RAGING GRANNIES SONGBOOK

Recent 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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Recent Songs 1

Raging Grannies Theme Songs. 2

DOO DAH. 2

GAGGLE AGAINST CUTS (See Social Justice) 2

GAGGLE AGAINST G.E. Foods (See Environment) 2

GAGGLE AGAINST GREED (See Consumers) 2

GAGGLE AGAINST GUNS (See Violence) 2

GAGGLE AGAINST WAR (corrected) (See Peace/War) 2

GAGGLE AGAINST HATE

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Consumers/Greed. 3

BUY, BUY OUR BRAND (See Health) 3

GAGGLE AGAINST GREED. 3

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Dreams of a Better World. 4

LET THE WHOLE WORLD SING.. 4

LOOK AROUND YOU. 4

VOLUNTEER SONG.. 5

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Discrimination/Human Rights/Drug War 6

THE BUSH BARREL POLKA. 6

CLASSISM.. 7

DREAMING.. 6

GETTING TOGETHER. 7

A PROFILING OPERA. 8

SAINTS--HUMAN RIGHTS 8

WHEN HE WAS A LAD. 9

SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME

YANKEE DOODLE

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Economic Justice Corporate Welfare/WTO.. 10

CORPORATE FREE SCHOOLS. 10

DEMOCRACY’S A DREAM.. 10

FREE MARKET TROT. 10

IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO.. 11

SANTA BUSH. 13

QATAR WTO.. 14

DIVERSITY, HUMANITY

SANTA BUSH 2003
SECURITIES, SECURITAS!

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Environment/Toxics. 15

CHEMICAL RESTAURANT. 15

CLEARCUT THE FOREST. 15

DIOXIN—WHAT A TOXIN! 16

FISHIES. 16

GAGGLE AGAINST G.E.S (Genetically Engineered Food) 17

GM FOODS ARE GOOD FOR ME. 17

IT AIN’T GONNA RAIN NO MORE. 18

GOT GAS?. 19

MONSANTO’S CHEMICAL RESTAURANT (See Chemical Restaurant) 20

SAINTS—ENVIRONMENT. 20

RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS. 20

THE SYSTEM.. 21

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Health/Mental Health. 22

BUY, BUY OUR BRAND! 22

LITTLE BROWN DRUG.. 22

ODE TO THE MENTALLY ILL. 23

ON THE STREETS WHERE WE LIVE. 23

SAINTS--HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH. 24

SINGLE PAYER BLUES. 24

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Labor/Sweatshops. 26

MY LEAST FAVORITE THINGS. 26

SAINTS—LABOR. 26

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Nuclear/Hanford. 27

CELEBRATE. 27

HANFORD VICTORY PARTY (January 28, 2002) 27

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Peace/War 28

AFGHAN SMART BOMBS. 28

AXIS OF EVIL. 28

GAGGLE AGAINST WAR. 29

IRAQ SANCTIONS. 29

MISSILE SHIELD. 30

OH, LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM.. 31

PACK UP YOUR MISSILES. 31

PEACE IN THE WORLD. 31

PEACE, PEACE. 32

SAINTS—WAR. 32

THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE WAR BUSINESS. 33

WASTEFUL MILITARY SPENDING.. 33

YELLOW SUBMARINE.. 33

DON'T MAKE WAR ON THE "AXIS"
EIGHTY-SEVEN BILLION
HANG DOWN YOUR HEAD
HOW MUCH IS THIS WAR GOING TO COST US?
IRAQ SMART BOMBS
LIBERATION RAP
SCHOOL OF THE ASSASINS
TAKE DOWN THE WALL
THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE WAR BUSINESS
THE WALL
WAKE UP, AMERICA
WAR HAWKS
WE AIN'T GONNA WAR NO MORE!
WHERE ARE THE WEAPONS?

