Category Archives: Women

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’re sure they won’t do what’s best
With a positive pregnancy test
So it’s full speed ahead, the agenda is set,
To impose all the bans you can get!

[Chorus]
And it's 1, 2, 3
What are we fighting for?
You know my body’s my own
Why can’t 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 need a choice!

[Verse 2]
Come on politicians moving fast
Your big chance has come at last!
Supreme Court didn’t hesitate
To pull the plug on Roe v. Wade.
Doesn’t matter what a woman needs
Gotta protect those seeds!

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
Well, come on people throughout the land
Come on with us and make a stand
Register and get out the vote
Elect officials who are righteous folk!
Everyone’s body should be their own.
Why can’t they leave us alone?

[Chorus]
Abortion Cheer 2Download


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!

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!

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

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.

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 !!!

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

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

Cycle of Abuse- 2

  • further adapted by Laurie Rostholder
  • tune: Darling Clementine

There’s a cycle, there’s a cycle, there’s a cycle of abuse,
Guns and beatings, harsh mistreatings,
There’s a cycle of abuse.
We must break it, break this cycle
For all women far and near,
So all sisters on the planet
Can live safely without fear.

We as Grannies, take the challenge,
To make sure the cycle ends.
We must work and act together
With our family and friends.
The time is right now, for all violence
In this world to fianlly cease,
So the children of this great earth
Can live out their lives in peace!

You Don’t Own Me

  • by Jo-Hanna Read
  • tune: by Lesley Gore

You don’t own me,
You can’t treat me like I’m a toy.
You don’t own me,
You can’t take away all my joy.

And don’t tell me what to do
Don’t tell me what to say
Don’t make me do those things
That take my dignity away!

You don’t own me,
Don’t take my autonomy.
You don’t own me,
I need to be free to be me.

So, don’t tell me what to say.
Don’t tell me what to do.
Don’t take my liberty!
That’s all I ask of you.

I’m strong and I love to be strong.
I’m free and I need to be free
To live my life the way I want
Not a life of slavery.

So- don’t tell me what to do
Don’t tell me what to say
And let me be free to live
In my own special way.

You don’t own me….

Gaggle Against Abuse

Stop All Abuse

  • by Laurie Rostholder
  • tune: Side by Side

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
To be out of harm’s way
Hope is passé
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 !!!

Code Pink Is Coming to Town

  • tune: Santa Claus is coming to town

Oh you better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout
I’m telling you why,
Code Pink is coming to town.

We’re wearing hot pink
We’re saying “don’t fight”
We stand up for peace
Cause we think it’s right
Code Pink is coming town.

We’re mothers and we’re daughters
We’re sisters and we’re aunts
We don’t want war we want some peace
We cheer, we sing, we dance.

Oh you better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout
I’m telling you why,
Code Pink is coming to town.

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

I Can See Clearly Now

  • tune: I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash) 
  • from the Montreal Grannies

I can see clearly now one billion strong
Each sister dancing in her own way
Gone is the violence that kept her down
It’s gonna be a bright, bright love-filled day.
It’s gonna be a bright, bright love-filled day.

She knows she can make it now, the pain is gone,
All of the bad feeling has disappeared.
Here’s the respect that she’s been working for.
It’s gonna be a bright, bright love-filled day.

Look all around there’s nothing like freedom.
Look straight ahead, nothng but dignity.

  • repeat first verse

There Are Women in Our Town

  • from The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993 
  • tune: there’s a Tavern in the Town

There are women in our town, in our town,
Who are bravely breaking ground, breaking ground.
They are showing us how to be equal, strong and free.
Granny would be proud of you and me, you and me!

  • Chorus:
    Fare thee well, for when we leave thee,
    Just remember we still need thee,
    And remember that we all must play our, our part.

Long ago our Grannies joined the fight, joined the fight.
To earn for us some equal rights, equal rights,
Like vo-oting and almost equal pay
Thanks to them we’re better off today, today!

Chorus

Now the issues aren’t so clear, aren’t so clear.
We need to fight them far and near, far and near.
When patriarchy and prejudice are gone,
There’ll still be issues to work on, work on!
There’ll still be issues to work on!

The Battle Hymn of Women

  • by Meredith Tax, Rise Up Singing
  • tune: The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the flame of women’s rage
Kept smoldering for centuries, now burning in this age.
No longer are we prisoners in that old gilded cage
That’s why we’re marching on.

Chorus:
Move on over or we’ll move you
Move on over or we’ll move you
Move on over or we’ll move you
For women’s time has come!

You have told us to speak softly, to be gentle and to smile
Expected us to change ourselves with every passing style.
The only work for women was to clean and sweep and file
That’s why we’re marching on!

