're all but passed away
Now it's just a second hand Memory of the day
When from all around the world They sailed off to Spain
Where they fought against the fascists
Where so many men were slain
Who will recall the days When we all stood side by side
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died
Beside Martin Luther King Or in a Veterans Parade
You could see the men who made the journey
To join the Fifteenth Brigade
When men of many nations Of most every creed and hue
Catholics and Protestants Atheists and Jews
Joined together in the trenches To turn back the fascist tide
The working class of many countries Joined in a desperate bid
With what weapons they could find They fought to save Madrid
From Brussels and Berlin Galway and London town
Who will recall the Brigadistas Who tried to take the fascists down
When there beside the people Even the figs and olives cried
The Republic had the people But the fascists had the tanks
Il Duce and Der Fuhrer Deserve only some of Franco's thanks
'Cause the fuel to move the armor Came from the USA
And the men that they gunned down Were from New York and Frisco Bay
Uncle Sam said he was neutral Who will remember how he lied
Some say people get conservative The older that they age
They say that being radical Is just a youthful stage
But the finest communist I've known Lived to 95
And he spent his whole life fighting For democracy to thrive
To forget these fallen heroes Is something I cannot abide

Lebanon 2006 (2 pages)

Two soldiers had been captured Theyd crossed to the other side
Two soldiers taken prisoner Several others died
This is how it started So said the Jewish state
Forget about 96, 82, 67, 48
Two soldiers taken hostage And by the Sea of Galilee
We must defend our borders Wherever they may be
We must defend our soldiers Wherever theyre deployed
Two of them are captured One country is destroyed
Somewhere in Tel Aviv Generals drawing battle lines
For the town where Jesus Turned water into wine
On the ten-year anniversary Of a massacre of children
They thought it was a good idea To massacre some children
Anyone in the south I heard Ehud Olmert say
Everyones a target And may be killed today
And if your home has turned to rubble It may be pulverized some more
Cause two soldiers have been captured And we gotta settle up the score
A hundred thousand homes Leveled to the ground
Every olive branch on offer Burned where it was found
Every chance at dialogue Rejected right on cue
If youre gonna burn your bridges You might as well bomb them too
They even bombed the prison Where they used to torture fighters
Where they had the dogs and leashes Cigarettes and lighters
Where they were kept shackled Not allowed to stand
Where they torched the forests Turned them into sand
And the entire world watches A few thousand demonstrate
Governments take action All too little or too late
All the telephones are ringing In case you couldnt read the signs
This is the IDF And youre in the firing line
Condoleeza came to visit For about an hour
She thought it was a party Some kind of baby shower
She said these were the birth pangs Of a brand new morn
But in the hospitals today All the babies were stillborn

The stars and stripes among the ruins Say where they were made
In case anybody wonders About all that military aid
In case anybody wonders About the mines around the farms
Or why so many toddlers Are missing legs and arms
Or why so many of them ask Exactly what was meant
By wiping out their homes And then sending them a tent
Or why if you ask them Who is Nasrallah
Theyll tell you hes our leader And we all are Hezbollah

Life Is Beautiful
Youre sitting here in front of me Floating in a cloud
Your chocolate eyes meet mine
And youre whispering out loud
Words that make me shiver Thoughts that make me melt
And I can only be thankful For the deal Ive been dealt
For the woods outside this window For this guitar on my knee
For the smile on your lips For the good you found in me
Looking at the wood stove And the towels upon the sink
With your fingers on my forehead All that I can think is
Life is beautiful
For the way you kiss my fingers
For the way you hold my hands
For the way you look In those leather pants
For the times like now when I just gotta Roll another smoke
Breath deeply for a minute And take another toke
And when its over And the afternoon is done
We can spend the evening dreaming Of the rising of the sun
And even when the shadows Look me right in the eye
I feel your heart within my belly Like the stars up in the sky

Like I Think About You

I dreamed about you again last night
You had a smile on your face by the firelight
We were sitting in your cabin on the top of the hill
Shooting the shit and smoking our fill
Swapping stories and songs about the world out there
There's so many more we coulda shared
Sometimes I think about dropping in and seeing what's new
Do you think about me like I think about you
I think of all that I learned by your side
Or taking a trip while you did the sidecar ride
I think of all of the things that I'd still like to know
How I still don't understand why you had to go
So many good moments, just one mistake
Was it really worth ending it with the turn you'd make
It just doesn't seem real, do you feel that way, too
Do you think about me like I think about you
It's always so strange to wake up and realize
I may never see the brightness in your eyes
Never get to ask you what you mean
Never tell you tales of the things I've seen
It's so good to visit you again, that's how it seems
So strange to find that once again it was a dream
And once again I wonder what I can do
Do you think about me like I think about you

London Is Burning
The cops shot another man, they have that kind of knack
And it may not be coincidental that he was Black
He was sitting in his car, they say he might have had a gun
What we know for sure is he had five kids -- daughters and sons
Now he cannot have a family, he'll never see his friends
His neighbors understand what kind of message this sends
Some life is worth less, some life is worth more
You don't have to be a mathematician to know the score
Some people get shot for being who they are
Some people play with iPads and drive in fancy cars
Some people go to college, other ones do not
It depends on how much money you got
The government cuts their spending, widening the divide
Then reacts with disbelief when they face the tide
Of anger at the cuts of the futures that they rob
With each day so many have to live without a job
Now the flames are getting hotter, maybe coming to your town
London is burning down
Cameron went on TV in his suit and tie
If the riots asked a question then this was his reply
We'll arrest these hooligans, these people without shame
They are only criminals and it's criminals to blame
Morals have decayed among the peasants' ranks
So let us lock them up while we bail out the banks
When that's the way they look at it, it's not very hard
To watch things fall apart in this house of cards
You can flip through all the channels, hear clueless people whine
These kids have too much freedom and all this is just a sign
That we need more policemen to teach them some respect
Well if that's your line then I know just what you can expect
The class will be repeated until the lesson has been learned
All you need is some injustice to make your cities burn
All you need is the perception -- whether or not it's true
That most of us will never live the way you do

Luddite Song
I'm throwing out my phone, unplugging my TV
Turning off the computer, no more virtual reality
Don't send me a text message, I don't want to read your post
I don't want to see your picture of the sunset on the coast
I want to talk with you for sure, but here beneath the sky
Hand in hand, eye to eye
Because the only thing that's real, the only thing I want to see
Is this campfire, this guitar, you and me
You can ask me what I listen to,
you can wonder why I say I don't
Maybe I'm a prima donna because I say I won't
You can keep your iPod, you can keep your headphones on
You can keep your record player, dance to techno til the dawn
But how about we play some music,
use your voice and sing a song
I'll figure out the melody, and I'll play along
There are those who say we're better off without technology
Without car stereos or thumb drives, and to this I must agree
But you can also keep your central heating,
your private cars and books
I don't want air conditioning, I'd trade it for a fishing hook
And if you want to hear a story,
there's no need to wonder how
I remember one, I'll tell you if you gather round me now

Luis Posada
Luis Posada lived in Havana There amongst the gentry
With the doctors and lawyers and mafia bosses
He thought it was his country
When the revolution came he left Just ninety miles away
Then he signed up for a course At the SOA
Luis Posada left Fort Benning A lieutenant working for the CIA
A long career of death and murder Began on that day
He planted bombs in Cuban cafes To strike fear within the hearts
Of the Cuban people And he directed every part
And now he is a free man in Miami
Luis Posada hired hitmen To plant bombs inside a plane
Seventy-three people Died in a blood-red rain
He ran guns and drugs for the Contras And there he trained a terror cell
To wreak havoc on their homeland And of course to kill Fidel
And now he is a free man in Miami
Luis Posada went to prison He was caught with thirty pounds
Of C4 explosives He was gonna bring a building down
He could have killed two thousand That night in Panama
But Bush said hand him over We want him in Florida
And now he is a free man in Miami
Luis Posada is a free man Not so the Cuban Five
Who agreed to leave their homeland To allow it to survive
Undercover in south Florida They were the eyes and ears
For fighting terrorism Theyre serving twenty years
While Posada is a free man in Miami

Mama's Royal Cafe

I came here to write something else But then I got distracted
Sensory overload Now my thoughts are all impacted
You're all dressed in black From your shoulders to your feet
But you put your hand upon my arm Such a friendly way to greet
Your blonde hair's in a bun There are glasses on your face
They don't seem to match your studded belt
But you wear all of it with grace
You're moving back and forth But for a second you stand still
And I just feel the fluster Then I feel the chill
The tattoos sparkle on your arms and on your neck
I think I can hear them call
And I just want to see them all
Are you always like this With your eyes all a-glow
Somehow each stud upon your belt Says this might be so
Was there a moment you decided To become a work of art
Was it a way to lighten A darkness in your heart
I guess I won't see you Once I leave here today
I guess we'd never meet Any other way
I don't think you like folk music You won't be coming to my show
I'll just leave a tip upon your counter
It's probably time that I should go

The Man Who Burned the White House Down

Robert Ross was from Rostrevor, he was born there in County Down
His family was given land there by the British Crown
He was a man born of the gentry, born with wealth and fame
But he joined the British Army to serve his Queen and make his name
In the Napoleonic Wars he fought in many lands
In Holland and in Spain and on the far-off Egyptian sands
He was wounded there in battle, came back to fight another day
And he was sent off to attack the USA
York had been sacked and burned by invading Yankee men
But the Canadians regrouped, chased the Yankees home and then
The British Navy made its way to the shores of DC town
Where General Ross burned the White House down
The year was 1814, the US was in retreat
It was a Canadian victory, an American defeat
Without the French to help them, they got their ass whipped by the Crown
When General Ross burned the White House down
The place had just been constructed only twelve years before
But it had to be rebuilt, soon after this disastrous war
The President turned tail and ran like a raggedy clown
When General Ross burned the White House down
He was killed a few months later, Irish rebels stopped him in his tracks
He was buried in Nova Scotia, in the town of Halifax
He might have been forgotten, but he'll forever be renowned
He's the man who burned the White House down

Marie
I remember when I met you, living in cancer alley
I was on the road with Robert and Claude -- us and Rand McNally
You were the classic punk rock momma, running a social center
Smile on your lips, tear in your eye, but keeping it all together
Just the sort of woman best at organizing the lonely masses
Though what I remember most is when your dog broke my glasses
Every time I thought of Detroit I wondered how things with you were going
I guess you kept it on the down and low, the other things you were doing
What're you doing in there While I'm out here
Since then I would see you maybe once a year
Usually that meant a really good show you'd organize there
The towns would change, you moved around all over the midwest
Finding the local punks, bringing out their best
The kind of friend and organizer everyone wants around
I for one had no idea just where you'd be bound
They say you were doing other things, keeping it on the sly
In hindsight I'm sure you're up at night and you must be wondering why
I remember once you asked me if you could join me on the road a while
I was a selfish bastard, I said I think that'd cramp my style
Who knew then your ex Frank would be wearing a wiretap
Who knew then what he could do with you sitting on his lap
The things they say you did are not crimes to me
The CEO's destroy the Earth and they stay rich and free
While they put you away for 22 years for destroying property
The judge put you in the hole and threw away the key
I drive around the country beneath the deep blue sky
While you're trapped inside those walls as your life passes by
I wander down a forest path, feel it feed my soul
While you wonder without knowing when they'll send you to the hole
For me you are a hero but who else knows who you are
Perhaps when you look up at night you wish on the same star
If I were not an atheist I'd get down on my knee
And I'd pray to God Almighty that soon they'll set you free

Mi Amor
Mi amor, as you pause beside the lilacs I watch you take them in
You start the morning like a prayer Thats the way your days begin
And if I could be a petal Which you touch before you go
Then with this branch Ill scratch the dirt
And thats the seed Ill sow
Mi amor, as you dive beneath the water
I watch it cascade down your chest
You rise upon the wave As if its molded to your breast
If I could be a stream that feeds this lake
Which might rise to kiss your face
Then I will wind my way between these rocks
So I might settle in this place
Mi amor, as you glide beside the clouds
I feel the wind beneath your wings
With such ease you take this gift That your friend, la luna brings
And I hope that in my lungs There might be the strength one day
That you might gather other sparrows And chase the crows away
Mi amor, the sound that rises from your belly
Is one Ive heard before
It reaches deep behind these walls And I want to live some more
And if I might write a verse That you choose to sing one afternoon
Then Ill gladly wile away the hours Searching for the tune

Miami
The leaders of the world had gathered
To make the planet freer for free trade
To create a better business climate For all the profits they had made
Surrounded by an army There for their defense
Armed with APC's and 'copters And lots of common sense
Behind a fence behind a wall That shouts you shall not pass
Broken skulls, plastic bullets And a thousand gallons of tear gas
And the world leaders kept on talking Behind the mote upon the hill
And they boasted of prosperity And their latest free trade bill
They thanked God, they thanked Boeing
They thanked the World Bank
They thanked the firepower Of the M1 Tank
They defended their positions And the glory of their class
On the streets we chanted We have no clubs or guns
We've just come to tell the people The evil ways this system runs
But the truth can set us free The rulers all knew well
So they drowned the truth with 'copters And the ringing of the bell
With their tasers on our bodies And our faces in the grass
And the cameras hid behind the lines Of half a million men in blue
When the rich men moved their lips They recorded them on cue
The occupation of a city By an army of police
Wasn't worthy of a mention From the reporters of the peace
Neither were the wounded children Or the boarded glass

Minami Sanriku
It was only last week that I walked past the water
I remembered last summer and the candles we made
The whole town was there beside the river
On that warm August night of the Lantern Parade
With a breeze on our backs we walked home together
We unrolled our futons when the night was through
Ojichan was sleeping so we tried not to wake him
That's how life was in Minami Sanriku
It was only last week that I came home from school
My parents were working but my grandpa was there
He threw a ball in my hand looking ever so cool
In his corduroy jacket and his wavy white hair
I said hello ojichan and I threw him the ball
It went kind of like that for the whole afternoon
The sun had gone down when we heard ocasan call
We went inside to eat in Minami Sanriku
It was only last week I was sitting in class
With the rest of the kids on the top of the hill
We felt the earth shake, heard the breaking of glass
And then for a long time the world stood still
We went outside to watch the wave rolling in
As it took away everything I once knew
We stood helpless and looked at the town that had been
Oyasumi, daiski, Minami Sanriku

Minimum Wage Strike

When I awoke one morning There was a feeling in the air
Everything was quiet Things were different everywhere
The Wobblies were back again With Joe Hill at the mike
When all the minimum-wage workers went on strike
There was no one flipping burgers All the grills were cold
Onion rings were in their bags Fries were growing mold
There were no baristas at Starbucks
Asking, "how many shots would you like?"
There was no one pumping gasoline
No one driving from town to town
No one at the registers All the highways were shut down
The cars were stuck in their garage Businessmen on bikes
The fruit was falling off the trees No one to load the trucks
Corn was rotting on the stalk No farm hands to shuck
The workfare workers were hanging at home
Spending the day with their tykes
Yuppie parents were housebound Their nannies left the job
Wal-Mart workers said enough Of our labor has been robbed
The Foot Locker was locked up The boss had to take a hike

More Gardens Song

This neighborhood is blighted That's what the people say
Half the buildings are abandoned And everything is grey
Half the kids have asthma 'Cause of the sewage plants nearby
And the mayor doesn't seem to care If we live or die
That's the situation Now let me take you to the part
The center of this neighborhood What you could call the heart
A vacant lot of broken glass For years that's what it's been
But the neighbors got together Said this is where we will begin
We'll dig this dirt Plant a seed
Push aside the concrete So the earth beneath is freed
We will plant a garden Grow some food to eat
And the sunflowers looking to the sky
Say we reclaim this street
In one day we had accomplished What the mayor always said
He was trying to bring us Through his clubs upon our heads
The neighborhood is clean The dealers gone away
We had good food to eat A place for the kids to play
Twice the city came here Said this is not our land
Twice the cops destroyed it All the work of our own hands
Uprooted plants and broken tools Lay scattered all around
But the next day the only thing you could see
Was fingers in the ground

Morning at Minnehaha
It's 6 o'clock and the air is filled with good things
The scent of eggs and coffee drifts upon the wind
Not far away the sacred fire burns
One sentry's shift is over and another one begins
People gathered from the four directions
United by a love of life, pledged to stand or fall
It's Wounded Knee and People's Park united
Here will be born a homeland, not a highway to the mall
It's morning at the Minnehaha Free State
A little strip of stolen native land
Along the banks of the Mississippi
Right here the Mendota make their stand
The Mendota people lived along this river
Fish among its waters and hunted on the plain
Now they are a people with no homeland
And they say here beside the river they'll remain
And when the cops and dozers come
To carry off every face
Will you come to Minnehaha
Rise up, lock down and take their place?

