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!
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!
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!
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!
Listen to our manly cheers,
As we set the clock back years,
No more burning your brassieres,
You’ll give up your careers.
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.
Your bodies now belong to men,
Bless the lord and say amen,
Everyone is born again,
We’ll keep you in your place.
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!
I’ve been working now for ages,
All my lifelong through,
Paying FICA on my wages
‘Til my golden years come due, ooh, ooh, ooh.
Now they want me to invest in
Stocks that brokers claim
Let me take an interest in
Republicans’ “ownership” aim.
Oh, Wall Street don’t you blow-ow,
Wall Street don’t you blow-ow,
Wall Street don’t you blow away my cash!
Wall Street don’t you blow-ow,
Wall Street don’t you blow-ow,
Wall Street don’t you blow my cash!
Cause there’s something fishy going on here,
Something fishy going on and o-on.
Something fishy with the numbers!
Fiddling away my cash!
Fee, fie, fiddly-io,
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-oooo.
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-OH!
Fiddling away my cash!
Chorus:
We are tired of being lied to,
Fooled and duped and being lied to.
Where are the weapons of mass destruction?
Why did we go to war?
You said that they had nukes and Scuds,
You said germ warfare loomed.
You said that they’d attack us,
You said that we were doomed.
You said they’re with Al Qaida,
You ranted, raged and fumed–
But all of it was lies!
We are tired of being lied to,
Fooled and duped and being lied to.
Where are the weapons of mass destruction?
The lies go marching on!
(Solo) When he was a lad of twenty-three
He said Ma, I’m gay, and I gotta be me.
She said, son, you’re the apple of my eye—
Gay or straight, you’re my kind of guy.
(Solo) He was first in his troop to be Eagle Scout—
Now the BSA says “Sorry, you’re out!”
The Army beckoned. “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
That wasn’t his dish—and that’s just as well.
(Solo) When you judge a person on the basis of sex
You use a very narrow and warped index.
Lesbians and gays are in every field
And their human rights can never be repealed.
We ain’t gonna war no more, no more,
We ain’t gonna war no more!
No more false alarms,
And we’re make no more arms.
We ain’t gonna war no more!
We WON’T fight preemptive wars no more,
We WON’T fight preemptive wars!
We WON’T bypass the U.N.
And bring the world to ruin,
We won’t fight preemptive wars!
We won’t bomb women and kids no more,
We won’t bomb women and kids!
We’ll learn dipomacy–
Not threaten milit’ry.
We won’t bomb women and kids!
We won’t go to war for oil no more,
We won’t go to war for oil!
We’ll stifle our desire
For power and empire.
We won’t go to war for oil!
We ain’t gonna war no more, no more,
We ain’t gonna war no more!
The world cannot condone
U.S. going it alone.
Smart bomb morality
Lacks all humanity.
We’ll dole the oil fields out–
Unwilling left to pout.
Thugs can rage and loot–
We just don’t give a hoot.
We ain’t gonna war no more!
When the warhawks in Washington
Put all their armor on
Should we make war?
Must we start the killing
Cause they’re unwilling
To talk some more?
When war is perpetual
It’s sure to get you all
Terror, turmoil.
Why should we go to war?
What are we fighting for?
Just more oil?
Why can’t we just agree
To use diplomacy—
Don’t bomb Iran!
Tell the warhawks in Washington
Take off your armor for good!
To be sung by three sopranos very delicately.
Three Raging Grannies singing gently
Try not to act too temperament’ly
But we know a hundred percently
Nothing is going well.
War is the base of much bereaving,
Rights are gone, our jobs are leaving,
Homes are lost—we’re disbelieving
They’ll ever end this spell.
First two wars so devastating
Invasion labeled liberating
Then Katrina inundating–
Many more tales to tell
Let’s hope the new administration
Finds ways to use negotiation,
Ends our despair and deep frustration
Let peace and freedom swell!
Three Raging Grans sing very sweetly.
