1. |
War on the Workers
02:59
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Listen up,. we've got a war zone here today
Right in our heartland, and across the USA
These multinational bastards don't use tanks and guns it's true
But they've declared a war on us, fight back! It's up to you
There's a war on the workers
There's a war on the workers
There's a war on the workers
And it's time we started calling the shots
Going to work could be the death of you and me
But we're not unarmed--Our weapon's solidarity
Jim Beals* and Karen Silkwood
The list goes on and on
With every year that passes 60,000 more are gone
When they boost your co-pay, (it's a war on the workers!)
Don't you know what to say - (it's a war on the workers!)
When they talk privatization (it's a war on the workers!)
And co-operation (it's a war on the workers!)
When they call you “a team” (it's a war on the workers!)
You’d better learn how to scream (it's a war on the workers!)
They can lock us out, they can lock us up -- We cannot give in
No more lies, no compromise! We’ll battle til we win!
They call it "flexibility" (it's a war on the workers!)
But every working stiff can see (it's a war on the workers!)
When they poison our water (it's a war on the workers!)
Don’t go like lambs to the slaughter (it's a war on the workers!)
When they foul up the air (it's a war on the workers!)
You’ve gotta show that you care (it's a war on the workers!)
When they talk WTO (it's a war on the workers!)
We should be screaming HELL NO! (it's a war on the workers!)
Oh, it's a war on the workers--
It's a war on public education, it's a war on child labor protections, it's a war on the 8 hour day, it's a war on occupational health & safety, a war on social security -- Now thanks to WTO, GATT, NAFTA, MAI , the IMF and the World Bank it's a world wide war --
*Jim Beals was a Staley worker who died just before the lockout while cleaning a tank of toxic propylene oxide, known by the workers as PO
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2. |
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WELL, HERE’S A SONG WE ALL CAN SING
LET’S START THIS STORY WITH RODNEY KING
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
I WATCHED THEM BEAT HIM ON T.V.
THEN SIMI VALLEY SET THEM FREE
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
HOLD ON -- HOLD ON -- KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
THEN JOHNNY GAMMAGE DIES IN VAIN
AS KILLER COPS HIT THE STREETS AGAIN
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
OUR HOPE CRUSHED AGAIN IN ALBANY
AS DIALLO’S KILLERS WALK OUT FREE
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
HOLD ON – HOLD ON – KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
THE VERDICTS FILLED MY HEART WITH PAIN
BUT I WILL SING THE SAME REFRAIN
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
A CRY FOR JUSTICE FILLS THE AIR
BUT THIS IS NO TIME FOR DESPAIR
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
HOLD ON -- HOLD ON -- KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
WE'VE GOT TO REBUILD AMERICA, KEEP HOPE ALIVE
WE'VE GOT TO REBUILD AMERICA, KEEP HOPE ALIVE
WE'VE GOT TO REBUILD AMERICA, EYES ON THE PRIZE
THAT DREAM WE ARE BUILDING NEVER DIES
YOU CAN'T MURDER JUSTICE, NO, NO, NO
YOU DON'T BURY FREEDOM, NO YOU DON'T
WE CAN SEE A FUTURE WHERE OUR CHILDREN SHARE THE EARTH
AND YOU WON'T TAKE THAT FROM US, NO YOU WON'T
END RACIAL PROFILING -- VIOLENCE MUST CEASE
WHEN WILL THEY LEARN IT? NO JUSTICE! NO PEACE!
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
WE'VE GOTTA EDUCATE CHILDREN, NOT PUT THEM IN JAIL
BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY WE MUST PREVAIL
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
OUR CITIES ARE CRUMBLIN'; OUR SCHOOLS A DISGRACE
WE’RE BUILDING JAILS & PUTTING WEAPONS IN SPACE
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
DON'T SIT AT HOME THINKIN' "WHAT COULD I DO?"
REMEMBER THAT UNITY STARTS WITH YOU
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
IS DEMOCRACY DEAD? ONLY TIME’S GONNA TELL
GET YOUR FEET IN THE STREET NOW, START RAISIN’ SOME HELL!