Moron
Francoise Ducros lost her job As Director of Communications
She was representing Canada At a meeting of the NATO nations
When she had the gall To say what was very clear
Something everybody knew Which they didn't want to hear
In the global mafia There's no doubt who's the Don
But everybody knows That George Bush is a moron
Maybe you voted for him 'Cause you like to shoot your gun
Or perhaps you own an oil company And you're happy that he won
But if that is the case You know you've got to take it on the chin
And thank the Gods For the doctors of the spin
'Cause if it weren't for soundbytes Then just like his Uncle Ron
There'd be no one left who could deny That George Bush is a moron
Perhaps you protested And said it wasn't fair
He didn't even win the vote He should not be in there
But maybe you still have some dignity
And you try to put on the best face
'Cause you just can't come to grips
It seems like it just shouldn't be the case
It's as if there's this really stupid cop With a nuclear baton
Not only is he evil But George Bush is a moron
Well perhaps you are hoping You can make it to the end
Just a few more years And we'll be around the bend
If the world is still standing And not yet blown up into pieces
With a rally at the ballot box We can see that this nightmare ceases
Until you look over your shoulder
At what might happen when he's gone
Once it captures your attention That John Kerry* is a moron

My Daughter
I saw her picking yellow flowers Smiling at the sunlight
Weaving stems to make a necklace
Working hard to get it all right
She reached out to trade it For the bread her mama brought her
And when I looked into her eyes, I saw my daughter
Her feet were bare as mine were When I grew up in the country
And just like her I watched my mother Hanging out the laundry
Now she's grabbed some clothes and darted off
And her mama chased and caught her
Now she's running down the alleyway Dust rising up behind her
She hides beneath the rubble Where nobody can find her
And when she tires and walks back home
Her mama tells her that she loves her
And when the sun sets she is hungry
But there's no more bread to give her
The cement floor is cold tonight
And beneath the rags she shivers
And as the jet planes scorch the sky
She's longing for her brother
As the bombs fall in the distance
She wonders, will the next one fall much closer
It's not so far to Basra
And I could be her father

Next Attack
The next attack is coming I heard it on the TV
Some important politician said
Weve got to drive them into the sea
Round up all the Arabs Send them back from where they came
Who cares if they are citizens Theyre fanatics all the same
The next attack is coming Said dictators west and east
And New York can not rest Until all the rebels are deceased
So send along those helicopters And we will shoot them all
And well cut social services And build a shopping mall
The next attack is coming Said the CEO
So we need to drill for oil
And build more pipelines, dont you know
If these Arabs do not like it And we need the military here
The American people will support us
Whether out of greed or fear
The next attack is coming I heard an Afghan child say
My family was killed By a plane the other day
And when I grow up I will get them back
So I say beware, America Here comes the next attack
The next attack is coming Said Cheney to his men
And if it doesnt We can make one happen again
Every war weve ever been in Was started with a lie
And this war is good business So todays the day for you to die

New Orleans (2 pages)

Everybody knew that it could happen The likelihood was clear
The future was coming And now its here
They had to fix the levees Because otherwise theyd break
On one side was the city Above it was the lake
It was in the daily papers In bold letters was the writ
What would happen When the Big One hit
But every year they cut the funding Just a little more
So they could give it to the Army To fight their oil war
In National Geographic And the Times-Picayune
They forecast the apocalypse Said it was coming soon
Preparations must be made, they said Now is the time
It was years ago they shouted Inaction was a crime
They said the dikes must be improved And the wetlands must be saved
But Washington decided Instead they should be paved
Because malls were more important Than peoples lives
So put some gold dust in your eyes And hope no storm arrives
New Orleans, New Orleans, New Orleans
Years and years of warning No evacuation plan
It was just if the waters rose Just get out if you can
There were no buses No one chartered any trains
There was no plan to rescue All of those who would remain
All the people with no money All the people with no wheels
All of those who didnt hotwire One that they could steal
Thousands and thousands of people Abandoned by the state
Abandoned by their country Just left to meet their fate
And the people died And then they died some more
They drowned inside their attics An army of the poor
An army of the destitute Who couldnt get away
And the world will remember These sad and awful days
When people shouted from their houses Dying on their roofs
When people came to find them They were turned back by the troops
They died there with no water They died there in the heat
They were shot down by the soldiers For trying to find some food to eat

And now the city is in ruins A massive toxic sea

Scattered through the nation Half a million refugees
Here we are In the richest country on the earth
Where the color of your skin Determines what your life is worth
Where oil is the king Where global warming is ignored
Where the very end of life Is the place were heading toward
Where its more than just a metaphor The flooding of the dike
And if we dont stop this madness The whole planet will be like

No Fracking Way
There was a knock one morning, a man was standing at my door
He said, hello, I'm from Halliburton, have you heard of us before?
We'd like to lease your backyard to drill for natural gas
It's called hydraulic fracturing and it is the very pass
For a clean energy future above the Marcellus stone
Plus we'll give you lots of money and a new mobile phone
I said you are a corporate crook, I don't believe the things you tell
And you can drive right of my property and then go straight to hell
No fracking way!
I don't trust corporate salesmen, whatever they may say No fracking way!
My neighbor was out of work and things were looking grim
So when the fracking guy came knocking he had better luck with him
The company said don't worry, everything will be just fine
So just sign your name right here, sir, on this dotted line
Pretty soon the water was tasting pretty dire
One day I lit a match and the water caught on fire
I thought about a lawsuit, then stumbled upon the fact
That fracking is exempted from the Clean Water Act
...Is that how democracy works here in the USA
As if the situation weren't sufficiently unattractive
We tested the water and found it was radioactive
Now my property is worthless and there's a tumor in my brain
Half of my neighbors are sick, the rest are just in pain
Maybe I should take the money, move off to live somewhere
But all the places I look at, they're fracking there
Our choices now are simple, lose that which we hold dear
Or communicate the message in a way that's unstoppably clear
...Tell these frackers to frack off, both tomorrow and today

No One Is Illegal
The clouds gather in your forests And drift to my desert town
And I think of far-off places As the rain is coming down
You're bent down in the fields Picking fruit there from the vine
And it ends up on my table As it moves on down the line
The moon shines brightly in the night sky
The river flows from south to north
With the changing of the seasons The birds migrate back and forth
But they say that you can't come here Not in the light of day
Somebody has got plans for you Starve at home or hide away
Will we open up the borders Tear down the prison walls
Declare that no one is illegal Watch the giant as it falls
So much travels across these borders So much is bought and sold
One way goes the gunships The other comes the gold
Free trade is like a needle Drawing blood straight from your heart
And the border's like a prison Keeping friends apart
Hear the stockholders cheering The world's getting smaller
Hear the drowning child crying "Why are the fences growing taller"
Some whisper in the shadows While others count the dollars
Some have suits and ties Others, chains and collars
May the fortress walls come down
May we meet our sisters and our brothers
Stand arm and arm there in the daylight
No longer fighting one another
Will we stand together For therein lies our might
Will we understand these words "Workers of the world unite"

Now That You're Gone

The city seems so small
But the sidewalk seems so wide
And the buildings seem so far away
Even once I go inside
My friend, his lips are moving
I guess hes talking to me
But your words are echoing through my head
Your face is all I see
Now that youre gone
The walls all seem so empty now
Like a movie screen
Playing over and over
That awful scene
Of you walking through security
With your lips all trembling
Now youre on the other side
And I cant do a thing
Now that youre gone
Now this city is full of ghosts
And they all look like you
They say all the things you say
And do everything you do
Some of them are naked looking
At me from the second floor
And I think Ill find you when I come home
But youre never at the door
Now that youre gone

Occupation (2 pages)
You ask me how it is That I dare to take a side
You say I loathe myself For pointing out that you have lied
You say it's tribal warfare But I disagree
For the dynamics of the situation Are not difficult to see
On one side is the fighter jet On the other side the stone
On one side is the slave On the other is the throne
For the many there are checkpoints While foreign soldiers rule the street
For one side there is victory But the people don't accept defeat
The word you need to know is occupation
The very definition of a land without a nation
And if peace is what you're after then let us not deceive
It will come on the day the tanks return to Tel Aviv
On one side there is hunger And bulldozed olive trees
On the other is the Army Ruling by decrees
Caterpillars maul the streets And destroy entire city blocks
While children swallow shrapnel For the crime of throwing rocks
Fences are erected Around the towns they flatten
And Herzl's own fanatics Sleep on sheets of satin
And they water their plantations Drilling ever-deeper wells
While the displaced children of the hopeless Are filled with bullet shells
...It will come on the day the settlers return to Tel Aviv
On one side there is the Mossad Rounding up the men
Thrown in jail with no trial Being tortured once again
On the other there is rage Helplessness and fear
And a growing realization That another holocaust is near
On the outside there are prisons Inside detainees
Being stripped of their humanity Beaten naked to their knees
Outside ghetto prison walls There are stormtroopers all around
While inside the hungry people Yearn for liberated ground
...It will come on the day the jailguards return to Tel Aviv

All across the world You can hear the people say
The children of Jerusalem Will be free one day
In overcrowded camps Amidst the stench of death and flies
To the suburbs of Detroit You can hear the anguished cries
While in the land of Israel With God ever on their side
Walls and fences are constructed And papers are denied
People fight for their existence While the world turns a blinded eye
And those who should know better Insist on asking why
...It will come on the day the refugees return to Tel Aviv

Occupy Wall Street (We're Gonna Stay Right Here) (2 pages)

Because this is where they buy the politicians
Because this is where power has its seat
Because ninety-nine percent of us are suffering
At the mercy of the madmen on this street
Because all of us are victims of class warfare
Being waged on us by the one percent
Because these greedy banksters rob the country
Leaving us without the means to pay the rent
Because the last time that we had a decent government
Was about 1932
Because we the people are supposed to run the country
But instead it's all run by and for the few
Because now we know the rich do not pay taxes
But when they need a hand it's us who bail them out
Because we suspected we lived in a plutocracy
But suddenly of late there is no doubt
And so we're gonna stay right here
Because both my parents lost their savings
Because I have never opened an account
Because the interest on my credit card just doubled
And now I can't pay the minimum amount
Because these budget cuts are just immoral
With our schools as overcrowded as they are
Because there are no buses where I live
But I can't afford to drive a car
Because so many of us don't have health insurance
The rest of us have it but it sucks
Because the rich are riding in their private jets
While the rest of us are slogging through the muck
Because capitalism isn't working
This system has just failed to produce
Because the one percent is prospering
While the rest of us just suffer their abuse

Because it has been demonstrated amply

That the winners are the ones who stick around
Because this world should belong to everyone
Not just the banksters who would smash it to the ground
Because we've noticed voting doesn't change things
When the politicians are mostly millionaires
Because we're learning how to stand up like Tunisians
Like they did in Tahrir Square
Where a young man named Mohamed Bouazizi
Struck a match that lit up all the Earth
And all around the world the spell was broken
And a movement for the future was in birth
Because there's only so much shit the rich can feed us
Before we figure out which side we're on
Because we've learned if we want our liberation
It will come only if we stay here til the rising of the dawn
Because corporations are not people
And we can't just let them choose
Because if we leave our fate to them
Then all of us will surely lose
Because the climate clock is ticking
And we can't just leave our world behind
Because corporate rule isn't working
And it's time for humans' hearts and minds
Because you can't take it with you
Because the rich just do not care
Because it doesn't matter how much you make
But how much you can share
Because these moments don't come often
Because we want truly to be free
Because we know what really matters
Something called society

Oil Train
There's an oil boom, the prairies are on fire
Shale gas, all the fuel you might desire
Coming out so fast, no time to lay pipeline
Eureka-ville, it's like the Days of '49
Except this time we're using massive rigs
That poison everything more thoroughly the deeper that it digs
Trains a mile long, load it up in rail cars
Send them west, sent them east, past cafes, schools and late-night bars
There's an oil train coming through your town
There were dangers, they knew this from the start
But they were minimal, they said, and everyone must play their part
And risk the destruction of their cities each time a train rolls by
Hope it won't derail, and detonate sky high
There's an accident each day somewhere but we're not supposed to fear
That it could happen here
Listen closely, do you hear that whistle blow
Look out the window, do you see the fire glow
There's an oil train coming through your town
It was after midnight on a Saturday night
A resident called in that a rail car was alight
With that much gas, sitting by the lake
It was no one's job to watch the car that maintained the brake
On seventy-three massive tanks of fracking gas
Down the hill, gaining speed as they rolled past
Now at the Musi-Cafe that once was on rue Frontenac
There are fifty customers and employees who won't be coming back
There's an oil train coming through your town

One Night In Greece

I'll tell you a story, I swear it's true It was a sunny afternoon
September 10th, 2001 We were minding our business, having fun
Hanging out on the coast of Greece A long way from the belly of the beast
We were drinking and talking and things were good
Living it up as best we could
Then a yacht so big it blocked the sky Entered the view of our collective eye
It was ostentatious beyond description
It made old Greek ladies have conniptions
And as this bloated behemoth trundled past We got a square view of the mast
And at the top, ten meters high Was a sight that made the village cry
An American flag of such massive girth It seemed to take up half the earth
Now maybe it had to do with the dictatorship
But the Greeks among us began to flip
We were women and men of various stations An international delegation
And all of us there on the sand Knew this situation couldn't stand
As the yacht set down it's anchor And sat there like some oil tanker
Well we drank and talked and talked and drank
The sun went down and then it sank
By midnight we'd reached a solution How to deal with this air pollution
We thought we'd swim out and we'd check If there was a staircase to the deck
So we stripped down and swam out there And sure enough there were the stairs
Then a Libyan student named Osama Took the lead role in the drama
He climbed the stairs and then the flagpole It was a sight to feed a weary soul
Hanging naked with us beneath He bit the flag off with his teeth
And flag in hand he jumped down And we dragged the flag back into town
A small victory one may note Just a flag upon a boat
Revolution it was not But one more rich prat in his yacht
Might think twice before he sets sail With a flag the size of a fucking whale
And our reward for this little caper? A year's supply of toilet paper!

Operation Iraqi Liberation

Weve got a situation and it calls for a solution
That upholds our domination of the planet
Were gonna make our case and were gonna make it well
But if you dont like our logic you can can it
Well use impeccable intelligence from any country in the world
As long as we all see eye to eye
And if we dont find quite what we need we know what to do
Just look into the camera and lie
Cause its Operation Iraqi Liberation Tell me, what does that spell
Operation Iraqi Liberation O I L
And well lie about the missiles and the nuclear research
Well lie about uranium
Well build military bases and smile for reporters
As we give away bubble gum
And well lie about bin Laden and his connections with the Saudis
And well lie about 9-1-1
And well lie about the Baathists and their connections to Al Qaeda
Because we know theres none
And well lie about the North Koreans and well lie about Iran
And dont mention Israel
Keep those nuclear weapons out of this song
And it will all hold together swell
And now well liberate these people, well liberate their money
Well liberate their soil
Well liberate their airports, well liberate their harbors
And well liberate their oil

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Alex is a member of my record label Teenager though he is
He joined the Ever Reviled Records collective
And the indy music biz
Well his parents didn't like such turns of events
So they sent off a couple of thugs
To bring him back to Utah, lock him up And pump him full of drugs
They say he's got problems with authority
Yes this is what they claim
And their psychiatric analysis Has even got a name
Oppositional Defiant Disorder I think I got it, too
Oppositional Defiant Disorder He's sick and so are you
If you think the average politician Is a scoundrel and a liar
If you fantasize about setting Your local Wal-Mart on fire
If you don't like Wolf Blitzer And you think he's full of it
And you feel that a Rush Limbaugh punching bag
Might be kinda fun to hit
If bombing other countries Makes you feel appalled
You have got a problem And this is what it's called
If you think school is boring And your teacher is a fool
If you don't like your congressman
And you called him a corporate tool
If you were not standing To sing save the Queen
If you turned down hamburgers And ate rice and beans
We've got a diagnosis No matter whether you agree
Just do what the doctors tell you And thank God for psychiatry

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

It was a commando operation of courage and skill
Navy Seal helicopters flew in for the kill
They had a firefight and they shot him in the head
Now the mastermind of terror, Bin Laden is dead
For all those who love freedom it's a glorious day
In DC and New York they're chanting USA
Fatherless children clutching teddy bears
Legless veterans with catheters and wheelchairs
Can all rejoice that the deed is done
And the War on Terror has been won
Now orphans of Afghanistan can look at the skies
They can fill the air with joyful cries
As the call to prayer rings from shattered domes
They can all run out from the rubble of their homes
Now they know their parents didn't die in vain
When they heard the roar of a jet plane
Now the whole village except the hundred-fifteen
Who died that morning unknown and unseen
Now folks can have a party in old Baghdad
And the people of Falluja can all be glad
Now they know there is a reason for their poisoned farms
And for the babies born without heads or arms
The widows need not wonder where their husbands went
They can look forward to the future in their tents
Now all the refugees whatever country they're in
In Syria, Jordan or Michigan

Outside Agitator
It was on one summer evening When I sallied forth
Headed up to Calgary On the road up north
The leaders of the free world were meeting
To decide the planet's fate
So there were some things I wanted to mention
To this Group of Eight
I went up to the border And was greeted with a smile
Until they looked my name up And showed to me my file
The guard said that freedom Canadians hold dear
But it says right on this paper
That we don't want your kind around here
So I feel I should inform you In case it's something that you missed
Now it is official And I'm on the list
If you've ever wondered what they look like Then let me take a bow
'Cause I'm an outside agitator You're looking at one now
They said I had no record Of crimes that they could find
But their data told them That I might have some in mind
They copied all my papers Searched all around my truck
Took my picture and informed me That I was out of luck
Now I'm no Emma Goldman Or Commandante Che
But someone up in Ottawa Said I should be turned away
So it leaves me wondering What have I done wrong
Perhaps it is a crime I committed in a song

Palestine
My daddy was an Arab from Beersheva A situation so unkind
My momma was a refugee from Ramallah
Had to leave her land behind
I grew up in this refugee camp In this unwelcome land
In this little parcel of Lebanon We were dealt a losing hand
Then one day the soldiers came A tired old refrain
I'll try to tell you what happened next But there's no way to explain
The soldiers raped my mother Then they killed her dead
Along with the rest of the Shatila Camp While I hid beneath my bed
Now I'm a-wanderin', I'm a-wanderin' No place to call my home
Palestine, Palestine All around the world I roam
My aunt came over from Jordan Brought me there to live
And together we've moved to half the world
Oh for peace what I would give
In Beirut, Greece and New York town I've watched the world churn
But my home is Palestine Someday I will return
Now here I am in Washington Heart of the empire
That sends the 'copters and bulldozers
That turned Ramallah into a funeral pyre
Well you've heard my story And time will not allow
Soon my visa will expire What will you do now