We’ll sock it to ’em oh so neatly.
We should impeach them all completely!
Everything’s gone to (cover mouth, deep bow).
Got religion!
True religion!
We’ve got our man—
Who can ask for anything more!
Don’t love neighbors.
Don’t heal sick folks.
Don’t help poor folks—
Don’t ask for anything more!
Wars don’t shock us.
Facts don’t block us.
We’ve got our man—
We’re through the door!
Who can ask for anything more?
Who can ask for anything more!
The wall between village and orchard
KEEPS us from OUR olive trees.
It’s massive and huge and it’s frightening.
It’s built on our land that they siezed.
The gate in the orchard is guarded
By soldiers who come as they please.
It’s hard to get in and get out now
To tend to our crops and our trees.
We heard the bulldozers are coming
To clear out the orchards to build
For others who come from the cities,
With pavement and homes they’ll be filled.
And then we’d be locked in our village.
How could we feed our fam-il-ies?
Oh, give back our lives and our land now!
Oh, give us our land and our trees!
Mr. Ashcroft, do you think I’m a spy?
I know that I
Cannot see why
Someone should watch over me.
Must there always be surveillance and taps?
Is it perhaps
You think we’re saps
To let you watch over us?
Although you pose as such a hero,
In my book you’re zero–
Police state, not securi-t-y.
Take your Patriot Act and bury it now,
Better learn how
Not to allow
Your spies to watch over me.
We can’t say “global warming.”
We can’t say “Studies show…”
We can’t say “greenhouse gasses,”
We can’t say “Now we know…”
We’ve got to hide our science–
Never mention Kyoto,
Cause his head is in the sand.
Chorus:
But the facts are so alarming
That the planet earth is warming
Our emissions surely harming
But his head is in the sand.
We love carbon dioxide!
We love the SUVs!
We love all the emissions–
Even lung disease!
We love deregulation
And the censorship decrees,
Cause his head is in the sand!
Chorus
(lower voices)
Bring rebels to their knees.
We need some expertise:
Call SOA!
Send our best men to learn
To torture, shock, and burn
Those who-o fo-or freedom yearn–
The-ey must obey!
(higher voices)
Let not this shame resound
To all the world around–
End SOA!
Too many now have died.
Regain our pilgrims’ pride.
From e’e-vry-y mountain side
Le-et freedom ring!
I am seeing scary things.
No one does but me.
I can’t afford my meds.
Why aren’t they free?
Spent three days in hospital,
Gave me some bus fare.
Is there a place for me?
Can’t remember where.
Do I have food to eat?—no, no.
Place to sleep?—no, no.
Care and friends?—no, no.
Make a scene and end up in the pokey.
Fewer beds are there for me.
I need help, not jail.
We need to organize—
Must the system fail?
Chorus:
It’s health care, real health care,
Real health care we cry!
Single payer’s the only
Solution to fly.
Insurance ain’t health care—
It’s profits galore.
You pay all your money—
They always want more.
If you get anything
Worse than the flu,
Don’t bother applying—
They won’t cover you.
Insurers buy Congress
Which won’t hear our pleas.
We know that insurance
Won’t fix our disease.
Oh, give us real health care,
Not just for a few.
We’ll choose our own doctors
And hospitals, too.
Repeat Chorus
On top of old smoky,
That coal burning plant,
They say they’ve made coal clean,
But you know they can’t.
They top all the hills when
They dig out the coal.
Then dump waste in rivers,
Like a big sewage bowl.
The stories ‘bout clean coal
Are clearly untrue.
The air is polluted—
T’will suffocate you.
On top of old smoky,
That coal burning plant,
They say they’ve made coal clean,
But you know they can’t.
Get your tanks and armor plate,
Get your body armor on now.
Vict’ry became defeat
On the Sunni side of the street.
In Fallujah, wasted them all,
Cleared them out and showed our power.
They skipped not a beat
On the Sunni side of the street.
