Tune: Wonderful World by Sam Cooke Lyrics: Jo-Hanna Read You won’t know much about history, Only the parts we want you to see! You won’t know much about lit’rature. We’re here to make sure that you stay “pure”! We’ll keep a watch out for ideas “woke”. Ban most of history with one stroke What a wonderful world this will be! You won’t know much about geography. There’s nothin’ much out there for you to see. You won’t know much about science books. Logical thinking is a commie hook. The hist’ry they’ve been teaching is a joke. We know the slaves were very happy folk. What a wonderful world this will be! You don’t need to be an “A” student. Don’t try to be. Ignore ideas that make you sad, baby, Happy ignorance will make you free! We’ll teach our chi-il-dren how to be Straight-laced Americans, white and free. Don’t let them think about the other folk, Who disagree with us, they’re all too “woke”! Just trust that we know what’s best for all. Nobody else can ever make the call. What a wonderful world this will be! Won’t Know Much
Author Archives: Seattle Raging Grannies
Cancel the Rent
Tune: Addams Family Theme By Anitra Freeman Everybody's hurtin' The future still uncertain Mounting debt a burden It's time to cancel the rent Cancel the rent (snap snap) Cancel the rent (snap snap) Cancel the rent Cancel the rent Cancel the rent (snap snap) People in the street Are living without heat And not enough to eat We need housing for all Housing for all … Comp'ny profits soared Homebound consumers gored And homebound students bored It's time to tax the rich Tax the rich… Any kind of trouble Rent just seems to double It's time to pop the bubble We need rent control now Rent control now...
There Goes 45
THERE GOES 45 • Tune: Here Comes Santa Claus • By Jo-Hanna Read There goes 45, there goes 45, We’ve sent him on his way. Lost the election, Tried for exception, He’s out of here we say! Filing lawsuits, leaning on officials, Spreading all of his lies. He lost the election, His pathetic reaction Is pretend there’s still a fight. There goes 45, there goes 45, He’s trashed so many things. Packed all the courts with Right wing zealots, Including the Supremes. Trashed protections for earth’s environment, Immigrants, so many wrongs. Tried to eliminate Affordable Care Act, While Covid rages on. There goes 45, there goes 45, Doing all he can To trash our country, Put millions in poverty, Seems to be his plan. People are dying, our nation is crying, The pandemic threat is clear, Economy hurting, Yet he keeps blurting That a vaccine is almost here. Goodbye 45, we’re done with 45, You need to move your rear Out of the White House, Off of the premises The people’s voice is clear. Stop your whining, stop your tweeting, Get your ass in gear. Start the transition, Stop your pissin’, A new administration is here. AND ABOUT TIME!
Abortion Cheer
Tune: The Fish Cheer by Country Joe and the Fish Lyrics by Jo-Hanna Read [Verse 1] Yeah, come on all you Republicans Tryin’ to help women again You think they won’t do what’s best With a positive pregnancy test So you rolled up your sleeves, came up with a plan Put enforcement in private hands! [Chorus] And it's 1, 2, 3 What are we fighting for? I tell you my body’s my own I demand you leave it alone. And it's 5, 6, 7 Don’t regulate my pearly gates Ain't it time to hear my voice Listen up! We must have choice! [Verse 2] Come on politicians moving fast Your big chance has come at last Think you’ve found a way around the courts Have to make sure no one can abort You know that you’re the righteous ones Impose your will on everyone! [Chorus] [Verse 3] Well come on Texans, don't move slow File those lawsuits, go, go, go There's plenty good money to be made Suing everybody in the health care trade Doesn’t matter what the woman needs Gotta protect those seeds! [Verse 4] Well, come on people throughout the land Come on with us and make a stand Supreme Court won’t hesitate To pull the plug on Roe v. Wade A woman’s body is all her own We demand they leave us alone! [Chorus]
/
Gaggle for Low Income Housing
- tune: Side by Side
- by Cynthia Linet
Oh, we're a gaggle of grannies
Urging you off a your fannies
We don't think it's neat
To live on the street
Homes for all!
With so many homes in our city
So few for the poor , it's a pity
It's time for a change
We must arrange
Homes for all!
We are each other's keepers
To help out everyone.
How can we be content when
There's so much to be done?
So heed this call from your grannies
Don't just protect your own fannies.
Homes for us all.
We must hear the call:
Homes for all!
We really mean it: HOMES FOR ALL!
We mean precisely: HOMES FOR ALL!
We will say it very nicely: HOMES FOR ALL!
READ OUR LIPS: (silently) HOMES FOR ALL!
Gaggle Against GMOs
Gaggle Against GMOs
tune: Side by Side
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re raising our voice,
We want a new choice
NO GMOs
With all the money they’re spending,
Splicing genes unending,
They’re wrecking our food
And spoiling our mood –
NO GMOs
With all of their gene splicing,
There is no way to know
What damage they are doing.
GMOS have got to go!
So, join this gaggle of Grannies!
Get up off of your fannies.
We’re telling you now
We’re angry and how,
NO GMOs
We really mean it! NO GMOs
We mean precisely! NO GMOs
We will say it very nicely! NO GMOs
Read our lips! (Mouth: NO GMOs)
My Country, Who’s Next? Me?
(tune of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”)
(Original protest version by unknown author on Blog for Arizona )
Revised by Lee for Tucson Raging Grannies 02/28/18
Class-rooms, where all can see
gun deaths and mis-er-y!
That’s why we ROAR!
Schools where our kids have died
as Con-gress runs to hide,
the N RA by their side
AS THEIR PROFITS SOAR!
Some teach-ers died for kids
took bull-ets meant for kids
Their names we love!
All those live shoot-er drills
Yet man-y still were killed!
Our hea-earts a-are sor-row filled!
seeing so much blood!
Kids have come to the fore
de-mand-ing we take more
con-trol of guns!
That is what it will take
to make our schoo-ools safe!
Gun nuts and all who hate!
You-ur time is done!
White Country
Tune: White Christmas
By Hinda Kipnis
White Country
I’m dreaming of a white country
Where only billionaires rule.
They’re so clever and bri-ight
And always ri-ight.
We the people are just fooled.
I’m dreaming of a white country
Where the-e wealthy own the place.
Where folks of color just listen
And make the place glisten
For our superior white race.
I’m dreaming of a white country
Where the one percent need more and more.
For their power so hollow
They need people to follow,
Be cannon fodder for their wars.
Stop This Nomination
(Tune: “There is a Tavern in the Town”)
Lyrics by Vicki Ryder © for the Raging Grannies
There was a time in days of old [days of old]
When justice mattered, so we’re told [so we’re told]
(But now the) corporations own our Supreme Court,
(So say good)bye to women’s freedom to abort.
We won’t be saved by Roe v Wade [Roe v Wade]
Not even if we’re force-a-bully laid [we’re afraid]
A-nd) you can bet that our health care Safety Nets
Will be stolen from us if they’ve not been yet.
Environmental regs will go away [go away]
And the First Amendment will become passé [Oy vey!]
(And there will) be more guns to threaten our loved ones
Now the Court’s been purchased by the N-R-A.
We used to think that we could just appeal [just appeal]
To a court where we could get a good fair deal [an honest deal]
(But now we’re) fighting for our lives, and if we’re to survive,
(We‘ve got to) stop this nomination — STOP IT NOW!
It’s a gross abomination — STOP IT NOW!
For the future of our nation – STOP IT NOW!
The Poor People’s Campaign: A Moral Revival
By: Vicki Ryder
Tune: Acres of Clams
There’s something that’s troubling the Grannies,
So we toss and we turn late at night,
Wond’rin’ why there are so many hungry
In a land that’s so rich, that ain’t right!
Chorus:
It’s time for a moral revival so
We’ve joined the Poor People’s Campaign
To end poverty in our nation
We’ve joined the Poor People’s Campaign.
The government spends all our taxes
For fighting in lands far away,
Killing women and kids without reason;
It’s no wonder our hair’s turning gray.
They’re drilling and fracking and dumping
To fatten their wallets, you see,
They don’t really care if we live or die
It’s enough to make Mother Earth weep.
Equality for all the people
They say is the law of the land;
But our system is blatantly racist
So together for justice we’ll stand.
Chorus
Gaggle Black Lives Matter
By Jo-Hanna Read
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies
Urging you off of your fannies.
We’re raising our voice–
We want a new choice–
BLACK LIVES MATTER!!
Police misconduct unending,
The constitution you’re bending.
When you shoot to kill
Does it give you a thrill?
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Whether it’s a young man,
A mother or a child,
Don’t draw your guns and shoot them,
You must stop running wild!
So, join this gaggle of Grannies–
Get up off of your fannies.
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how!
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We really mean it:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We mean precisely:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We will say it very nicely:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Read our lips (mouth):
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Gaggle Black Lives Matter
By Jo-Hanna Read
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies
Urging you off of your fannies.
We’re raising our voice–
We want a new choice–
BLACK LIVES MATTER!!
Police misconduct unending,
The constitution you’re bending.
When you shoot to kill
Does it give you a thrill?
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Whether it’s a young man,
A mother or a child,
Don’t draw your guns and shoot them,
You must stop running wild!
So, join this gaggle of Grannies–
Get up off of your fannies.
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how!
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We really mean it:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We mean precisely:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We will say it very nicely:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Read our lips (mouth):
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Until the Plan for the Jail is Undone
Until the Plan for the Jail is Undone
Tune: Home on the Range
By Laurie Rostholder
- Chorus:
We don’t want a youth jail.
A place where our kids go to fail.
We want money spent
On plans with intent
To keep our kids learning and free.
Don’t give us a jail
Where our kids go to fail
And the judges have such a nice space.
Don’t claim you’re concerned
When our trust is not earned
And our faith in King County misplaced.
More children of color
End up in the jail.
Where is the justice in that?
We want no kids locked up
Where they just get fucked up.
And the contractors’ wallets get fat.
- Chorus
The land’s full of waste.
With more than a trace
Of toxins to make our kids sick.
Another good reason why
The jail should not fly.
We won’t accept such a big risk.
Dow blocked our appeal.
His support is not real
To stop youth incarceration.
We want all to know
We’ll continue to show
Till the plan for the jail is undone.
My Country, Who’s Next, Me?
My Country, Who’s Next? Me?
(tune of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”)
(Original protest version by unknown author on Blog for Arizona )
Revised by Lee for Tucson Raging Grannies 02/28/18
Class-rooms, where all can see
gun deaths and mis-er-y!
That’s why we ROAR!
Schools where our kids have died
as Con-gress runs to hide,
the N RA right by their side
AS THEIR PROFITS SOAR!
Some teach-ers died for kids
took bull-ets meant for kids
Their names we love!
All those live shoot-er drills
Yet man-y still were killed!
Our hea-earts a-are sor-row filled!
seeing so much blood!
Kids have come to the fore
de-mand-ing we take more
con-trol of guns!
That is what it will take
to make our schoo-ools safe!
Gun nuts and all who hate!
You-ur time is done!
Climate Change Is Here
Tune: My Boyfriend’s Back
By Jo-Hanna Read
Spoken (maybe with “oohs” in the background):
We thought if we just shut our eyes
The problem would go away.
But when that didn’t work, we realized
The problem is here to stay.
Sung:
Climate change is here and we’re already in trouble
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
Now we see it happ’nin’, gotta fix it on the double
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
They been spreading lies that it isn’t true
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
That climate fluctuations are nothing new
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
Hey- the oceans keep on risin’
And, we’re fin’ly realizin’
Those carbon emissions are filling the air
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
Causing destruction everywhere
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
With so many creatures dyin’
Don’t you think we should be tryin’?
It’s time to say we don’t believe deniers’ lies
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
To save the planet now we got to organize!
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
(Hey-la, hey-la, climate change is here)
Yell: Hey, everyone, climate change is here now!
Do Not Despair
Tune: Old McDonald Had a Farm
By: Laurie Rostholder
The Brits and Obama wiretapped me
That’s what 45 says.
A Muslim English conspiracy
Against the future prez.
With a tweet tweet here,
And a tweet tweet there,
Twittering bullshit everywhere.
The Brits and Obama wiretapped me,
That’s what 45 says.
Pruitt says it’s not CO2,
Making our planet warm.
And the EPA must go,
As it does corporate profits harm.
Islands shrinking here,
Glaciers melting there,
Climate chaos everywhere.
Pruitt says it’s not CO2,
Making our planet warm.
Breitbart Bannon wants the system to blow.
He’s tired of everyone.
A war with China would be a great show.
That’s his idea of fun.
Neo Nazis here.
White supremacists there.
Racist hate mongers everywhere.
Breitbart Bannon wants the system to blow.
He’s tired of everyone.
The Ryan Death Plan shrinks Medicaid,
And makes old people pay more.
The rich will get the greatest care,
While millions are shown the door.
With more death here.
Bankruptcies there.
Crappy health care everywhere.
The Ryan Death Plan shrinks medicaid,
And makes old people pay more.
Rick Perry is the chosen head,
Of a department he once called Oops.
To think he’s in charge of nuclear waste,
Should give us all the poops.
With no more progress on energy that lasts.
Innovative research a thing of the past.
Rick Perry is the chosen head ,
Of a department he once called Oops.
And here’s one that we shouldn’t forget,
Our friend named Vladimir.
This happy guy seems far away,
But he’s really very near.
Creating distraction without working hard.
Drinking vodka to our discord.
And here’s one that we shouldn’t forget.
Our friend named Vladimir.
There’s so much more to sing about.
And commitments we must make.
To prevent our country going to hell.
And keep each other safe.
Undocumented, Queer, Black, Trans, and Brown,
Muslims, Jews, Women, all our old and young.
We stand up for what’s so unfair.
And we will not despair.
Resist! Resist! Resist! Resist!
Cranes, Humongous Cranes
By Linda Jansen
To the tune of “Food, Glorious Food”
Cranes, humongous cranes
All over the city.
They’re not building for us
That’s really a pity.
Hey, City Council please play fair (pause)
You work for us all (spoken: right?).
Build public housing for all. It’s up to you.
Answer our call!
They knock down our homes
And put up new towers
Can’t afford that place
Even working 40 hours
Hey, City Council please play fair (pause)
You work for us all (spoken: right?).
Build public housing for all. It’s up to you.
Answer our call!