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Social Justice/Welfare. 35

GAGGLE AGAINST CUTS. 35

HOUSING SONG.. 35

MOCKINGBIRD SCHOOLS. 36

SAINTS—WELFARE. 36

WELFARE CLOCK. 37

WHOSE WELFARE?. 37

WORK FIRST LAMENT. 38

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Women’s Issues. 39

DANGER IN THE NIGHT. 39

OH, DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE?. 39

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

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Violence/Guns. 41

GAGGLE AGAINST GUNS. 41

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Other

EAST TIMOR INDEPENDANCE
FIDEL
VOTING SONG

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Recent Songs

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Raging Grannies Theme Songs

DOO DAH

(tune: Camptown Racetrack)

 

Chorus:

We’re the Raging Grannies

Singing our songs.

Doo dah, doo dah.

We’re the Raging Grannies

Singing our songs

 

All the doo dah day!

 

Gonna rage and roar,

Gonna stop all war.

We’re the Raging Grannies

Singing our songs

All the doo dah day!

Chorus

 

Gonna roar all night,

Gonna rage all day.

Together we’ll build a better world—

Let’s make a start today!

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

GAGGLE AGAINST HATE
(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 MORE HATE!


Discrimination unending,
Promises that're still pending.
To each a fair share!
We want a world where
there's NO MORE HATE!


Whether its employment
Or cops or votes or school,
Equality's the answer--
Justice now must rule!
So join this gaggle of Grannies!
Get up off of your fannies!


We're telling you now,
We're angry and how!
NO MORE HATE!
We really mean it--NO MORE HATE!
We mean precisely--NO MORE HATE!
We will say it very nicely--NO MORE HATE!
Read our lips--(mouth) NO MORE HATE!
(Version by Monica Zucker)

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GAGGLE AGAINST CUTS (See Social Justice)

GAGGLE AGAINST G.E. Foods (See Environment)

GAGGLE AGAINST GREED (See Consumers)

GAGGLE AGAINST GUNS (See Violence)

GAGGLE AGAINST WAR (See Peace/War)

 

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Consumers/Greed

BUY, BUY OUR BRAND (See Health)

GAGGLE AGAINST GREED

(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 MORE GREED!

 

With the starving wages they’re paying

To workers sweating and slaving,

The owners all thrive,

Can workers survive?

            NO MORE GREED!

 

            We’re sick of this tradition--

            Paying wages that aren’t fair.

            Boycott sweatshop products.

            SHOW THAT YOU REALLY CARE!

 

Soooo, join this gaggle of Grannies.

Get up off of your fannies!

We’re telling you now,

We’re angry and how!

            NO MORE GREED!

 

We really mean it—NO MORE GREED!

We mean precisely—NO MORE GREED!

We will say it very nicely—NO MORE GREED!

READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, No more greed!)

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

 

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Dreams of a Better World

LET THE WHOLE WORLD SING

(tune: I Want the Whole Wide World to Sing)

 

I want to hear the whole world sing

In perfect harmony,

To hear the song of birds, not guns,

Let music set us free.

Free to love and give up hate,

Embrace all humankind.

Let’s start today with songs of peace,

Let them fill our minds.

 

Let’s start a revolution,

Of song and love and light,

Let every person on the earth

Lift voices clear and bright.

Let’s end the killing and the wars,

And let our songs take flight.

We’ll make a peaceful world where all

Live without war and fright.

 

I want to hear the whole world sing

In perfect harmony,

To hear the song of birds, not guns,

Let music set us free.

Free to love and give up hate,

Embrace all humankind.

Let’s start today with songs of peace,

Let them fill our minds.

(Kay Thode)

 

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LOOK AROUND YOU

(tune: Clementine)

 

Look around you, see the people

Who are working everyday

For the kind of world we all want,

Where healthy children laught and play

A world with no more nuclear arms,

Guns are banned and want is rare,

Where all races live together,

Everyone has good health care.