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
YES, SISTERS AND BROTHERS, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE
CAUSE WE'RE BUILDING A DREAM, AND THE DREAM NEVER DIES
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON
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3. |
Take Them Down!
04:49
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Where did all these missiles come from?
Don't say you built them in my name.
We built them up, let's take them down now
Today we stop this deadly game
TAKE THEM DOWN! WE DEMAND IT! IN THE NAME OF THE PLANET
TAKE THEM DOWN IN THE NAME OF MOTHER EARTH!
I will not die for a border - Just an imaginary line
I will not sacrifice my children - This blue sky is yours and mine
Don't tell us that we have no choice - all the people all world round
Altogether in one voice - cry save the planet! take them down!
Who are these men who claim to lead us?
The Kremlin the White House - all the same
They will incinerate our planet
We've got to stop them in her name!
TAKE THEM DOWN! WE DEMAND IT IN THE NAME OF THE PLANET
TAKE THEM DOWN IN THE NAME OF MOTHER EARTH!
TAKE THEM DOWN! WE DEMAND IT! IN THE NAME OF THE PLANET
TAKE THEM DOWN IN THE NAME OF MOTHER EARTH!
TAKE DOWN THE MISSILES, TAKE DOWN THE BORDERS
TAKE DOWN THE LEADERS! TAKE THEM DOWN, IN THE NAME OF MOTHER EARTH.
JUST TAKE THEM DOWN IN THE NAME OF MOTHER EARTH!!
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4. |
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You’ve heard “Sixteen Tons” and “The Coal Tattoo”
In the coalfield danger is nothing new
Here’s the question I’m putting to you
‘How much for the life of a miner?’
It should come as no surprise
That every time a miner dies
You’ll hear them spout the same old lies
How much for the life of a miner?
Somewhere far away from here accountants will project
Actuaries speculate on causes and effect
No pesky regulations from the thieves that they elect
And auditor confirm the yield from their benign neglect
Each state has a price for a leg that’s lost
Lose an arm or an ear – there’s a preset cost
When the air goes bad and there’s no exhaust
How much for the life of a miner?
A slap on the wrist or even a fine
Reversed on appeal on down the line
“An act of God,” the courts opine.
How much for the life of a miner?
Politicians posture at the mine face solemnly
Live reporters swarm like flies around the tragedy
Preachers will proclaim the Lord behaves mysteriously
And PR spokesmen orchestrate deniability
And then their widows, sons and daughters come to you and me
And ask “How much for the life of a miner?
How much for the life of a miner?”
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5. |
National Healthcare Now!
03:33
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Danny was born 10 weeks too soon
Premature baby in the ICU
What we did to Danny was a low-down crime
Slashed the safety net for the bottom line
Something’s gone wrong, won’t you tell me why
Rich folk live, poor folk die?
When I started this job, check-ups were free
Now I can't afford what's gone wrong with me
My healthcare benefits gone away
With the lie that the company calls “co-pay”
Something’s gone wrong, won’t you tell me why
Rich get richer and poor folk die?
Living is a thing that money can buy
Rich folks live and poor folk die
Private insurance makes no sense
Get a brand new liver at a huge expense
But dentures, glasses, hearing aids
Are "luxury items" that won’t get paid
Something’s gone wrong, won’t you tell me why
Rich get richer and poor folk die?
Living is a thing that money can buy
Rich folks live – poor folk die
The Affordable Care Act is just a start
but it's time to move on to the next part
Roll those insurance companies into one
Make single payer for everyone
Buying for all instead of buying for some
Plowshares made from melted guns
Affordable health shouldn't be this hard
Got the third world right here in our backyard
Listen up Mr. Jones and Mr. Dow
We want National Health Care Now!
We want National Health Care Now!
We want National Health Care Now!
Single Payer's the only way how!
We want National Health Care Now!
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6. |
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Was it Cesar Chavez? Maybe it was Dorothy Day
Some will say Dr. King or Gandhi set them on their way
No matter who your mentors are it's pretty plain to see
That, if you've been to jail for justice, you're in good company
Have you been to jail for justice? I want to shake your hand
Sitting in and lyin' down are ways to take a stand
Have you sung a song for freedom? or marched that picket line?