Stop the Sweeps
By Linda Jansen
To the tune of Chim Chim Cheree
There’s money in banks that will never get used
And people who need it for housing & shoes
What wicked system has such a result?
Must have been built by some mean greedy cult!
CHORUS:
Chim chiminey, chim chiminey Chim chim cheree!
The cops must be stopped from their sweep jamborees
Chim chiminey, chim chiminey Chim chim cheroo!
If you don’t try to stop ‘em, might happen to you!
The cops don’t sweep chimneys. That’s not what they do.
They harshly enforce the rich city’s rules.
So we must stop them, a lot is at stake
Don’t want the wealthy to steal the whole cake.
CHORUS
If you have a chimney, you must have a stove
And a room where you sit and never get cold
If you think that is something that we all need,
Join your neighbors who’re out there to stop this bad deed.
CHORUS
City Council says housing’s an obvious need.
Housing for all–they say that’s their creed?
They can’t dilly-dally, must get off of their duffs.
And build public housing, or their jobs they can stuff.
And build public housing, or their jobs they can stuff!
Women Got the Power
By Linda Jansen
Tune: Proud Mary, Rollin on the River
Women! Women! Women got the power!
Women! Women! Women got the power!
You may rarely see a woman
At the peak of power anywhere
But you gotta know that
Women are the engine
Making everything run everywhere
Women keep things turnin’
That’s one thing you should be learnin’
Women! Women! Women got the power!
Women! Women! Women got the power!
Dare we hope if women ran things,
Wouldn’t be the mess that we got now?
Poverty and famine,
War and global warming,
Come on, gutsy women show them how!
Women keep things turnin’
That’s one thing you should bw learnin’
Women! Women! Women got the power!
Women! Women! Women got the power!
Women! Women! Women got the power!
Women! Women! Women got the pow-er!
Our Budget
- tune: The Farmer in the Dell
lyrics: Marlies Parent, Greater Westerly, RI
Our Budget’s in the ditch,
Now isn’t that a bitch?
Hi Ho, we’re broke, you know,
‘Cause we don’t tax the rich.
They watch their profits soar,
Then stash it all off shore,
But hi ho, our debts just grow,
The wolf is at our door.
Those bastards don’t play fair,
We’ll Occupy their lair.
And hi ho, we shall not go
Until they pay their share.
Ode to Indictment
- tunes: Peace, Peace and Old McDonald Had a Farm
lyrics by Carol Farnham
REFRAIN:
Peace, Peace, Peace, Peace
Police brutality must cease,
We must learn to live together,
Peace, Peace, Peace
- Tune: Old McDonald Had a Farm:
Officer Wilson pulled his gun
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Young Michael Brown, he did run
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
He turned around and got shot dead
With so many bullets in the head
He lay on the ground for hours and bled
No, No, No, No NO (he didn’t have to die!)
Woodcarver Williams crossed the street
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Walking to some inner beat
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,
Policeman shouted STOP, now isn’t that clear
But deaf in one ear, Williams did not hear
So the cop pulled his gun and shot him dead
No, No, No, No, NO (He didn’t have to die!)
Eric Garner, he was broke
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Sold cigarettes to poor street folk
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Cop came along, said move along
Garner was slow, and didn’t leave
Copy choked him ‘till he couldn’t breathe.
No, No, No No, NO (He didn’t have to die!)
When the Grand Jury won’t indict
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Good people must speak out and fight,
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
To end police brutality
For justice and equality
For the future of humanity
Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo
REFRAIN:
Peace, Peace, Peace, Peace
Police brutality must cease
We must learn to live together
Peace, Peace, Peace
New Year’s Vision
- tune: Deck the Halls
Tax the rich; don’t starve the poor, Fa la la la la la la la la
Let’s end homelessness for sure, Fa la la…etc
Raise the wages, increase welfare, Fa la la etc….
Share the wealth and cut the warfare, Fa la la etc….
Let’s pass healthcare legislation, Fa la la la la la la la la
That will cover all the nation, Fa la la, etc…
Clean up all the air and water, Fa la la etc…
Let’s take no more steers to slaughter, Fa la la etc….
Join the grannies, fight by golly, Fa la la la la la la la la
End all this nuclear folly, Fa la la, etc..
Build a world where children thrive, Fa la la etc..
Do it while you’re still alive, Fa la la etc…
Military Style Chant (Call and Response)
I don’t know but I’ve been told
– Recruiters getting’ way too bold
Hear closely what recruiters say
– They will trick you anyway
We hear they fib, we hear they lie
– They don’t’ tell you, you might die!
There’s a quota they must fill
– They send you off, you get killed
If you listen to their lies
You can kiss your ****(life) goodbye
– If you get sent to Iraq
You, my dear, might not come back
– Don’t count on those benefits.
They’ll leave you flat if you get sick.
Call: Sound off!
Response: Sound off!
Call: Sound off!
Response: Sound off!
All: Sound off – one, two, three, four…….NO WAR!!
Medicare Song
tune: When I’m 64
What will we do, where will we go?
When we’re 84?
Will there be a line-up at the emergency door?
Will we kick the bucket in the corridor?
What will we do, where will we go?
When we’re 85?
Will there be health care
Or will it be wealth care
IF we’re still alive?
Little Taxes
tune: Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds
Little taxes, little taxes –
They’re little, but they’re adding up,
And they’re always adding more of them
And we pay them every day.
Let’s stop adding TO sales tax!
Let’s now have an income tax
On the rich folks who like sales tax
So they’re incomes aren’t taxed.
Let’s vote for the income tax
On TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND GRAND
And cut back the sales tax
And the property tax too!!
REPEAT THE WHOLE THING!!!!
Let There be Peace on Earth
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be
With one creator, family all are we
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now
With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Last Night I had the Strangest Dream
- Ed McCurdy
Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was filled with women and men
And the paper they were signing said
They’d never fight again
And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground
Last night I had the strangest dream
I’d never dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
- Sponsored by: Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society, The 25th Anniversary International Raging Grannies, Physicians For Global Survival, Victoria Peace Coalition, The Council of Canadians-Victoria, Canadian Department of Peace Initiative
Jingle Bombs
- tune: Jingle Bells
Jingle Bombs!
Jingle Bombs!
Jingle all the way,
Disobey the USA!
We’ll blow you all away, HEY!
Let’s make war!
Let’s make war!
Let’s invade Iraq,
Take the money from the poor,
We need it to attack!
Who needs health care?
Screw the homeless,
Take their rights away!
If we can get Iraqi oil,
It’s worth the price we pay!
Jingle bombs!
Jingle bombs!
Jingle all the way,
Disobey the USA!
We’ll blow you all way, HEY!!
Immigrant Rights (McNamara’s Band)
- tune: McNamara’s Band
Oh, we ARE the might empire, We pick and choose our guests,
Europeans welcome here – But Mexicans are pests.
We’re ALL in love with family – The Mexicans who come to work
Must leave their children home.
- CHORUS:
Stand up and fight for immigrant rights
They come to work – don’t slam the door
Stand up and shout with all your might
We’re all created equal.
Not some less and others more.
I HAVE a friend who’s Mexican –She brightens up my day.
She wishes she could visit home – But danger marks the way.
War profiteers such all the cash – And we see that as fine.
A Mex’can crossing the RIO Grande – Is a very serious crime.
- CHORUS
Free traders like to build a wall – So only cash gets through.
If all the riches travel north – The people will come too.
Corn used to be a source of life – And rural people thrived.
But now it’s a commodity – We go north to survive.
- CHORUS
I’m Being Followed by Tom Ridge
- tune: Moonshadow
- Chorus:
I’m being followed by Tom Ridge, Tom Ridge, Tom Ridge
He’s bugging my phone and hiding in my fridge
Tom Ridge, Tom Ridge
If I give money to the poor
They can’t wear turbans, that’s for sure
If I give money to the poor
They better be-e-e-e-e-e-e,
Wearing a baseball cap.
And If my records all get banned
Set on fire and tossed in sand
And if my records all get banned
You can download them for free-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e
Or get them cheap on ebay.
And if I say I’m for peace
I’d better get down on my knees
And if I say I’m for peace Please-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e
Contact the thought police
- CHORUS
Did it take long to find me?
I’m on the no-flight list.
Did it take long to find me?
And Where the Hell is bin Laden?
- CHORUS
Tom Ridge, Tom Ridge,Tom Ridge, Tom Ridge,Tom Ridge, Tom Ridge
I’m a Little Toddler
- tune: I’m a Little Teapot
by Georgie Bright Kunkel
props: big teddy bear and a school bag
I’m a little toddler three years old
Preschool is what I need, I am told
If I learn to find a way to share
I’ll be happy anywhere
I’ll be happy anywhere
I can’t vote for preschool, you folks can
Putting me in line for the preschool van
There I’ll learn the skills I need for life
Saving me from war and strife
(softer): Saving me from war and strife
How Much Is that Yahoo in the Congress?
- tune: How Much is the Doggy in the Window?
by: Granny Claudia, Spokane, WA
How much is that yahoo in the Congress?
The one with the pork in the pail.
How much is that yahoo in the Congress?
I do think the BEEP BEEP’S for sale.
- We think that they should vote for our needs –
Soc’l Security and health care and such.
With pockets so well lined by big business
It looks like they have a free lunch.
We need lots of help for our seniors
And pills for the sick, old and poor
But drug company lobbies and their payouts
Turned Congress into big BEEP.
- We need school funding for our children
But Iraq all our money sucks up
Our people are the last thing that they think of
If you leave it to them, they’ll BEEP BEEP.
The moral of the story is quite simple,
Although we don’t want to sound crude
Vote again and again for the same ones
And we’ll keep getting royally screwed.!!
High Crimes and Misdemeanors
- tune: Everybody Loves a Lover
by: Marcy Matasick
Lie to Congress, and the people,
Kidnap, torture, scorn our Constitution.
Secret prisons ‘round the world.
In a word: High crimes and misdemeanors!!
- Thumb your nose at all the nations.
Break each law and treaty ever signed.
And spy on everybody.
That’s why, it’s impeachment time!!
backup vocals: High crimes and misdemeanors!!
Most corrupt leaders our nation ever knew
Every day, it becomes clearer that it’s you!
Gee, you think you are above the law, never to fall.
Now we must haul you away to prison!!!
- We, the elders of our people
Call for justice: Listen to our wisdom!!
Criminals must be removed.
Prosecute high crimes and misdemeanors!
We demand a world of safety,
Peace and freedom for our grandkids’ sake –
Restore our Constitution!!
Our security’s at stake.
- [ending:]
High crimes and misdemeanors!
Impeach and prosecute them!
Convict, remove from office NOW!!!!!
Here Come the Brides
- tune: Here Comes the Bride
Here come the brides,
Here come the grooms,
What does it matter
Who marries whom?
Love conquers all,
Minds mean and small
Same sex unions
Will weather the squall!
Helping the Arms Trade Grow
- tune: Way Down Upon the Swanee River
WHAT shall we do without the Commies?
SPUR-ring us on?
HOW shall we sell our GUNS and bombies,
NOW that the OLD foe is gone?
THERE’S still MON-ey TO be made
From WAR technology,
IF we can just convince the leaders
WE need it to stay free.
Kazoo:
Food and shelter such a boring way,
To spend our dough,
Thank goodness we’ve still got
The Mideast helping the
Arms trade grow!
Long Hard Fight
- tune: Hard Day’s Night (Beatles)
by Jo-Hanna Read
It’s been a long hard fight
For women standing against war.
It’s been a long hard fight,
But, we keep coming back for more.
- And we know that we do
Our best to make it come true
We want a world at peace.
We want a world at peace.
Grannies Come Marching In
- tune: The Campbells are Coming
lyrics by Paula Rochelle
When the Grannies come marching in (2X)
We will know what’s on our plate,
When the Grannies come marching in.
- When the Grannies come marching in (2X)
You will know where it’s from
When the Grannies come marching in.
When the Grannies come marching in (2X)
You will know there are GMO’s
When the Grannies come marching in.
- When we make peace instead of war(2X)
How I want to be in that number
When we make peace instead of war!
From: World Food Crisis, WILPF San Jose branch 7/2012;
sung by San Jose Grannies
Goodbye, Boehner
- tune: Goodnight, Ladies
Who needs mammograms this year?
Planned parenthood, we hear,
Misuses funds we hold so dear,
The wars on women rage.
- Chorus:
Warily we roll along, roll along, roll along,
Warily we roll along, the wars of women rage!!!
Parenthood must NOT be planned,
Contraception must be banned,
Have more kids, we understand,
The wars on women rage!
- Chorus
Pregnant once again this year?
How far along, does it appear?
Let’s probe your womb to make it clear!
The wars on women rage!
- Chorus
Goodbye, Boehner,
Goodbye, Cantor,
Goodbye, Mittens(?)
We’re going to leave you now!
Glory, Glory Profiteering
- tune: Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Chairmen of the Board,
They are trampling our benefits And outsourcing abroad.
They have cooked the books of Enron and committed massive fraud!
Their greed is marching on
- Chorus:
Glory, Glory profiteering,
Glory, Glory profiteering,
Glory, Glory profiteering,
Their greed is marching on.
They are marching into Bagdad, No-bid contracts in their hands,
They envision Super Walmarts, Rising from the desert sands,
They’ll bring Big Macs into Bagdad and into Afghanistan.
Their greed is marching on!
- Chorus
Big Pharma owns my senator, They bought him fair and square,
They gave him fifty thousand for his vote on Medicare,
Then they traded him to Bechtel for two reps from Delaware,
Their greed is marching on!
- Chorus
So when it seems your Congressman Just really doesn’t care,
It’s because he’s only dancing with the one who brought him there,
He will privatize your water and he’ll privatize your air!
His greed is marching on!
- Rousing chorus!!!!!
Get Out the Voters
- tune: Roll Out the Barrel
lyrics: Triangle Raging Grannies
Get out the voters!
That’s the American way,
Get out the voters!
That’s how we all have our say.
We won’t be silenced
By fat cats and big money hacks;
We want equality for everyone
So get out and vote today!
Go to the polls now!
Our issues are all on the line.
Go to the polls now!
For women, things are-n’t so fine.
Our health care choices
Cannot be made just by men.
Protect Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights!
And go vote to preserve them again.
Some try to stop us
With de-vious anti-vote plans
Like voter ID,
But we know that they’re just a sham!
All of our people
Must have equal access to vote,
So let’s all go get out the voters,
And bring democracy back to our land!!!