 

Equal rights and equal wages,

Social justice on the earth,

No pollution on the planet,

A new world will come to birth.

Look around you see the people

Who are working everyday

For a world of peace and plenty

Where the grandkids laugh and play.

(Shirley Morrison and Kay Thode)

 

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VOLUNTEER SONG

(tune: Hi Lili, Hi Lili, Hi Lo)

A volunteer sings a new song

To help the weary go on.

A volunteer is that extra spark

To move the world along.

A volunteer is the sound of hope

When things could start to go wrong.

We look round this place and we name the names

Of those who have gone forth and done.

Today as we meet here and through the years

You’ve given, you’ve been there, well done.

(Canadian Grannies)

 

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Discrimination/Human Rights/Drug War

THE BUSH BARREL POLKA

(tune: Beer Barrel Polka)

 

Throw out the baby,

And then the bathwater too.

Who needs Bin Laden

When our own fascists will do?

Our Constitution

Needs 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 CIA 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!

(Monica Zucker)

 

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CLASSISM

(tune: Ten Little Indians)

 

Class-ism, age-ism, sex-ism, rac-ism

Any old kind of slap-in-the-face-ism,

Got no sci-ent-if-ic base-ism

BANISH THEM FOR GOOD!

(Edmonton Grannies, as adapted)

GETTING TOGETHER

(tune: I'm Looking Over A Four-Leaf Clover)

 

What's been preventing

The world from getting

Together as friend to friend?

Could it be language?

We'll learn to translate.

Might be religion--

No reason to hate..

 

Couldn't be color

With all of the wonderful

Shades of the human skin?

Let's be forgetting

What’s been preventing

And invite the whole world in!

(Canadian Grannies, as adapted)

DREAMING

(tune: White Christmas)

 

I’m dreaming of a white country,

Just like the fairy tales we knew,

            Where the whole world’s Christian,

            And children listen,

And do what you tell them to.

 

I’m dreaming we can block entry

Of those whose skin’s a different hue.

            Asians, Arabs, others—

            They’re not our brothers—

They could be Muslim or Hindu!

 

I’m certain that our whole nation

Should always look and think the same.

            If religions vary

            From the ordinary

Then we should kick them off our plane.

 

I’m dreaming of those secret closets

Where all the homosexuals stay,

            And if bashers pick fights

            Gays don’t demand rights,

They just don’t tell us that they’re gay.

 

I’m dreaming that there’s no more homeless.

Why can’t we sweep them off the street?

            They don’t get my pity

            If they mess my city.

Freedom’s fine—but not on my concrete.

 

I’m dreaming of a white nation,

Where the majority is right.

May our suburbs be merry and bright!

And may all our neighborhoods be white!

(Monica Zucker)

 

 

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A PROFILING OPERA

(Tune: Mack the Knife)

 

Oh, police have perfect vision

To distinguish wrong from right.

Their decisions are made easy—

It’s like telling black from white.

 

Oh, the drug war gives incentive

For a thousand stops a day.

First they cuff you, then they search you.

You’re not guilty, but you pay.

 

Don’t commute on the Jersey Turnpike

If your skin’s a darker hue.

Could be many weary hours

’Til their fruitless search is through.

 

Don’t go driving in the evening

In a white suburban block

With your shiny new red auto

Or they’ll put you in the dock.

 

If they stop you on suspicion,

Don’t talk back or try to run.

You could end up on a morgue slab—

“We were sure he had a gun.”

(Monica Zucker)

 

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SAINTS--HUMAN RIGHTS

(tune: When the Saints Come Marching In)

 

When everyone has equal rights,

When everyone has equal rights,

How I want to be in that number,

When everyone has equal rights.

 

Variations:

When immigrants are treated fair…

When health care is a right for all…

When corporate rule is history…

When the wealthy pay their tax…

When Congress speaks for you and me…

When streets are safe for us to walk…

When gays are free to live their lives…

When users get treatment not jail…

When taxes go for schools, not jails…

When racism has been wiped out…

 

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WHEN HE WAS A LAD

(tunes: from Pinafore, Gilbert & Sullivan)

 

(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.