Parking Lots and Strip Malls

Well, plastic forks are fun and paper cups are cool
I like to be on the move when I eat my gruel
Don't get me wrong, disposable diapers are really great
But my favorite feature of these United States are
Parking lots and strip malls, parking lots and strip malls
The world needs more parking lots and strip malls
Well, clearcut forests make me want to pray
Cut down those trees, let in the light of day
And those condos spread out so far and wide
But nothing beats parking lots, strip malls and the old ocean
tide
I love to see those factories making useful stuff
And I go to the cineplex when life is getting rough
Driving down the highway, Mickey D's is where I get my rest
But parking lots and strip malls are the places I love best

Paul Wolfowitz
He's done giving orders to generals He's moved to another sphere
He's through with ordering the tanks to kill
He's gonna do something different this year
He's moving from Virginia to Washington
With the neocons to thank
He's done with the War Department
Now hes gonna run the World Bank
He said hed be true to the mission
That hunger and want should end
And as all Afghans know hes a man of his word
On that we can depend
So be prepared for prosperity Its coming to your door
'Cause there will be no poverty Once we kill off all the poor
Last week he was bombing cities Now he's a financier
Pay your debts or say goodbye Paul Wolfowitz is here
He'll bring the world things it needs Such as nuclear power
Giant dams and hamburgers No doubt hes the man of the hour
He's proven it over and over With finesse and aplomb
And for those who disagree Well then hes got the bomb
He's a real American So he must know best
He'll lead us all to glory On that many can attest
He'll lead us to freedom And we will be so glad
Just like those shoppers in that market In downtown Baghdad

Pipeline
As soon as they started drilling for oil they started building pipelines
On the seabed, through the forests and across the borderlines
As soon as they started laying the pipe they said we'll do this safely
There will never be an accident, we can do this carefully
But the sands shift, the ice melts, disasters are routine
Point out their record of destruction and they'll say their hands are clean
Point out their woeful deeds and they'll consult their banker
And say it's safer to use a pipeline than an oil tanker
So now they want to see how far their madness it can go
A pipeline from the Tar Sands to the Gulf of Mexico
The tar sands lie in the north beneath Alberta's ground
As the price of oil rises and the oil men have found
Now there's profit to be made in a madman's dream
By drilling deep beneath the Earth, blasting it with steam
Bulldozing the land, melting what's inside
A record of extinction a thousand miles wide
But laying waste to the northern plains is evidently not enough
The capitalists need markets where they can sell this toxic stuff
So across the farms and prairies the oil now must flow
A pipeline from the Tar Sands to the Gulf of Mexico
Governors oppose it and every native band
Ranchers don't want it passing through their land
Union leaders have denounced it as have the rank and file
The President delayed it for just a little while
They say you can't stop progress, I hope that isn't true
'Cause if we mine the tar sands, if we let the pipeline through
It will be a pipeline to oblivion, a pipeline to the end
A pipeline to a future with nothing round the bend
A pipeline to a future that I hope we'll never know
A pipeline from the Tar Sands to the Gulf of Mexico

Pirate Radio Song

This is how it started It's not hard to understand
From coast to coast they're lying At a CEO's command
From Nationalist Public Radio CNN and ABC
Big Brother's spewing propaganda From the Disinformation Ministry
They say the economy is booming We hear the homeless beggar's cries
They say we help poor countries We see bombs falling from the skies
Reality doesn't exist They're trying to say
But some of us decided There is another way
Seize the airwaves Seize the time
Lying to the people Is the real crime
When it's all owned by corporations And theirs is the only word
We will seize the airwaves Speak freely and be heard
Someone got a transmitter Started up a station
Then the idea spread Right across the nation
Like the land and water The air must be free
So let us shout together "Fuck the FCC"
And we'll do it all together In a grassroots style
Breaking down the fences Throughout this whole square mile
It's the new Town Meeting It's the way the news should be
The rulers call it chaos We say it's democracy
So when you turn on the radio And you've had it with this shit
From 88 to 107 Makes you want to have a fit
When you listen to the music And it's all the same pop song
Start up a pirate station 'Cause that's where you belong

Pirate Santa
Santa and his elves worked on the North Pole
Making toys to take to kids around the Earth
They worked all year to try to fill the orders
Then they flew the toys from Portland out to Perth
Then the whole economy collapsed
And everyone was getting fired
Santa said it's time to close the workshop
Santa said more urgent measures are required
Santa saddled up his reindeer
And with the skull and bones unfurled
Santa went and joined the pirates
For the good of the children of the world
Santa flew down to the Gulf of Aden
Waited for a good ship to attack
The crew gave up without a fight Santa put the toys all in a sack
Santa headed to Moldova Gave out everything and then
He flew back to the Gulf of Aden To go and do it all again
The world's navies tried to catch him
But Santa always got away
Like Robin Hood with super powers
There upon his flying sleigh
Eventually they got him In a helicopter raid
But not before he inspired many more
To take up the pirate trade

Pirates of Somalia
Let me tell you the story of a hundred ships
Traversing the great big sea
Moving the riches of the world in large ships
Owned by the captains of industry
They were heading to places like Amsterdam London and LA
But they had to change their plans a bit
When they were held up on the wa - ay
Here's to the pirates of Somalia Sailing the ocean blue
Here's to the pirates of Somalia I'll raise the Jolly Roger to you
Harardhere is a town of fishermen
Living lives of hardship and toil
But today they had a really good catch
Two million barrels of oil
They travel with the Pirate's Handbook
Doing what's just and fair
Taxing the robber barons And taking their rightful share
There are those who don't like pirates
But I think they're just great
I only wish that I could shake their hands
And say "good job, mate!"
I only wish I could join them on the seas
Bring those tankers to bay
Tax those corporations And give the loot away

Polyamory Song
I heard a woman talking
And to me what she said just made sense
She was lamenting the state of affairs
How some people can be so dense
She said she had three wonderful children
Two girls and their little brother
And nobody gave her problems for loving
Each child as much as the other
But they'll say you are bad Or perhaps you are mad
Or at least you should stay undercover Your mind must be bare
If you would dare To think you can love more than one lover
I really dig the redwood forests
But the desert makes me want to sing
And those little Irish villages When the churchbells ring
I like to busk in Boston And hang out in the cafes in Berlin
Yes, I like lots of different places And nobody tells me it's a sin
I like Italian espresso But I also like French wine
And now and then that BC bud Leaves me feeling oh so fine
I like to get a buzz sometimes I like sobriety
Most people understand this They also like variety
Each one of the four seasons Leaves me feeling good
Sitting in the shade in summer In the winter chopping wood
Sometimes I love cloudy days But I also dig the sun
But I don't think I'm crazy For having so much fun

Pray for the Dead and Fight Like Hell for the Living
They bombed Philadelphia, killed women and children and men
It's an old story, we see it again and again
Shot into houses while people burned inside
So many have fought and so many good people have died
They murdered and put MOVE in prison -- now they're bringing more forces to
bear Are we gonna let them strap Mumia to the electric chair? Or...
Will we pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living
Stand up on our feet or die in slavery
Is there somebody here whose live is not worth giving?
Who's it gonna be if it isn't you and me?
They killed Crazy Horse, drove his people onto the reserve
Killed children and buffalo, some lower power to serve
The people starved and they died behind the impassable wall
In tipis and churches, even ghost dancers would fall
Now from Ecuador to Big Mountain, relocation is rearing it's head
Will we turn our backs or recall what the good woman said?
They poisoned the water, poisoned the air and the earth
Who here believes that the dollar is all that our planet is worth
They cut down the forests, cut down the mountains and anything else they
could take
What a cynical greed to do business, knowing all life is at stake
Now as they destroy all that remains, who here will part with the last
Will we raise our voice to the madness -- rise up, lock down, stand fast?
From Manilla to Managua, how many have died in our names
From Santiago to Santo Domingo, it is a murderous game
From Baghdad to Belgrade, mass murder from ten thousand feet
But from Hanoi to Havana, there is talk of the tiger's defeat
Will we wait for the next time, to kill kids on some far-away shore
Or will we throw a wrench in the gears as we shout, "no mas, no more"

Prism
A secretive government had a secret operation
Massacring villages, killing millions, secretly bombing an entire nation
They wiretapped a hotel room, they got caught and a government was deposed
Because of secret documents Daniel Ellsberg exposed
One government came down, and to prevent a repetition of this fact
The next government passed the Freedom of Information Act
Each administration since then hoped it would go away
And then they finally seized the chance on a September day
They passed the Patriot Act before a single Congressman had read it
But don't ask the Executive how they interpret it
Because that itself is secret, never to be revealed
Just like their secret prisons and all the torture sessions they concealed
Then they formed the Prism Program so they wouldn't even have to ask
Compliant corporations to assist them in the task
Of collecting information, every email you ever wrote, every book you ever read
Every call you ever made, everything you ever said
I looked into a prism, what did I see
A police state looking back at me
The Secret Government men lied to Congressional committees
Secret information even a Senator can't see
Secret bureaucrats working with secret corporations enforcing secret laws
Forming secret juries to serve a secret cause
One brave man came forward and then he fled town
And now the Secret Government men mean to hunt him down
Feinstein says he is a traitor, McConnell said so, too
But I'd say if we have a future it's because of the whistle that he blew

Promised Land
Life could've been different You think I don't know
I could've been born in Paris Or in the Wisconsin snow
But I'm from this desert And here I will stand
And I will meet you in the promised land
You know I went to college To be an engineer
Thought I'd do something useful But what good is that here
When your jet fighters bomb Any buildings that stand
The life of the fighter I didn't choose
But I love my people And I can follow your cues
If destroying our world Is your leader's command
My name is Mohamed But I don't know if it's true
If we go anyplace better When our life here is through
But you have butchered my family You must understand
I know it's not pretty But for all that you've done
For all the widows and orphans
And all the wars that you've won
I must teach you a lesson Maybe you'll understand
So I will get in this plane And when it's in the air
To your symbols of power And our source of despair
I'll look out through the cockpit And steady my hand

Reichstag Fire (2 pages)

The planes hit New York City And thousands now are dead
"It was Arab terrorists" This is what you said
Well if that is the truth Then what have you got to hide
And what were you doing On the day all those people died
Where the fuck were the fighter jets Ordered by the FAA
And what is your explanation For what you were heard to say
When you told the Air Force to stand down Not to intercept
Did you plan to let it happen Or are you just inept
I am left to wonder As the flames are reaching higher
Was this our latest Lusitannia Or another Reichstag Fire
There's some distressing information, sir
Which I think should be explained
Just which things have been lost And just what has been gained
Like the thousands of put options Bought days before the crash
If the money were collected It would make quite a pretty stash
And the only stocks they bought Were American and United
Deutsche Bank knows the answer But the names have not been sighted
And is it just coincidence That this firm in the private sector
Was once run by "Buzzy" Krongard Ex-CIA Director
There's something fishy in Virginia And I want an explanation
Why did they get the contract What is Britannia Aviation
A one-man operation Corporation with no history
He said he worked in Florida But there he was a mystery
So is there a connection I think it bears investigation
When the FAA found boxcutters Does this cause you consternation
Hidden behind the seats In these Delta planes
That had been fixed in Lynchburg With Brittania at the reigns

You said Bin Laden was your friend But he isn't anymore
Now that he's not fighting Russia In your proxy war
Who called the FBI Off the Bin Laden family trail
When so many times you had the chance To re-write this sordid tale
Sudan in '96 The Taleban in 2001
Offered to turn him over And right then you coulda won
But perhaps it is the case That you're avoiding victory
That to justify your exploits You must have an enemy
If you were not hiding from the truth
Then you'd have a truth commission
And not some masquerade Kangaroo investigation
Hiring Henry Kissinger The ancient master of deceit
To make sure all stones are left unturned And the ruse is kept complete
And now you carry out your plans Which you have had for decades
Conquering the world With your troops and bombing raids
I see an evil regime Led by an evil man
On Pennsylvania Avenue Where this evil war began

Resistance
You can say that it's about the savages You can say you have a better way to live
You can call it Manifest Destiny You can talk of all your civilization will give
You can say that we're a thing of history
And progress is the future you will bring
You can send your armies to these mountains
You can say we'll prosper beneath your king
But there will always be resistance The next battle will always be near
As long as you have everything There will be those who have nothing to fear
And little by little, or maybe all at once you will lose
Because our future is not yours to choose
You can say that you've got to stop the communists
You can say that our ideals can't succeed
You can say that competition is the only way
And a global system based on greed
And you can call yourself a democrat You can call yourself whatever you will
And you can keep on stamping out the fires you start
So you might stay on top of the hill
You can say that all of us are traitors Because we oppose your wars of conquest
And your scheming corporations
And all the crimes that they have not confessed
You can say that we are not patriots Because our nation is not your empire
Because we refuse to stand idly by As our cities are rising up in fire
And you can say that all of us are terrorists
Madmen bent on destroying all that's free
You can say that we are building weapons
As your bombers fly from sea to bloody sea
You can say you're with us or against us
And to die quietly is what we now must do
You can maintain your innocence
You can say that you are many, as you represent the few

Return (2 pages)
i can't help it.
i don't care how far you think the analogy extends itself.
when i see you making that bus driver climb up and down
on and off the roof of his bus
for your amusement
for hours in the hot sun
i think of how we once had to dance and sing for them
while they shot our parents.
when i see you keep that woman
and her husband
at the checkpoint
while she's in labor
and you stand there
listening to her scream
watching as she gives birth
on the back seat of a taxi
i think of the walls around our own ghetto
and how we had to crawl through the sewers
looking for rats to eat
while we could hear their children playing
on the other side.
when i see you crush that house
and kill that woman
and her baby
with your armored bulldozer
because they didn't have a permit
i think of the way we were once forced to leave our homes
at the point of a gun.
and when i hear your general say
that in order to deal with the intifada
you must learn from the tactics of another general
one mr. stroop
in warsaw
i think of how they bombed our buildings
shot us as we fell from the roofs.
and i remember

how we wished we could kill their babies, too.

and i feel sick.
sick of your displaced anger
sick of your self-deception
sick of your attempts to deceive the rest of the world
sick of your accusations of anti-semitism
sick of your occupation
sick of your apartheid state
sick of zionism.
because standing here
in auschwitz, birkenau and warsaw
i see jenin, jaffa and rafah.
and i think of our ancestors
the jewish palestinians
who spoke so eloquently
in their arabic language.
but the dead cannot speak.
and now i find myself
again behind the wall of a ghetto
standing with millions of other palestinians.
and i find myself shouting
thawra! thawra! hatta al-naser!
tomorrow in jerusalem!
al-awda
return.

Rinky Dink
Its a pedal-powered radio station Itll fire up your imagination
Its a sound system, itll make you dance
Might make you jump right outta your pants
Traveling roadshow microphone With a bicycle seat as the throne
If you see it youll agree Its right there on your frequency
Its the Rinky Dink, the Rinky Dink When youre feeling on the brink
Itll make you laugh, itll make you think
Talking about that Rinky Dink
The soaps a-bubbling, breeze is blowing
Aint no telling where its going
The windmills swinging with the tribe Its that day-glo, solar vibe
Stop a riot, its been done Itll part the clouds and bring the sun
It dont matter where youve been Just sit on down and tune right in
Its the Rinky Dink, the Rinky Dink Just might be the missing link
Itll make you nod, itll make you wink
Talking about that Rinky Dink
Theyll come rolling through your town
You might go up and never come down
Its the cure for air pollution Its the Rinky Dink solution
Folksll wonder, folksll stare Kidsll jump into their chair
Before they go you know the rub Put a quid into the tub
Its the Rinky Dink, the Rinky Dink Itll ease up any kink
Itll make your troubles shrink Talking about that Rinky Dink
The Rinky Dink, the Rinky Dink Give those folks something to drink
Turn the pedals, clackity-clink Talking about that Rinky Dink

Riot Dog
Lots of folks are revolting
They've had enough of this shit
The rich are getting richer
They're saying that's it
But with Louk it's different, that's clear
As he emerges from the fog
Let's hear it for Loukanikos
The ri - ot dog
It's a fight between people
But he is no pawn
He knows exactly
Which side he's on
In the machine of capital
He is no cog
Let's hear it for Loukanikos
The riot dog
When a smoke bomb comes towards him
He kicks it back at the fuzz
No he acts a bit different
Than a normal dog does
He's got a fan page on Facebook
But he's got no time for a blog
Let's hear it for Loukanikos
The riot dog

RPG
I was at a demonstration
Somewhere in this great nation
Millions of riot cops were milling everywhere
They were eating meatball subs
They were swinging billy clubs
Then there came a thunderous noise right above us in the air
RPG, RPG I can hear the people all shouting out with glee
And when I look up to the sky
I can't help but wonder why
That helicopter's circling above right above me
RPG
I was singing like a bird
Just trying to be heard
Singing on the stage some wistful melody
And there seemed to be consensus
That with that copter up above us
There was just one song now that might have a harmony
As we gathered up the tazed
We were happily amazed
That the medics had the water for to flush our eyes for gas
But what was really most impressive
Though perhaps a bit aggressive
Was when a hundred bodies spelled three letters on the grass

Santiago
As I looked out my window At the clear blue sky
At the planes that flew so low At the smoke that rose so high
The air filled up with dust That blackened out the sun
And the politicians went on About the new day that had begun
And when I looked at my calendar Somehow I knew it would be so
It was on this day in Santiago
Less than thirty years had passed And how clearly I remember
What the city had been like Before that day in September
There were doctors on the sidewalks Helping those in need
Students in the barrios Teaching children how to read
There were milk trucks in the shanties Driving to and fro
I could tell you about the rallies The whole city in the street
The President was speaking And we all were on our feet
Allende was the future Destitution was the past
The city was in motion And things were changing fast
Just how fast they were changing Only Kissinger could know
Anaconda Copper And Nixon got their dream
A country torn apart Ruptured at the seam
A fascist coup was what they wanted And thats just what theyd get
When they sent down from Fort Benning General Pinochet
Lady Liberty Hung her head down low
They dropped bombs on La Moneda With jet planes from DC
They killed five thousand people In our city by the sea
A reign of terror started When they cut off Victors hands
The rivers clogged with bodies And our blood drenched the sands
And I remember wondering Which way future winds might blow