Get Out and Vote
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
lyrics: Peggy Dempsey & Vicki Ryder(Rochester, NY)
Last night some new thoughts did surround me
When thinking of heroies of old,
What they fought for does really astound me,
They were so brave and so bold.
The men said that women weren’t able
To think or to make up their minds
So men would make all the decisions
And leave all the women behind
- REFRAIN:
Rise up, sing out
On matters that matter to you and me!
Sign up! Get out and vote
And we’ll make a difference, you’ll see!
Some brave women in our communities
Refused to be quiet and meek
They struggled to gain opportunities
To work and to vote and to speak.
Our Susan B. Anth’ny and others,
They spoke and they marched and they wrote,
Saying women must be treated fairly
And they must be allowed to vote!
- REFRAIN
Now many long years have transpired
Since brave women won us a voice
They worked and they struggled together,
So we’d have a vote and a choice.
- REFRAIN
Georgie, Georgie
- tune: Bicycle Built for Two
Georgie, Georgie give us your answer true,
We’re half crazy over the things you do,
The way you spend our money – it isn’t even funny.
You ignore the poor and go to war
Do you have even the smallest clue?
- Georgie, Georgie give us your answer true,
We’re half crazy over the things you do,
The country’s in a pickle, you’re spending every nickel
On the war! And what’ it for?
Would you tell if you really knew?
Georgie, Georgie give us your answer true,
We’re half crazy over the things you do,
Our soldiers die each day-a – while you in Texas play-a
Will you confess? Iraq’s a mess!
We’ll applaud if you really do!
- Georgie, Georgie give us your answer true,
We’re half crazy over the things you do,
You cut funding to our schools – and say big business rules,
Your cronies schmooze – our children lose –
But you still favor the very few!
Georgie, Georgie give us your answer true,
We’re half crazy over the things you do,
All people need good health care – the poor do not get their share,
We think it’s wrong – and we’ll sing this song,
We’ll rage on till the moon is blue
George Bush
- tune: ‘Glory, Glory, Hallelujah’
George Bush is not a moron, he is just a psychopath,
And he’s out to wreak destruction on the people of the Bath.
With guns and tanks and missiles he will demonstrate his wrath
‘Til he gets Saddam Hussein.
- CHORUS:
Gory, gory Hallelujah
You won’t like what’s coming to ya!
Day and night we will pursue ya!
‘Til we get Saddam Hussein
Ashford, Bush and Cheney and Wolfowitz and Perle
Will not be happy ‘til they see the stars and stripes unfurled
Over every little corner of the populated world
And they get Saddam Hussein.
- CHORUS
And when they’ve finished subjugating all the human race
They will turn their minds to conquering the whole of outer space
Where they expect to meet their maker and tell him face to face!
We got Saddam Hussein!!
- CHORUS
Gaggle to Amend
- tune: ‘Side by Side’
Oh, we’re a gaggle of grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re raising our voice,
We want a new choice,
We must amend!!
- With all the power they’re wielding,
Plus their greed unyielding,
Are they really folks?
What a cruel hoax,
We must amend!!
They give themselves big bonuses,
And millions to the PACS,
Our votes are now so compromised,
We want our democracy back!
- Soooooo join this gaggle of grannies,(Dance!!!)
Get up off of your fannies,
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how!
We must amend!
We really mean it! We must amend!
We mean precisely! We must amend!
We will say it very nicely! We must amend!
Read our lips: (silently mouth) We must amend!
Five of Us
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
The five of us love corporations,
They’re persons like you and like me.
They pour money into elections
And this is pure de-mo-cra-cy.
- Stand back, Stand back,
Watch corporations take over the world,
Stand back, Stand back,
Fasc-is-m for you and for me.
FBI Is All Over Town
- tune: Santa Claus is Coming to Town
from: Raging Grannies, Freedom, Peninsula Branch
You’d better watch out,
You’d better comply,
You’d better not doubt,
I’m telling you why.
The FBI is all over town
They’re making a list,
Checking it twice.
Going to find out,
Each habit and vice,
The FBI is all over town.
- They know with whom you’re sleeping,
And every move you make,
They know if you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for the nation state!
You’d better not speak,
They’re tapping the phone,
They’re working all week,
With a microphone,
The FBI is all over town!
Even Pipelines Take a Leak
- Tune: Jesus Loves Me
Lyrics: Barbara Siefred/Vancouver Raging Grannies
Even tankers take a leak.
It may be happening as we speak.
Heavy crude sings and lasts and lasts.
They say, “There’s risk, but we can manage.”
There’s still oil from Exxon-Valdez damage.
Our coastal waters can be very rough.
Don’t they know the meaning of dangerous?
- Stop Enbridge Gateway
Stop oil pipelines
Stop oil tankers
And keep our waters clean
Everybody lives downstream
We don’t want to see oil’s rainbow sheen
On coastal waters this plan must stop:
It’s clearly stupid to the last drop.
Even pipelines take a leak.
We know the havoc they can wreak.
Oil on water makes us tense – Pause
Close the Gateway on Enbridge: It’s Common Sense
Don’t Buy Eden Foods
- tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
Lyrics: Vicki Ryder
We’re the Raging Grannies and we’ve come out here to say;
Save your hard-earned bucks and don’t buy Eden Foods today,
‘Cause they’ve joined with Hobby Lobby to take women’s rights away,
So, don’t buy Eden Foods.
CHORUS:
Something’s rotten in the garden’
And Eden Foods, they ain’t no bargain,
They’re using their religion to take women’s rights away,
So, don’t buy Eden Foods.
Don’t Bomb Iraq
Tune: ‘Silent Night’
Don’t bomb Iraq,
Let’s not attack.
Don’t take over their soil,
Cause we need their oil.
We don’t want women and children killed
Cause the gas tanks on our SUVs must be filled.
Don’t bomb Iraq to pieces,
Don’t bomb Iraq for peace.
Don’t bomb Iraq.
Let’s not attack
All will be calm,
If we don’t drop a bomb.
Spend more of our money on schools and health
We’ll be much safer if we share our wealth
Don’t bomb Iraq to pieces.
Don’t bomb Iraq for peace.
Peace-Making
- tune: Sweet Betsy from Pike
Author: Simcoe-Grey Grans
We sing of our world being damaged by war
The smart bombs that ain’t just so smart anymore
Collateral damage is one great big hoax
When the People who die are just simply plain folks
We know selling arms makes a pretty good buck
You can smuggle them out in the back of a truck
Or a plane, or by train, they criss-cross the earth
Of machine guns and landmines, there’s simply no dearth
The leaders are busy all taking their stands
The people are saying, ‘no blood in our lands.
We want to build houses, plant fields and trees.’
And grannies are saying, ‘Love, justice and peace.’
Gonna Study Peace, Not War
- tune: Down by the Riverside
Gonna outlaw those cluster bombs
Down by the riverside (3 x)
Gonna disarm those DU bombs
Down by the riverside
And study war no more
- CHORUS: SING (2x)
I ain’t gonna study war no more
I ain’t gonna study war no more
Gonna study peace not war
Gonna call off all wars right now
Give all the planet hope (3 x)
Gonna trade tears for shouts of joy
Smiles from the girls and boys (3 x)
Gonna lay down those walls of fear
Panic from lots of stress
Makes such a total mess
No need to hide and guess
Gonna lay down those walls of fear
Learn how to make a friend
And study peace not war.
Trident
- tune: Georgia on My Mind
Georgie Kunkel
Trident, Trident, our death machine.
We adore our Trident nuclear submarine.
La la, la la, la la.
Bangor, Bangor, that place is fun,
When the Navy let’s us see
Its great big gun.
La la, la la,
La la la la,
La la la la la la,
La la, la la la,
La, la, la la la la,
La la, la la,
La la la la,
La la la la la la,
La la, la la la
This Baloney
- tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
This baloney docks at Bangor,
It docks at King’s Bay, too.
This baloney floats around the world
To launch bombs on me and you.
Oh it threatens all life constantly,
And costs a bunch of our mon-ey.
We all should RESIST TRIDENT!
(SHOUT) RESIST TRIDENT!!
School of the Americas
- tune: School Days
Kay Thode
School days, school days,
Murderous and cruel days.
We’re paying taxes to train those guys,
Who torture and murder in the guise
Of protecting democracy.
Oh, what a cruel irony!
So join the campaign to shut it down,
And free those who were put in jail.
Now the Cold War Is Over
- tune: After the Ball Is Over
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode
Now the cold war is over,
We should have peace at last.
Why are we spending billions
On weapons as in the past?
Have we channeled our military budget
To give us jobs and health?
Are we still squandering money
On missiles which take so much wealth?
It’s up to the folks of our country,
People like you and me,
To express our concern and outrage
Against such a wrong policy.
We surely can stop this nonsense.
We must say what se stand for:
A world that is peaceful and friendly
And free from the horrors of war.
Gaggle to Save the World
- tune: Side by Side
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies
Urging you off of your fannies
We’re telling you now,
We’re showing you how
To save the world.
Oh, we’re a gaggle of grandmas,
And not just here for the heehaws.
There’s work to be done,
And it’s not always fun,
To save the world.
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies.
We’ll search in the nooks and the crannies
To find ways for peace,
For suffering to cease,
Save the world!
Gaggle Against SOA (School of the Americas)
- tune: Side by Side
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We want a new choice,
No SOA.
Though it’s helping freedom they’re claiming
Their purpose really is maiming,
Our taxes must not
Be used for this plot
NO SOA.
To change this situation,
We’ve got to close this school,
End all the brutal violence,
And the military rule.
Soooo, join this gaggle of Grannies,
Get up off of your fannies,
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how, NO SOA.
We really mean it, NO SOA
We mean precisely NO SOA
Read our lips: (mouth: NO SOA)
Circle Chant
- Linda Hirschhorn, Rise Up Singing
Circle round for Freedom, Circle round for peace,
For all of us imprisoned, circle for release.
Circle for the planet, circle for each soul,
For the future of our unborn, keep the circle whole.
Y2K
- tune: Danny Boy
by Hinda Kipnis
Oh, Y2K, the chips, the chips are falling
In nuclear plants, both here and ‘cross the sea.
Four hundred plus reactors are waiting.
It’s not yet known where me-eltdowns will be.
To save the bank, we’ve all been told: Don’t panic!
But mum’s the word for nuclear tragedy.
The time is now: deactivate reactors.
Prevent Y2K catastrophe!
Stop Wasting Money on FFTF (August 2000)
- tune: Pack Up Your Troubles
by Kay Thode
Stop wasting money on FFTF
And clean, clean, clean
Clean up the messes you’ve already made
And don’t make any more.
FFTF’s not needed
To make those isotopes,
So, shut down FFTF
And clean, clean, clean.
Radioactive Thyroids
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
by Kay Thode
You’ve polluted the air and the water
Irradiated sheep and cows,
Seeped toxics toward the Columbia,
Oh what, oh what, will you do now!
- Chorus:
Clean up, clean up,
Clean up the messes you’ve made,
Hanford bosses,
Clean up the messes you’ve made.
You didn’t cause harm to our thyroids
The government says you did not,
But of course it took years to discover
Your nuclear gas release plot.
- Chorus
Use all of your budget for cleanup,
And to compensate folks you have harmed
It’s time you made up for the damage
You’ve caused with your nuclear farm.
- Chorus
Public Involvement (10/29/01)
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
by Kay Thode
We’ve written, we’ve sung and we’ve spoken,
All of it to no avail,
No matter how reasoned our stance is,
You just keep ignoring our tale.
- Chorus:
Listen, listen,
Heed what we’re saying to you,
Hear us, hear us—
You know that our message is true.
We want to be told of decisions
To reduce cleanup efforts before
It’s too late to take any action
To impact the process once more.
We want what we say to be heeded,
Not filed in another report,
And alternative viewpoints considered,
Not just as a last resort.
- Chorus
We’re tired of coming to hearings
And giving our views every year,
What’s the use of this public involvement
If all we get is a deaf ear.
- Chorus
No Taxes for FFTF
- by Kay Thode
No taxes for FFTF, FFTF, FFTF,
No taxes for FFTF,
We simply will not pay.
Spend the dough for cleanup,
Cleanup, cleanup,
Spend the dough for cleanup,
Not FFTF.
Hanford Victory (1/31/99)
- tune: After the Ball Is Over
by Kay Thode
Now that fast flux is ended
Now we have won at last
We celebrate our victory
Cause that dire threat has passed.
We thank all the people in this room
For all the work they’ve done
Now we must all work to see that
Cleanup is job number one.
We still have a federal budget
That shortchanges people’s health
And they are still squandering money
On missiles that take so much wealth.
We’ll keep opposing this outrage
We will keep on with the fight
To create a world that is peaceful
Where nuclear war won’t ignite
Hanford Hearing (10/18/99)
- tune: Blowing in the Wind
by Kay Thode
How many times must we come before you
To tell you to shut that thing down?
How many times must we testify
Before you will hear our call?
How many times must we stand up here
Before you will listen to our plea?
The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind,
The answer is blowing in the wind.
(August 2000)
How many dollars have gone down the drain
To keep FFTF on line?
How much cleanup could you have done
With all that money and time?
How many years will you keep searching for
A reason for it to survive?
The answer, my friend, is all politics,
The answer is all politics.
Hanford Hearing 2000
- tune: Blowing in the Wind
by Kay Thode
How many dollars have been wasted
To keep FFTF on line?
How much cleanup could you have done
With all that money and time?
How many years will you keep searching
For a reason for it to survive?
The answer, my friend, is all politics,
The answer is all politics.
Hanford Cleanup (3/6/99)
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Kay Thode
Get rid of that Fast Flux reactor,
Shut it down for once and for all,
We really don’t want and don’t need it
So get it shut down by this fall.
Chorus:
Fast Flux, Fast Flux,
Get rid of Fast Flux for me,
Fast Flux, Fast Flux,
Get rid of Fast Flux for me.
The budget to clean the environment
Will be cut thirty-five percent
Don’t waste thirty million on Fast Flux,
For cleanup it’s much better spent.
Chorus
Hanford Cleanup (1/22/02)
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Kay Thode
Empty those high level waste tanks,
Vitrify seventy-five percent,
Don’t leave leaking active waste here
Despoiling our environment
Uphold the Tri-Party agreement,
Protect the Columbia’s fish,
We don’t want radioactive salmon
To be served up to us on our dish.