Have you been to jail for justice? Then you're a friend of mine
You law abiding citizens, come listen to this song
Laws were made by people, and people can be wrong
Once unions were against the law, but slavery was fine
Women were denied the vote and children worked the mine
The more you study history the less you can deny it
A rotten law stays on the books til folks like us defy it
The law's supposed to serve us, and so are the police
And when the system fails, it's up to us to speak our peace
It takes eternal vigilance for justice to prevail
So get courage from your convictions -
Let them haul you off to jail!
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/anne-feeney/have-you-been-to-jail-for-justice-lyrics/#jHHl1rqJIRuAbzEB.99
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7. |
I Married a Hero
04:13
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I married a hero - now I'm living alone
His life was held forfeit for defying the throne
The cause, it is noble - he died for what's right
But it can' ease the pain in the home that's so lonely at night
I married a hero - now I'm living alone
They call him an outlaw - his location's unkown
The last time I saw him took the few pounds I had
And left me this baby, who'll not know her dad
I married a hero, now I'm living alone
My love's bound to wither behind barbed wire and stone
They say he gets my letters, but I've not much to write
And our bed seems so large now - so empty at night
And I curse the injustice that keeps us apart
How could it have been wrong to surrender my heart?
Will our children be heroes or widows in time?
I'd gladly take his place, but would he take mine?
I married a hero, now I'm living alone
I worked at the two jobs 'til our babies were grown
Now I grieve that the same fate awaits them as well
My love rests in peace now, and I live in hell
And I curse the injustice that keeps us apart
How could it have been wrong to surrender my heart?
Will our children be heroes or widows in time?
I'd gladly take his place, but who would take mine?
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8. |
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I was a welder, pulling down forty thou
For all I know that job's in Pakistan now
I'm out here workin for the minimum wage and wondering
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
We've got no time for the house - no time for the kids
An eighty hour week will put your life on the skids
There's only one thing that can take it away
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
The company keeps telling us we want too much
All those cats on top sure have the Midas touch
The economy's booming - that's what they say
Because I work twice as hard to bring home half of the pay!
They kids need attention. The house is a mess.
Our marriage is buckling from all of this stress
I'm fed up to here, I've just got one thing to say:
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
Who feeds a family on one person's pay?
I'm fed up to here, I've just got one thing to say:
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
Remember when one job would pay all the bills?
Remember good jobs that demanded some skills?
If globalization is as great as they say, tell me:
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
And pensions, and health care, and overtime pay?
I can't take much more, I've just got one thing to say:
Whatever happened to the eight hour day?
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9. |
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He's been running down the field now for 17 years,
Monday morning finds him face to face with his fears
His knees are shot, and no more surgery recommended
And though his body is broken at 25
Playing ball's the only way he ever learned to survive
He'll be the last one to know his glory days have ended
And he's a lucky one, he had that season in the NFL
Didn't some writer say "Few ever played the game so well"?
And he can read at the sixth grad level
Oh that never seemed to matter beforhe
Now every Monday morning, he's wondering how he's gonna get by
After the game while his teammates revel
You'll find him packed up in ice and oh-so-sore
They boy is too old to work - and too young to die
Still when Sunday rolls around you'll find him headed for that Coliseum
And as that crowd roars out, he thinks that they all want to be him
While generations of has-beens and would-bes cheer in
Their La-Z-Boy recliners drinking Coors Lite beer
They say he's crazy to keep going
You know they might be right
The racketeers make money off him, win or lose
The advertisers use him up to sell their booze
The agents and the owners and the lawyers are happy tonight
And though it breaks his heart to have to admit it
He knows the game's just not much fun anymore
Still he'll numb the pain, suck in his breath and give it a try
If he could that boy would surely quit it
But the odds are against him - He knows the score
He's too old to work, and too young to die.
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10. |
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Mom and Dad, I'm almost ten and it's time we had this talk
I've done my best to please you since before I learned to walk
I swallowed all your oatmeal and your work for peace is fine
But when you pick on Super Mario I've got to draw the line
I know you're not like other folks, but for once could we pretend, OH
Can't I be like other kids?
Why can't I have Nintendo?
Every other kid I know can spend his idle hours
Helping Super Mario climb pillars, hills and towers
And how come when we go for walks
It's on some picket line?
