Protest songs

I have a song but it wasn’t suitable to post elsewhere so I decided to make a new cider press thread for protest songs. What are your favorites? Ones that have permaculture themes to them?

This is Unpopular Ideas by The Mammals. They would fit well here…



Lyrics:

I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas
Our health is derived by letting go of fear
And eating clean food and breathing clean air
I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas to share

I'm afraid I have some unpopular thoughts
Your government officials are mostly just bought
By oligarchic money bags grinning ear to ear
I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas right here

I'm afraid I have just a few thoughts more
Most of your tax dollars get spent on endless war
And subsidized oil, subsidized GMO
I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas, I know

I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas to sing
Big Pharma runs the whole thing
And a for-profit industry don't want you to be well
I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas to tell

I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas
Let's throw out the screens all peddling fear
And go and meet your neighbor, maybe share some food
Finally start that garden, it don't matter if it's good
And go support your farmer on regenerative land
I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas, my friend

I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas
Your health is derived by letting go of fear
And eating clean food and breathing clean air
I'm afraid I have some unpopular ideas to share

This is more of a beat poem style.

This is one I learned about recently. It is very timely considering most of the creeks have run dry here. But fortunately we are getting a bit of good rain today.

I did write down the lyrics. Now that I think of it they could have a different or more metaphorical interpretation. I could not find them online and at one section was confused. Here they are:

When the fish don’t bite
When the creek runs dry
You don’t come this way now anymore

The flowers are all faded now
The birds don’t sing a tune
You never heard their song
Till it was right in front of you
All the truth and all the lies
Are written clearly in the sky
Signs you couldn’t read through your
Half-closed eyes, no

Chorus:
When the fish don’t bite
When the creek runs dry
You don’t come this way now anymore
When the lights come down
When the road blows out
You don’t come this way now anymore

It’s getting hard to breathe when you’re choking on the past
And nothing that we build these days is made to last
The water will not wash you clean if ???
You’ve taken all I have to give and you’re still not satisfied

Chorus

Past the point of no return
We watch the fire burn
Past the point of no return
We watch the fire burn

Chorus x2

You don’t come this way now anymore

It was "hey Doc, there's a thing in my knee
Been workin' underground since '83"
Doctor said, "I got you the remedy
It'll kill that pain real quick, trust me"
Didn't take long, half the town was on it
Didn't ask questions, nah, we just popped them
Doctors getting fat from raking in kickbacks
It all happened so fast
One man's grave is another man's paycheck
Rx meds at our expense
Forget the coal mines, they hit a goldmine
Hooked us on six feet of side effects
Like a wolf dressed in sheep's clothes
The devil wore a lab coat
Appalachian map dots were the perfect bullseye
For the pharma reps chasing dollar signs
All their billions couldn't buy a decent alibi
You can say what you want, but tombstones don't lie
Strong towns torn down by little pills
Sold with a smile, don't care when it kills
No coincidence, no conspiracy
It just is what it is, it's our history
One man's grave is another man's paycheck
Rx meds at our expense
Forget the coal mines, they hit a goldmine
Hooked us on six feet of side effects
Like a wolf dressed in sheep's clothes
The devil wore a lab coat
The devil wore a lab coat
Only God can judge
But they're corrupt and they don't care
We'd tell them to go to hell
But they're already going there
Yeah, they're already going there
One man's grave is another man's paycheck
Rx meds at our expense
Forget the coal mines, they hit a goldmine
Hooked us on six feet of side effects
Like a wolf dressed in sheep's clothes
The devil wore a lab coat, mm
The devil wore a lab coat, mm, oh
One man's grave is another man's paycheck, mm

source: https://lyricsondemand.com/mary_kutter/the_devil_wore_a_lab_coat

Mother Earth
Neil Young

Oh, Mother Earth
With your fields of green
Once more laid down by the hungry hand
How long can you give and not receive
And feed this world ruled by greed
And feed this world ruled by greed

Oh, ball of fire
In the summer sky
Your healing light, your parade of days
Are they betrayed by the men of power
Who hold this world in their changing hands
They hold the world in their changing hands

Oh, freedom land
Can you let this go
Down to the streets where the numbers grow
Respect Mother Earth and her giving ways
Or trade away our children's days
Or trade away our children's days

Respect Mother Earth and her giving ways
Or trade away our children's days

I found the lyrics here on lyrics.com

These are two different songs but they belong together in the way they’ve been played and recorded… the one I am thinking of is Sway (beginning of second video), the one interjected between the two parts.

That song was in my head last night keeping me awake. It felt like the song was being pounded like a nail into my skull. Maybe that’s happened to you before?

I’m not sure that it’s really a protest song but it has spiritual and earth themes, shaking off unfreedom. It felt to me like it belonged despite that. Here are the lyrics.

Be still the flight into the night
Unlearn to live like prey
An ear attuned to every sound
The silence overtakes

I'm on the edge of atrophy
It's time I learned to sway
But oh the dawn when we awake
To face an awful day

Run little rabbit run
Oh it never stops pursuing
Into the night and on
Or succumb to your undoing

Oh commoner, oh commoner
Of imminent demise
When the earth calls back her disregard
Should unify

So go find your kinship in all kinds
Be free in how you movе
When the earth calls back shе's absolute
Her loving arms wait for you

Turn little rabbit turn
Oh it never stops pursuing
Turn and face the dawn
And welcome the unknowing

First I got this song in my head:

And then while listening through the different live recordings found that they tend to amalgamate it with This Land Is Your Land.