They’ve got bombs, every road,
Got their men everywhere.
We’ve got trucks–they explode
While we spin—hot air.
Get out now!
We can’t win.
We lost when we got in.
Can’t stand on our feet
On the Sunni side of the—
Sunni side of the
Sunni side of the street!
You must understand why we live out here.
You must know that we need not be any cause of fear.
We need treat-ment, and insurance,
Or we can’t leave the streets where we live.
There are centers now where we could get care.
If you’d fund them we’d escape this awful, long nightmare.
No more jailing, no institutions—
We’d get off of the streets where we live.
And oh, that wonderful feeling!
To have care and jobs and a life,
And homes that further our healing,
And lives restored and joy and freedom from strife!
So fund mental health just like heart disease.
Take us off the streets and shelters and the jailhouse—please!
Let us live our lives with our families—
And not die on the streets where we live.
Hush, little children, don’t you mind.
Bush will leave no child behind.
POLiTICians know schools the best—
EduCAtion means taking a standard test.
If your school tests are too low,
Ed-u-ca-tion funds won’t flow.
More books, equipment, teacher pay,
Would just be throwing money away.
If kids test at the top of the pool,
They can go to a charter school.
Hush, little children, don’t say a word,
Congress is giving you the bird.
(Speak) And that mockingbird won’t sing!
Corporations rule the day!
Energy and Medicare, they say,
Must be written the big business way.
Corporations rule the day!
You don’t have to go-o to college
To gain legisla-a-tive knowledge.
Corporations must say when
Law enhance their profits. Only then
They spread cash in each congression’l den.
Lobby days are here again!
Libya, oh Libya!
Now we have bombed Libya!
Gadhafi is mean and cruel.
He’s got a face that we abhor so,
And his actions even more so.
Libya, oh Libya!
Libya, the height of misrule!
But the bombing is clearly an act of war,
Obama was acting illeg’ly by far,
Although he’s a constitutional star.
We can learn a lot from Libya!
La, la, la
La, la, la
Oh, Libya’s a small war,
Not what you can call war,
But it will set a precedent.
‘Cause win or lose
One guy can choose–
And that’s any future president!
La, la, la
La, la, la
CHORUS (with audience)
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
It ain’t gonna rain no more!
How in the heck
Can I wash my neck
If it ain’t gonna rain no more?
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
Turn the lights down, cut the heat.
Stop watering the lawn,
Tell the salmon not to spawn,
Cause it ain’t gonna rain no more!
(CHORUS)
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
You’re gonna pay the price.
The governor has warned ya
Our juice went to California,
And it ain’t gonna rain no more!
(CHORUS)
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
California cooked its goose.
They deregulated power
And now they’re taking ours,
And it ain’t gonna rain no more!
(CHORUS)
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
Texas oil men made a steal.
Bush’s pals took out the cash
Letting small producers crash,
And it ain’t gonna rain no more!
(CHORUS)
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
We must drill the Arctic wilds.
Corporate greed will get the money
If the weather stays so sunny,
And it ain’t gonna rain no more!
(CHORUS)
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
Can Seattle be the same?
Now the pampered folks at Boeing
Say so long we must be going!
And it ain’t gonna rain no more!
It ain’t gonna rain no more, no more!
It ain’t gonna rain no more
Why in the deuce should I lose my juice…
How in hell can my condo dig a well…
We’ll pay through the nose if we turn on the hose…
How in the heck
Can I wash my neck
If it ain’t gonna rain no more!
Heard the war news on TV?
We must bomb Iraq, says he.
Target only military,
With our pinpoint accuracy.
Iraq go boom de ay!
Smart bombs don’t go astray.
Some folks get in the way,
But that’s the price you pay.
We must have a new regime!
No more weapons is our theme.
Mideast power is our scheme.
Easy pickin’s is our dream.
We love Iraqis, so
Saddam has got to go.
He is our only foe.