I know you're not like other folks, but for once could we pretend, OH
Can't I be like other kids?
Why can't I have Nintendo?
Sometimes I wonder what would happen in a war
It's not that I don't like the things you're working for
So don't get angry if I ask you just once more
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE????
I don't mind recycling and camping out is fine
If you'd only boycott cauliflower, I'd be first in line
GI JOE and LASER TAG were out I always knew
But when I go down to Billy's place, what do you think we do??
We turn on his TV set and for hours upon end-o
I act just like the other kids and I freak out on Nintendo!
So can't I be like other kids, Oh
Can't I be like other kids?
Oh can't I have Nintendo?
(Not on your life!!)
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11. |
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It's time to end welfare as we know it
And get those greedy chiselers off the dole
It's time to end welfare as we know it
Teach them a little self-control.
For far too long we've allowed these corporate hogs
To belly up to the public trough,
No more welfare as we know it
No more hand-outs, cut them off
(last ch only) -
(It's for their own good)
No more hand-outs, cut them off
(And we mean business)
No more hand-outs, cut them off
Now we should all be irate at this huge welfare state right here in this mightiest of nations
AFDC is disgraceful to me, I'm talking aid for dependent corporations
Free enterprise, Hah! The cruelest of lies, it cost us two hundred billion just last year
If they paid their fair share we'd have billions to spare, it's time to tell them the bucks stop here
CHORUS
That Taco Bell chihuahua begs for bucks for Frito-Lay
And Poppin' Fresh from Pillsbury needs more dough every day
That thief Ronald Mcdonald and his side-kick Mayor McCheesy
Hamburglarize our treasury in ways that make me queasy
That nasty little mermaid took tax dollars overseas
To hire thugs to bring poor Haitian workers to their knees
CHORUS
They've been picking every pocket here from sea to shining sea
We must intervene to break this cycle of dependency
ADM and Cargill, Standard Oil, Exxon and Boeing
Goldman Sachs and Lockheed and that welfare line keeps
Growing, growing, growing
Now Congress says we can't afford to subsidize the needy
But before we slash the safety net let's tell the truly greedy:
(Last chorus)
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12. |
Shell Game
03:00
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Was it a shell game - from the master of the cloak and dagger?
Was it a shell game - from the master of the cloak and dagger?
When you saw "naked aggression" did you forget about recession?
When you saw him "kick some ass" did you forget the underclass?
Who could spare a moment for the homeless or the poor?
Who cares about the deficit, we won a glorious war!
Or was it a shell game, from the master of the cloak and dagger?
When you spoke of education, did you lose your concentration?
If you thought of unemployment, did it spoil the games enjoyment?
As the burning oil wells lit the sky we hailed the new world order
Don't think of all the Kurdish children starved along the border
Caught in the shell game, from the master of the cloak and dagger
Must we all avert our eyes and walk in lockstep with this man?
What about the hundred thousand that lie buried in the sand?
Sing patriotic songs now - Yellow ribbons sea to sea
How could Iraq make reparations?
Will there be future confrontations?
Have we brought peace to all these nations?
Or just restored some monarchy?
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13. |
For Gene Debs
04:34
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Gene Debs said "To hell with war!
To hell with all who crave it!
When masters rule the world no more
We'll need no wars to save it."
While the ones who own the tools
Hoard the wealth and make the rules
The whole planet suffers
For the powerful few
Gene Debs had a lot to say
Years ago/ True today
With two million locked away
What can we do?
There’s a better world a-waiting – Work to win it
Put an end to poverty, to hunger, despair
While there is a lower class I am in it
There’s enough for everyone to have a fair share
While there is a lower class I am in it
Where there is injustice it is done to me
While there is a criminal element I am of it
While there is a soul in prison I am not free
Not behind the prison wall but high above it
Truth and honor call upon us – rise and resist!
While there is a criminal element I am of it
Crime will be unknown when peace and justice exist
While there is a lower class I am in it
Where there is injustice it is done to me
While there is a criminal element I am of it
While there is a soul in prison I am not free
Can you take time to imagine
The day when all receive respect
Where want and hunger are just memories
And no one suffers from neglect
Where each can get an education
And work has meaning for us all
Instead of brutal retribution
An outstretched hand to those who fall?