Chorus

It is we who’ve done your cooking, done your cleaning, kept your rules.
We gave birth to your children and we taught them in your schools.
We’ve kept the system running but we’re laying down our tools.
That’s why we’re marching on!

Chorus

We have broken through our shackles, now we sing a battle song
We march for liberation and we’re many millions strong
We’ll build a new society, we’ve waited much too long,
That’s why we’re marching on!

Chorus, twice, ending: YES, women’s time has come!

The Bad Old Days

  • from the Raging Grannies Songbook
  • tune: Ode to Joy

We’re the women who did the work so men could get the credit.
We said leave it all to us and wished we’d never said it.
Leave the dishes in the sink–you sit down and rest, dear,
I can do the clearing up, I can do it best, dear.

No, I don’t mind staying late–I’ll type another stencil
Can I get your coffee now? Let me sharpen your pencil!
We’re the women who did the work so men could get the credit.
We said leave it all to us and wished we’d never said it.

I’m sorry that the baby cried, I’m sorry that he wet you.
I’m sorry she threw up on you, I’m sorry he upset you.
We’re the women who did the work so men could get the credit.
We said leave it all to us and wished we’d never said it.

We’re prepared to do the work, but we want more than credit.
Equal pay for equal work–we’ll SING until we get it!

Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?

  • by the Edmonton Grannies

Oh, dear, what can the matter be?
We’ve been attacked by the forces of gravity.
Fat has appeared where there once was concavity.
Nobody said life was fair.

Older men become more adorable,
Even though their figures’ deplorable.
Their mystique is always endurable,
With or without their gray hair.

Older women are thought unattractive.
They’re shunned as if radioactive.
They jiggle so when they become active—
It’s back to the old rocking chair.

(Kazoo interlude)

Well, these old gray mares,
We ain’t what we used to be.
We’ve given up on respectability.
Don’t give a fig for acceptability—
We’re far too awesome to care!

Mammogram Song

  • tune: Thanks for the Memories

Thanks for the mammogram!
It wasn’t lots of fun.
It made my breast go numb.
Squash me any harder
And I’d be a hot cross bun-
But thank you so much.

Thanks for the mammogram!
It really helped to see
The shady side of me.
The x-rays found what I could not,
As large as a small pea.
So thank you so much.

So many poisons have caught us,
But we never knew that it brought us
The breast cancer levels we fought off.
It isn’t fun, the harm’s been done.

So thanks for the mammogram.
I wish I could be sure
They’re finding out a cure,
Or better still what causes it
So I could save my favorite.
So thank you so much

Heard It Through the Pope-vine

    • By Jo-Hanna Read with a little help from her friends
    • tune: “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
    • lead singer(s) plus background singers (the latter in italics)

Ooh, you try to be true to your creed
Help others in their time of need.
You took a vow of poverty
Left your home and family.
The Church you pro-mised to obey
But we found out yesterday
Don’t you know that..

Chorus:

  • We heard it through the Pope-vine,
    You nuns have got to get in line.
    We heard it through the Pope-vine,
    You women must have lost your minds.
    Honey, honey, yeah.

Heard it through the Pope-vine
You nuns have got to get in line
Ooh, ooh, ooh

The Leadership Con-fer-ence
Of Women Re-li-gi-ous
Who would have ever made a guess
You’re radical feminists?
We need to pull you back from sin
And we’ve got just the men
To do it, ’cause

Chorus

background chorus

You women have lost the path
Of patriarchy and God’s wrath
You put too much priority
On health and social equity
The pope knows what is best
To lay your sins to rest.
Don’t you know that

Chorus

background chorus

 

Half the Sky

  • tune: Union Maid

We never will forget
Gran was a suffragette.
We’re fighting still for women’s rights,
And we ain’t got them yet.

But we won’t sit and sigh,
Burst into tears and cry.
The world won’t change with-ou-out us,
We hold up half the sky.

When you want things changed
Call in your sisters,
Call in your mothers,
Call in your grannies!
When you want things changed
Call in a woman,
Because we hold up half the sky.

When you want things changed
Call in your sisters,
Call in your mothers,
Call in your grannies!
When you want things changed
Call in a woman,
Because we hold up most of the sky.

Granny with an Attitude

  • from the E-Vine
  • Rap

I’m a Granny with an attitude and I’m a rapper too.
I have a little song I want to rap for you.
I have grave concern about the feminine form,
‘Cause the fashion world dictates emaciation’s the norm.
Paintings and movies say it wasn’t always so.
Check out Ruben’s full figured women and Marilyn Monroe.
Then along came Twiggie and the skinny look was in.
Women have been paying ever since to be thin.
We’ve got bulimia, anorexia, exercise and diet,
Money to be spent on gadgets that defy it.
Then, there’s girdles, liposuction, tummy tucks and stays
And if that’s not enough, there’s so many other ways
But, I say, whether you’re old, young, short tall, voluptuous or thin
Be proud of who you are! Don’t let those fashion gurus win!