Scar Upon Your Face

When I woke up this morning I felt something in my skin
I saw your hair upon the pillow And the cleft upon your chin
Your eyes opened and they found me Like a synonym for grace
And your wild beauty was revealed In the scar upon your face
When I woke up this morning And I heard you say that word to me
You looked upon your Jewish lover And you called him "habibi"
I know there is a future I think you're proof that that's the case
I saw it on your lips And on the scar upon your face
When I woke up this morning I saw the ring upon your hand
Your only piece of evidence From a long-forsaken land
It takes me to a village In another time and place
Like the depth within your eyes And the scar upon your face
When I woke up this morning Lost somehow in the deep
I recalled the sound Of you crying in your sleep
Crying for your mama And this savage human race
I could only kiss your cheek And the scar upon your face

Shut Them Down

We shall fight them on the beaches We shall fight them on the shore
They will bring us exploitation We'll bring them their class war
We'll lock down to the gates As they're spreading vicious lies
They want to dominate the world And we see through their disguise
If they'd have one big multinational With their corporate flag unfurled
Searching everywhere For the lowest wages in the world
Then we'll have One Big Union From Melbourne to Prague to Seattle-town
Wherever they may go We will shut them down
We'll shut them down, we'll shut them down
We will shut them down
And CNN will spread the lies This is just how it's gotta be
Well they can have their CNN 'Cause we got our IMC
And we will tell the truth quite clearly Though they don't want to hear it
And they'll try to stop our broadcasts 'Cause the truth is that they fear it
They want a world full of strip malls Plants grown by biotech
As long as they get richer They just don't give a heck
But we don't want their ecocide We want a world we can live in
That's why we're here to stay And we're not gonna give in
And they'll infiltrate us Provocateurs within our ranks
And if they can't divide us They'll send in the tanks
But we will stand together Pacifists and Zapatistas
Workers, farmers, the indigenous Tree-huggers and baristas
And we will build a new world Without the corporate elite
And we will see the day Of their international defeat
We'll have self-determination And equality for all
For what choice do we really have But to rise up and see them fall

Sit Down To Piss

This world's full of challenges Some are big and some are small
War, greed, pollution Might take some time to solve 'em all
But if a long march starts with just one step There's one I'd like to mention
If you live with your nostrils open Perhaps it's come to your attention
You may be fighting for freedom All the night and day
But when you come back home Someone's bound to say
"You wanna change the world, man Believe me, I do, too
But in the meantime is it required That we live in a fucking zoo"
If the revolution starts at home Then let me tell you this
Stand up for your rights, boys But sit down to piss
If you've ever lived with other people You may know what I mean
Who's gonna wash the dishes And get the bathtub clean
As we scrub the tear gas from our eyes The issue may seem so little
But what might make or break the movement Is exactly how you piddle
If you just love to clean the toilet I say that is really neat
But you could still save yourself some effort By pulling up a seat
However if you claim your aim is true And you don't have to sit
All I've got to say, son Is you are full of shit
Yes if you really like to clean the loo That's all well and good
But if you're like most guys You don't do it like you should
So just make this tiny move Towards gender equity
Try it for a couple months And I'm sure you'll agree
Well I don't want to cramp your style Or keep you from doing your thing
In your own apartment You can surely be the king
But if you're indoors, sharing space I hope by now you see
That the respectful thing to do Is to sit down when you pee

Sixty Thousand More

I was driving down the highwayWhere I spend half my life
When I saw another scene That always cuts me like a knife
Some flowers, wreaths and crosses Laid out for the deceased
And a note from his pretty girlfriend Saying, Johnny, rest in peace
He won't be playing football now Nobody will keep score
And next year there will be sixty thousand more
He had just looked down for a moment
To find something he had lost
Never guessing that that moment Would have such a cost
The road ahead was curving And the sun was on the rise
Right above the tree line It caught him in the eyes
Right here in America You want to know what lies in store
His dad was washing dishes In the kitchen all alone
When he heard the ringing And he picked up the phone
It was a policeman He said I have some awful news
I'll see you at the funeral I'll be with you in the pews
He hung up the telephone And crumpled to the floor
It's the world that we live in All covered up with tar
Spending half our lives Behind the wheel of a car
So roll your dice, America And gamble on your fate
You can start the engine But you can't pick the date
It's not a plague, it's not a famine And they say it's not a war

So Many Years Ago

It was so many years ago But it seems like yesterday
When we would walk along the water
And I would melt each time you'd say
"Te quiero, mi amor" And you would kiss my cheek
And all my troubles would drift away Like a flower down the creek
It was so many years ago But the memory's so clear
I see the sparkle of your eyes I feel your lips upon my ear
The scratchy stubble on your chin The roughness of your hands
In my heart I see you and I wonder Who really understands
It was so many years ago That we lay side by side
Our naked bodies mingling With nothing left to hide
I'd watch the ripples of your muscles
Beneath the soft glow of the stars
While we'd listen to the distant sound Of voices and guitars
It was so many years ago The sweat upon your forehead glistened
I recall the words you spoke And how the people listened
I remember where I sat Looking at your long black hair
The debates would last til dawn And change was in the air
It was so many years ago But what's most etched upon my mind
Was the hour when you left me And our little home behind
Ever since that awful moment Things have never been the same
The leaves were falling on the rooftops On the day the soldiers came

Song for Al Grierson

When I come to central Texas And Im amid the shrubs and stone
And Im driving down the highway And Im driving on my own
It makes me think about a friend Who I knew not long ago
Who lived beneath the moonlight On a ranch called Armadillo
When Im cruising through the desert On this road that loves my car
It makes me think of wild roses And a beat up old guitar
It makes me think of how Id stop there On my way on through
And hang with the deadhead boxcar
The lonely railroad tracks and you
Sometimes love hurts, Al
Other times it kills
An Alberta boy who fell in love
With the Texas hills
Wed reminisce of friends That we both knew somewhere
Youd tell me of a woman With flowers in her hair
Wed swap songs and stories That happened since last year
The ones you always liked the best
Was when we all ended up in tears
You still had the sneakers Though youd given up the wine
You found a trailer by the highway That treated you just fine
Where you could write the finest lines
About whoever took your heart
Flew it to the clouds And ripped it all apart

Song for Alistair

I think of summer festivals, I think of double dates
I think of being searched by cops outside the prison gates
I think of dark-haired women, one or two or maybe four
I think of singing songs together, planning to sing more
I think of Queensland summer, swimming in cool waters
With you and me and Woodford and Athena's daughters
I think of driving down the highway feeling like the lucky few
I think of Grevious Angels, Gram and Emmylou
'Cause every time we hit the road, got in the rental car to go
Heading for some other city to play another show
It was always you who was the DJ, usually me behind the wheel
And it was always time for country western harmonies and pedal steel
I think of Maralinga and the BLF
Seventh chords in open tunings and the mighty treble clef
I think of 1917 and the red flag flying high
Above the streets of Glasgow, beneath a blood-red sky
I think of Roaring Jack and how you would repine
Of decades fueled in equal parts by politics and wine
I think of meeting friends, both old and very new
I think of driving down the highway with Gram and Emmylou
I think of Aotearoa, gazing at the stars
I think of that drunken driver who totalled our car
I think of playing in the Bunker, how that audience had spunk
Half of them old folkies, half of them young punks
I think of all the miners who slowly fade away
I think about the moment when I heard it was your day
I think about this CD that I got from you
When I'm driving down the highway with Gram and Emmylou

Song for Ana Belen Montes

Twenty-five years was what the judge said
Then he banged his gavel and shook his head
You've done wrong, you broke our trust
Now we caught you and this is a bust
Now you'll spend these decades behind bars of steel
You thought you could play with us, but this is for real
He said you gave away secrets to the enemy
Now you'll live in prison in the land of the free
But here beneath this Cuban sun
I'd just like to thank you for all you've done
My heart today is torn apart
Ana Belen Montes, you are a spy after my own heart
"I obeyed my conscience rather than the law," so you said at your
secret trial
You took no money for your work, so says your declassified file
You warned the Cubans of the plans of the assassins from the US
Just what other good deeds you did, they may never tell us
High up in the ranks of the DoD you served the common good
Working alone, night and day, you did just what you should
Of all the great people I have known, there are few that I'd call
greater
Than one woman who obeyed a higher law, who the judge called
traitor

If I could sing a song for every bomb that flies

Song for Basra
I'd sing each and all the days
If there were to be a verse for every dying child's cries
For every helpless father's gaze
If I wrote a love letter to each corpse as it is carried
I'd never still my pen
If I had to stop a moment for each one that's been buried
I'd never move again
And the stocks are going up in some safe place in America
Sing a song for Basra
If I could shed a tear for every home that bombs destroy
I'd never stop crying
If every broken brick were a heart of a little girl or boy
All the world's children would be sighing
If I could hold each shattered body, each baby stilled at birth
I'd have no time for loneliness
I'd spend all my time embracing the people of this savaged earth
Feeling the poisoned wind's caress
And the billionaires are laughing in some safe place in America
If each barren pharmacy were a woman's shining eyes
I'd fall in love forever
If every bombed-out kindergarten were a factory in disguise
Wouldn't that be clever
But bricks are only bricks, and dust is only dust
And death is all around
Each day another missile falls and sometimes the only thing to trust
Is the shaking of the ground
And they're loading up the warplanes in some safe place in America

Song for Big Mountain

Our grandparents were born here
Their ancestors lived on this earth
The land is the people and the people are the land
And this is the land of our birth
But now you want to move us off this mesa
As if you can take a body from a soul
You want to take from us our paradise on earth
And trade it for a mountain of coal
What if they were coming for your grandma
What if they were coming for your child
What if they were tearing up the land beneath your feet
Even taking the rivers that were once running wild
What would you do If they were coming for you?
The coal is the liver of our Mother
And it must remain in the ground
The trees are her lungs and the rivers are her blood
And they should all be left as they were found
But now you slurry coal across these pastures
And your trees all go to feed your hungry mill
You would have us live in rows of shacks without our sheep
On your Church Rock uranium spill
Like some cancer spreading ever westward
Coming to knock down our hogan's door
And we will say to anyone who'll listen
Relocation, nevermore
So won't you come to Big Mountain
Bring everything you can, but come today
This is the land where we belong
And this is the land where we will stay

Song for Boxcar Betty

I've got no time for the aisles of fashion
Or the bikinis of Malibu Beach
Don't take me to where the pool water's splashing
Where everybody's skin is soft as a peach
The woman for me doesn't live in a mansion
Taking baths in a hot tub, drinking whiskey and cream
The woman for me is a fighter with passion
Boxcar Betty is the woman of my dreams
She was a hobo and a tramp And a rebel through and through
Boxcar Betty, I am yours For the OBU
She refused to marry rich Or kiss anybody's ass
She was proud to be a union woman
And a leader of the working class
She hopped the freights from state to state
With revolution in her eyes
'Cause she couldn't stand to hear the sound
Of a hungry child's cries
Boxcar Betty didn't give a damn About what some people said
They called her a free lover They called her a dirty red
But if I could do anything in life
I would hope to make my stand
Hanging around the jungles As Boxcar Betty's right-hand man

Song for Bradley Manning (2 pages)

Private Manning was an analyst if what they say is true
He was paid to read reports and find the patterns sifting through
As he read the data the patterns did emerge
Patterns that were clear both before and since the Surge
Patterns of abuse of the most horrific kind
Gunning down civilians out of view and out of mind
Gunning down the opposition in the middle of the night
Sending off the scholars to be tortured out of sight
Sometimes you need desperate measures when you live in desperate times
And Private Manning saw he was looking at war crimes
He wondered what to do to allow the dead to speak
He finally decided to contact Wikileaks
Now it's all out on the table and everybody knows
The emperor is naked, he's not wearing any clothes
Now Adrian Lamo has to live within his skin
He stabbed Bradley in the back, called the cops and turned him in
But not before the soldier took half a million files
If you printed all the pages they'd stretch on for miles
Evidence against the state right from the horse's mouth
Machinations in the west, bombings in the south
A treasure trove of details for all the globe to see
How much they need to lie and kill for democracy
How many drone strikes have hit villages leaving everyone to die
They blamed on someone else the official line, "Not I"
How many coups have been plotted by ambassadors who say
That free and fair elections be the order of the day
Now it's all out on the table and everybody knows
The emperor is naked, he's not wearing any clothes

Now the Genie's out of the bottle and they're trying to stuff it back
And stop it from illuminating everything we lack
Such as the rule of law or playing by the book
Look you can read it, it's right here, the ship of state is run by crooks
And they vilify the messengers, call them every name
For daring to blow the whistle on the nature of their game
The game of taking lives and endangering the rest
In order for the wealthy few to do what they do best
Dominate the world for the corporate elite
But now their cover's blown from their head down to their feet
And now the stars and stripes is looking much more like a rag
The lid is off the box, the cat's out of the bag
Now it's all out on the table and everybody knows
The emperor is naked, he's not wearing any clothes

Song for Cindy Sheehan

Casey was a good boy He treated people well
And his momma loved him Anyone could tell
She'd send him off to school Pack his lunch with care
When he came back home she hugged him With her fingers in his hair
Cindy, she loved Casey And when all is said and done
She is every mother And he was every mother's son
When Casey was a little older He spent his time each week
In that church in Vacaville In the service of the meek
In the service of his city In the service of the lord
With his momma in the pews All the time they could afford
And if their love alone could save us Then the world would be one
People thought the priesthood Was where he'd someday be
So some folks were surprised When he joined the army
The recruiter told him He wouldn't have to fight
Cindy hoped this was the case And prayed for him every night
That was before they sent him To the desert with a gun
His truck had no armor And when it came under fire
It and half the soldiers in it Became a funeral pyre
Cindy, she was sleeping The moment Casey died
And she knew she'd never see him Standing by her side
There was no consolation No safe place she could run
The president, he told her He died for a noble cause
But Cindy's wondering Exactly what that was
Since they never found the weapons And now that Casey's gone
It seems that oil is the game And Casey was the pawn
Cindy's got some questions And so does everyone

Song for Eric

Every time I see that street, I think of you
And I think of the mornings And your long red hair
You're rolling out of bed Though you rather stay right there
But your housemates are up And there's so much to do
Every time I see that street, I think of you
And I think of the afternoons Lost together in thought
Long walks in the park All the answers we sought
With a mind and heart Of the wonderous few
And I think of the evenings All the stories you told
Out driving your cab Barely twenty years old
But with such ancient eyes Oh the wisdom you knew
And I remember that night The tequila we drank
Laughing for hours With a world to thank
And you told me you loved me And I said, "Eric, I love you, too"
And I think of the wee hours Long before dawn
Determined to wander 'Til the darkness was gone
San Francisco at night And the warm summer breeze
Walking back alleys Just as free as you please
And I think of those poor boys Who drove up to say
"Give us your money" And then they blew you away
With one pull of a trigger Your sweet life was through

Song for Ginger Goodwin

He grew up in Yorkshire County On the class war battle lines
From the age of 14 years He was working in the mines
He saw the children dying Of hunger and disease
His family was evicted And he headed overseas
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Was where he landed for a while
Then he hopped a freight For about three thousand miles
Ended up out west By Nanaimo Bay
Where he worked the Number Five pit And spent his final days
Let's remember the departed And for us the things they gave
As we're gathered here By Ginger Goodwin's grave
As we're gathered here By Ginger Goodwin's grave
In England and in Canada From the east out to the west
The miners lived and died At capital's behest
Ginger saw the writing That was covering the wall
One Big Union was the watchword For the workers one and all
Ginger organized the miners And they struck for better pay
And they struck the Dunsmuir Colleries And fought to see the day
When the labor movement Could say its work was done
With a world run by workers For the good of everyone
When the War to End All Wars came He knew it was a lie
He said he wouldn't fight for the bosses He wouldn't kill or die
He had blacklung from the mines But they called him fit to go
So he hid out in the mountains Out in the rain and snow
The cop who went to find him This is what he said
I'm gonna bring him in Whether that's alive or dead
The people gained a martyr Who would never leave our side
And ten thousand workers marched When they heard that Ginger died

Song for Hugh Thompson

Hugh Thompson was a pilot, just like many more
Fighting for Old Glory on a far-off, foreign shore
He was on a lethal mission, only one of many
Following his orders to kill the enemy, to kill the enemy
He flew low above the village, searching for the foe
When he saw a wounded child on the path below
He thought this to be a sure sign that the enemy was near
So he radioed for back-up and more choppers did appear...
"Help the wounded," he cried out, "and beware of an attack"
And then the child died by a bullet through her back
And when he looked around for the culprits of the scene
It was a company of men in U.S. military green...
The dead were in the hundreds, strewn all around
In this place called My Lai, which once had been a town
There was a hut of huddled children, soldiers had them in their sights
Hugh decided at that moment to fight for what was right...
"Train your weapons on the G.I.'s," and his 'copter crews obeyed
And stood among the children, tattered and afraid
The whole town had been murdered, but for some kids and widowed
wives
And Hugh Thompson made sure that those remaining would survive...
It was a fifteen-minute stand-off in a knee-deep sea of red
Amidst the moaning of the dying and the silence of the dead
Hugh Thompson was a soldier and he served his country well
On the day he saved the lives of a dozen kids in hell...

