RAGING GRANNIES SONGBOOK

Older Songs

 

 Note: We have tried to list the names or organizations of those who wrote the words to these songs. We apologize if there are errors, and would appreciate your corrections and information about missing acknowledgements. See “Contact Us” for the web e-mail address.

 

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Older Songs 42

Raging Grannies Theme Songs. 43

GAGGLE AGAINST CAPS (See Social Justice) 43

GAGGLE AGAINST DIOXINS (See Environment) 43

GAGGLE AGAINST FTAA (See Corporate) 43

GAGGLE AGAINST STUFF (See Consumer) 43

GAGGLE AGAINST WTO (See Corporate) 43

GAGGLE TO SAVE THE TREES (See Environment) 43

GAGGLE TO SAVE THE WORLD (See Peace/War) 43

INTRODUCTION TO GRANNIES. 43

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Consumers/Greed. 45

AFFLUENZA. 45

ANOTHER WAY. 45

GRANNIES AGAINST STUFF. 46

PROFIT BELLS. 46

THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE CLOTHES BUSINESS. 46

SLOW DOWN YE FRANTIC SHOPPERS. 47

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Discrimination/Human Rights/ Drug War 48

PRISONS. 48

THREE STRIKES. 48

TWO MILLION ARE IN JAIL. 48

UNEQUAL TREATMENT. 49

VOTER’S LAMENT. 49

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Economic Justice/Corporations/WTO.. 51