[Verse 1 (I Hear Them All)]
I hear the crying of the hungry in the deserts where they're wanderin'
Hear them crying out for heaven's own benevolence upon them
Hear destructive power prevailin', I hear fools falsely hailin'
To the crooked wits of tyrants when they call

[Refrain 1]
I hear them all
I hear them all
I hear them all

[Verse 2]
I hear the sound of tearing pages and the roar of burnin' paper
All the crimes and acquisition turned to air and ash and vapor
And the rattle of the shackle far beyond emancipators
And the lowliest who gather in their stall

[Refrain]
I hear them all
I hear them all
I hear them all

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]
So while you sit and whistle Dixie with your money and your power
I can hear the flowers growing in the rubble of the tower
I hear leaders quit their lyin', I hear babies quit their cryin'
I hear soldiers quit their dyin' one and all

[Refrain]
I hear them all
I hear them all
I hear them all

[Verse 4]
I hear the tenderest word from Zion, I hear Noah's water fall
Hear the gentle lamb of Judah sleeping at the feet of Buddha
And the prophets from Elijah to the old Paiute Wovoka
Take their places at the table when they're called

[Refrain]
I hear them all
I hear them all
I hear them all

[Verse 5 (This Land Is Your Land)]
Cause I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
Saw below me that golden valley
Mm, this land was made for you and me

[Chorus]
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters
This land was made for you and me

[Verse 6]
So rode and rambled and I followed my footsteps
Up the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
Mm, this land was made for you and me

[Chorus]
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters
This land was made for you and me

[Verse 7]
On the steps of the courthouse, in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office, I see my people
And they stand there hungry, and I can hear them asking
Was this land made for you and me?

[Verse 8]
As I went walking I saw a sign there
That on the one side said "No trespassin'"
But when I looked on the other side, it didn't say nothin!
Aw this land was made for you and me!

[Chorus]
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the little Rhode Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters
Oh, this land was made for you and me

[Refrain]
I hear them all
I hear them all
I hear them all

I hear them all
I hear them all
I hear them all

Lyrics source https://genius.com/Gillian-welch-dave-rawlings-and-willie-watson-i-hear-them-all-this-land-is-your-land-lyrics

They paved paradise, put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot
(Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop, ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

They took all the trees put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar an' a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot
(Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop, ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

Hey farmer, farmer put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees
Please

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot
(Ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop, ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

Late last night I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi took away my old man

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot (ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)

I said don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot (ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot (ooh, bop-bop-bop-bop)
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot

Loyston by Daniel Kimbro

And while looking up a video for the above song I heard it compared to another, older song which I found… Paradise by John Prine

I'm listening to old phil ochs records this afternoon......lovely voice, excellent music and important thinking, and plenty of protest songs.

I especially love 'changes' but all are worth a listen💜

I was feeling on my way, I was twelve years old
Walking underneath a blanket of West Virginia coal
I walked right by a No Trespass sign
Yeah, the grass looked greener 'cross the property line

I told myself that I would not shoot
And if anybody asked, I took the scenic route
My hands started shaking, I let a round go
From the .223 polk stock powder load, bye bye

I was born this way, who am I to be ashamed
It's the Indian blood in the poor man's veins
I did it that time and I did it again
Started selling meat to all of my friends
And they'd buy, yeah, they'd buy

'Cause there's a whole lot of people who like the wild food
But they can't go hunting 'cause the monthly bills are due
The farmers grow bread and the kitchen cooks soup
So I fed a lot of purpose with the deeds that I do
In the trees I found my sweet by and by, by and by

Well, I had to put the fear in the DNR
So I slashed their tires when they were parked
The whole administration, they had done get scared
But a young new trooper caught a wild hair
He pulled me over with a hefty load
But the law don't own the mountain
So I left him in the smoke

Well, the doctors and the lawyers, they're good at what they do
But a man needs a license just to hunt for some food
The farmers grow bread and the kitchen cooks soup
But the Lord gave me a purpose with the deeds that I do
Back in the trees I found my sweet by and by, yeah, the sweet by and by

The good book says there's a time to heal
A time to build, a time to kill
Our Father was a carpenter
He blessed me with the same steady hand
And I got time to kill

'Cause there's a whole lot of people who like the wild food
But they can't go hunting 'cause the monthly bills are due
The farmers grow bread and the kitchen cooks soup
So I fed a lot of purpose with the deeds that I do
Back in the trees I found my sweet by and by, my sweet by and by

from Lyrics.com

This is my favorite kind of protest song--one that unites instead of divides! I listen to this album whenever I feel beaten down and it always helps.

An interview with Mike Merenda and Ruth Ungar of The Mammals... they talk about the song "Unpopular Ideas":

Currently listening... they're talking about permaculture!!

Leon Gieco--Solo le Pido a Dios

I heard a cover of this by The Mammals & sung by former member Tao Rodriguez-Seeger--a lovely song!

The Young Woman who Swallowed a Lie - Pete Seeger

A lot of this song could be seen in a permaculture sense too...