Goodbye, Birth Control!

  • tune: Goodnight, Ladies

Who needs mammograms this year?
Planned Parenthood, we do fear,
Misuses funds we hold so dear.
The wars on women rage.

  • 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.

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?
We’ll probe your wombs to make it clear!
The wars on women rage.

Refrain: Goodbye Boehmer!
Goodbye Cantor!
Goodbye, Mittens,
We’re going to leave you now!

  • Chorus

Domestic Violence

    • by: Monica Zucker
    • tune: Glorious, glorious

Chorus:
Violence! Violence!
No more domesti-ic violence.
I’m leaving here today–
I know I mustn’t stay
I’ve got to end the violence right now.
Drunk last night and drunk the night before.
He may be drunk tonight–I won’t take it any more.
I’m gonna take the kids and my things
and leave the rest
I’ve got to end the violence right now.
I called the crisis line and the counseling was fine,
Planned my way and have a place to stay.
He’s got to get help, too, ‘cause they tell me
“It’s not you!”
I’ve got to end the violence right now.
Chorus again.

Danger in the Night

  • The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
  • tune: Strangers in the Night

Danger in the night!
We must be wary.
Strangers in the night
Are pretty scary.
Danger in the night,
Until the daylight comes.

When we go out at night
It is not easy
On streets that have no light.
Some guys are sleazy.
We should have no fright
Until the daylight comes.

Men who push us off
The darkened sidewalk
Just want us to think
They’re full of power.
We just think they stink
When try shoving us around
We will not be shoved around.

We will not be scared–
We must have freedom.
We tonight have dared
To take our freedom
We will walk the street
And we’ll be unafraid.

Come along with us—
We’ll walk together.
Walk along with us—
We’re strong together.
This is now the time,
Now it is the time,
We together must
Take back the night!

Cycle of Abuse

  • fromThe Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993
  • tune: Clementine

 There’s a cycle, there’s a cycle, there’s a cycle of abuse,
Guns and beatings, harsh mistreatings,
There’s a cycle of abuse.
How to break it, that’s the question
For all women far and near,
So all sisters on the planet
Can walk safely without fear.

We as Grannies, take the challenge, and with thought we do reflect,
On a world full of awareness,
And of mutual respect.
Now all people have a role to play,
In this universal scheme.
To enlist all of our children
To embrace the global dream.

Beatles Medley

  • by Jo-Hanna Read

Long Hard Fight

  • tune: Hard Day’s Night

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.

Hey Grans

  • tune: Hey Jude

Hey grans, don’t be afraid.
You were made to go out and sing loud.
The minute you let things under your skin,
Then you begin to make us proud.

And anytime you feel the pain, hey grans, explain,
We all have the world upon our shoulders.
For well you know that it’s the time to find a rhyme
And belt it out a whole lot bolder.

All You Need Is Rage

  • tune: All You Need Is Love

All you need is rage, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh,
All you need is rage, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh,
All you need is rage, rage, lovely granny rage.

All you need is rage, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh,
All you need is rage, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh,
All you need is rage, rage, lovely granny rage,
Lovely granny rage, lovely granny rage.

We Love You

  • tune: She Loves You

We love you, grans, grans, grans
We love you, grans, grans, grans
We love you, grans, grans, grans, grans.

We all know granny love,
Is the best that we can fi-i-ind.
If we only knew the tune
And our glasses we could fi-i-ind.

We’d  sing some satire
And you know that can’t be bad.
We’d sock it to you
And you know you would be glad.

We love you, grans, grans, grans
We love you, grans, grans, grans
We love you, grans, grans, grans, grans.

Bad Old Days

  • tune: Ode to Joy

We’re the women who did the work so men could get the credit.
We said leave it all to us, and wished we’d never said it.
Leave the dishes in the sink—you sit down and rest, dear.
I can do the clearing up. I can do it best, dear.

No, I don’t mind staying late—I’ll type another stencil.
Can I get your coffee now? Let me sharpen your pencil.
I’m sorry that the baby cried, I’m sorry that she wet you.
I’m sorry she threw up on you. I’m sorry she upset you.

We’re the women who did the work so men could get the credit.
We said leave it all to us and wished we’d never said it.
We’re prepared to do the work, but we want more than credit.
Equal pay for equal work–we’ll SING until we get it.
Equal pay for equal work–we’ll SING until we get it.