            He conquered life’s hurdles, and now you see

            He’s a VIP in the community.

            (All)        He conquered life’s hurdles so perfectly

                          That he’s taught us all a lesson in liberty!

 

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.

            He conquered life’s hurdles, and now you see

            He’s a VIP in the community.

            (All)       He conquered life’s hurdles so perfectly

                          That he’s taught us all a lesson in liberty!

 

 (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.

            (All) And they are your children and your uncles and your friends,

            (Left) And your pastors and your bankers—

            (Right) And the captains of oil tankers—

            (Left) And your lawyers and your doctors—

            (Right) And your tight ends and your blockers—

            (All)  And your sisters and your cousins—

                     Whom you number by the dozens—

                     And your aunts!

(Monica Zucker)

 

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SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME
(tune of same name)

 

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.
(Monica Zucker)

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YANKEE DOODLE

 

Yankee Doodle wants to know
Everything you're doing:
The books you check out, what you buy,
The web sites you are using.

Yankee Doodle calls it terror
Depending on conditions,
Lke the color of your skin
And political positions.

Chorus:
Yankee Doodle, stay on top.
Yankee Doodle, righteous.
The laws do not apply to us
'Cause we're by far the mightiest.

Yankee Doodle hates dissent,
Says thats not patriotic.
We say if you crush dissent
Your reign is quite despotic.

Yankee Doodle's henchman Ashcroft
Hates us for our freedoms.
As for First Amendment rights,
He doesn't think we need 'em.
Chorus
Yankee Doodle wants to rule
The world and thinks he'll t
ry it.
The only think he needs for that
Is We the People quiet.
(West Seattle Peace Group)


YANKEE DOODLE
(additional verses)

 

Yankee Doodle's Patriot Act
Got no votes from the braver.
The others went along with it
For fear of losing favor.
Chorus:
Yankee Doodle, got your way,
Yankee Doodle, clever,
Lied and wreak great havoc, but
We'll end your reign forever.
Yankee Doodle terrified
The so-called liberal voices.
Congress folks need more backbone
And to make better choices.

Chorus:
Yankee Doodle's Patriot Act
Passed without being read first.
Now it's time to repeal it--
Make sure that it's reversed
(Kay Thode)

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Economic Justice Corporate Welfare/WTO

CORPORATE FREE SCHOOLS

(tune: Jingle Bells)

 

Junk food in the halls,

And Pepsi machines too.

Does the school board think

These are good for you?

Rotting our kids’ teeth,

Making kids obese!

It isn’t nice to push caffeine

‘Cause of a corporate lease!

 

Chorus:            Oh, no logos, no more ads!

                        Get them out of schools.

                        That isn’t education

                        And we’re not corporate tools!

                        Repeat

 

Have a tax revolt

For a progressive tax,

Raise the bucks for schools,

Give corporate lease the axe!

No more corporate ads,

Or junk food in our schools.

What fun to have organic foods—

That will be really cool!

Chorus

(Kay Thode) 

 

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DEMOCRACY’S A DREAM

(tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

 

WTO controls the world—

That’s the corporate scheme.

Profit and profits and profits and profits,

Democracy’s a dream.

(Hinda Kipnis)

FREE MARKET TROT

(tune: Put Your Arms around Me, Honey)

 

Market shares have risen, honey—ain’t it great!

Ten thousand workers were laid off, but—that’s their fate.

O, free markets are so nice,

But the workers pay the price.

Jobs have been exported to a—cross the seas.

Wages there are so much lower—if you please.

Who cares if wages are down,

In your old home town.

 

Oh, when the workers lose, the markets—rise and rise.

Profits are the only thing to—maximize.