CORPORATION GREEN. 51

CORPORATE FARM.. 51

GAGGLE AGAINST FTAA (Free Trade of the Americas) 52

GAGGLE AGAINST WTO.. 52

JINGLE BELLS. 53

A “NEWT” DEAL. 54

NO TAXES FOR THE STADIUM.. 54

RADICAL NEW ECONOMISTS. 54

ROLL OUT THE (PORK) BARREL. 55

WTO RAP. 55

WTO AFFAIR. 56

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Environment 57

BICYCLE SONG.. 57

CLEARCUT. 57

THE EARTH IS GONNA THROW UP OVER US. 58

THE FAMILY JEWELS. 58

GAGGLE AGAINST DIOXINS. 58

GAGGLE TO SAVE THE TREES. 59

GET TOGETHER AND SAVE THE FOREST. 60

GIVE ME A HOME WHERE THE RIVERS DON’T FOAM.. 60

NO MORE BEEF. 60

NOW’S THE TIME TO RAISE OUR VOICES. 61

POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENOLS. 61

P.O.P. (PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS) 62

PTP’S (Persistent Toxic Pollutants) 63

ROLL OUT THE LOG TRUCKS. 63

THIS CAN IS YOUR CAN. 63

TAKE ME OUT TO THE CLEARCUT. 64

TAKE THE GROSS OUT OF GROCERIES. 64

TEDDY BEARS’ PICNIC?. 65

TOILET TISSUE SONG.. 65

WE’VE BEEN THROWING ALL THE GARBAGE. 66

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FORESTS GONE?. 66

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Health/Mental Health. 68

A PRAYER FOR MEDICARE. 68

MEDICARE. 68

STAND AND DELIVER. 69

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Holidays. 70

CHRISTMAS 1994. 70

PROFIT BELLS. 70

SANTA DOESN’T LIKE WAR TOYS. 71

SLOW DOWN YE FRANTIC SHOPPERS. 71

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Labor 72

NIKE TOWN. 72

PUT IT ON THE GROUND. 72

SOLIDARITY FOREVER. 73

UNION MAID. 74

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED. 75

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?. 75

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Nuclear/Hanford. 77

CLEANUP HANFORD. 77

DECK THE HALLS (Nuclear Folly) 77

DOWN OL’ HANFORD WAY. 78

FAST FLUX SHUTDOWN. 78

HANFORD BUBBLE. 79

HANFORD CLEANUP. 79

HANFORD CLEANUP (1/22/02) 80

(Kay Thode)HANFORD CLEANUP (3/6/99) 80

HANFORD HEARING 2000. 81

HANFORD HEARING (10/18/99) 81

HANFORD VICTORY (1/31/99) 82

NO TAXES FOR FFTF. 82

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT (10/29/01) 82

RADIOACTIVE THYROIDS. 83

STOP WASTING MONEY ON FFTF (August 2000) 83

Y2K. 84

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Peace/War 85

BENEATH THE NUCLEAR UMBRELLA. 85

CIRCLE CHANT. 85

DREAM OF PEACE. 85

GAGGLE AGAINST SOA School of the Americas) 85

GAGGLE TO SAVE THE WORLD. 86

NOW THE COLD WAR IS OVER. 86

SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS. 87

THIS BALONEY. 87

TRIDENT. 87

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Social Justice/Welfare. 89

THE DOWNSIZED BLUES. 89

GAGGLE AGAINST CAPS. 89

HOKUS POKUS. 90

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Women’s Issues. 91

THE BAD OLD DAYS. 91

THE BATTLE HYMN OF WOMEN. 91

THE CONDOM  SONG.. 92

CYCLE OF ABUSE. 93

GREY MOTHERHOOD. 93

MAMMAGRAM POEM.. 93

MAMMOGRAM SONG.. 94

NEW WHIFFENPOOF SONG.. 94

SAFE SEX. 95

THERE ARE WOMEN IN OUR TOWN. 95

WE’RE ALL AGING WELL. 96

VIAGRA. 96

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Violence/Guns. 98

PRIME TIME SLIME. 98

SANTA DOESN’T LIKE WAR TOYS. 98

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Older Songs

Raging Grannies Theme Songs

RETURN TO OLDER SONG INDEX

GAGGLE  AGAINST CAPS (See Social Justice)

GAGGLE AGAINST DIOXINS (See Environment)

GAGGLE AGAINST FTAA (See Corporate)

GAGGLE AGAINST STUFF (See Consumer)

GAGGLE AGAINST WTO (See Corporate)

GAGGLE TO SAVE THE TREES (See Environment)

GAGGLE TO SAVE THE WORLD (See Peace/War)

 

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INTRODUCTION TO GRANNIES

(tune: Daisy, Daisy)

 

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.

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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Consumers/Greed

AFFLUENZA

(tune: Frere Jacques)

 

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.

(Kay Thode)

 

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ANOTHER WAY

(tune: Accentuate the Positive)

 

We gotta make more stuff--

Fuel the economy,

Buy more stuff--

Guarantee prosperity,

Go for greed--

While others live in poverty

We never learned another way.

 

We gotta eat more meat--

Nuke the food from agrifarms.

Kill more fish--

Steroids in the salmon farms.

Cut more trees--

Turn the land to fiber farms.

We never learned another way.

 

We gotta build more dams--

Turn more power on.

Make more cars--

Roads for them the travel on,

Pump more gas--

Keep the pressure on!

We’ll never learn another way--

We’re fat and happy!

(Spoken) We gotta learn another way!

(Victoria Grannies)

 

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GRANNIES AGAINST STUFF

(tune: Frosty the Snowman)

 

We’re the Raging Grannies

And we’re asking you today

To cut down on buying more stuff—

Show your kids a better way.

We don’t like landfills

Full of stuff that’s thrown away,

We like walks and talks and constructive games

To fill our grandkids day.

 

They don’t need all those presents

To fill their lives with cheer.

They really want your love and time

Throughout the coming year.

So join the Raging Grannies:

Boycott all that stuff.

Today is buy nothing day—

We all have enough.

(Canadian Grannies, adapted by Karen Schneider-Chen)

 

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PROFIT BELLS       

(tune: Jingle Bells)

 

Chorus:

Profits here, profits there, profits everywhere!

Christmas time is funny, smell money in the air.

Advertise, glamorize, fool you with a flair.

Let’s make sure that Christmas is a businesslike affair.

 

You’re eating all our lies and dashing to the stores,

Then all the prices rise and how the money pours.

If we don’t keep you drugged and watching your TV,

You might see hypocrisy! Where would business be?

Chorus

 

We’ll tell  you how to think and tell you what to try,

What to eat and drink, and how to live and die.

And if our plan success, when Christmastime is nigh,

Instead of seeking peace and love, you’ll hunt for gifts to buy.

Chorus

(U.W. Student Action Network, 1997)

 

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THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE CLOTHES BUSINESS

(tune: There’s No Business Like Show Business)

 

There’s no business like clothes business,

The best business we know.

New clothes are so hip and sexy!

Throw out last year’s wardrobe, toss it all!

Nowhere can you get that special feeling,

Like when you’re shopping at the mall.

 

There’s no business like clothes business,

The best business we know.

LIZ and GAP and NIKE make you feel so great!

But those poor workers, what a fate—

Starving wages, bad conditions they endure—

But, shop on for the show!!!

(Shirley Morrison)

 

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SLOW DOWN YE FRANTIC SHOPPERS

(tune: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen)

 

Slow down ye frantic shoppers, for there’s something we must say.

If you would spare a moment all the stores won’t run away.

Big business has been telling us what Christmas means today.

Now it’s time we decided for ourselves, for ourselves,

Yes, it’s time we decided for ourselves.