Line all the low-level waste ground,
Ensure they are safe for all time,
Clean up the soil and ground water,
Meet all of the legal deadlines.
Clean up, cleanup,
Cleanup is job number one,
Cleanup, cleanup,
That is what must be done.
Hanford Bubble
- tune: If You’re Happy and You Know It
Kay Thode
There’s a crust upon the bubble in the tank.
There’s a crust upon the bubble in the tank.
But if the bubble it should burst
You will see the worst
Disastrous mess that you have ever seen.
If you don’t know what to do with the tank,
If you don’t know what to do with the tank,
Then why on earth would you create
Ad deadly new mistake
By putting FFTF back on line?
Concentrate your bucks on cleanup, do you hear!
Concentrate your bucks on cleanup , do you hear!
We don’t need a new disaster
Plaguing us forever after,
So shut down FFTF for all time.
Fast Flux Shutdown
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Kay Thode
Uphold the November decision,
Do not restart FFTF
It’s long past the time that it ended
Before it makes a new mess.
- Chorus:
Shut down, shut down,
Shut down Fast Flux by 2003,
Shut down, shut down,
No more delays don’t you see.
Put milestones in the cleanup agreement,
To shut Fast Flux once and for all,
We’re sick of you delaying deadlines,
Just shut it right down by the fall.
Retrieve leaking waste from the waste tanks,
Vitrify at least 20 percent,
Import no more low-level wastes here
Stop delaying much needed treatment..
- Chorus:
Cleanup, cleanup,
Cleanup is job number one,
Cleanup, cleanup,
That is what must be done
Down Ol’ Hanford Way
- tune: South of the Border
Canadian Grannies’ Songbook
South of the border
Down ol’ Hanford way
There are some storage tanks
Of nuclear waste bubbling away.
The fallout could blow here
And ruin our day
From south of the border
Down ol’ Hanford way.
For forty-odd years
No warning were given.
“No need to worry, dears,
About radioactive iodine.
The tanks are not rusting,
The rivers are clear.”
South of the border
Down ol’ Hanford way.
But this is all B.S., we know.
Aye-yi-yi-yi, Ayi-yi-yi!
Cleanup Hanford
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
by Kay Thode
Get rid of that Fast Flux Reactor,
Shut it down for once and for all,
We really don’t want and don’t need it,
So get it shut down by the fall.
Forty-four million would buy us more cleanup
Not danger of future misuse
To produce isotopes or plutonium
For which there isn’t any good use.
We’re sick of you delaying deadlines
And wasting our dollars to keep
That blasted reactor on standby
It’s past time to put it to sleep.
You pay the contractors for failing
To do what they should have done
Then reduce the dollars needed for cleanup
This really is not what we call fun.
How long will you waste our tax dollars
To keep that damn thing on the line
We’ve told you for years don’t want it
Must we do it yet another time.
Which Side Are You On?
- old hymn tune, adapted by Kay Thode
Come all of you good workers,
Good news to you I’ll tell
Of how the good old union
Has come in here to dwell
- Chorus: Which side are you on? (4 times)
Come all of you stockholders,
Vote for a raise in pay.
It’s all those old retirees
Made Boeing great today.
- Chorus
It really is the workers
Who make you all your dough,
Let them share the profits,
The only way to go.
- Chorus
So listen to our song now,
Do the right thing today,
Give retirees and increase.
Help us to make their day.
- Chorus
We Shall Not Be Moved
- Adapted by Kay Thode, for teachers’ rally
We shall not be, we shall not be moved!
We shall not be, we shall not be moved!
Just like a tree that’s standing by the water,
We shall not be moved.
More lines:
We need good pay for teachers…
Young and old together…
We fight for equal status…
We support our teachers…
Let’s all work together…
We must all be strong…
We shall live in peace…
Union Maid
- tune: Redwing
Words by Woodie Guthrie
There once was a union maid
Who never was afraid
Of the goons and the ginks and the company finks
And the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.
She went to the union hall
When a meeting it was called,
And when the company boys came round
She always stood her ground.
- Chorus:
Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m stickin’ to the union,
I’m stickin’ to the union, I’m stickin’ to the union
Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m stickin’ to the union,
I’m stickin’ to the union ‘til the day I die.
This union mad was wise
To the tricks of the company spies.
She couldn’t be fooled by the company stools—
She’s always organize the guys.
She’d always get her way
When she struck for higher pay.
She’d show her card to the company guard,
And this is what she’d say:
- Chorus
You women who want to be free
Take a little tip from me:
Break outa that mold we’ve all been sold—
You got a fighting history!
The fight for women’s rights
With workers must unit.
Like Mother Jones, move those bones
To the front of every fight!
- Chorus
We modern union maids
Are also not afraid
To walk the line, leave our jobs behind,
And we’re not just the Ladies Aide.
We fight for equal pay,
And we will have our say.
We’re workers too, the same as you,
And fight the union way.
- Chorus
Solidarity Forever
- tune: John Brown’s Body
The People’s Songbook
When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun,
Yet what force on Earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one—
But the union makes us strong!
- Chorus:
Solidarity forever! (3 times)
For the union makes us strong.
It is we who plowed the prairies, built the cities where they trade,
Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid.
Now we stand outcast and starving’mid the wonder we have made,
But the union makes us strong!
- Chorus
It is we who wash the dishes, scrub the floors and case the dirt,
Feed the kids and send ‘em off to school and then we go to work.
While we work for half the wages for a boss that likes to flirt,
But the union makes us strong!
- Chorus
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong!
- Chorus
In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old,
For the union makes us strong!
- Chorus
Put It on the Ground
- Words, Ray Glaser; Music, Bill Wolff;
Copyright 1937, People’s Songs, Inc.
Oh, if you want a raise in pay, all you have to do,
Go and ask the boss for it, and he will give it to you,
Yes, he will give it to you my boy, he will give it to you,
A raise in pay without delay, oh, he will give it to you.
- Chorus:
Ohhh, put it on the ground, spread it all around,
Dig it with a hoe, it will make your flowers grow.
For men who own the industries I’m shedding bitter tears.
They haven’t made a single dime in over thirty years.
Not one thin dime in all that time, In over thirty years.
- Chorus
The men who own the industries, they own no bonds and stocks,
They own no yachts and limousines, or gems the size of rocks.
They own no big estates with pools, or silken BVDs.
Because they pay the working man such fancy salaries!
- Chorus
Nike Town
- tune: Chinatown, My Chinatown
by Kay Thode
Nike shoes and Starbucks beans
Make millions a day
But workers who produce them
Get starvation pay.
One dollar fifty a day
Is the workers take
For the hundred eighty buck shoes
That Nike makes.
Bean pickers for Starbucks
Also get the shaft
One dollar twenty a day
Forces them to fast.
Nike town, oh, Nike town,
Why don’t you behave,
Share your mammoth profits
With those who sweat and slave.
Starbucks, Starbucks, coffee czars,
You can also share,
With those who pick your beans
Wages that are fair.
Let’s boycott these products
Till there’s decent pay
Corporations can afford
Sixty bucks a day.
Christmas 1994
- tune: Deck the Halls
by Kay Thode
Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Helms and Gingrich promise folly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Poor will lose all their apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Far more children will face peril,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Right wing crazies they are jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Think they’ll have their way by golly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Now it’s time to start the war,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
To fight poverty once more,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Stand and Deliver
- tune: Sweet Betsy from Pike
by Carolyn Hale
Come all you great leaders at Olympia’s heart—
Don’t fail the needy, please do your part.
We hear you support us, but wait in the cold.
Funded programs are coming, we’ve been told and told.
The counselors are caring, but they need real pay,
And time to help clients, not just wave “g’day.”
If we can fund stadiums, fund care programs, too!
Let caring increase! We are talking to you!
There a proven care program call PACT to consider.
Set’s stand up together and show: NOW DELIVER!
Come all you great leaders at Olympia’s heart!
Yes, hear our plea and please do your part.
Singin’ too rah di oo rah li oo rah li ay.
Sing’ too rah lioo rah li oo rah li ay!
Medicare
- tune: Yesterday
Ming Chen
Medicare doesn’t cover all my aches and pains,
Still my supplemental’s quite a strain.
Oh, I still need my Medicare.
Medicaid: it’s a safety net for working poor.
Cut it back and show them to the door.
Society is gonna pay.
- Chorus:
I said, let’s try change, they said no, they wouldn’t play.
I feel something’s wrong, how I long for single paaaay-er.
Yesterday nurses had the time to really care.
Now they haven’t got the time to spare.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Yesterday, doctors ordered needed pills and tests.
Now insurance bureaucrats know best.
There’s got to be a better way.
- Chorus
Managed care lets big business make a lot of dough.
Single payer is the way to go!
We can improve on yesterday.
Yesterday, health care was a simpler game to play.
Now Congress wants to take away
My health care plan from yesterday.
A Prayer for Medicare
- tune: Hole in the Bucket
Patient:
There a pain in my stomach, dear doctor, dear doctor,
There’s a pain in my stomach and I’ve got a cough.
Can I get an appointment, if you’re not too busy
Attending conventions or out playing golf?
Doctor:
I wish I could help you, but you’ve got no money,
And I can’t afford treating patients like you.
There’s a hole in my pocket, my life style is slipping.
I used to have three cars—now I only have two.
Patient:
But if you won’t treat me I might get pneumonia,
Iliitis, bronchitis or something much worse.
And hospitals say they can’t take more patients.
They can’t find the money for one extra nurse.
Doctor:
Then phone up Bill Clinton, dear patient, dear patient,
Newt Gingrich and all of those nice GOPs.
You can’t expect doctors to care about patients.
We might lose our money and catch some disease.
Patient:
But what do we do if we cannot afford you?
What do we do if we start to feel ill?
Doctor: We could sell you our CD, we call it “Dear Doctor.”
It comes with advice and a free headache pill.
Where Have All the Forests Gone?
- tune: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Canadian Grannies
Where have all the forests gone?
We watched them passing.
Where have all the forests gone?
We ought to know.
Where have all the forests gone?
Gone to pulp mills every one.
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Where have all the songbirds gone?
Who saw them passing?
Where have all the thrushes gone?
Whose songs we know-ow.
Where have all the songbirds gone?
Seeking homes but finding none.
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Where have all the ow-wls gone?
Silently passing.
Where have all the great greys gone?
Soft-winged and slow.
Where have all the ow-wls gone?
To museums every one.
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
Where has wilderness all gone?
To history passing.
Where has wilderness all gone?
Who let it go?
Where has wilderness all gone?
Where we’re going every one,
If we don’t ever learn.
If we won’t ever learn.
We’ve Been Throwing All the Garbage
- tune: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
We’ve been throwing all the garbage
In the city dump.
Don’t throw away your baby’s Pampers
‘Cause they’ll sit there in a lump.
The water’s getting real polluted,
And there’s not enough to drink.
If we sit here doing nothing,
Our world will really stink!
- Chorus:
The Earth is so polluted
The Earth is so polluted
The Earth is so polluted it makes us sick!
The Earth is so polluted
The Earth is so polluted
We better do something quick!
Toilet Tissue Song
- tune: Men of Harlech
Victoria Grannies
Here is something that we wish you’d
Take on as a vital issue.
It’s the case for toilet tissue—
The recycled kind.
It is absolutely fitting,
Whether standing up or sitting,
We decide to stop committing
Environmental crime.
Don’t go on ignoring
All that bleach and chlorine.
Shop for a recycled brand
And you will beel much better by ensuring
Purer air and purer water.
Be and environment supporter.
Let’s all do the things we oughta,
Even on the John.
Teddy Bears’ Picnic?
- tune: Teddy Bears’ Picnic
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise.
If you go down in the woods today, you’ll never believe your eyes!
Cause every tree that ever was there is going away—it soon will be bare.
Oh where, oh where will the teddy bears have their picnic?
Weldwood’s taking the trees all down; the people said, “Please don’t!”
But they didn’t seem to care. Is there something we can still do?
It’s up to me and up to you, so we can save a place
For the bears to picnic.
Take the Gross Out of Groceries
- tune: Take Me Out to the Ballgame
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode
Take the gross out of groc’ries,
Keep altered food off our plates.
Some of these products sound quite bizarre!
Keep mom’s home cooked fav’rites just as they are…
This is just what we’ve feared and
You know who is to blame.
Put a freeze on facsimiles—
End Monsanto’s game!
Take the gross out of gro’ries.
We are playing roulette.
Who can tell what will come of this change,
Or what happens when food’s rearranged?
Cause it’s gross, gross, gross what they’re doing.
Gene splicing’s really a shame.
We’ll get down on our knees and say PLEASE!
End Monsanto’s game
Take Me Out to the Clearcut
- tune: Take Me Out to the Ballgame
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
Take me out to the clearcut! We’ll picnic on a few stumps.
I want you to know I’m a tree-farming nut
Who thinks like a chainsaw that’s stuck in a rut.
MacBloedel gets a Hip Hooray!
They make black picnic grounds pay.
So it’s one, makes you two, dear investors, thank you!
You have spruced up our day!
Take me out to the clearcut—the timber’s been tidied away.
It’s been sold down the stream in a businessman’s dream.
It’s swell to stand here in a landscape so clean!
So it’s off to lumbering elsewhere—I’ll lumber you and you me.
It’s the buzz of the mill that produces the thrill
Worth a million trees!
So take me out to the clearcut—who needs tall cedars, I say?
The air is depleted and so is the earth,
And that makes us realize what we are worth.
So let’s all get into the greenhouse—it’s warming to know we’re okay.
And if God wanted trees, she’d not make it so easy
To whack them away!
Roll Out the Log Trucks
- tune: Roll Out the Barrel
Roll out the log trucks! Even though people will yell.
Roll out the log trucks! There’s still a tree we can fell.
There’s no tomorrow—take what is easy and run.
When disaster strikes behind us, it’s okay, we’re gone!
Roll out the barrel! Sorry, it’s empty, we’ve found.
Roll out the barrel! Water is not to be found.
Forests are leveled, ruvers are muddy and slow.
Landslides, floods and NO more wildlife—people, too, will go!
They cut down the last pine tree, and they hauled it away to the mill.
Tit’s quite okay said Ralph Klein, cause those trees are all mine,
And a dead tree’s a reall good tree.