Song for Hugo Chavez

For the moment the horizon is on fire
Democracy rising balanced on a wire
Liberation, you can smell it in the air
Things are moving and the rich are all aware
Some will talk along the sidelines, others they will do
Me, I'll sing a song for Chavez before the coup
For the moment the airwaves are alive
On the radio the barrios have arrived
Cuban doctors in their thousands on the street
In the shanty towns they're pouring the concrete
The opposition whines that Venezuela is all through
For the moment folks are learning how to read
The Constitution is the people's creed
From their back pocket they'll take it out for all to see
And their motto is death or liberty
There are those who will complain, mostly the privileged few
For the moment the oil wells are flowing
And Citgo's profits know exactly where they're going
Feed the hungry, house those without a home
Give the tractors to those who dig sod and loam
Maybe he will meet the fate that Allende knew
For the moment the movement's on the rise
It's all happening right before our eyes
But turn on the TV and there's nothing they will say
If he's gone and we don't hear it did it happen anyway
If the future's to be ours I ask what are you gonna do

Song for My Broken Heart

Nothing's changed for me When I see your face
I see the dawn And like you, it's filled with grace
When I look into your eyes I see all that I have known
I see a red sunrise And the kindness you have shown
Nothing's changed for me Now when I think about those days
I feel a tremble in my knee And my impression never fades
Oh, to touch your golden skin And the fullness of your smile
I bemoan the state I'm in And I love you all the while
'Cause nothing's changed for me And like everybody here
I'm so glad that you could make it It's so good to have you near
For your words I laugh and cry And as I look around I'm sure
I'm surrounded by your lovers Only one of many more
But nothing's changed for me I still yearn for your embrace
Sometimes I close my eyes And then I gaze upon your face
I know everything must end But I remember our last kiss
I recall your parting glance And there's so much more I miss
'Cause nothing's changed for me Except you went away
You're moving on And I'm stuck in yesterday
So I'll wish you all that's good And I'll make a toast for you
For all the places you may travel And for whatever you may do
'Cause nothing's changed for me I'm still in love so much
I know I'll be OK But I miss your gentle touch
There are songs for victories Songs for things that fall apart
This is just a song For my broken heart

Song for the BBB

See the man in his limosine In his tie and well-pressed shirt
Hoping that he's not been seen On the lookout for desert
He knows that he is guilty And a visit might be paid
By the vegan vigilantes Of the Biotic Baking Brigade
What's that sailing through the air
In the boardrooms see them shiver
You can spend your life hoping for pie in the sky
But the Baking Brigade delivers
If you sell your city's soul To the landlords' greedy pack
You my friend have earned yourself A tasty pastry snack
You can call yourself a liberal And hope your crimes will fade
But your sell-out soul will be exposed By the Biotic Baking Brigade
So if you cut down the last of the forests Spew poison in the air
Don't you be surprised to find That cheesecake in your hair
Yes if you are a corporate criminal You've surely made the grade
To receive a fresh-baked goody from The Biotic Baking Brigade
Beware all you scoundrels of industry We know of your disgrace
So smile for the camera With the cream pie in your face
You can hope that we won't find you out
As you're hiding in the shade
But someday soon you'll live to meet The Biotic Baking Brigade

Song for the ELF

Civil disobedience Has many permutations
You can block the streets in front of The United Nations
You can lay down on the tracks Keep the nuke trains out of town
Or you can pour gas on the condo And you can burn it down
So here's a toast to the night
Three cheers and a grunt
To the Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front
You can go to Senate hearings Wait til they call your name
My hat is off to anyone With the will to play that game
But if you want to know the truth What warms my aching heart
Is to see the masked avengers Come to tear the road apart
There are so many things of beauty In this world to see
A wild, running river Or an old-growth redwood tree
But in such an ugly situation So sinister and dire
There's nothing quite so lovely As a Wal-Mart on fire
They'll tell you that it's violent To destroy a logging truck
These are the very people Who'd kill the planet for a buck
Talk to the governor Be reasonable, they say
Maybe we can talk tomorrow But we can pull the crops today

Song for the Eureka Stockade

From every corner of the world They came from all around
When in 1851 They struck gold upon the ground
Every voyage was a long one Months upon the stormy sea
Some to seek their fortune Others escaping slavery
What they found on the goldfields Was rule by brutish thugs
Discrimination and taxation Mixed with swinging billy clubs
The gold was getting scarcer And cops were getting worse
The diggers burned their licenses And vowed to end this curse
They swore an oath Beneath the Southern Cross
That they would stand together And break the license laws
From twenty different nations They gathered here as one
In Ballarat Beneath the southern sun
The crown tried to divide them Giving preference to some
The diggers wouldn't have it They said it's all of us or none
They built a stockade While the Redcoats massed nearby
And they heard the miners shouting We are ready now to die
The rebel miners waited For whatever lay in store
And on one December morning In 1854
The Redcoats attacked the camp Dozens there would fall
Among these brave gold diggers Who had risen to the call
The Army thought that it was over And things now would go their way
But when fifteen thousand miners rallied A month later on the day
The Crown conceded everything All of their demands
They'd won an end to license fees The right to vote and land
So here's to Joe and Charley Lalor and the rest
They drew the battle lines And put Crown rule to the test
The diggers may have lost the battle But they quickly won the day
And those shots fired in Victoria Were heard ten thousand miles away

Song for the Mavi Marmara (2 pages)

In '48 they were driven out at the point of a machine gun
Families fled in fear to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon
They fled around the globe, firmly held in terror's grip
And about a million refugees ended up in the tiny Gaza Strip
In 1967 the IDF moved in
And the refugees in Gaza became refugees again
Settlers took their farmland, soldiers took the ports
And the people were surrounded by military forts
In 2007 they cut it off completely
No access to the borders, no access to the sea
The world began to see this unavoidable stamp
The most crowded place on Earth was now a concentration camp
Israeli jet fighters bombed Gaza from the air
And they kept out the supplies needed to rebuild and repair
They kept out the convoys of humanitarian aid
Anemic children going hungry, crushed and burned in bombing raids
From around the world good people tried
To get across the border to the other side
Almost all of them were turned away
Deported back to Turkey, Jordan, France, the USA
They were barred from ever coming back
Adam and Huwaida decided on a different tack
They loaded up a boat and managed to get through
That's when activists in Istanbul decided what they had to do
Armed with food and wheelchairs
And prosthetic limbs for victims of the bombing raids to wear
They packed cement by the ton
They had a few kitchen knives but not a single gun
They were determined to reach the bay
To break the siege of Gaza and not be turned away
As they left Turkish waters everybody wished them well
As for what would happen, only the Apartheid state could tell

All aboard the Mavi Marmara

Sailing toward Goliath's kingdom armed with nothing but a stone
All aboard the Mavi Marmara
Tell the children of Jerusalem you are not alone
Seven hundred people on board this Turkish ferry
They were sixty miles from the shore out in the open sea
In international waters with no plans for turning back
That's when Netanyahu told his soldiers to attack
They came down from helicopters, fired guns from Zodiacs
They shot some people in their heads and shot others in their backs
The captain raised a white flag high into the air
The soldiers kept on shooting beneath the floodlight's glare
The soldiers kept on shooting, it was a free fire zone
So many dead and wounded, just how many isn't known
So many dead and wounded, blood flowing on the floor
The soldiers kept on shooting sixty miles from the shore
Medics tried to treat the wounded, all they could do was watch them bleed
The soldiers wouldn't let them get the urgent help they need
Masked troopers held their hostages, the Navy towed the ship
Just for trying to sail to the Gaza Strip
They took every laptop, every camera and cell phone
This is what Goliath does to those who dare to throw a stone
The ghost of the Exodus is shouting at the sky
But Netanyahu isn't listening, he's just watching people die
For days nobody knew just what happened on that boat
Because everyone was held in jail and dead men do not float
All the world will remember what happened on that night
And to end the siege of Gaza more will go and join the fight

Song for the SOA

You can load us in your buses
And behind your prison door
And when you think you've silenced us
There will be a thousand more
We are gathered here today
To put our bodies in harm's way
At this school of death and shame
No more murder in our name
From Panama to Georgia
We'll be ever in your sight
With so much blood upon your hands
How do you butchers sleep at night?
You dare to call them freedom fighters
Call the butchers what you will
But from Jara to Allende
It is freedom that you kill
People want land and justice
And they answer freedom's call
If you try to feed your people bullets
Someday soon you all will fall
All across this country
The news spreads from town to town
Every day a new voice shouting
Shut this school torture down

Song for the SOA #2

Well I pulled up there at the gate Had to come and keep a date
With ten thousand of my friends
Here to right some wrongs and make amends
Folks came in buses, bikes and cars With voices, fiddles and guitars
And all kinds of people, shapes and styles Burned those frequent flyer miles
First thing I see's a singing nun At the frisky age of 91
She's here fresh out of jail Told the judge "I ain't got no bail
"I'm bearing witness right here and now
'Cause we've got to change the world somehow
So with you all right here I pray WE'LL SHUT DOWN THE SOA
There's this year's crop from Oberlin
And there's the folks from Warren-Wilson
But they're not all eighteen to twenty-two
They brought along their neighbors too
There's grandpa, baby, mom and dad An ARA kid, fighting mad
What are we gonna do today?
There's some in pink, some in black There's one wrapped in a coffee sack
There's t-shirts, stickers, pins and more Saying we don't want your oil war
There's a labor lawyer from Walla Walla With some Mayan folks from
Guatemala See, north and south the people say
Pouring blood, crossing lines Holding crosses, making signs
There's priests and punks in groups and pairs
Along with a gang in wheelchairs
There's Josh and Abi, Bill and Sue Charlie, Tao and you know who
Giant puppets, paper mache Saying
Yes, we'll keep coming to this town Til this torture school's shut down
Then we'll march as we intone You do not walk alone
To the next symbol in our sights In the global fight for human rights
But for now we're here in this Georgia clay Saying

Song the Songbird Sings

It was another Friday morning I was among the olive trees
Out looking for birds to catch My father, his friends and me
I had my string and net And a nimble eye
There beside the farmers' fields Where the songbirds fly
When you're catching birds The world disappears
And a thousand songs of autumn Are all that fills your ears
They sing their songs so brightly At the dawning of the day
They fly back and forth over the fence
Where we must stay away
You can see the birds beneath the clouds
Watch them spread their wings
You can listen to the wind And the song the songbird sings
It's so good to come here So far from all the sound
Of all the shooting and the shouting
And the tanks upon the ground
I just wish I could live here Within this olive grove
Just me, my friends and family And a small wood-burning
stove
Last week I caught three sparrows It was quite a day
Now I'm bound for glory That's what they say
I hear them talk about me Shedding tears upon a sack
Inside there lies a child With four bullets in his back

Spanish Journalist Strike

The battle had been raging For how long it's hard to say
We were there to tell the story Of the slaughter, come what may
We didn't hide behind the lines We reported on the crimes
For BBC, Telemundo And the Sunday Times
They said we were in danger Bearing witness to the war
A half dozen had just been killed In the days before
Then came the day they bombed Jazeera And Abu Dhabi TV there as well
At the same time they took aim And shelled the Palestine Hotel
Four journalists were murdered In a single day
And then our own Prime Minister Aznar was to say
There will be no investigation Such a thing would not make sense
It was just a tragic accident So at his next press conference
Aznar approached the podium To give a national address
Gathered all around him The men and women of the press
He opened his mouth We put our cameras on the floor
Dropped our notebooks, turned our backs And walked right out the door
We marched down the street And left our cameras where they lay
'Cause all the news that's fit to mention Is there is no news today
We were not imbedded In your networked play by play
We were just reporters Reporting day by day
We were trying to do our jobs Bring the Baghdad street
Whether it was victory Massacre or defeat
And those three missiles told a story That's not hard to surmise
The Army has decided what's good For the global public's eyes
These missiles weren't coincidence Of this there is no doubt
And on that April afternoon "Assessinos" we did shout
What happens to the message When the messenger is shelled
What happens to a nation That says it's just as well
What happens when the imbeds Are the last ones left alive
Is this your brave new world In which our liberty shall thrive

St. Patrick Battalion

My name is John Riley I'll have your ear only a while
I left my dear home in Ireland It was death, starvation or exile
And when I got to America It was my duty to go
Enter the Army and slog across Texas To join in the war against Mexico
It was there in the pueblos and hillsides That I saw the mistake I had made
Part of a conquering army With the morals of a bayonet blade
So in the midst of these poor, dying Catholics
Screaming children, the burning stench of it all
Myself and two hundred Irishmen Decided to rise to the call
From Dublin City to San Diego
We witnessed freedom denied
So we formed the Saint Patrick Battalion
And we fought on the Mexican side
We marched 'neath the green flag of Saint Patrick
Emblazoned with "Erin Go Bragh"
Bright with the harp and the shamrock And "Libertad para la Republica"
Just fifty years after Wolftone Five thousand miles away
The Yanks called us a Legion of Strangers And they can talk as they may
We fought them in Matamoros While their volunteers were raping the nuns
In Monterey and Cerro Gordo We fought on as Ireland's sons
We were the red-headed fighters for freedom
Amidst these brown-skinned women and men
Side by side we fought against tyranny And I daresay we'd do it again
We fought them in five major battles Churobusco was the last
Overwhelmed by the cannons from Boston We fell after each mortar blast
Most of us died on that hillside In the service of the Mexican state
So far from our occupied homeland We were heroes and victims of fate

People are marching against the chiefs of industry Steal This MP3
Who are trying to protect their intellectual property
Secret negotiations to make a secret deal
They've got Warner Brothers, Sony and the Presidential Seal
They say they lobby on behalf of you and me, I say Steal this MP3
Fifty years ago, what some call the Golden Age
Indy FM was the king, the world was a stage
Independent labels made records by the score
Enter 2012 -- now there are only four
I've got words for these plutocrats who claim to represent me
In between commercials they play "nothing but the hits"
And they hope to placate all of us with Lady Gaga's tits
They laid off all their staff before the PC was invented
And now they blame the world that their profits have been dented
So the 1% is trying to make sure they get their fee
It's the rich who line their pockets while the rest of us get screwed
It could all be a comedy if it weren't so crude
They want to arrest you for sharing knowledge -- for violating
copyright
To quote my friend Attila, these capitalists are a blight
They don't care about the culture -- they just want their money
The people don't want censorship -- by that name or another
They don't want their files searched by corporate Big Brother
And if it's up to most of us no one would sign your bill
Just so Hollywood and Pharma can make another mill
So from the Mekong Delta to the Mediterranean Sea

Still Waiting for the Change

I remember in 2008 A Democrat became head of state
His party won the Congress too
Then we watched to see what they would do
Vague promises and hopeful signs Just try to read between the lines
These things take time, that's understood
And I know that patience can be good
And I'm no genius, but I'm not dumb
And I'm still waiting for the change to come
Many thought it had arrived We felt lucky to have survived
All those years of rightwing rule Using fear and hatred as the fuel
Now we're on the other side And we're still swimming against the
tide
The wars go on, good people die Missiles rain down from the sky
Once I dreamed you were my best chum
The prisons fill up with the poor Victims of the same drug war
Bankers fly in First Class seats While families move into the streets
Across the country schools close down In another bankrupt town
Oil sits on the sea floor And now you want to drill for more
And like everybody where I'm from
I don't know but I'd like to think
We can pull each other from the brink
I've heard it said with a sigh This nation is too young to die
But the system's broke and what I glean
Is change must come by other means
Can you hear the whispers in the air What we need is Tahrir Square
Until then in Washington

Strike A Blow Against The Empire

When the rich man on the TV Said this world's mine
When he asked which side you're on Told you to step in line
When he gave his reasons For his war of conquest
When he talked about your wallet Said it was in your interest
Did you shrug your shoulders And do as you were told
Hang a flag in your window And buy the goods that you were sold
Or did you shut off his craven image And call the man a liar
Did you strike a blow against the empire
When they were rounding up your neighbors
You know the ones with darker skin
Clerks and teachers, engineers With names like Sami and Mazin
When they were breaking down the doors And taking them away
Holding them on secret charges Hidden from the light of day
What did you tell their children When you had a chance to meet
Could you look them in the eye Or did you walk past them on the street
Could you say that you stood up When their lives were on the wire
As the bombs were falling And the children lost their lives
Lying broken on the pavement As the ambulance arrives
As the soldiers opened fire With their heavy guns
Could you hear the demonstrators hit the ground
See how their red blood runs
What were you doing In those fateful times
Did you raise your voice Against these awful crimes
Were you hiding in your bedroom When the situation was so dire
And when the time had come And the Reich was at your door
When the fascist state was here And they brought home the war
When the Gestapo was in the city And they had really taken power
When there was nothing left to do Here in the final hour
Did you find a place to run to And hope to live a few more years
When the slaughter was around you Did you cover up your ears
Or did you set your sights Take your aim and fire

Sugihara
He was raised in Gifu on the islands of Japan
He was sent off to Manchuria, that's how this tale began
For his next assignment in the diplomatic corps
Was far-off Lithuania and the European war
My grandfather was from Krakow the Nazis came, he fled
He took his family to Vilnius so they might not end up dead
But the Panzers were advancing and he knew they had to go
But he had to have a visa and all the embassies said no
There was only one final possibility
The last consulate left open, the Third Reich's Asian ally
There in Lithuania there was no time to lose
They came asking for a visa, thousands of Polish Jews
The diplomat called Tokyo, can I grant them this reprieve?
Three times he got his answer, tell them all to leave
He looked into their eyes, talked to his family
He and his wife decided we must set these people free
Although I never met him, when all is said and done
I am Sugihara's son
Disobeying orders that they knew to be wrong
Sempo and Yukiko started writing all day long
A month's worth of visas in every twenty-hour day
Sempo and Yukiko could turn no refugee away
Word came from the empire, it's time to turn it in
You're closing down your consulate and moving to Berlin
They knew they did the right thing, of this they had no doubt
They threw visas through the window as their train pulled out
My grandfather crossed Siberia for five times the normal cost
Fearing for the future with every minute lost
He got the ferry to Kobe then to Occupied Shanghai
There he spent the war years while back home his people died
Sugihara-san did not seek any praise from anyone
When he died the paper said his neighbors knew not what he'd done
But there are forty thousand people living lives today
Without Sempo Sugihara I would not be here now to say