Who’ll rule then? WE DON’T KNOW!
As before we bombed Iraq.
Claimed our smart bombs were on track.
Propaganda herds the pack.
That won’t bring the children back.
Iraq go boom de ay.
Smart bombs will win the day–
Or that’s the game we play.
Iraq go BOOM!
Do nothing ‘til you hear from me!
Don’t go! The stoplight is on red!
Become a master of foreign affairs-
Or are they over your head?
Do nothing ‘til you can cool down!
Don’t just go bullying through.
Negotiation is an hon’rable move.
Yes, peace is red, white and blue.
Without a war
Peace and justice could win out.
Without those bombs
Can you even doubt
We’d still have clout?
Do nothing till you hear from me!
Use strength in ways that do not kill.
Wait till we all enlist for permanent war–
And we never will!
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.
Some think the air belongs to corporations
And not to us,
AND NOT TO US!
Some think it well to merge all information
By thoughtless clones,
In solemn tones.
But we, we’d like to hear more human voices,
And honest fun,
And creation,
While they, they want to limit all our choices
To selling cars,
And pushing wars.
Harken! Harken!
We need real debate!
The Commission
Must not abdicate!
Diversity, humanity, diversity, humanity!
Communicate with us! Diversity, humanity!
A capitol team for America’s dream
Is the powerful George Bush crew.
No disbelief dismays our Chief
Or troubles the chosen few.
The man at the wheel has nerves of steel–
He laughed as he dodged the dra- a- aft.
But when gale winds blow he’s gone below—
He’s in Crawford—his cow has calfed.
Chorus:
So blow ye winds, heigh ho!
A-bombing we will go!
Ignore those groups
Who’d bring home troops.
Cover up with a media show-o-o.
Let’s feed the rich once more,
And starve out all the poor.
Entitlements lost—
Can’t pay their cost—
More bombs and pork for sure.
They bombed Iraq without a fact,
And Congress fell on its knees.
The Patriot Act means decks are stacked
So George can do as he please.
Katrina meant that the President
Didn’t care if we lived or di-i-ied.
SeCURity isn’t social, you see.
Our safety is denied
Chorus
Throw out the baby—
And then the bathwater too!
Who needs Bin Laden
When our own fascists will do?
Our Constitution
Need some revision because
Now’s the time to give up freedom
And seek safety’s flaws!
When you hear that rumble at the door
It’s the NSA or FBI.
Don’t call your lawyer or implore
To know the charge or reason why.
Down with due process!
Why would you ever need that?
You’re safe and comfy—
Liberty’s only old hat.
Just give up freedom.
Card us and search us, too.
Now’s the time to call the Army—
Secret justice for you!
In Iraq we must begin a surge
To prove there’s still a chance to win.
And now it seems we need a purge
Cause they let some Democrats in.
Should we impeach them
For lying and spying and war?
Torture, rendition—
Is that what we’re fighting for?
Shame on our nation!
Must this be done in our name?
Tell the world that we reject it—
We know who’s to blame.
The Axis of Evil’s a threat,
And they all deserve what they get.
Iraq and Korea
Just have one idea!
Destroy them and have no regret.
It ain’t necessarily so
That violence makes them eat crow
That there’d be no more terror
If their cupboards were barer—
It ain’t necessarily so.
They say Good and Evil abound,
But can Bush’s reason be sound?
They’re evil and we’re good—
We’d bomb them in their hood.
Can good BOMBS and dead children be found?
It ain’t necessarily so.
Whole countries must all go below.
Killing the innocents
Don’t seem to make sense.
It ain’t necessarily so.
Heard the war news on TV?
Smart bombs fill the air you see,
Target only military
With their pinpoint accuracy.
’Cause our bombs are so precise
We hit only what’s not nice–
Just a careful warlike slice,
Though we miss it once or twice.
Just as we did in Iraq,
Claim our smart bombs are on track.
Propaganda herds the pack—
That won’t bring the children back!