They cut down the old growth, then the soil washes into the creek.
It means that new trees won’t grow so the willlife must go,
And the LUNDscape will sure be bleak.
They cut down the old growth stands, then no tourists will come to our lands.
We’ll see the rivers choked up ‘til we can’t fill our cup,
So we must have a change in plans.
PTP’S (Persistent Toxic Pollutants)
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Kay Thode
They’ve poisoned the food on our dishes
Even breast milk contains PTPs
We eat, drink and breathe those pollutants,
When will you ban their release?
We’ve waited for you to do something,
Protecting the public’s your job,
But we haven’t seen any action,
To end this chemical fog.
It’s past time for you to take steps to,
Ban all those persistent PTPs,
Don’t allow any more releases,
Start to cleanup, now, if you please.
P.O.P. (Persistent Organic Pollutants)
We eat POP and drink POP
And breathe it each day,
Cause those cursed pollutants
Just won’t go away.
They’ve found it in orcas and birds
In breast milk and in the fish,
We fear that daily we get it
In the food that we put on our dish.
Most of our waters are polluted
Toxic sites are all around,
When will you take some action
To protect our Puget Sound?
We’re tired of waiting while you,
Do nothing and let toxics spew
It’s past time — Ban all releases,
End this poisonous stew.
Give us no more broken promises,
And lengthy prolonged delays,
Act now to protect us
Polychlorinated Biphenols
- Do as a rap or make up a tune
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
Poly-chlorinated biphe-e-nols
Will fry your brain and rot your adre-e-enals,
Concentrating in our fatty tissue.
This is not a glamorous issue.
But maybe, if they bury it deeper in the ground,
By the time it kills somebody, we won’t be around.
Chloro-fluoro-carbon produ-u-uction.
Is causing ozone layer redu-u-uction.
When ultraviolet rays have seared us to the bone,
We won’t get much relief from using Coppertone!
Disposables pursue us no matter where we roam.
Who could contemplate a life without styro-foam?
We all want our comfort and convenience,
Which leaves us sitting squarely right on the fence.
These things are very difficult to believe.
It’s not the way that life’s portrayed on our TV!
Our kids might all get cancer and have defective genes,
But they will be the best-dress mutants you have ever seen.
Poly-chlorinated biphe-e-nols!
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Now’s the Time to Raise Our Voices
- tune: Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
Now’s the time to raise our voices!
Now’s the time to stand up proud!
Now’s the time to make our choices!
Now’s the time to shout out loud!
We want a world of peaceful coexistence,
And Earth where all the creatures can survive,
Not just pieces here and in the distance—
A place where old growth forests stay alive!
- change tune: The More We Get Together
Sooo, the more we work together, together, together,
The more we work together, the happier we’ll be!
For your friends are my friends,
And my friends are your friends,
The more we work together, the happier we’ll be!
No More Beef
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
by Kay Thode
They gave us E-coli and deserts,
They raised our cholesterol, too.
They’re chopping down all the rain forests,
To bring those big Ma-acs to you.
- Chorus:
Cut back, cut back,
Cut back consumption of me-e-at.
Cut back, but back,
Tofu can be quite a treat.
They could use all the grain they feed cattle
To end all starvation on earth.
Resolve to stop e-eating beef now,
It also reduces your girth.
Chorus
Quit eating red meat for your health, dear,
For love of cows, piggies and sheep,
You’ll cut both your weight and your food bill,
And they won’t all be put to sleep.
Chorus
Give Me a Home Where the Rivers Don’t Foam
- tune: Home on the Range
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
Oh, give me a home where the rivers don’t foam,
And the squirrel and the chipmunks can play,
Where the lakes all have fish you can put on your dish,
And the skies are not smoggy and grey.
- Chorus:
Home, home on the earth,
Your beauty’s beginning to fade.
We’ve got to act fast, our luck it won’t last.
Our home we juste can’t throw away.
Those nuclear wastes are inclined to escape
When into the ground they are dumped.
We don’t want PCBs in the birds and the bees
And dioxin on our babies’ rumps.
Chorus
Oh, give me a home safe inside the ozone.
There’s danger in those cosmic rays.
Oceans up to our neck from greenhouse effect—
Please don’t wash all this beauty away.
Chorus
Get Together and Save the Forest
- tune: Coming ‘Round the Mountain
B.C. Sunshine Coast Grannies
Oh, the forest’s our concern and so we’re here.
The forest’s our concern and so we’re here.
It was a lovely invitation
Asking our participation
‘Cause we do not want our forest cut and clear.
So if we can get together, all of us,
And find a plan that doesn’t cause a fuss,
We will fight for conservation
For the future generation—
That’s the one and only plan we will discuss!
Gaggle to Save the Trees
- tune: Side by Side
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re telling those chumps,
We’re sick of the stumps,
Save the trees!
We know that you mean well Plum Creek,
It’s protecting nature that you seek,
So leave some more trees
For the birds and the bees,
Save the trees.
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies,
We’ve gotten off of our fannies,
We’re raising our voice,
We want a new choice,
Save the trees.
We really mean it,
Save the trees,
We mean precisely,
Save the trees…
We’ll say it nicely,
Save the trees.
READ OUR LIPS: (Mouth) Save the trees!)
Gaggle against Dioxins
- tune: Side by Side
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re raising our voice,
We want a new choice,
NO DIOXINS.
With the dioxins that they’re spewing
More cancers are accruing,
They’re doing us in,
It’s really a sin,
NO DIOXINS
To change this situation,
Dioxins must be banned,
Tell this administration,
They’ve got to take a stand.
So, join this gaggle of Grannies,
Get up off of your fannies,
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how,
NO DIOXINS
We really mean it, NO DIOXINS.
We mean precisely, NO DIOXINS
We will say it very nicely, NO DIOXINS
READ OUR LIPS: (mouth: NO DIOXINS)
The Family Jewels
- tune: Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Edmonton Grannies
Watch out for those blobs in the water.
Polluting in spite of the rules.
They’re not just a hazard to nature—
They’re threatening the family jewels.
When so many of us got breast cancer,
No one seemed in a rush with an answer.
But wouldn’t you know that they’re raring to go
Now that research has shown why the sperm count is low.
If your lover has trouble performing,
Remember we gave you a warning.
If you want to be fruitful and to multiply,
Fish him out of that lake and make sure he’s dry.
Clearcut
- tune: Take Me Out to the Ball Game
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
Take me out to the clear-cut,
We’ll picnic on a few stumps.
I want you to know I’m a tree-farming nut
Who thinks like a chainsaw that’s stuck in a rut.
Weyrhauser gets a Hip Hooray
They make paved picnic grounds pay.
So it’s one, makes you two,
Dear investors, thank you!
You have spruced up our day!
Take me out to the clear-cut
The timber’s been tidied away.
It’s been sold down the stream
In a businessman’s dream.
It’s swell to stand here
In a landscape so clean.
It’s off to lumbering elsewhere
I’ll lumber you and you me.
It’s the buzz of the mill (bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
That produces the thrill (wriggle suggestively, here)
Worth a million trees!
WTO Affair
- tune: My Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown
- by Kay Thode
In my sweet little Alice Blue gown,
I tripped blithely down into the town.
There were cops everywhere,
A WTO affair,
And on every street corner,
Protesters were there.
They were calling for a living wage,
And to rewrite each WTO page.
They don’t want modified food,
Or forests that are nude
Here or anywhere else on earth.
WTO Rap
- by Kay Thode
The World Trade Organization
Supersedes the laws of all the nations.
Trade is the answer, profit is the king.
To heck with human right, they don’t mean a thing.
Unelected corporate bosses make all the rules.
Guess they take us all for a bunch of fools.
No more labor standard, down with environment.
Child labor is much cheaper, sweatshops charge less rent.
Patent all the seeds, make the farmers pay,
Bioengineering is the order of the day.
Now the time has come to stop this corporate plan.
We want trade that’s fair, not this free trade scam.
Put a stop to this train of devastation
Before it wrecks the planet and our entire nation.
Replace the corporate rulers with people we elect.
Make rules that serve all people, not just the select.
Chant: WTO SIMPLY HAS TO GO! (three times)
BEGONE!
Roll Out the (Pork) Barrel
- tune: Roll Out the Barrel
Canadian Grannies
Roll out the barrel, roll out the barrel of pork!
Contractors welcome! Grab yourselves a giant fork!
Billions are waiting, Pentagon-given to you!
Come feed off the people’s money, in the land of the red, white and blue!
What’s in this barrel, what’s in this barrel of pork?
Fattening Pentagon contracts, enough to make a pig hoarke! Bleugh!
Who reaps the profits? And who pays the cost of this crime?
Corporations raking in billions, while the rest of us don’t have a dime!
Let’s stop this barrel, let’s stop this barrel of pork!
No more military handouts! Plus that big drain with a cork!
Roll up your shirtsleeves! We’ve got a big job to do.
Cutting wasteful pork is hard work, and the job needs you!
No Taxes for the Stadium
- by Kay Thode
No taxes for the stadium, the stadium, the stadium,
No taxes for the stadium,
We simply will not pay.
Housing for the homeless, the homeless, the homeless,
Housing for the homeless,
Not welfare for the rich.
We have told them No, before, No, before, No, before,
We have told them No, before,
Don’t they understand.
One more time our message is, message is, message is,
One more time our message is,
NO MORE STADIUMS.
A “Newt” Deal
- tune: Away in a Manger
by Kay Thode
Away in DC, no crib for a bed,
All the poor and the homeless lay down their cold heads.
The stars in the Congress look down where they lay
And say: Get a job and get out of our way.
The cattle are lowing, the farmers are glad,
Because price supports are sure to be had.
I love thee, Jesse Helms, look down from on high.
Subsidize our tobacco ‘til doomsday is night.
Jingle Bells (on corporate welfare)
- by Kay Thode
Jingle bells, ring a ding,
We are catching on,
How this corporate welfare works
It’s not a pleasant song.
Chorus: Oh, jingle bells, ring a ding,
We are catching on,
How this corporate welfare works,
It’s not a pleasant song.
Repeat
Dashing through the world
On a corporate welfare sleigh,
Profit, profit, is their song,
They’re laughing all the way.
We’ve got a thought or two,
About your dirty schemes,
About the garbage, land and sea
What free trade really means.
Chorus
They export jobs afar,
To pay a cheaper wage,
The union guy is unemployed
And we are in a rage.
We subsidize the firm
We give them tax breaks too,
The third world countries protest,
But can’t afford to sue.
Chorus.
Gaggle Against FTAA (Free Trade of the Americas)
- tune: Side by Side
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re raising our voice,
We want a new choice,
No FTAA.
With their world wide domination,
They’ll do the planet in,
We have got to stop them,
We must not let them win.
So join this gaggle of grannies,
Get up off of your fannies,
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how,
No FTAA.
We really mean it, No FTAA,
We mean precisely, No FTAA,
We’ll say it very nicely, No FTAA
READ OUR LIPS: (mouth No FTAA)
East Timor Independence (May 2002)
- tune: It’s a Grand Old Flag
Monica Zucker
Hooray for East Timor,
Worth strug-gling for–
May you prosper, may justice prevail!
Independence will bring
Good reason to sing.
Freedom and peace now we hail!
Our hearts beat true,
East Timor, for you
On this Independence Day.
We celebrate new nationhood–
And now, forward! You’re on your way!
Hang Down Your Head
- tune: Tom Dooley
Chorus:
Hang down your head, George W.
Hang down your head in shame.
Hang down your head, George W.
We are killing in your name.
When you look in the mirror,
What do you see?
Do you believe the things you say?
Are you blinded by your greed?
Chorus, ending: We are dying in your name.
The whole world is against you,
But you don’t seem to care.
You say the cause is worth it.
What’s a few lives here or there?
Chorus, ending: We are killing in your name.
Missile Shield
- tune: She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain
by Monica Zucker
Oh, we’ve got to have a missile shield defense,
Even though it makes no early sense.
They tell us the idea
Is we spooked by North Korea
And the way to peace must be through violence.
Oh, we’ll ruin our nation’s whole economy
While we subsidize the weapons industry.
Many billions are exploded
While society’s eroded
And all our friends in Europe disagree.
So we scrap our treaties and we start anew.
“Rogue states” can think of other things to do.
Proliferation, terror
And as many threats as there are,
While those non-existent missiles get right through.
But the president will blindly bull his way.
It won’t change his mind to reason or to pray.
He can see it doesn’t wo-ork
He’s not being just a je-erk–
His campaign backers now demand their pay!
Santa Bush
tune: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
by Monica Zucker
There’ll be a tax cut, we’ve got a surplus,
But who’s gonna get it—surely not us!
Santa Bush is coming to town.
He says the big cash will trickle on down—
That voodoo bunk of Reagan renown.
Santa Bush is coming to town.
Won’t spend on education,
Won’t spend it for our health.
He’ll spend it on a missile shield
And subsidize big wealth.
You better not cry, you better not pout.
“Compassion” is in, society’s out.
Santa Bush is coming
Santa Bush is coming
Santa Bush is coming to town!
Unimpeachable
- tune: Unforgettable
(Duet by “Bush” and “Cheney”)
Unimpeachable, that’s what I am.
Unimpeachable, don’t give a damn!
There’s no way that you can get to me.
What you think don’t mean a heck to me.
Never before has someone been more
Unimpeachable, I’m glad to say.
And furthermore (and furthermore)
That’s how I’ll stay (that’s how I’ll stay).
Here’s why darlings, I’m invincible.
All you slobs are so convincible,
To think that I am unimpeachable, too!
(All except “Bush” and Cheney”)
That’s why it’s indefensible,
When they’re so reprehensible,
That Congress thinks they’re
Unimpeachable, too.
Santa Bush 2007
- tune: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
by Monica Zucker
We had some tax cuts, and now we’re in debt.
Who’ll get more tax cuts?—yes, the jet set.
Santa Bush is coming to town.
He’s got donor lists, he’s checking ’em twice.
He’s gonna find out we’re naughty–they’re nice.
Santa Bush is coming to town.
Won’t spend on education,
Won’t spend it for our health.
He’ll spend it on Iraqi war
And subsidize big wealth.
You better not cry, you better not pout,
War “surge” in, social needs out.
Santa Bush is coming,
Santa Bush is coming,
Santa Bush is coming to town!