Sunshine
I met you in a chat room on the web, discussing war and peace
The relationship of land disputes, climate and other indices
It was your punctuation that first made me want to see your face
But this was before Facebook, that's how it was back then in
cyberspace
Then one night I fell asleep and woke up having dreamed
The world had shifted a bit, things weren't as they seemed
And when I googled "sunshine" you came up first page, first line
Strange to feel nostalgic for someone I never met
I'd never seen your picture but I'd think of you and sweat
But then there came the conference where you and I would both
present
And we had lunch together on the campus in a tent
And in person you shone brighter even than on my computer
screen
I was almost forty then but I felt about thirteen
That was a long time ago and well now here we are
I'm driving down the highway wishing you were in the car
But I know when I get home you'll be standing there
Glowing with the warmth of a little solar flare
And later when you're sleeping I'll look at you and sigh
I'll wonder how there there ever came to be such a thing as you
and I

Syrian Princess (2 pages)

I found myself in Rostock to protest the G8
That was good but there's something else that I'd commemorate
It started with a text message I got on my cell phone
Eating in the Hotel Troika, sitting all alone
I had just bought the SIM card only the day before
Stuck it on my website and now I knew what for
The words upon my screen asked are you coming to Berlin
No I said but come meet me here at the town I'm in
She said her name was Rosa and the next thing that I knew
She said go down to the Hauptbanhof, I'll be there in a few
It was roll the dice, jump on in and see what happens next
Answering a smoke signal or a random text
I went down to the station to pick up my blind date
And I was suddenly transported to Damascus Gate
She had a denim jacket and a studded leather belt
My knees began to buckle, my heart began to melt
She was a Syrian princess (3x)
The Princess of Syria
I asked her are you hungry, would you like to have a meal
She said it's almost midnight and that's not the way I feel
Then do you wanna come with me back to my hotel
She didn't skip a beat, she just said that'd be swell
When we got there we spoke, tried to be understood
I don't speak Arabic or German and her English wasn't good
She started looking bored, I asked is it time for sleep
She said ya, let's count some sheep
We brushed our teeth together, I wondered what was going on
In those hours after midnight, just before the dawn
It was right around that time that someone called her on her phone
And it was then that I heard her ring tone
It was a song that I recorded in 1999
I felt a bit embarrassed, but mostly I felt fine
We walked into the bedroom, she took off her shoes
Then she asked me is there something I can do

We had breakfast together, then she said fare thee well

I wondered if I'd see her again, couldn't really tell
She went back to her home, I went back to mine
But I'm still looking at my cell phone, waiting for a sign
When I'm alone in a hotel room I wonder if it might
Be a day to turn out like things did on that night
Good times have happened since but I take off my hat
'Cause I've never had another night like that

T-Stop Cafe
There's that guy in his bow-tie going off to maitre-de
There's Richard ranting a rave saying Jesus don't you see
There's old Mrs. K, carrying an apple pie
Behind the green-haired girl hanging on the sly
There's Dennis and Jorge pulling along their rig
Oh and here comes Mary Lou off to do an indoor gig
Judy's gone to school to misdirect the youth
Spaced-out kid with comic books is dreaming of a phone booth
Have a good ride, come again someday
And thanks for stopping by the t-stop cafe
The mayor's stumbled off the train, he's looking for a dime
There's Jim searching in his brain for a decent rhyme
The ghost of top-hat Dana never leaves the place
Every time I see a park bench, it's hiding out his face
That baby's singing along with a little plastic stork
Oh and Gordon's sniffing the platform for a bottle to uncork
Crazy Jane's blaming the CIA for giving her a rash
Nisha's poking around the corners for a quiet place to crash
Well the T's a fine place to visit, long as you don't have to stay
So I hope you'll deign to drop on by on some other day
Next time you have some time that's free or you're on a wild
shopping spree
You can rest assured you just might be dropping in on me

Tax the Rich

Five hundred or so rich men in the Congress
Are engaged in some most serious debate
Along with a few thousand lobbyists They will now decide the world's fate
They say we're running out of dough
And the people all must take another hit
Well there are some things that I know And what they're saying is
BULLSHIT
I am not a mathematician But one doesn't have to be too deft
To see if one percent of us owns half the wealth
That leaves ninety-nine percent to share what's left
And then if sixty cents on each tax dollar
Is buying bombs to blow the planet into bits
Then I think we need to grab them by the collar
And patiently explain to them that that's BULLSHIT
TAX THE RICH (2x) Close the loopholes so none of them can fudge it
BRING 'EM HOME (2x) And eliminate the military budget
They say we cannot pay for health care
Nor for decent schools to educate the kids
Sorry if you don't have shoes to wear
But this recession has just left us in the skids
They say we can't afford those windmills
After all, so just stiffen up and show a little grit
And if climate change and poverty have gotten you down
Just sing Oh say can you see BULLSHIT
They say we've got to fight those terrorists
They say we've got to send our kids to war
Just ignore that corporation behind the flag
And don't ask us what the hell they're fighting for
I hear GE is subsidized Leaving us fools to pay for it
They shirk their duties while we downsize
I know what that's called BULLSHIT

Terror In The Skies

Night-time comes and everybody wonders
Will tomorrow bring the light of day
Will our house be rubble blown asunder
In the cellar we will hide ourselves and pray
Will the smoke clear in the morning?
Will the city all go down in flame?
Will the factory be standing?
Will life here ever be the same?
There's terror in the skies of this city
Fear is in the hearts of children, women and men
And you never see the faces of the killers
As the smart bombs fall again
Will there be a job for me to go to?
Will there be food upon my plate?
After many, many years of hungry sanctions
What did my child do to earn this fate?
The Yankees talk of Gaza and of Algiers
They wring their hands when Irish shoppers die
But if you want to know a life of terror
Look up at night into the Baghdad sky

They're building a wall A wall between friends They're Building A Wall

A wall that justifies Any means for their ends
A wall between Semites Rich and poor
Brothers and sisters From not so long before
Many feet thick And thirty feet high
No one can look through it And into the eye
Of a person you might know To whom you might confide
Now just a stranger On the other side
They're building a wall Between water and land
So we can eat fruit And they can eat sand
A wall to make sure That our orchards will grow
And our kids can get fat And not need to know
Of the cities in ruins And the children in fear
That your fathers and brothers In tanks might be near
A wall to keep quiet That which you fear most
So you don't have to listen To your grandfather's ghost
They're building a wall Between future and past
A wall to keep separate The chambers of gas
From bulldozers, gunships And the tears of a child
Dignity, love And all honor defiled
To remove reality From your facts on the ground
A wall to keep distant The terrible sound
Of the houses that crumble And the children that die
A wall to keep separate The truth from the lie
They're building a wall And at such a cost
Land, money and safety And all the lives lost
A wall made of brick But bricks can be broken
When the people of Zion Have finally awoken
And said no more walls No more refugees
No more keeping people Upon their knees
And then the history books Will someday recall
Before apartheid was ended They were building a wall

Time For You To Go

It's been two years now and you've had time
To find where you stand in this rhythm of rhyme
It seems this life just ain't your thing
I see you sitting under the wing
You've done lots of thinking 'bout what you need
It ain't about love, it ain't about greed
If this ain't flipping your pancakes, that's OK
Good luck finding your own way
I guess it's time for you to go, don't ask me where
But maybe you'll find what you're looking for there
I don't make you happy, I guess you know
I guess it's time for you to go
We had lots of good times, I agree
You don't need to feel sorry or to reassure me
All things end, this I see
Some things even end peacefully
If I could change things, yes I would
We'd be talking by the firewood
We'd be grooving on what we had
We'd be laughing instead of being so sad

Times Gone By
Driving down this highway once again on my own
Make me think of other times I wasn't so alone
When coming to this contry reminded me of you
Made me think about your eyes and all the things we used to do
I think about the river and I think about the park
And all the things we did with a candle in the dark
I think about our bedroom and the cafe down the street
Where I spent so many hours weathering the heat
I remember you Here beneath the cloudy sky
I remember you And the times gone by
I think about the passion and the things you said to me
When the world was ours and we were lucky just to be
I think about your tears and the gulf that seemed to grow
I think about the winter sky and how it seemed to know
I think of our final words and how you looked at me
Like some sailor for the last time going out to sea
I got into the taxi, saw the look within your eye
You were saying see you soon, but you really meant goodbye
Now I'm going down this lonely road, this land we used to share
But if I go to your apartment I know you won't be there
'Cause I'm stuck here in this car with too much time to think
And I can see you clearly every time I blink
I'm looking at the asphalt, thinking of the past
How things just seem to change and good things often do not last
Life can be a bed of roses or a board of darts
But it seems to me so often like a trail of broken hearts

Too Proud to Beg

He walked the streets of this neighborhood
Long as anyone knew
Used to work in construction But those days are long through
On this hot summer morning Everyone lowered their heads
The heat wave is over And Pat O'Leary's dead
He was too old to work And he had a bum leg
But they cut him off welfare And he was too proud to beg
For a roll and some coffee He'd be up at sunrise
With a joke for the vendors And a smile in his eyes
With the other old-timers He'd wile the years
With a wink for the children And a listening ear
His neice and his sister They asked him to stay
But he liked the old neighborhood
He said "it's better this way"
He said "soon I'll make it "To sixty-five
"And I got my old Buick "Til that day arrives"

Trading with the Enemy

I saw her in the city center With a thermos full of coffee
Making the local brew On a street called Salvador Allende
I gave her a peso and took a sip And sat beneath a palm tree
It's so easy to be a criminal When you're trading with the enemy
I sat down on a park bench Beside a statue of John Lennon
And as I watch the children dancing It's so easy to imagine
A world without borders Here, so close to Miami
As I smoke a Cigarro Popular Once more trading with the enemy
Biking down a country road Only one of many others
The people call me companero And greet me as their brother
One man has a basket full of mangoes
And I'm sure Jesse would agree
With each bite I undermine my country By trading with the enemy
Watch the oxen pull the carriage And the organic farms abound
All the fertilizer's gone But there are other ways to feed the ground
Inspiring the world With the strength of creativity
See the past and future come together Trading with the enemy
At night the salsa's blaring The finest guava juice is flowing
Black, brown and white So many healthy faces glowing
To experience this society The danger's plain to see
I might learn something important By trading with the enemy
And I just want to tell you That the enemy's so lovely
Such a proud and beautiful people From the mountains to the sea
From the clinics to the schoolyards Che Guevarra to Marti
We have only our chains to lose From trading with the enemy

Trafalgar Square
The president came to London And was greeted by the queen
And for the people of the city It was a festive scene
Hundreds of thousands of women and men
Were all in the street
Shouting and dancing and talking And marching on their feet
But the highest peak of the evening To be only fair
Was when the statue of George Bush was toppled
In Trafalgar Square
Those days in London It was the place to be
Young and old, black and white It was the face of society
Even the mayor came out And called him a criminal of war
Said world domination Aint worth fighting for
They said we dont like Dubya Or his poodle, Tony Blair
The night sky was lit up And the message it was clear
We do not want fascism Over there or over here
It was heard first-hand by many Right there on British soil
We will not fight for Exxon We wont kill or die for oil
But for billions around the planet We were all right there

Travelodge
It was a nice bar But I dont want to sleep there
Like a lump on someones Sofa chair
So I drive the car To the outskirts of town
Travelodge Jewel of the crown
Theres a tea pot With sugar and cream
Theres towels all folded At the seams
The bed dont squeak And neither does the floor
Theres a lock Upon the door
Its like paradise Theres so much we could do
Its got everything a man could want Except for you
Theres a shower Its en suite
Theres a nice clean Toilet seat
Plenty of room To play guitar
Theres a phone, a desk Here we are
Except the only pair here Is a single pair of shoes
Its got everything a man could want Except for you
Checkouts tomorrow At eleven
You can order breakfast 24/7
Theres your picture Long and lean
There upon my Laptop screen
And all I can say Is boo hoo hoo
Cause its got everything a man could want Except for you

A boy went to visit his father out of town

Where he had moved, to an upscale neighborhood
It rains a lot in Florida, and it was raining on that night
But everybody says exercise is good
He went out for a walk to the convenience store
To go out and bring some candy back
But some people leave and they never come home
And that night it was all a one-way track

Trayvon

For the Neighborhood Watchman was driving his car

On a rainy night looking for
A young man who might have a part to play
In his personal race war
And what if this trolling vigilante
Sowing terror on racist whim
What if when he found this teenage boy
He instead had found a man more like him
What if things were different
Where would he be bound
What if Trayvon had stood his ground
When Zimmerman approached in an unmarked vehicle
When the high school student ran
What if instead he had stood there in the rain
With his Skittles and his Arizona can
What if trying to avoid a conflict with this cracker
Who was evidently messed up in the head
Trayvon had said I feel like my life's in danger
And he had shot this vigilante dead
Would this hooded youth be gingerly arrested
Treated for his wounds and then let free
Would he be hailed as a hero by the NRA
By Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity
Would he be found not guilty by any jury in this country
Would he be allowed to keep his gun
Or would he be sitting in a prison cell, watching pundits on the TV saying
That kid really should've run

Tsunami
What do you say to someone Who's just lost everything
Eventually things might be OK As he's standing there
With all that's left of life
Before the ocean rose and took it all away
I was at the mosque I wasn't on the shore
I guess it was my lucky day And when I made it home
There was no one there
The ocean rose and took them all away
We were fighting For independence
That's all that I was thinking yesterday
But now all I'm thinking
Is we're on an island
And the ocean rose and took it all away
We're on an island And the big trees all were cut
And this is how we all had to pay Maybe Mr. Ford
Was on vacation in Thailand
When the ocean rose and took it all away
If this had happened In Kyoto
Or San Francisco, I wonder what they'd say
But this ain't New York
It's just Aceh
Where the ocean rose and took it all away

Tunisia 2011 (2 pages)

Mohamed had a vegetable stand, this was his family's plight
Ever since his father died on a construction site
He was one of six siblings and now this would be his fate
Working the streets of the city to put food on everybody's plate
He couldn't afford the bribes the cops would make him pay
So sometimes they'd knock his cart over and get him back that way
Last December they smashed his scales to put him in his place
And then for good measure a cop spat in Mohamed's face
He went to see the governor, maybe there was something he could do
Word came from on high -- we don't talk to people like you
Mohamed Bouazizi now was living on a wire
He went and bought some paint thinner and he set himself on fire
Word spread through the region and soon you'd hear the same
Of proud and desperate people going up in flame
Sometimes windows open, sometimes the floor, it creaks
But no one knew what would happen in only a few weeks
When the dictator ran away
People tried to hold a march for the immolated dead
Police met them there with truncheons and bullets to the head
People headed to the capital, they would not be deterred
Sometimes this is just what happens to a dream deferred
The police kept up the attack -- thousands wounded, hundreds killed
With blood the streets were covered, with gas the air was filled
But the people held their ground -- Tunisia's daughters and their sons
And one day the cops had had enough -- they just put down their guns
Now someone had to deal with this rebellious riffraff
So Ben Ali called a meeting of his chiefs of staff
He said these terrorists have decided to go out on the attack
It's time for you, the Army, to take our country back
It's time for you, the Army, to go and make a stand
Show these terrorists that we are in command
It's time to gun these criminals down -- that's what he said, now go
The general got his orders and the general said no

Ben Ali got in a plane, tried to go to France

But he was a hot potato so he did a little dance
Ended up in Jidda to live there in exile
While his fellow warlords shiver from the Tigris to the Nile
All across Arabia you can hear them talk and sing
Those who'd dare throw off their shackles, who would shout "let freedom ring"
Where we'll be by next year is for anyone to say
But many will recall where they were on the day

Ungdomshuset's Microphone (2 pages)

The House of the People was built in 1898
In Danish that's Folkets Huset, it was a union hall first rate
In the 1970's it fell into disrepair
And in '82 it got squatted by kids with spiky hair
It became a punk rock social center and leftwing to the core
Since I came to Copenhagen I did shows there by the score
But the first time that I played there I was nearly felled
By the most disgusting microphone I have ever smelled
As I approached the mike stand and took in a deep breath
I was overpowered by the rotting stench of death
I managed to recover and make it through the set
But if there's a stinkier mike than that one I haven't smelled it yet
Between anarchists and government it's not an easy dance
And when a Christian sect bought Ungdomshuset the state jumped at
the chance
The cops landed on the roof in the middle of the night
Filled the place with tear gas and geared up for a fight
Masked workers came from Poland, they were taken to that spot
And guarded by police they then destroyed the squat
But as the smoke was rising I thought well, at least
That really stinky microphone would be thankfully deceased
And as the smoke was rising I thought about those nights
A room packed full of nose rings glittering in the lights
Everybody smoking all kinds of different things
And the stinkiest mike through which I've ever tried to sing

There were weekly demonstrations with kids about to lose it

They said the government took our building, give us a new
Ungdomshuset
There were protests, there were riots, there were burning barricades
There were politicians looking on at the mess they'd made
Thirty squatters were in prison and when I was back in town
We went there to visit at the edge of Kobenhavn
I got on the sound truck and I began to strum
And I was suddenly accosted by the smell of someone's bum
It was then I realized without a single doubt
That microphone had been rescued, someone had gotten it out
Here it was before me, a reminder of the past
(Before cops in helicopters came and filled the place with gas)
After quite a lot of struggle the kids got another squat
And the punks are back in Denmark whether you like it or not
It's a movement that inspired folks wherever they may be
For example in Malm, just across the Baltic Sea
Where someone opened a museum to recall struggles far and near
Where sitting on a shelf, I observed with cheer
A thing so noxious and repulsive that it took my breath away
The world's most offensive microphone was now Exhibit A
That mike had been retired and was now beyond rebuke
After years of service amid the cigarettes and puke
And it should surely have a place, perhaps you feel the same
If someday someone opens the Punk Rock Hall of Fame