When we at last protect the planet
Clean up the water and the air
When work is driven not by profit
But to make a world we’ll all be proud to share -
Speak truth to power and they call it revolution
Open your hearts and it’s so easy to see
Punishing the poor is just a rich man’s solution
While there is a soul in prison I am not free
While there is a lower class I am in it
Where there is injustice it is done to me
While there is a criminal element I am of it
While there is a soul in prison I am not free
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14. |
The Power of Love
02:28
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If you should have to go, I'd like to think that I'd accept it gracefully
The perfection of these moments could sustain me through eternity
I rejoice to know you've cherished me
It's opened every door
There are those who say true love
Should be jealous and demanding
If they could only know the joy
Of this perfect understanding
If this were all we had
It would be enough
I've been transformed by
The power of love
Forever transformed by the power of love
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15. |
We Fought Back
02:45
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In the year 2002, with 20 minutes warning, the Liberals introduced bill 29
Only 3 days later this hateful bill was passed
It offered BC workers bitter wine
The layoffs and the closings took their toll on patient care
VWith our collective bargaining rights denied by act of law
Our union's very future was in doubt -but
We fought back, we fought back, we fought back and we won
We fought back, we fought back, we fought back and we won
A five year legal battle with the outcome most uncertain
With layoffs mounting what else could we do?
We educated, agitated with our friends and allies
We stood together and we saw it through
The Supreme Court was the last stop in this battle for survival
Decided by 3 women and 4 men
It was on the 8th of June we got their 6-1 decision
And things will never be the same again
We fought back, we fought back, we fought back and we won
We fought back, we fought back, we fought back and we won
What good is a union if it has no right to bargain?
We clearly had no option but to fight
The courts have finally recognized what we knew all along
Collective hargaining's a basic human right
It's time for celebration now but let us not forget
There are many battles yet that lie before us
And though we all overjoyed that Gordon Campell's unemployed
By now they know that they cannot ignore us!
Because We fought back, we fought back, we fought back and we won
We fought back, we fought back, we fought back and we won
And we'll fight back, we'll fight back, we'll fight back 'til we win!
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16. |
You Will Answer
03:30
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Last night as I lay tossing and a-turning in my bed
I dreamed that I was in the presence of the Lord
With a dozen Sago miners who had gone to their reward
And God looked down on those miners and He said:
“Who has sent My faithful servants here unbidden to My Throne?
He will answer on the Judgment Day
Who has left their grieving families heartbroken and alone?
He will answer on the Judgment Day
Oh he will answer (he will answer) on that Judgment Day
He will answer on that Judgment Day
Oh he will answer (he will answer) on that Judgment Day
He will answer on that Judgment Day
“I have fashioned those who labor in My image,” God did say,
“And I did not call these miners home to Me
Many years I had allotted them with friends and family
Now the heavens weep to hear their orphans pray.”
You cannot serve God and mammon – if it’s mammon that you choose
You will answer on that Judgment Day
Now, what good is all your wealth if your eternal soul you lose?
You will answer on that Judgment Day
You will answer (you will answer) on that Judgment Day
You will answer on that Judgment Day
You will answer (you will answer) on that Judgment Day
You will answer on that Judgment Day
It is easier to get a camel through a needle’s eye
Than a rich man into heaven, it’s been told
Every time a human life’s cut short by avarice for gold
There will be a day of judgment bye and bye
If you’ve garnered earthly riches and you come to heaven’s door
You will answer on that Judgment Day
To love God you must renounce your wealth and share it with the poor, or
You will answer on that Judgment Day
You will answer (you will answer) on that Judgment Day
You will answer on that Judgment Day
You will answer (you will answer) on that Judgment Day
You will answer on that Judgment Day
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Anne Feeney Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Anne Feeney is a front-line singer and agitator well-versed in the traditions of Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs and Tom
Lehrer.
She's taken her musical message all over the US and Canada as well as Sweden and Denmark.
Based in Pittsburgh, PA, For almost 50 years, Anne has gone to wherever the fires of resistance burn brightly, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.
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