Let’s Impeach the President
- tune: Michael Row the Boat Ashore
by Hinda Kipnis
Let’s impeach the President, Hallelujah!
Repeat
He betrayed the people’s trust, What’s it to ya?
Repeat
Bush’s lies took us to War, We can’t sue ya!
Repeat
All must know how mad we are, Hallelujah
Repeat
We must save the Republic. Hallelujah!
Repeat
Let’s impeach the President, Hallelujah!
Repeat
Gaggle to Impeach
- tune: Side by Side
by Laurie Rostholder
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies
Urging you off of your fannies
We’re raising our voice—
We want a new choice:
IMPEACH THEM NOW!
They’ve lied about nuclear weapons
And Al Qaeda connections.
Now more of us see
This war’s about greed.
IMPEACH THEM NOW!
Their crimes are more outrageous
Than all of Clinton’s trysts.
A blue dress versus pages,
And lies and spin and twists.
So, join this gaggle of grannies.
Get up off of your fannies
We’re telling you now
We’re angry and how!
IMPEACH THEM NOW!
We really mean it! IMPEACH THEM NOW!
We mean precisely! IMPEACH THEM NOW!
We will say it very nicely! IMPEACH THEM NOW!
Read our lips: (mouth) IMPEACH THEM NOW!
Farewell to Karl Rove
- tune: Show Me the Way to Go Home
Show him the way to go home,
For he’s tired of his White House chore.
He had some excitement—
Near indictment—
So he’d like to leave before.
Wherever Karl may rove
In TV pundit cove,
You will always hear us singing this song:
Show him the way to go—
Show him the way to go—
Show him the way to go home
Bring Back Our Tax Dollars
- tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
- by Jane Hare and Vicki Ryder
Our taxes fly over the ocean,
To fund the Afghanistan war,
But our taxes are urgently needed,
Right here for the jobless and poor.
CHORUS:
Bring back, bring back,
Oh bring back those taxes and spend them here,
Bring ‘em back, yes bring ‘em back,
And then how we Grannies will cheer!
Our bridges and highways are crumbling,
Our teachers and schools need support,
The money that’s now spent on killing,
Should be used to wage peace and not war.
REPEAT CHORUS
We should be supporting our students,
Who struggle to pay for their loans,
And we should be supporting our families,
While the banks just foreclose on their homes.
REPEAT CHORUS
We’ve worked mighty hard for the money,
That we pay every year to the Feds,
And we don’t want it paying for warfare,
When we all could have healthcare instead.
REPEAT CHORUS
15 Now
- Tune: Sixteen Tons
By Jo-Hanna Read
You work hard for all your life.
And so do your children, your husband or wife.
You wait on tables, you sweep the floor.
No matter how hard ya work, you’re poorer than poor
You work for min’mum wage and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
The poverty level is more than you earn.
While the company bosses have money to burn!
We say 15Now is the way to go.
We need it right now, no need to go slow.
Deducting tips and benefits will not do!
If you think that’s fair, you don’t have a clue.
You work for min’mum wage and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
The poverty level is more than you earn.
While the company bosses have money to burn!
Big business is worried that we’ll get this through,
So they started OneSeattle with their big business crew.
Now they’re gettin’ small businesses to front their lines
With misinformation and downright lies.
You work for min’mum wage and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
The poverty level is more than you earn.
While the company bosses have money to burn!
Gaggle for Gun Free Zones
•by Cynthia Linet
•tune: Side by Side
Oh we’re a gaggle of grannies
Urging you off of your fannies
Keep our shopping trips clean,
No guns to be seen
Gun Free Zones
With so many guns in our city
On buses, in stores, it’s a pity
It scares us no end,
We can’t comprehend
So (pause) Gun free zones
We can change the culture,
One store at a time
May not change the laws but
That will happen in time
So join this gaggle of grannies
Get up off-a your fannies
Let’s get rid of those guns
Protect all our buns
GUN FREE ZONES
We really mean it—GUN FREE ZONES
We mean precisely—GUN FREE ZONES
We will say it very nicely—GUN FREE ZONES
READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, GUN FREE ZONES!)
The Earth Is Gonna Thrown Up Over Us
- tune: Coming ‘Round the Mountain
Oh, the Earth is gonna throw up over us,
Oh, the Earth is gonna throw up over us!
We’re polluting all our water
And we know we hadn’t oughta.
Oh, the Earth is gonna throw up over us.
Oh, the Earth is getting sicker every day,
Oh, the Earth is getting sicker every day.
We’re polluting all our water
And we know we hadn’t oughta.
Oh, the Earth is getting sicker every day.
(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)
Corporation Green
- tune: Wearing of the Green
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
O Granny dear, and do you hear
The news that’s going ‘round?
The corporations have decided
They must shift their ground.
It’s the biggest mass conversion
That the world has ever seen!
They’ve seen the light, but it’s not white—
It’s corporation green!
- Chorus: Now they’re corporation green,
Yes, they’re corporation green.
It’s the biggest mass conversion
That the world has ever seen.
They’re well-behaved, they’ve all been saved,
However bad they’ve been.
These holy men are born again—
They’re corporation green!
We’d like to know what hit MacBlo
And Fletcher Challenge yet.
They care for owls and waterfowls
And marbled murrelets?
“Share the forest” is the call
Big clearcuts are obscene.
And who can doubt dioxin’s out—
They’re corporations green!
- Chorus
Affluenza
- tune: Frere Jacques
Kay Thode
Affluenza, affluenza,
What a drug, what a drug!
Buying makes us feel great
But depletes the planet,
Enough is enough! Enough is enough!
Today buy nothing, today buy nothing.
You will see, you will see,
You will have more options,
The earth will be more healthy,
Do it now, do it now.
Introduction to Grannies
- tune: Daisy, Daisy
The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
Raging Grannies, we’re visiting at your place.
Where there’s action we always show our face.
When we see a disturbing headline,
A light bulb pops in our mind.
By day or night we sit and write
A song that we can share.
In Iraq and also El Salvador
Where the children have suffered because of war,
The cause the kids do not see
They only know they’re hungry.
It would be great if strife and hate
Would end soon for all of them.
We love singing of peace and environment.
We hope you know exactly what we have meant.
We try to sing out loudly
And say the words out proudly.
Thought we have stiff backs
And our voices have cracks,
We hope you will bear with us.
For the children
Of each and every land
We are caring
We’re stretching out our hands.
The children of the world can
Be peaceful and secure and
If war’s to end, we must unbend—
It can start with you and me.
Exploding Oil Trains
- Laurie Rostholder
tune: Home On The Range
Seattle’s our home
And we don’t want it blown
Up by trains carrying volatile oil.
The tanks are so old
They can eas’ly explode
We’ve seen how they kill and they maim.
- Chorus:
Keep those trains far from us
Or better yet don’t let them muss
Our climate up more
Let’s show them the door
Keep the oil in the ground evermore.
How can we let greed
So eas’ly impede
Our right to a climate that’s clean
The future looks bleak
Unless we can keep
Fossil fuels down where they belong.
- Chorus
This statement we make
Is strong not opaque
Clearly we fear for our lives
In the present and then
For our kids and their kin
Keep all that oil in the ground.
Gaggle Against Coal- 2
- by Laurie Rostholder
Oh, we’re a gaggle of grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re raising our voice,
We want a new choice,
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE!
While the decision is pending,
This is the message we’re sending,
We must draw the line,
While there’s still time,
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE!
We’re telling you Obama,
That you must say no,
If you approve the pipeline,
Your words are just for show!
So join the gaggle of grannies,
Get up off of your fannies,
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how,
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE!
We really mean it
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE
We mean precisely
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE
We will say it very nicely
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE
Read our lips
no key stone pipeline (silent)
Gaggle Against Keystone Pipeline
- by Laurie Rostholder
Oh, we’re a gaggle of grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies,
We’re raising our voice,
We want a new choice,
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE!
While the decision is pending,
This is the message we’re sending,
We must draw the line,
While there’s still time,
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE!
We’re telling you Obama,
That you must say no,
If you approve the pipeline,
Your words are just for show!
So join the gaggle of grannies,
Get up off of your fannies,
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how,
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE!
We really mean it
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE
We mean precisely
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE
We will say it very nicely
NO KEYSTONE PIPELINE
Read our lips
no key stone pipeline (silent)
Gaggle: Hanford, Fix Those Leaks
- by Laurie Rostholder
Oh, we’re a gaggle of grannies
Urging you off of your fannies
We’re raising our voice
We want a new choice
Fix those leaks
The nuclear toxins are leaking
For decades of this we’ve been speaking
The waste stays around
And spreads through the ground
Fix those leaks
Some want nuclear reactors
To provide our energy
It’s clean, safe, and efficient
What astounding hypocrisy
So join this gaggle of grannies
Get up off of your fannies
We’re telling you now
We’re angry and how
Fix those leaks
We really mean it
Fix those leaks
We mean precisely
Fix those leaks
We will say it very nicely
Fix those leaks
Read our lips
(silently) Fix those leaks
Gaggle One Billion Rising: Stop All Abuse
- tune: Side by Side
by Laurie Rostholder
Oh, we’re a gaggle of grannies
Urging you off of your fannies
This message we send
Gender violence must end
Stop All Abuse
We demand wherever we’re living
To be safe from rape, threats and hitting
We want out of harm’s way
Hoping now is passé (pass aye)
Stop All Abuse
Women the world over
Have really had enough
We’re rising up today
We’re brave, loving, and tough
So join this gaggle of grannies
Get up off of your fannies
In wars and at home
We’re no longer alone
Stop All Abuse
We really mean it
Stop All Abuse
We mean precisely
Stop all Abuse
We will say it very nicely
Enough is Enough
Read our lips
(Silently) Enough is Enough
And by the way
(Shout) Vagina !!!
Happy 60th Birthday Annette
- by Laurie Rostholder
Not yet wearing hats
One person says: Happy Birthday Antoinette
We sing:
A you’re adorable
B you’re beatific
C you’re so calm and a cutie
D never daring
E such equanimity
And F as fashionable as can be……….
Someone playing Annette interrupts: I have no idea who you’re singing about, but there’s no way this can be about me….
One person says: Aren’t you Antoinette Campstein?
Annette: No way!!!!!
One person says: Oops!!! Wrong gig!!!
Everyone puts on hats while saying: So sorry!!! So Sorry!!!
Shuffle papers looking for correct song
One person says: Here it is
Turn sheet over
Happy Birthday Rosy
- tune: Glory Glory Hallelujah
by Laurie Rostholder - Chorus
Our dear Rosy just turned sixty
She can pass for barely fifty
On top of that she’s really nifty
Dear Rosy we love you
She’s been the Grannies’ song leader for many long years
Patient with us when our voices bring some folks to tears
Back in tune and to the right- no left- words she always steers
Dear Rosy we love you
She’s been teaching non- violence for many decades now
She wants to turn all swords into instruments that plow
Even if she thinks it she never would go pow
Dear Rosy we love you
Some years ago decided that she’d get really fit
To hike and ski and bike and walk and not on her butt sit
Her muscles and her shape show that from this she did not flit
Dear Rosy we love you
She uses all her gifts in many ways we realize
She’s sweet and tough and kind and smart, creative and she’s wise
If you think our Rosy’s just one way watch out for a surprise
Dear Rosy we love you
- Chorus
Our dear Rosy just turned sixty
She can pass for barely fifty
On top of that she’s nifty
Dear Rosy we love you
Saints: Oil Trains
- tune: When the Saints Come Marching In
by Laurie Rostholder
When we stop (pause) all the fuel trains
When we stop all the fuel trains
How I want to be in that number
When we stop all the fuel trains
When fossil fuels stay in the ground
When energy is safe and clean
When no fuel trains are in our tunnel
When all divest of fossil fuels
When air is clean and oceans too
When we stop all the fuel trains
We’ll Keep You in Your Place
- tune: Goodnight Ladies
Laurie Rostholder with ideas from Monica Zucker
Listen to our manly cheers,
As we set the clock back years,
No more burning your brassieres,
You’ll give up your careers.
- Chorus
Maybe we just won’t have sex,
Won’t have sex,
Won’t have sex,
Maybe we just won’t have sex,
And then we’ll see what’s next!
We say no to birth control,
That’s our right and that’s our role,
It’s pregnancy that we extol,
And no does not mean no!
We have no need to abstain,
We’ll be back on top again (again),
All your progress down the drain,
Our joy we can’t contain.
- Chorus
Your bodies now belong to men,
Bless the lord and say amen,
Everyone is born again,
We’ll keep you in your place.
- Chorus
Free Speech
- tune: ‘My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean’)
by Ann Smith
‘Twas in the 2000 election,
It seems very clear to us all now,
The thing that we lost was our voice.
We’re told by most all of our leaders
That we should not dare criticize,
They say that our Nancy Pelosi
Should retract and apologize.
- Chorus:
Bring back, bring back,
Oh bring back my Free Speech to me, to me,
Bring back, bring back,
Oh bring back my Free Speech to me.
It’s really the whole truth that hurts the.
All Nancy did was to state fact.
Now Nancy’s persona-non-grata
To Bush and the Patriot Act.
Our soldiers are fighting and dying
For freedoms they thought that we had.
But truth and free speech are now victims
Of policies cruel and bad!
- Chorus:
Speak out, speak out,
Bring back Free Speech to us, one and all
Speak out, speak out
Bring back Free Speech to us all.
DIVEST
- TUNE: Away In a Manger
Divest fossil funds and divest fossil stocks,
Invest in our future and walk what you talk.
We burn fossil fuels now at great global harm,
It’s time to invest in a planet less warm.
Divest universities, cities, and schools.
Divest temples, churches invested in fuel.
Our fossil fuels mostly must stay in the ground.
Our future is priceless, let’s keep it around
DECK THE COAL
- TUNE: Deck the Halls
Close the coal plant in Centralia Fa la la
Solar power will never fail ya, Fa la la
We have lots of greener choices, Fa la la
Stop the coal and raise our voices, Fa la la la la, La la la la
Coal plants fill our air with gasses, Fa la
Breathed by all our lads and lasses, Fa la
We can call on higher powers, Fa la la
From the sun and wind and showers, Fa la la
Close the coal plant in Centralia Fa la la
Coal will shrink your genitalia Fa la la
Coal has lots of nasty gases, Fa la la
Close the plant and save your (pause) health, Fa la la, etc….