Union Makes Us Strong

Back in the Depression farmers held the line
When the bank came for an auction together they'd combine
They knew that when divided they could never win
But they stood shoulder to shoulder and didn't let the bankers in
They stood shoulder to shoulder, that's how they kept their farms
If one of them was threatened it was for all to be alarmed
They said this was their land and they'd help each other stay
That's how they kept their farms, that's why the bankers went
away
'Cause the union makes us strong (2x)
Back in the Depression there was not enough to eat
But the Union of the Unemployed was in the driver's seat
If the cops did an eviction, took the bed and put it out
The neighbors would carry it in, sing a song and shout
I can hear him talking, you've got to look at the long view
Back in the Depression almost everybody knew
If competition was so great why don't they do it with themselves
Instead of buying off the Congress and ruling by cartel
During the Depression people fought and won back then
Now the battle's global and it was must be won again
They will try to divide us but even on the darkest day
While I listen closely I hear a billion people say

Unknown Soldier
I can only guess at where you came from Did you grow up in the country
Did your father spend his days with a basket on his back
On someone's farm picking coffee
When he came home from the fields did he throw you on his shoulders
And take you on a pony ride
When you went to bed with no food in your belly
Did he hold you when you cried
How many of your siblings gave in to the hunger
That the healers couldn't save
How many bodies did you pull out from the river
For how many did you dig their grave
When did you decide to leave the village
Was it just something that you knew
Was it just time for you to go or did you know
Exactly what you set out to do
Every song I've written has been a love song This one is just another
Song for the love of an unknown soldier
Did you spend years in the jungle fighting for your freedom
Fighting for your people's liberation
Did you watch your companeros die around you
While you held fast to your vocation
Did you make rocket launchers in your rebel hideouts
Like your mother made papusas
Did you dream the dreams of La Pasionaria Or those of Poncho Villa
All I know is that I saw you on a rooftop in the city
In a photo on the cover of the Times
Long black hair flowing down, a machine gun in your hand
In your face was freedom's ringing chimes
Looking at your picture, one of a thousand killed that day
In a moment I could feel that my heart grew
And in all the trials of my life you know
I can only hope to be as beautiful as you

Up The Provos (Song for Francis Hughes) (2 pages)

He grew up on a farm in a troubled Irish land
Under foreign rule and the British Crown's command
His father fought for Ireland fifty years before
But the Free State cut their losses and the English won the war
And when internment without trial was the order of the day
When his brother was arrested and his friends were blown away
When he was beaten near to death he decided come what may
He would throw his lot in with the Provos and he joined the IRA
In the Occupied Six Counties perhaps it never will be known
All the foreign soldiers in Armagh and Tyrone
Who decided to head back across the Irish Sea
So they wouldn't have to meet the man from south of Derry
He never wavered in his battle for Irish liberty
And the Crown would soon regret the day they made him their enemy
The Brits called it bandit country and it filled them all with fright
In the border lands, he who walked the hills at night
Up the Provos, that's what he said
Three little words that filled the British Crown with dread
With a rifle on his shoulder, a timer and a fuse
Long may we remember Commandante Francis Hughes
Long may we remember Commandante Francis Hughes
Once he was surrounded by the SAS
How he might escape was anybody's guess
In his boots and camouflage he didn't miss a beat
He walked right past the soldiers and out into the street
Once he came upon a checkpoint, the soldier didn't want to die
He recognized our Francis and the soldier waved him by
He didn't want to find out if he could take what he could give
He knew there'd be a shootout and the soldier chose to live

Up the Provos, that's what he said

And from this farmer's son better men had fled
With a rifle on his shoulder, a timer and a fuse
Long may we remember Commandante Francis Hughes
He was the North's most wanted man with his photo everywhere
But he eluded capture with his wit and dyed blond hair
For six years he was active, three times as long as most
He became a legend, north to south and coast to coast
He came upon two soldiers out one night on patrol
They shot him in the firefight and the bullets took their toll
He crawled off into the bushes but they found him the next day
Put him on a stretcher and they carried him away
Up the Provos, that's what he said
With a shattered bone and a body full of lead
With a rifle on his shoulder, a timer and a fuse
Long may we remember Commandante Francis Hughes
They beat him and they tortured him and they gave him eighty years
When they brought him to the H-Blocks he was greeted there with cheers
He went right onto the blanket and when the hunger strike began
He was the first to volunteer along with Bobby Sands
He was an Irish soldier and that's how he did his time
He knew he was no criminal when occupation was the crime
Bobby Sands had passed beyond us, where Francis soon would be
And although he couldn't stand and he could barely see
Up the Provos, that's what he said
As they carried him to hospital to lay in his death bed
With a rifle on his shoulder, a timer and a fuse
Long may we remember Commandante Francis Hughes

Used To Be A City
I was young once It was a long time ago
Things were different then I thought that you should know
This old building Was once a factory
We made Stetsons Your grandpa and me
It wasn't easy but at least Life was going down
There used to be a city in this town
This rusted railyard Had a hotel and a couple of stores
We had good times here Between the wars
It wasn't paradise But there was music in the street
Right there is where your grandparents First had a chance to meet
They got married in that church I can still see her wedding gown
When the change came It started one by one
First the layoffs Then the factory was gone
Then came the highways The suburbs and Wal-Mart
That was the final blow That tore this place apart
But it seems like just last year
When there were people all around
The census says there's people here
But I think someone's confused
Just look out at these sidewalks They're not being used
You know when a city dies It doesn't die with grace
It just becomes a ruin Shouting this was once the place
Guess it's time to leave But I don't know where I'd be bound

Worker's World says that they have all the answers

Vanguard
And Milosevic is a guy that they admire
The ISO says Trotsky is the man And they'll debate it until they all expire
The industrial workers will lead the revolution So claims the SWP
No, the truth lies among the lumpen That's the RCP
The Sparts say the rest can go to hell And everyone else is a Stalinist
The CP will just do their thing And pretend the others don't exist
Well I had a realization this morning
When I looked into the red and dawning sun
I've figured out the truth And I'm forming a party of one
I am the leader of the workers And I'll tell you why the Left is suspect
Because there's something you don't understand Only my line is correct
'Cause I am the vanguard of the masses
And all of you should just follow me
If you doubt my analysis You must be in the petty bourgeoisie
But I am not sectarian It's all the rest who are
I work fine in coalitions As long as I'm the shining star
So bow down to your master The lastest V.I. Lenin
And off to the camps to all of you Who'd say, "not this again"
And I'll have no music at my protests And none of that goddamn puppetry
I'll just have some somber slogans No decadent frivolity
My chants will be the right ones Just the ones that should be said
And my banners we'll wave proudly Just the proper shade of red
And I will build the party if it kills me I am solely dedicated to the cause
If I have to stab you in the back This won't give me pause
'Cause my platform will take us forward
And the ends always justify the means
And you must step aside behind me
Be you Quakers, Jews, anarchists or greens

I was born in Marakesh and I thought life was good

Vanunu
Then some visitors came from far away, convinced my parents that we
should
Move from Marakesh to Israel, what they called the Promised Land
That's how we ended up in Beersheva by the Negev Desert sand
I turned 18 and joined the Army, that's what everybody did
I learned to blow up bridges just like every other kid
I learned how to fire weapons, I learned how to shoot to kill
Then I studied engineering and learned many other skills
I got a job, paid the rent, working just like you
I just did what I had to do
As the years went by I learned many things
And I wondered what to do with the burden knowledge brings
I learned about the massacres committed in my name
After Sabra and Shatila life could never be the same
But I got up every morning, worked til the day was through
Working in the desert I did what I was told
Though I'd long ago rejected the bill of goods I had been sold
I was supposed to ask no questions but as the years passed by
I discovered what was going on there beneath the clear blue sky
I snuck a camera into work one day as my suspicions grew
Once I left the country I could sit no longer on the fence
I met with a reporter and displayed the evidence
Of the secret nuclear arsenal which I had helped to make
I had to blow the whistle for humanity's sake
The world simply had to find out the things my commanders knew
Mossad came to get me on the streets of Rome
Brought me in a boat back to my adopted home
After 18 years of torture in a tiny prison cell
On the streets some people ask me how I lived so long in hell
Each morning when I woke up I remembered it was true

Vasili
The Beach Boys were playing on the radio The Beatles were singing "Love Me Do"
Lolita was playing in the cinemas In October 1962
Ken Kesey published One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
John Glenn orbited the Earth Australia had just won the most gold medals
At the Commonwealth Games in Perth
The boomers were just getting into high school
Dylan first sang "Blowin' In the Wind" The US Army had recently started their war
To attempt to defeat the Viet Minh On the day Vasili saved the world
"If I Had A Hammer" was in the Billboard charts
An Air Force jet crashed into the sea
The first Black student had been admitted To Ole Miss University
Hewlett-Packard sold a Personal Computer But it wouldn't really take off for a while
Jackie had just come back from a trip to India
Plunging necklines were the latest summer style
Algeria had just won their independence Korea was rebuilding from the war
The Russian River had just flooded A couple of weeks before
The CIA was running Operation Mongoose
Killing Cubans in their factories and streets
The US was making plans for an invasion Still smarting from the Bay of Pigs defeat
The Soviets had sent missiles to Havana
To protect themselves and their Cuban friends
Then the US Navy blockaded Cuba's harbors
And there was no telling how this thing would end
Khruschev got on TV to make it very clear Cuba is a sovereign state
And if our ships are attacked We will retaliate
Vice Admiral Vasili Arkhipov was standing at his post
On a Soviet Navy submarine
They were on patrol in international waters One actor in a terrifying scene
They were out of radio contact, deep beneath the water
When the sub began to shake and crack
The Captain said "arm the nuclear torpedoes
We're under attack" The Americans were bombing them, but in order to respond
Three officers had to say "go" Two were in agreement
But for some reason the Vice Admiral said "no"

The Village Where Nothing Happened

The Army commander spooke to the media
He said, "We are a nation of laws
"We do not target civilians "And we only bomb with cause"
And he said as he looked into the camera
With a cold, bone-chilling stare
"As for the village of Kama Ado "Nothing happened there"
In the village where nothing happened
Most people had risen from bed
Women were preparing to cook
And make sure every mouth would be fed
Just before the beginning of Ramadan Water was set out to boil
Little fires were heating tin kettles Upon the dry Afghan soil
In the village where nothing happened Children played in the street
Men were bending in prayer With no shoes on their feet
It was another day like so many That had gone down before
And nobody told Kama Ado Just what horrors lay in store
In the village where nothing happened Nobody knew
That this place would be changed forever By an American B-52
The bombs fell all around them So many a deafening blast
And the people of Kama Ado Learned that life can end so fast
In the village where nothing happened
The houses collapsed in the morn
Not one terrorist died there But maybe some were born
In the village of Kama Ado There are no underground caves
There's just rubble and dust and craters And 115 new graves

Waiting for the Fall

Helicopter missiles launch The ground rumbles
Apartment complex shakes Just before it crumbles
Children scream and die Wrong time, wrong place
A woman wears a shawl That hides the scar upon her face
A boy looks through a pool of blood And prays to see the day
When the armies of the infidels Will once more go away
And everybody's just Waiting for the fall
Outside the Green Zone Through the machine gun turrets
On the other side of the wall
The lights go out again The city swelters in the heat
A thousand ghosts are weeping Amid the pockmarked street
No food in the markets You can't reap grain that you can't sow
A no-man's land the Red Cross Doesn't dare to go
A soldier shoots at everything Acting like the master race
All the while wondering What he's doing in this place
No gas in the gas tanks Lines a mile long
A nation turned to rubble Where everything's gone wrong
Death squads roam the alleys Looking for the eye
Of anyone who dares to say A lie is just a lie
The torturers are torturing In a prison cell
Flushing Korans down the toilet Saying all praise be to Shell
Humvee fires Someone fires back
A sound that lets you know You're somewhere in Iraq
Surgeons with no medicine Wonder what to do
And ask how things might be If the outside world knew
And in an ivory tower in Texas They're toasting the New Year
Not knowing there's a country Far away from here

Wal-Mart
Theres a thousand acres becoming clear
Cut down the forest, the big ones here
Cover the ground with a mass of tar
Make sure theres room for every car
One floor half mile massive sprawl One store wonder super mall
Its spreading out far and wide Taking over the countryside
Say goodbye to your forests, theyre going down
Wal-Mart is coming to town
Your sons and daughters will have a fit
At the mountains of plastic shit
Chinese prisoners will sweat and bleed
And youll get all the stuff you need
Waltons children profits reap Buying low and selling cheap
And what happens to mom and pop
Turn the key and close the shop
Say goodbye to your city, its shutting down
There goes the local department store See the diner shut its door
No more neighbors you can meet
More ghosts than people on the street
No more jobs with living pay
Sam Walton took it all away
Beneath fluorescent lights theyll work you bare
The lucky ones can get on welfare
Forget your childrens cap and gown

The President stood in front of the jet planes

The War Is Over
The rubble's all settled and democracy reigns
We've defeated their army and taken control
We dropped thousands of bombs, now they've taken their toll
The oil's on fire, just like the blood
Of a billion Muslims dragged through the mud
And the world is safer with the dictator gone
And their lot will improve with our corporate pawn
The war is over, that's what he said
Go back to your business, we've buried the dead And the war is over
Fatherless children have taken the street All that remains is the sting of defeat
Homes are in ruins, cancer is rife For soldiers and newborns, the end of a life
Kids grown up with just hunger and fear But lo, behold, the Yankees are here
And now all you people are gonna be free
'Cause this land was made for Chevron and me
The war is over, that's what he said
Just turn on your TV, we've buried the dead And the war is over
The government files are all up in flames
His victims of terror, who remembers their names
The past doesn't matter but the future is bright
As the Exxon refinery lights up the night History's looted like the library's shelves
But we'll fill them with Bibles and be proud of ourselves
We'll turn your schools into compounds and make room for us all
If you're missing your legs you can learn how to crawl
The war is over, that's what he said
Forget it all happened, we've buried the dead And the war is over
And the price was worth it, yes we'd do it again
With bombs or with sanctions -- kids, women and men
'Cause we have national interests and they must be met
We will enforce them by treaty or jet
And when time has passed and you've had time to rest
We'll find a new villain 'cause that's what we do best
Maybe a sultan or a grandson of Mao
But don't trouble your conscience because as of now
The war is over, that's what he said
Just put it behind you, we've buried the dead And the war is over

Watch Out for the Cops

Portland is a town that's in the news much of the time
There are a lot of vegans and there's very little crime
It's a nice safe place to live, folks ride bicycles a lot
The winters aren't so cold and the summers aren't so hot
They build houses out of cob, they hang out in the park
Where you needn't worry about walking after dark
There are lots of homeless people but they don't hurt no one
Just be careful of the boys in blue playing with their guns
Watch out for the cops, you know it's true
Watch out for the cops, and the nasty things they do
They killed one hundred people since 1992
Watch out for the cops, the next one could be you
You can hang out with the punks with the piercings and tattoos
You can eat out at a food truck, any neighborhood you choose
You can dance to Balkan music while you drink a microbrew
Chilling in a gay bar with the mayor and his crew
But be careful what you do, be prepared to get some flack
Especially for those who may be male, young and Black
The fact is you'd do better in sweet home Alabam
You're safer there on the old streets of Birmingham
Portland's full of roses, there are flowers everywhere
But for others they've got prisons with some nice electric chairs
You can go downtown, ride the buses there for free
But you never know when you'll get a DWB
A town full of progressives but such a rotten bunch of cops
Who knows who'll get shot at the next routine traffic stop?
When you live in a place like Portland where they tend to act this way
You can just join the police force instead of the KKK!