 

To some folks Christmas means a time for gathering with friends,

And enemies might take it as a time to make amends,

But TV says it’s time for pricey gifts and selfish ends.

Now it’s time we decided for ourselves, for ourselves,

Yes, it’s time we decided for ourselves.

 

Some people feel that Christmas is when Jesus makes a call.

For others it’s a time to stress good will and peace to all.

But advertisers tell us it means Santa’s at the mall.

Now it’s time we decided for ourselves, for ourselves,

Yes, it’s time we decided for ourselves.

 

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Discrimination/Human Rights/ Drug War

PRISONS

(Tune: Home On the Range)

 

Prisons, prisons, more jails,

The answer to our systemstravails,

Where seldom is heard,

An encouraging word,

And the skies are not seen all day.

 

We lock up our poor,

And then they’re no more,

And we’ll feel so much better this way,

We’re building more cells,

Stuffing folks in these hells,

And big bucks get made that way.

 

Oh, give me a home,

Where drug agents don’t roam,

And no one is jailed for drug use,

Where the billions are spent,
For good drug treatment,

And addicts are free from abuse.

(Kay Thode)

 

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THREE STRIKES

(tune: Coming Round the Mountain)

 

If you’re jailed for three drug crimes,

You’re there for life!

If you’re jailed for three drug crimes

You’re there for life!

They have jailed five hundred thousand

All of them for drug crimes,

We must end this senseless drug war right away.

(Kay Thode)

TWO MILLION ARE IN JAIL

(tune: Coming Round the Mountain)

 

Oh, two million in our country are in jail,

Two million in our country are in jail.

A main reason is the drug war,

And we are here to say, NO MORE,

We want taxes spent for treatment,not for jails.

(Kay Thode)

 

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UNEQUAL TREATMENT

(tune: Coming Round the Mountain)

 

If you’re poor and use cocaine,

You’ll go to jail.

If you’re black and use cocaine,

You’ll go to jail.

They will slap you in the cooler

And tell you you’re a loser,

They will slap you in the cooler

When they come.

 

If you’re rich and use cocaine,

They’ll slap your wrist,

If you’re rich and use cocaine,

They’ll slap your wrist,

They will tell you to get treatment,

And let you out tout de suitement,

They will let you out quite quickly,

When they come.

 

So it’s time for equal treatment--yes it is!

Oh, it’s time for equal treatment--yes it is!

Let’s decriminalize drug use

And treat all users equal,

Oh, it’s time for equal treatment--yes it is!

(Kay Thode)

 

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VOTER’S LAMENT

(tune: St. James Infirmary)

 

Oh, I went to the poll booth

And what did I see

But a ballot so peculiar

That it puzzled me.

I punched out the holes

As best as I could,

Cause I didn’t want Bush,

I knew where I stood…Democratic.

 

When the votes were all counted,

Al Gore he had won,

But the new president

Is George Bush’s son…How can that be?

 

So this is what we gotta do,

To stop that man from carrying through

His plan to wreck the environment,

And end the right to choose,

And give us all the blues…Real Blues.

 

We’ve gotta get together and unite,

Black, brown and yellow, red and white;

Work like H to prevent

George from carrying out his intent…Together, united!

(Kay Thode)

 

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Economic Justice/Corporations/WTO

CORPORATION GREEN

(tune: Wearing of the Green)

 

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

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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CORPORATE FARM

(tune:  Old MacDonald’s Farm)

 

We all live on a corporate farm,

EE I EE I O.

And on that farm are too many pigs

EE I EE I O.

With a tax break here and a tax break there.

Here a break, there a break, everywhere a tax break.

We all live on a corporate farm

EE I EE I O.

Those pigs get fat but they don’t produce

EE I EE I O.

They’re not very pretty and they’re not any use

EE I EE I O.

With a bank account here and a bank account there,

Here a scam, there a scam, everywhere a tax scam,

Pigs get fat but they don’t produce

EE I EE I O.

There is no use for overfed pigs

EE I EE I O.

All they do is eat and oink.

With a tax scam here and a tax scam there

Here a scam, there a break everywhere an oink, oink

Kick them out and clean up the mess

EE I EE I O.

(Victoria Grannies)

 

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GAGGLE AGAINST FTAA (Free Trade of the Americas)

(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 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)

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode)

GAGGLE AGAINST WTO

(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 WTO!

 

With the starving wages they’re paying

To workers sweating and slaving,

The owners all thrive,

Can workers survive?

            NO WTO!

 

            With world wide domination,

            They’ll do the planet in.

            We have got to stop them—

            We must not let them win.