CHARLIE ON THE METRO BUS
- Tune: M.T.A./Charlie
Lyrics: Mike Wold
Now let me tell you of a story ‘bout a man named Charlie,
Who was never know to make a fuss,
He put Orca in his pocket,kissed his wife and family,
Went to ride the Metro bus
- CHORUS:
- But did he ever return? No, he never returned
And his fate is still unlearned (Poor Old Charlie!)
He may wait forever at a downtown bus stop
He’s the man who never returned.
Charlie tagged his card in the Rainier Valley
He was headed for Delridge Way
But when he tried to transfer he just waited and waited
Cause they’d taken the route away.
- CHORUS
All might long Charlie waits at the bus stop
Saying, ‘What will become of us?’
How can I ever manage to get to my job
If I’m always gonna miss this bus?
- CHORUS
Charlie calls his wife every evening a seven
She says, ‘Where are you, tell me where!’
Charlie says to her, ‘I’m still just waiting.
For a bus that can take me there.’
- CHORUS
Good people of Seattle, don’t you think it’s a scandal,
That they are cutting bus service this way?
Fight for better transit and for decent wages
And get to his job today!
- LAST CHORUS:
Or else he’ll never return, No he’ll never return
And his fate will be unlearned(Poor Old Charlie)
He will wait forever at a downtown bus stop
He’s the man who never returned.
GIVE ME A HOME WHERE THE RIVERS DON’T FOAM
- The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
tune: Home on the Range
Oh, give me a home where the rivers don’t foam,
And the squirrel and the chipmunks can play,
Where the lakes all have fish you can put on your dish,
And the skies are not smoggy and grey.
- Chorus:
Home, home on the earth,
Your beauty’s beginning to fade.
We’ve got to act fast,
Our luck it won’t last.
Our home we just can’t throw away.
Those nuclear wastes are inclined to escape
When into the ground they are dumped.
We don’t want PCBs in the birds and the bees
And dioxin on our babies’ rumps.
- Chorus
Oh, give me a home safe inside the ozone.
There’s danger in those cosmic rays.
Oceans up to our neck from greenhouse effect—
Please don’t wash all this beauty away.
- Chorus
What Are We Afraid Of?
- by: Canadian Grannies
tune: Charlie Is My Darlin’ -
- CHORUS
What are we afraid of, afraid of, afraid of?
What are we afraid of?
It’s NOT the terrorists!
- CHORUS
When hospitals are closing down
Though ER’s all are full
And home care nursing’s down the drain
They’re no more plugs to pull, SO~
- CHORUS
When governments cut services
And then use all our cries
To give them an excuse to day
They “have to privatize.” SO~
- CHORUS
When money is the raison d’etre
How can we hope for care
That does not all the corners cut
To leave us hanging there? SO ~
- CHORUS
When greed and profit rule the land
What chance is there that we
Will keep our social safety net
Our health and dignity, SO~
- CHORUS
Just getting sick is bad enough
Without more worry too
‘Bout “how to pay” and “who can help”
“What am I going to do?” SO~
- LAST CHORUS:
What are YOU afraid of, afraid of, afraid of
What are YOU afraid of?
IS it the terrorists?
Healthcare Song
- by: Canadian Grannies
tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
Governments are pussy-footing ‘round and ‘round the Block
Hinting here and hinting there at Privatizing talk,
At universal Medicare they’re starting now to balk,
And it’s now full speed ahead.
- Get sick, You’ll make somebody richer. (3X)
It’s for-profit healthcare now.
Two-level medicine Is great if you’re on top.
Too bad that all the rest will have to wait until they drop.
Medicine’s a business that will never have to flop
And it’s now full speed ahead.
- The sicker we get, the richer we will make them (3X).
It’s for-profit healthcare now.
It’s cheaper to run healthcare as a public institution;
But there’s no profit to be made, So banish that solution.
Politicians, we suspect, Have made a resolution,
And it’s now full speed ahead.
- Get sick, You’ll make somebody richer. (3X)
It’s for-profit healthcare now.
Coal Train
- by Lou Truskoff
- tune: Peace Train (Cat Stevens)
Now I’ve been thinking lately ’bout the dangers of the coal train
And the powerful forces that move you forward, can they be contained?
And I’ve been worried lately ’bout the dangers that you bring
Poisoning the air and water every precious living thing.
- chorus:
So coal train of destruction comin’ down the track!
Will we mobilize enough to turn you back?
Yes, coal train deadly roller, got to stop the coal train!
Woo-woo, stop that choo-choo, got to stop the coal train.
Now I’ve been thinking lately, what Bill McKibben said.
We’ve already gone way past 350, soon the planet may be dead.
So I’ve been worried lately about this situation
While our so-called leaders blather on about deficits and sequestration.
- chorus
Gaggle for Gun Free Zones
- by Cynthia Linet
- tune: Side by Side
Oh we’re a gaggle of grannies
Urging you off of your fannies
Keep our shopping trips clean,
No guns to be seen
Gun Free Zones
With so many guns in our city
On buses, in stores, it’s a pity
It scares us no end,
We can’t comprehend
So (pause) Gun free zones
We can change the culture,
One store at a time
May not change the laws but
That will happen in time
So join this gaggle of grannies
Get up off-a your fannies
Let’s get rid of those guns
Protect all our buns
GUN FREE ZONES
We really mean it—GUN FREE ZONES
We mean precisely—GUN FREE ZONES
We will say it very nicely—GUN FREE ZONES
READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, GUN FREE ZONES!)
Guantanomo
- by Jo-Hanna Read
tune: All of Me
Guantanamo, You’ve taken all of me,
Now I see, I’ll be here forever.
Take my pride, You’ve made me lose it.
Take my soul, You just abuse it.
In a cage I’m left with only rage,
How can I even go on living?
You tore apart my soul and my heart
And left me in Guantanamo!!!
Time has passed, Like in a looking glass,
All my hope, has faded completely.
Eleven years, And I’m still counting.
I protest, And you force feed me.
In a cage I’m left with only rage
How can I even go on living?
You tore apart my soul and my heart
And left me in Guantanamo!!
Divest, Divest
- by Shirley Morrison
tune: “Hi Ho, Hi Ho”
Divest, Divest
From fossil fuels, less
We spew out too much CO2
Earth needs a rest.
Po-lu-tion!
Let’s protest
A REALLY BIG PROTEST
To keep all oil and coal and gas
Deep down inside the Earth
Then we’ll
Invest, yes,
Then we’ll re-invest
In energy that’s
Clean and Green
But now DIVEST!!!!!!
Coal Cars
- by Ruth Arent
Tune: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
Note: tune of second verse is: first 2 lines and last 2 lines of first verse
We’ve been hearing ‘bout the coal cars
Every single day
We are shocked and we are raging
They must not have their way.
Filthy poisons, dirty profits
An environmental mess
China’s coughing up the money
And coal sharks could care less.
- CHORUS: So-Everyone should go,
Let the coal sharks know
Stinking up the air is a NO! NO! NO!
Everyone should go.
Let the coal sharks know
We mean it when we shout NO! No!
We are faced with green house gasses
Dioxides by the pound
We are talking ‘bout survival!
Listen up! It is PROFOUND!!!!
- CHORUS
We Don’t Want Your Drones Anywhere
- Tune: Over There, Over There
By Laurie Rostholder
Over here, over there,
We don’t want your damn drones anywhere.
With the weapons they carry,
The people they bury,
We don’t want your drones anywhere.
From the air, comes despair,
With no way to protect or prepare.
Is this our style,
No due process or trial,
We’ve lost our sense of what is fair.
Causing hate, won’t abate,
There’s no way that we can compensate.
For the death and terror,
And constant fear,
Brought by our United States.
Over here, over there,
We don’t want your damn drones anywhere.
With the weapons they carry,
The people they bury,
(Speak) We don’t want your drones anywhere!
Imprisoned in Guantanamo
- Tune: (Sixteen Tons)
By Laurie Rostholder
I was picked up by the US a decade ago,
I’ll never get out, that’s the one thing I know,
Imprisoned and tortured for all these years,
Starving to death the least of my fears.
No charges have ever been brought against me,
Stuck in this hell hole cause I’m Yemeni,
Separated from comrades, can’t read the Koran,
Haven’t seen my attorney, no trial in the plan.
I’ll know I’ll never see my family,
No longer even dream about being free,
Hunger strike is my only choice,
The moment I got here, I lost my voice.
Being force fed, it’s incredible pain,
Treatment like this, it isn’t sane,
Does anyone care what’s happening to me,
Who is going to take responsibility,
I was picked up by the US a decade ago,
I’ll never get out, that’s the one thing I know,
Imprisoned and tortured for all these years,
Starving to death the least of my fears.
The Planet’s Getting Hot
- tune: I Love You a Bushel and a Peck
Santa Cruz, CA, Raging Grannies
I kid you not, the planet’s getting hot
We might pretend it’s not, but the world is on the spot.
We’re really in the soup, and here’s the latest scoop—
We’ll soon be under water, ‘cause the planet’s getting hotter
It’s true….. Yes, it’s true……..
Whatever, ever shall we do?
Doodle-oodle-oodle, Doodle-oodle-oodle, Doodle-oodle-oodle-doo.
- It never snow; there’s no more icy floes
The polar bears will weep
Cause there’s no place left to sleep
The penguin chicks are cheepin’
While the waters quickly deepen;
The Eskimos who shelter in their igloos simply swelter—
They’re blue….. skiers too….
The planet’s hot, we can’t pretend it’s not
Whatever, ever shall we do?
Doodle-oodle-oodle, etc….
Let’s build an ark in the Lincoln Park
We’ll build it in the dark, so we won’t attract a shark
We’ll furnish it with sails to withstand the mighty gales
We’ll sail it on the water, ‘cause the planet’s getting hotter.
We’ll float… In our boat….
The planet’s hot; we can’t pretend it’s not.
Whatever, ever can we do?
Doodle-oodle-oodle, etc
- Do not despair, there’s still some time to spare
We’ll save the ozone layer—We can do it if we dare!
Let’s make a resolution to BANISH all pollution
Make a set of rules to dispense with fossil fuels,
Let’s do… Me and you …..
The planet’s hot, we won’t pretend it’s not—
Let’s go and raise a hullabaloo!
Doodle-oodle-oodle, etc..
Monsanto Song
- tune: On Top of Old Smokey
San Jose, CA, grannies
On top of old Smokey,
See how it glows—
Monsanto has buried
A bushel of woes.
- The first was potatoes
Genetically marked,
Spliced with a jelly-fish
They glow in the dark.
And then came tomatoes,
So round and so red –
But don’t let them fool you.
They’re genetically dear.
- Now comes the saddest,
Which we should all mourn,
Old Round-Up is hidden
In each kernel of corn.
So as you sit eating
Your veggies today,
Remember Monsanto
Is lighting your way!
No More Waste
- tune: Deck the Halls
Hear the latest nuclear folly,
Fa, la Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Shipping wastes in trucks by golly,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Transuranics on the highway,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Endangers folks along the byway,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Don’t trade any more new waste,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
For promises made in haste,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Trading low level waste for high,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Makes us as the question why,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
File a TRO, block shipments,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Stand by TPA commitments,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
No new waste with no EIS,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
We want cleanup, not a new mess,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Leaking trenches we do fear,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
Don’t bring any more new wastes here,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
We won’t become a waste dumpsite,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
For the nation, without a fight,
Fa, la, la la, la, La, la, la, la.
US Air Force Song
- tune: Wild Blue Yonder
F-35
It is a nuclear weapon
Costs so high; and climbing higher
F-35
Four hundred billion dollars
Contracted with; Lockheed Martin
F-35
Their PAC gave thousands to our
Leahy and Welch: Over the years
The noise, Severe; You Cannot hear
And neither can victims of the Air Force
If you please
We don’t need nuclear weapons
In our state; Yankee’s enough
It’s our guard
And we are all good neighbors
Putting up; With all this stuff
We’re concerned
For all the health and safety
Of the folks; in and around
For quality of life we’ll fight
Burlington as a first strike site
________________________________________
Eating
- tune: What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?
San Jose, CA Grannies
What shall we do with the world food crisis?(3X)
Learn this very morning…
Scan the labels when you’re buying (3X)
Eating out or shopping,
Buy Local, fresh and healthy (3X)
No more junk food anytime,
Eat less meat, more fruits and veggies(3X)
For healthy bodies and our planet,
Corn for food, not biofuels (3X)
That’s food for humans, not machines
Help local farmers grow more food(3X)
Time is wasting, we’ve got warning.
Food for people, not for profits(3X)
Food security for all.
Feed the hungry & poor among us(3X)
Benefit all creatures
Learn to share our scarce resources(3X)
And our love and caring.
End of FFTF
- tune: Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
We’re glad you’ve decided to shut down
FFTF for once and for all
We’ve waited for years for this message
We wish it were done by the fall.
- But we’ll prefer 2007
To complete this reactor’s demise
And hope you will expedite cleanup
Of the tanks and the soil on the site.
Empty those high level waste tanks,
Vitrify seventy-five percent,
Refuse to accept any mixed wastes
Just clean up our environment
- Clean up, clean up,
Cleanup is job number one.
Clean up, clean up,
That is what must be done.
Don’t Make War
- tune: Jingle Bells
Don’t make war!
Don’t make war!
Don’t invade Iraq!
Use the money for the poor, not weapons to attack!
- Don’t’ drop bombs!
Don’t drop bombs!
Inspections are the way
Let’s spread peace around the world
Now blow them all away.
We need healthcare!
We need homes,
Our liberties have to stay
We don’t want a war for oil
It’s not worth the price we pay.
Cuba
- tune:My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
American governments all fail
To give the boot to Fidel,
‘Cos the Cubans are proud, brave and fearless
And tell Uncle Sam “Go to Hell!”
- CHORUS: Cu-ba, Cu-ba—that brave little country across the strait!
Cu-ba, Cu-ba—let Cubans decide their own fate!
Let’s show our support for the Cubans
Against US government might
And imperialistic ambitions. (pause)
For once let us do what is right!
- CHORUS
Just let Cubans get on with their business,
Let them engage in fair trade,
It’s been too long for this nonsense,
So lift the immoral blockage.
- CHORUS
Congress Wants Our Social Security
- tune: Whatever Lola Wants
by Corinne Willinger
Whatever Congress wants, Congress gets,
They want to grab our Social Security.