We Are Everywhere
When I say the hungry should have food I speak for many
When I say no one should have seven homes
While some don't have any
Though I may find myself stranded in some strange place
With naught but a vapid stare I remember the world and I know
We are everywhere
When I say the time for the rich, it will come
Let me count the ways
Victories or hints of the future
Cairo, Tunis, Caracas, Buenos Aires
How many people are wanting and waiting
And fighting for their share
They hide in their ivory towers
Religions and prisons and races Borders and nations
FBI agents and congressmen And corporate radio stations
They try to keep us apart, but we find each other
And the rulers are always aware That they're a tiny minority
With every bomb that they drop, every home they destroy
Every land they invade
Comes a new generation from under the rubble
Saying "we are not afraid" They will pretend we are few
But with each child that a billion mothers bear
Comes the next demonstration

We Just Want the World

When we're living in the White House And debating on the hill
Of all your crazy antics We'll all have had our fill
We'll be closing down munitions plants
And Old Glory will be furled
'Cause we don't want your big machines We just want the world
And a bill will be proposed Section number one
We're shutting down the oil rigs And turning towards the sun
The air will be clean For all the boys and girls
'Cause we don't want your oil tankers We just want the world
Face the executioner Shut the logging camps all down
Get busy planting hemp Leave the trees there in the ground
Life is so precious On this little, spinning pearl
We don't want your bulldozers We just want the world
We'll be closing down the jails Fixing up the schools
Distributing those stocks and bonds Changing all the rules
We'll elect a CEO Maybe a rabbit or a squirrel
'Cause we don't want your money We just want the world
We'll be swimming in the rivers And running to the hills
Reading in the history books Of wars and oil spills
If it's linear we'll bend it If it's a straight line it'll curl
'Cause we don't want your dead-end highway
We just want the world

We Will Win (Song for Wisconsin)

My ancestors came to Wisconsin, they came here from the east
They believed the greatest person was no greater than the least
And this state it was founded on the grounds that we're all free
And no one should ever suffer from the bonds of slavery
When the call went out from Kansas there were many volunteers
Who left their families in Wisconsin to free their shackled peers
They stood and fought together, and therein lay the key
They stood shoulder to shoulder, they were union folk like me
If in union we're together
Raise our voice above the din
If in union we're together
Then in union we will win
When the mill came to Milwaukee and it became a factory town
In 1886 they shut all the factories down
The demands were fairly simple, eventually they got their way
Fighting Bob Lafollette and the eight-hour day
They were massacred at Bay View, the blood that grew the seed
Of the socialist republic that had union as its creed
There were differences among them, good people disagree
But the core of their success was they were union folk like me
There are those who try to tell us, forget your history
You no longer need a say here, you don't need your liberty
Let us make the decisions, you just do as you are told
Those who are fit to rule here are those who have the gold
But we're here to tell the governor we're not falling for that line
Workers only can have power when in union we combine
Workers' voices also matter, generations here agree
The way to move is to move forward arm in arm in unity

Welcome to the European Union

I landed in Denmark, headed to my favorite squat
But it was bought by rightwing Christians and was now a parking lot
I went to Christiania to try to find some peace
But the pushers were replaced by an army of police
Went to the Vestas factory to see my buddy Floyd
But they had laid off half the workers and now he was unemployed
I went to Blagardsplads for some espresso and a scone
But then I got arrested for being in a riot zone
Welcome to the European Union It's evolving every day
Getting more and more like the USA
I spied an ugly building like a prison if you please
Noticed this was where they now kept the refugees
No more social democratic brotherhood of man
Now it's send 'em back and let them manage if they can
No more protecting draft dodgers who didn't want to go
Now it's send in the Marines and fight the evil foe
Now it's nations run by xenophobes who talk of culture wars
Forget about the Renaissance, it's time to fight the Moors
Went to see a friend outside of town, not so far
But the bus line has been cut, now you have to have a car
Where there used to be a farm like a little slice of heaven
Now there's a McDonald's and a 7-11
I went to see the doctor but then I realized
The doctor wasn't there and the place was privatized
The poor are going hungry while the rich are growing fat
I don't know quite what happened but I smell a rat

Welcome to the Working Class

The average annual income of the richest one percent is about seven hundred grand
The average annual income of the poorest one percent is a couple Food Stamps and a pile
of sand
Smack-dab in the middle, 350 thousand, but that's actually the top four percent
Most everybody else, say, in the bottom eighty, is struggling to pay their mortgage or
their rent
You who say you're in the middle, I wonder what you mean? In the middle of what and
what?
I'd say you're probably full of something that hopefully will soon be coming out of your
butt
I could join you in your fantasy, but I think I'll have to pass
And just say welcome to the working class
If you're wondering how you might send your kids to college, if your savings is smaller
than your debt
If your main mode of transport is an auto or a pickup, not a helicopter or a private jet
If you drive yourself to the supermarket, you know where to find the milk upon the shelf
If you bring the groceries home and then you cook the food all by yourself
If your idea of a night out is ordering a pizza and watching a DVD
If your idea of social mobility is the fact that you have broadband and a high-definition
TV
You can try to convince me that you're in the bourgeoisie or you could just stop smoking
that grass
Welcome to the working class
If half your income's spent on taxes, no second home on a tropic isle
If flying in economy and renting a car is your notion of vacationing in style
If you've never seen the world's Seven Wonders and you think you probably never will
Because you only get two weeks holiday each year and you just don't have the time to
kill
If you think because you're employed and have a roof over your heads
That you're so very privileged because your kids sleep in separate beds
But you can't afford the rest home for your parents and it's you whose gotta wipe their
asses
Well then welcome to the working class

What Am I Doing Here

I'm sitting on this stool, I can hear the punters talk
I'm looking out the window and I think that I might walk
The monitors don't work, and even if they would
I could turn up the volume but it wouldn't do any good
What am I doing here, I can hear the voices say
Five thousand miles away from home
There's a man in front of me, he is very drunk
He might have been a sailor once but now his ship is sunk
There are nineteen other people, some of them are looking at
me
I should sing another song now but I'd really rather flee
What am I doing here at this gig that doesn't pay
Five thousand miles away from home
The last bus is at eleven, I hear someone complain
Half of them get up and walk out in the rain
The only woman in the room is filling up a jar
Looking at the clock as she stands behind the bar
What am I doing here, instead of where you lay
Five thousand miles away from home

What Do You Call It

What do you call it when a movement takes up arms
And seizes power by the barrel of a gun
Moves into the homes of those they've dispossessed
And says this whole country is ours now that we've won
What do you call a government that forces families from their homes
And turns them into refugees
All the while complaining of these dirty tent-dwellers
That it's they who want to drive us into the sea
What do you call a government that builds walls around the ghettos
And only looks at you through sniper sights
Who uses your cheap labor to build those very walls
While they tell the world how they believe in human rights
What do you call a government that makes war upon their neighbors
Who annexes land for living room
Who conducts a foreign policy based on threats and bombing raids
Whose opponents often end up in a prison or a tomb
What do you call a government who talks of enemies within
And seals off the camps to make sure they cannot eat
Who keeps their prisoners on diets to guarantee an early death
With their mantra, history cannot repeat
What do you call a government that puts numbers on the arms
Of the people that they torture and arrest
Whose soldiers commit war crimes systematically
While they proclaim their conduct is superior at best
What do you call a government that bombs its starving subjects
After taking from them everything they had
Whose citizens are soldiers, brainwashed to believe
Their opponents are fanatics, terrorists or mad
What do you call it when a movement takes up arms
And seizes power by the barrel of a gun
Moves into the homes of those they've dispossessed
And says this whole country is ours now that we've won

What If You Knew

If you knew that the earth was dying If they said this on the news
If they would clarify the picture Instead of seeking to confuse
If you could see the ice caps melting If you could watch the oceans rise
If you could see the consequences Right before your eyes
If you knew the kids were dying If you could look inside
The river where their food comes from Filled with cyanide
If you could hear the parents pleading If they were looking right at you
If you could see the anguish in their hearts What if you knew
If you knew the bombs were falling If they showed them hit the ground
If you could see the bodies flying If you could hear the sound
If you could see the rubble Where the hospital once stood
If you saw the child's lifeless limbs Would you hold them if you could
If you knew that they were lying Every time they spoke
For every laser-guided pinprick There were lives lost in the smoke
If instead of just the generals They had doctors, too
To describe the carnage of the cluster bombs What if you knew
If you knew what they were saying When they think you cannot hear
If you understood what they do If for you it was so clear
If you knew they shut down the factory In an economic ruse
If you could kiss the cheek of the child In the sweatshop that made your shoes
If every time we went to war To fight our evil foes
They told you we were really fighting For the good of CEOs
If you could feel the hunger of the many And see the riches of the few
If they told it like it is What if you knew
If you knew that you were living In a huge conspiracy
Would you leave your suburbs Get out of your SUV
Would you hit the streets And fight for all our lives
Would you hold your ground When the stormtrooper arrives
If you knew that the whole planet Depended on what you do now
Would you take command With the speed our times allow
If the pundits told the truth For just a week or two
And real life was shown on TV What if you knew

He got off the plane and looked at no one

When Johnny Came
He walked down the tarmac in the direction of nowhere Marching Home
He followed the sun as it was setting
Glad to be done with all the bloodletting
There were no banners for the proud and the few
Just workers in airports that do what they do
Fuel up the planes, unload the bags
Along with the coffins all covered in flags
When Johnny came marching home
The town he was from was a dead little place
So he looked for a job somewhere off-base
In this city of pawn shops and hotels and bars
Gas stations, strip clubs, highways and cars
He went to a dive, ordered a beer
Said turn the music up loud so it's all that I hear
Try to rewind, turn back the years
Stop the explosions between my ears
The jobs were all shit and the beer it was cheap
And besides there was no other way he could sleep
Still the screams and the guns would wake him at night
And he was always on edge and ready to fight
And when he closed his eyes he would just see the face
Of a woman he killed in a far-away place
Over and over, the white of her eye
And her final and terrible terrified cry
After just a short time his health fell apart
With an ache in the joints and such a thump in the heart
And the doctor just told him it's all in his head
But he couldn't stop drinking or get out of bed
And with no place to go but the wrong way
It was a shock to his ears when he heard himself say
Over and over to anyone within range
Hey mister, can you spare some change

Who Will Tell the People (2 pages)

The CIA is pushing crack in the ghettoes of LA
While the food crops in Colombia get sprayed by the DEA
The FBI is reading your email with something called the carnivore
And the rich are getting richer while the poor are staying poor
They're launching nuclear-powered ships up into space
One little accident could wipe out half the human race
And they're putting radioactive waste into your silverware
Or maybe your toaster or perhaps your wheelchair
The Air Force is bombing people in Iraq every other day
They don't like the government so the children have to pay
The ozone hole is spreading and the sheep are going blind
While the US spends more on arms than the rest of the world combined
Journalists are getting fired from San Jose to Atlanta
When they write about reality, not a fluff piece for Fanta
A death threat every week and sometimes life is short
When the truth is too dangerous for someone to report
Who will tell the people that free speech is a ruse
The corporations run the country and then they make the news
Is it media or mind control, heroic victories or crimes
Who will tell the people that we're living in these times
The cancer rates are skyrocketing though people are smoking less
If you live near a nuke your life is bound to be a mess
Clean water's almost gone all over the earth
And what's left they want to privatize and see how much it's worth
Chevron is gunning down the students of Nigeria
Turning the land to waste while the babies die of dyptheria
And the weather's getting hotter, the world's forests are on fire
Pretty soon Brazil will be one giant funeral pyre

One in three adult Americans cannot read or write

And their children go to bed hungry every night
And two million US citizens are rotting behind bars
And while they're there they're working hard building parts for cars
And the Army's running torture schools to keep the earth under control
And they're relocating Navajos so they can mine some extra coal
Our taxes pay McDonald's to sell tumors in Shanghai
While a hundred thousand poisoned vets are just about to die
And the people are resisting wherever you may go
And this is the single biggest fact they don't want you to know
From New Delhi to New Mexico there are battles going on
And the darkest hour is just before the dawn
And in Berkeley and New York they're raiding radio stations
Trying to turn the voice of the people into the voice of the corporations
Will we seize the airwaves, wipe the sweat off of our brow
Stand and face the beast and shout, "Democracy Now!"

Who Would Jesus Bomb?

I've seen you in the markets I've seen you in the streets
And at your political convention Talking of your crusade
Talking of your nation And other things too terrible to mention
And you proclaim your Christianity You proclaim your love of God
You talk of apple pie and mom Well I've just got one question
And I want an answer Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?
Maybe Jesus would bomb the Syrians 'Cause they're not Jews like him
Maybe Jesus would bomb the Afghans On some kind of vengeful whim
Maybe Jesus would drive an M1 tank And he would shoot Saddam
Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?
I've seen you on the TV And on the battleships
I've seen you in the house upon the hill And I've heard you talking
About making the world safer And about all the men you have to kill
And you speak so glibly About your civilization
And how you have the moral higher ground While halfway around the world
Your explosives smash the buildings Ah, if you could only hear the sound
But maybe Jesus would sell land mines And turn on his electric chair
Maybe Jesus would show no compassion
For his enemies in the lands way over there
Maybe Jesus would have flown the planes That killed the kids in Viet Nam
Yes I hear you shout with confidence As you praise the lord
And you talk about this God you know so well And you talk of Armageddon
And your final victory When all the evil forces go to hell
Well you'd best hope you've chosen wisely On the right side of the lord
And when you die your conscience it is clear
You'd best hope that your atom bombs
Are better than the sword At the time when your reckoning is here
'Cause I don't think Jesus would send gunships into Bethlehem
Or jets to raze the towns of Timorese
I don't think Jesus would lend money to dictators Or drive those SUV's
And I don't think Jesus would ever have dropped A single ounce of napalm

Whoever Wins In November

Whoever wins in November In Boston bay
To the Mexican Gulf All the papers will say
The people have spoken And shown us their will
From the great plains of Wyoming To the Capitol Hill
Whoever wins in November The moon it will rise
And the mothers will wake up To the sound of the cries
Of the kids in their mansions And the kids in their shacks
The farmworkers will toil With the sun on their backs
Whoever wins in November The rivers will flow
Into the Charles And the Rio Bravo
The drills they will burrow And the pipes will be laid
And the bankers will laugh At all the profits they've made
Whoever wins in November The frat boys at Yale
Will all toast to democracy And tell many a tale
Some lost souls may wonder How this all began
While in the dark halls of New Haven They say there goes our man
Whoever wins in November On either side of the aisle
Rich white men in suits Will clap and they'll smile
The bombs will keep falling The flags they will wave
And they'll cheer on their new leader The latest corporate slave
Whoever wins in November The children will die
In the ghettoes of Oakland and Beneath the Iraqi sky
The nuke dumps will widen And the forests will burn
Until the time comes When we finally learn
That whoever wins in November Neolib, neocon
Stands only for death Whichever face he has on
We will build a new world And set us all free
Once we drive the whole lot of them Right out of DC

Why Don't They Play You On The Radio? (2 pages)

It happened again last night, it happens every time I play
When the gig is over someone has to say
A question that appears to be on everybody's brains
As they're driving down the highway in the commuter lanes
It sure is not just me, it's the 99%
Of artists who are wondering about the thousands they just spent
On a CD that will never make it on the air
Now all of us are grownups here, we know life isn't fair
But the answer to the question is one I'd also like to know
Why don't they play you on the radio?
Perhaps my songs are too cerebral, they don't make you dance
My melodies are boring, there's no Spandex in my pants
Maybe it's because I don't use a drum machine
Maybe I'm too red or maybe I'm too green
Maybe folks just don't want to hear it, they don't want to analyze
Anything more complex than the space between your thighs
Maybe I should wear more glitter, go to parties in an egg
Perhaps I need to go electric or show a bit more leg
But it's something I must wonder at the end of every show
I'm sure there's an exception to each and every rule
But perhaps I'm too political, and not a useful tool
To keep the music in the background and the commercials in the fore
To keep the shoppers shopping, not protesting the war
To keep the lemmings humming the same three hundred songs
The songs they play throughout the year, each night and all day long
Maybe I just don't make the grade to be one of the chosen few
Perhaps there was a sign somewhere and I just missed the cue
Or I need to change my name to Bruce or Silvio

It could be I just don't have the talent that's involved

I'm lacking the commitment, I'm insufficiently resolved
Or maybe there just aren't a million people who might buy
More records made by some whiny leftwing guy
Or maybe they would, but I'm just out of luck
Because I don't have a label that can spend a million bucks
Because Sony and Clearchannel have taken over everything
And you've got to pay the piper if you want to make the piper sing
And it's the king who tells the piper where to go

Wookey Hole Inn

There are birds out in the garden And deer out in the wood
Where you wouldn't be surprised To run into Robin Hood
Somewhere near the vista That looks out upon the shire
So far from the streets of London Many miles from the mire
Where somewhere in the caves You might find a friendly troll
Out there by the Inn of Wookey Hole
There's a cellar full of wine Taps full of real ale
Lovers in the forest Upon the mountain trail
The band is dining To the tune of wild bass
In the rooms above the bar They're smoking wild grass
It was there When I think I found my soul
Somewhere inside the Inn of Wookey Hole
Ian wants to know If everything's OK
And I just don't know What there is to say
With you sitting on this sofa With that look inside your eye
I feel like I've made it to the top And now I'm ready for to die
Cause if the game of life is living
Then I've scored the winning goal
Out there at the Inn of Wookey Hole

World of Broken Dreams

I walk down the sidewalk Beside Powell Boulevard
Past the men with 40 ouncers Passed out in the yard
There's a boy of seven years Gazing at the sky
With dreams of far-off places Wishing he could fly
Away to join his father Wherever he may be
They say he went back east Somewhere near New York City
And I think that I'm the luckiest guy On this planet so it seems
The luckiest guy In a world of broken dreams
I heard a busker busking About all kinds of mournful things
About a woman who had left him With two broken wedding rings
I sat beside a man Heading home from far away
He was talking on his phone And wishing for the day
That he'd once more see his lover Who he left so far behind
A life lived in the distance Was always on his mind
'Cause when I walk thru the door There's a girl in front of me
Her eyes are full of wonder It's a wonder just to be
There's soup upon the table There's rice inside a bowl
There's a magic lady With hair as black as coal
She asks me how I'm doing She says she is alright
She smiles and she asks me What I'd like to do tonight

Last time I went to Trondheim that's when I met you

Yuan
In the Free State Svartlamon
That's when I learned that there really is magic
In the land of the midnight sun
I don't know what I did but I found myself on trial Guilt or innocence
You were the judge and jury and the prosecutor, too And I had no defense
I had to grab Bjorn-Hugo's shoulder or else I would've fallen
Me, a married man of forty-four
Until then I thought life was pretty darn good
But since then I've only longed for more
Somewhere in China there must be people wondering
Whatever happened to that beautiful girl
She had to find out what was out there, live in a squat in Norway
Travel around the world
Yuan, Yuan, it's times like these when I look away and have to wonder why
Yuan, Yuan, each time I see you again I never know if I will laugh or cry
You seem always to be grinning, joking with your friends
With a wit both kind and sharp
I don't believe in angels but I couldn't help but wonder
When I heard you play the harp
I don't know how it works that a glint in someone's eye
Can feel like I've been hit
By a load of Chinese bricks that knocked me to the ground
All I could say was "oh shit"
The day before life felt so full but now it's only lonely
And the nights all seem so long
This notepad is all blurry, there's this pit inside my stomach
And I had to write this song I met your boyfriend too, he's a real gem
And I wish you both the best But I just couldn't help it,
I had to write these verses And get this off my chest