           

Soooo, join this gaggle of Grannies.

Get up off of your fannies!

We’re telling you now,

We’re angry and how!

            NO WTO!

 

We really mean it—NO WTO!

We mean precisely—NO WTO!

We will say it very nicely—NO WTO!

READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, No WTO!)

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode)

 

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JINGLE BELLS

(on corporate welfare)

 

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.

(Kay Thode)

 

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A “NEWT” DEAL

(tune: Away in a Manger)

 

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.

(Kay Thode)

NO TAXES FOR THE STADIUM

 

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.

(Kay Thode)

 

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RADICAL NEW ECONOMISTS

(tune: She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain)

 

Oh, we're radical new economists,

We're radical new economists,

We like health care and fair wages,

And sweatshops give us rages,

We're radical new economists.

 

We like rules made out in public, yes we do,

And ones that serve all people, wouldn't you

We don't like, all that corporate greed

And we don't like those gene spliced seeds,

We're radical new economists.

 

We like trade that's local and that's fair,

And doesn't cut down trees and pollute air,

We like farms owned by the farmers

Not those agribusiness charmers,

Oh, we're radical new economists.

 

So, join these radical new economists

Who say get rid of WTO,

Let's set up a fair new system,

One we can exist in,

As radical new economists.

(Kay Thode)

 

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ROLL OUT THE (PORK) BARREL

(tune: Roll Out the Barrel)

 

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!

(Canadian Grannies)

 

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WTO RAP     

 

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!

(Kay Thode)

 

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WTO AFFAIR          

(tune: My Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown)

 

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,

Protester 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.

(Kay Thode)

 

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Environment

BICYCLE SONG

(tune:  A Bicycle Built for Two)

 

Daisy, Daisy, bicycling’s good for you

Driving’s crazy, cars spew out CO2

We know we should not disparage

An elegant motor carriage

But take a hike, or ride a bike

The environment will love you!

 

Don’t you wish that we had commuter trains

Proper bike paths, or at least cycle lanes?

Oh, who needs an eight-lane highway?

Why can’t they do it my way?

We’d clean the air, have dough to spare

If only we’d use our brains….

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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CLEARCUT

(tune:  Take Me Out to the Ball Game)

 

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!

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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THE EARTH IS GONNA THROW 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 ought.

Oh, the Earth is getting sicker every day.

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

THE FAMILY JEWELS

(tune: Oh, What a Beautiful Morning)

 

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.

(Edmonton Grannies)

 

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GAGGLE AGAINST DIOXINS

(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 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 Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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GAGGLE TO SAVE THE TREES

(tune: Side by Side)

 

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!)

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode)

 

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GET TOGETHER AND SAVE THE FOREST

(tune: Coming ‘Round the Mountain)

 

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!

(B.C. Sunshine Coast Grannies)

GIVE ME A HOME WHERE THE RIVERS DON’T FOAM     

(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 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

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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NO MORE BEEF     

(tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)

 

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

(Kay Thode)

 

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NOW’S THE TIME TO RAISE OUR VOICES

(tune: Someone’s in the Kitchen with Dinah)

 

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 forest 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!

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENOLS        

(Do as a rap or make up a tune)

 

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

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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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

 

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PTP’S (Persistent Toxic Pollutants)

(tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)

 

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.

(Kay Thode)

 

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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.

 

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THIS CAN IS YOUR CAN  

(tune: This Land is Your Land)

 

This can is your can, this can is my can.

We used it once and we’ll use it again.

It might come back as a bicycle handlebar!

This can was made for you and me.

 

This bag is your bag, this bag is my bag.

It works as well as the day it was made.

Just take it back to your local food store.

This bag was made for you and me.

 

This cup is your cup, this cup is my cup.

For take-out coffee it can be filled up.

Forget the Styrofoam and save the ozone.

This cup was made for you and me.

 

This land is your land, this land is my land.

We can’t keep taking and poison making.

If we respect it and don’t neglect it

This land will last for you and me.

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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TAKE ME OUT TO THE CLEARCUT

(tune: Take Me Out to the Ballgame)

 

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 tuck 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!

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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TAKE THE GROSS OUT OF GROCERIES         

(tune: Take Me Out to the Ballgame)

 

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 roulett.

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

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Kay Thode)

 

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TEDDY BEARS’ PICNIC?

(tune: Teddy bears’ Picnic)

 

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 three 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.

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

TOILET TISSUE SONG

(tune: Men of Harlech)

 

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.

(Victoria Grannies)

 

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WE’VE BEEN THROWING ALL THE GARBAGE        

(TUNE: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad)

 

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.