Obama hears their call for its downfall,
He goes along with their dishonesty.(atrocity?)
Their scheme is to end our pension,
And now they use the debt to shorten its dimension.
- What government can do, to me and you,
Is diminish our Social Security.
What all the people need, we must have,
We must keep all our Social Security.
Tell those we voted for – we-must make sure
They’ll never be in Congress anymore.
We know the way they’re behaving
Will kill this program worth saving.
Let all the people know the status quo
Means we must keep our Social Security.
Come Together
- tune: Come Together
GRANNIES CHILDREN
Come together Come together
All ya children All ya Grannies
Come together Come together
- (All)Let’s sing our peace!
(Repeat)
Let’s get started Let’s get started
Work for justice Make things fair
Let’s get started Let’s get started
- (All)Let’s sing our peace!
(Repeat)
Stop your fighting Stop your fighting
Talk it over Use your words
Stop your fighting Stop your fighting
- (All)Let’s sing our peace!
(Repeat)
Are you listening? Are you listening?
It’s important So important(we’re important)
Are you listening? Are you listening?
- (All)Let’s sing our peace!
(Repeat)
Come on and join us Come on and join us
Raise the rafters Make it loud
Come on and join us Come on and join us
- (All)Let’s sing our peace!
(Repeat)
Clean Up the Waste
- tune:Enjoy Yourself, It’s Later Than You Think
For years and years,
We’ve come and sung,
Beseeched and testified,
FULL cleanup is what we all want,
And we’re not satisfied.
We won’t take any
More new waste,
‘Til what’s here is all clean,
We’re sick of being
Your waste dump,
It really is obscene.
Clean up the waste,
It’s later than you think,
Clean up the waste,
Before it’s in the drink,
The Columbia is really on the brink,
Clean up the waste, Clean up the waste,
It’s later than you think!
Clean Up Is Job Number One
- tune:My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Empty those high level waste tanks,
Vitrify a higher percent,
Don’t leave leaking active waste tanks here
Despoiling our environment.
CHORUS:
Cleanup, cleanup, Cleanup is job number one,
Cleanup, cleanup, That is what must be done.
Uphold the Tri-Partite agreement,
Protect the Columbia’s fish,
We don’t want radioactive salmon,
To be served up to us on our dish.
CHORUS
Line all the low-level waste grounds,
Ensure they are safe for all time,
Clean up the soil and ground water,
Meet all of the legal deadlines.
CHORUS
Cheney/Rove/Reichert Rally
- tune: Yankee Doodle
Richard Cheney/Rove/Reichert came to Seattle/Bellevue,
To help elect Dave Reichert/Rob McKenna,
And promote a right wing agenda,
But we will subvert it.
We don’t want privatization,
Of our pensions or health care,
Union busting, prison torture,
Or polluted air.
Go back to your
Oil rich buddies,
Stay out of our city fair,
We want global peace and justice,
Not your unholy(?) fare.
Can You Hear Me Now, Verizon?
- tune: Yellow Rose of Texas
CHORUS:
Can you hear me now, Verizon?
This wake-up call’s for you.
You’re raking in the billions,
And pay no taxes, too.
And now you want your workers
To roll over and play dead,
But we’re not gonna take it!
And we’re risin’ up instead!
You’d outsource all your workers,
And slash their benefits,
Cut retirees off from health care –
That really gives us fits!
We’re sick of your tax dodging,
It’s a shameful greedy crime,
So we’ll stand with the workers
On Verizon’s picket line.
CHORUS
We’re done with being quiet,
While the rich live off the poor.
We’re tired of your greed,
And we won’t take it anymore.
We’ll strike against Verizon,
‘Til the corporations learn,
That the people now are risin’
To take back what we have earned!
CHORUS
Bring the Billions Home
- tune: 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall
They Tell us there’s no money
for jobs or health care plans,
But there’s always lots of money
for war in far off lands,
We spend it all for war,
not for schools or homes, that’s true,
So do it today, the Granny way
and Bring the Billions Home!
We spend three trillion dollars
to send out kids to war,
Not all our kids, ya know, but just
the brown, the black, the poor,
They had no hope that they’d get jobs
in the good ‘ol USA,
So do it today, the Granny way
and Bring the Billions Home!
It always seems to be the rich
who profit from our wars,
They don’t care if we live or die
as long as they make more,
They keep our wages low, but watch
their own climb through the roof,
So do it today, the Granny way
and Bring the Billions Home!
We think that corporations
must truly love the poor,
In fact, they love poor folks so much
they keep creatin’ more,
They slash our pay and benefits
and send our jobs off shore,
So do it today, the Granny way
and Bring the Billions Home!
We stand here in (Seattle)
and sing our simple song,
We want to see our taxes kept
at home where they belong,
It’s time to tell Obama
we won’t take it anymore!
So do it today, the Granny way
and Bring the Billions Home!
Bomb Iraq
tune: She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain
If the GOP is hurtin’, bomb Iraq!
If the GOP is hurtin’, bomb Iraq!
If the GOP is hurtin’
And November looks uncertain,
If the GOP is hurtin’, bomb Iraq!
If your equities are falling, bomb Iraq!
If your equities are falling, bomb Iraq!
If your equities are falling,
And your losses are appalling,
If your equities are falling, bomb Iraq!
If the GDP is shrinking, bomb Iraq!
If the GDP is shrinking, bomb Iraq!
If the GDP is shrinking,
And W’s back to drinking,
If the GDP is shrinking, bomb Iraq!
If the pundits call you ‘moron’, bomb Iraq!
If the pundits call you ‘moron’, bomb Iraq!
If the pundits call you ‘moron’,
Then it’s time to get your war on,
If the pundits call you ‘moron’, bomb Iraq!
Are they checking Halliburton? Bomb Iraq!
Are they checking Halliburton? Bomb Iraq!
If they’re checking Halliburton,
And for Cheney jail looks certain,
If they’re checking Halliburton, bomb Iraq!!
Billions and Billions
- tune: I Got Rhythm
by Jeanne Lorimer)
We spend billions
Lotsa billions,
We spend billions
To fight these ‘fabulous’ wars.
None for jobs here
None for health care,
Education
Low as it can go.
Corporations making billions
While the poor guys,
Go off to fight in these wars.
(Slowly with ZEAL)
So, let’s show them
We mean business,
We want peace NOW!
Let’s bring those billions back home!!
(Give it your all!)
YEAH!!!!! Let’s bring those billions back home!!!!!
At Last
At last, FFTF will be gone,
Its standby days are over,
We celebrate with song.
At last, we see the end in sight,
It’s much too far away yet,
But okay if it’s done right.
We have a dream of a clean Hanford
That folks can visit without fright,
A place where healthy critters wander,
With no Danger in sight.
At last, once more
We think it’s true,
FFTF will be shut down,
Our hopes and dreams come true.
Another Four Years?
tune: 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall
Another four years of Georgie’s lies?
It makes us raging mad!
His State of the Union was just a charade –
We know that we’ve been had!
- He sends our kids to die in war –
But what has he achieved?
He says he’s fighting terrorists,
But we won’t be deceived!
Another four years of Georgie’s lies?
It makes us want to scream!
We’ve already seen what he can do
To kill the American dream.
- More of us are out of work
And more of us are poor.
With no Head Start and no health care,
We’re tired of this manure!
Another four years of Georgie’s lies?
He must think we’re daft!
He’s killing Social Security –
And giving us all the shaft!
- He’s taking away our liberties,
And trashing the Bill of Rights,
And spying on our neighbors –
We think that really bites!
So, we won’t take another four years!
Of Georgie, the lying hack!
We’re here today to tell the world
“We’re taking our country back!”
Oh, North Korea
- tune: Bye Bye Black Bird
(From the perspective of fish)
By Laurie Rostholder
Are you aiming missiles at me,
Cause they’ll be landing in the sea..
Oh North Korea.
Kim Jung Un is not much fun,
Likes his fish // overdone_
Oh North Korea.
Leaders in the States respond with war drums,
They are not considering the outcomes.
If you want good fish to eat,
You had best turn down the heat
Or it’s farm fish, yum, yum. Yuck.
Do you want your fish uncooked,
Without that mushroom-clouded look?
Oh North Korea.
Sushi you will get no more
And nothing wild in the store.
Oh North Korea.
US military’s playing war games,
Provoking North Korea is an endgame.
Why won’t they consider me
Poor little fishy in the sea?
I’m not to blame!
Imprisoned in Guantanamo
- Tune: You Load Sixteen Tons
By Laurie Rostholder
I was picked up by the US a decade ago,
I’ll never get out that’s the one thing I know,
Imprisoned and tortured for all these years,
Starving to death the least of my fears.
No charges have ever been brought against me,
Stuck in this hell hole cause I’m Yemeni,
Separated from comrades, can’t read the Koran,
Haven’t seen my lawyer, no trial in the plan.
I’ll know I’ll never see my family,
No longer even dream about being free.
Hunger strike is my only choice,
The moment I got here, I lost my voice.
Being force fed, it’s incredible pain.
Treatment like this it isn’t sane.
Does anyone care what’s happening to me?
Who is going to take responsibility?
I was picked up by the US a decade ago,
I’ll never get out that’s the one thing I know
Imprisoned and tortured for all these years,
Starving to death the least of my fears.
It’s Time for an Income Tax
- tune: Old MacDonald
By Laurie Rostholder
Sales taxes are not fair,
It’s time for an income tax.
Sometimes it’s hard to afford underwear.
It’s time for an income tax.
With a share for us,
And enough for the state,
This is a problem that cannot wait.
Now is the time for an income tax.//
Let’s make the system fair.
We need more money for the state budget.
It’s time for an income tax.
There’s very little room for us to nudge it. //
It’s time for an income tax.
With services suffering,
And our schools in trouble,
Before the whole system turns to rubble,
Now is the time for an income tax.
Let’s make the system fair!
We Don’t Want Your Drones!
- By Laurie Rostholder
- tune: “Over There”
Over here, over there,
We don’t want your damn drones anywhere.
With the weapons they carry,
The people they bury,
We don’t want your drones anywhere.
From the air, comes despair,
With no way to protect or prepare.
Is this our new style,
No due process or trial,
We’ve lost our sense of what is fair.
Causing hate, won’t abate,
There’s no way that we can compensate.
For the death and terror,
And constant fear,
Caused by our United States.
Over here, over there,
We don’t want your damn drones anywhere.
With the weapons they carry,
The people they bury,
(Speak) We don’t want your drones anywhere!
We’re Rising Up!
- tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
We’re the Raging Grannies
And we’re here to take a stand,
To break the chain of our abuse
Across this mighty land.
We proclaim our dignity,
And justice our demand-
We’re Rising Up today!
- Chorus:
No more rape and no more beatings.
Women rise! We’re tired of pleading.
We’re rising up to tell you that our bodies are our own;
We’re Rising Up today!
We rise in Seattle
To say it’s a disgrace
That women’s rights might simply
Disappear without a trace.
We dance and sing and shout out loud
To save the human race!
We’re Rising Up today!
What makes you men think you can take
Your liberties with us?
We’re mothers, sisters, aunts and daughters,
Kickin’ up a fuss.
Your violations end today,
There’s no more to discuss!
We’re Rising Up today!
We dance today for justice,
And it’s not just for the sport.
We own our bodies; we’ll protect
The rights for which we fought…
The right to step out unafraid;
The freedom to abort.
We’re Rising Up today!
Repeat Chorus
Legitimate Rape
Author: Vicki Ryder
Tune: “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah”
“Legitimate rape” is great birth control.
So says Todd Akin, and he oughta know.
If we are raped we can rest unafraid,
‘Cause we can’t get pregnant if forcibly laid.
Our female bodies are clever that way,
We only get pregnant when we say “okay.”
Doctors have told him, so it must be so,
The stork only comes if we don’t say “No!”
Rape won’t make babies and that is a fact;
There’s no global warming; the Earth’s really flat.
We heard it on FOX News so it must be true.
Well, Mr. Akin, we say “FUCK YOU!”
Guns and Bombs
Author: Nora Freeman, NYC Metro Raging Grannies
Tune: This Old Man
Guns and bombs, nukes and tanks,
Mean lots of money in the bank
For KBR and Boeing too,
Who foots the bill? It’s me and you!
Back in 1991,
The Iron Curtain came crashing down.
No more big bad enemy,
No need for nukes and tanks you see.
All that cash, ours to spend,
Was known as the peace dividend.
We’d use it for schools and healthcare,
To be fair, the wealth to share.
Environmental cleanup too,
That bill was long overdue,
But it was just a dream because
America must have its wars.
War on terror, war on drugs,
The whole world thinks that we are thugs,
Let’s stop all this insanity
And make the dream reality.
Gaggle Against Everything
Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies,
Urging you off of your fannies.
We’re raising our voice-
We want a new choice-
No more—-
You’ll hear them all soon
With all the issues unending.
And lousy choices that’re pending
It may be health care-
Or coal destroying the air
No more—
You’ll hear them all soon
There are so many things to sing of,
We feel like we’ ll go nuts,
Overwhelmed by war and havoc,
And politicians with no guts.
So join this gaggle of grannies,
Get up off of your fannies.
We’ re telling you now,
We’ re angry and how. . ,
No more war,
no more nukes,
no more homelessness,
no more greed,
no more cuts,
no more hunger,
no more torture,
no more lousy mental health treatment,
no more sexism,
no more homophobia,
no more ageism,
no more global warming,
no more bad education,
no more intolerance,
no more rendition,
no more guns,
no more tazers,
no more drones,
no more coal,
no more racism,
no more foreclosures,
no more extremism,
no more domestic violence,
no more expensive inaccessible health care,
no more dolphins guarding nuclear weapons,
no more clear cutting,
no more gas guzzlers,
no more poverty,
no more domestic spying,
no more us versus them
(To Audience) “Anything else?”
(Then back to us)
no more saggy boobs (what?)
no more singing off tune
We really mean it! All of the above!
We mean precisely! All of the above!
We will say it very nicely!
All of the above!
Read our lips!
All of the above!
Stand and Deliver
Come all you great leaders
At Olympia’s heart
Don’t fail the needy
Please do your part.
We hear you support us
But wait in the cold.
Funded programs are coming
We’ve been told and told.
The counselors are caring
But they need real pay.
And time to help clients
Not just wave “g’ day”