Oh, oh, don’t you agree

That this shouldn’t be.

 

Wake up, workers, now it’s time to—rise and fight

NAFTA and FTAA with all your might.

Oh, free markets are so nice.

But the workers pay the price.

So if you want the workers to have—their fair share,

Join exploited workers here and—everywhere.

Fight for what is your due—

It is up to you!

(Kay Thode)

 

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IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO

 

CHORUS

It ain’t necessarily so,

It ain’t necessarily so.

The corporate media

Would like to mislead ya,

It ain’t necessarily so,

 

(Environment)

 

Salt Spring’s not gone to the dogs.

Trees are just unemployed logs.

We mustn’t get madder

Just ‘cause Taxada

Is trashing our watershed bogs.

 

Don’t worry about greenhouse gas--

The doom and gloom won’t come to pass.

Remember the looting

We get from polluting

All goes to the governing class.

CHORUS

 

(Food)

 

Genetically modified food

Is certified legally good.

Ignore all the rumors—

Just be good consumers.

Don’t ask all those questions—it’s rude.

 

Hormone-laced beef is just swell.

Just look at our own NHL.

No need for inspection

Of bovine injection—

Don’t you want to be macho as well?

 

(Big Business)

 

We always promote human rights.

We worry, and can’t sleep at nights.

But sooner or later

The gangster dictators

Who buy our arms must see the light.

 

Our banks are the best ever seen.

The profits they make aren’t obscene.

We like the adoption

Of enormous stock options

For CEOs fleeing the scene.

 

Drug company profits are small.

They’re lobbying hardly at all.

When they hear generics

They go into hysterics

For fear that the share prices will fall.

 

Africa’s dying of AIDS,

But drug barons got to get paid.

They say they feel saddened,

But they hold the patent.

Take aspirin and sit in the shade.

 

Free trade’s the best way to go.

Only subversives say no.

We’ll follow the factories

South and drink daiquiris.

Viva Low Wage Mexico!

CHORUS

 

(Schools)

 

Our school rooms are all well-supplied.

Whoever denies it has lied.

They depend for kids’ readers

On corporate leaders

Who peddle their Pepsi inside.

 

(Health)

 

Health care is our most sacred trust.

We’ll give you some time to adjust.

In a matter of urgency

Camp in Emergency

And sit till you’re gathering dust.

CHORUS

 

(WTO)

Quebec’s got a Big Business Fair.

It’ll be just like Tienamin Square

They admit it’s a pity

To barb-wire the city,

But people might try to get there.

 

(Defenses)

Women should man submarines,

‘Cause women are fighting machines.

If the ship isn’t celibate

The brass won’t think well of it

Unless there are separate latrines.

CHORUS

 

(Finally)

We sing ‘cause we don’t want to curse.

We’re alive, and we don’t need a hearse.

But if there’s a screw-up

We plan to wake you up

Or everything’s sure to get worse.

 

(Note:  The full title of this song is “All

Purpose Comprehensive Rant about

Everything That Is Wrong with the

Whole World.” Seattle Grannies

may make up verses for occasions.)

(Lyrics by Salt Spring Raging Grannies of Canada to Tune by George Gershwin)

 

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SANTA BUSH

(tune: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town)

 

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!

(Monica Zucker)

 

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QATAR WTO

(tune: When Johnny Comes Marching Home)

 

WTO has met again, this time Qatar.

The Persian Gulf’s an unlikely place—it’s quite bizarre.

They don’t want protesters to have their say.

They chose a site that is far, far away,

But they got our message: We demand fair trade!

 

Third World countries are put on the spot—what else is new?

They want more markets and balance of power, wouldn’t you?

Agriculture and textiles were pulled from the talks;

Those critical matters would be deadlocked.

So much for free trade: Do it our way or not!

 

The message from Brussels and Washington is liberalize,

While we in the West protect our own and subsidize.

Dirty water, poverty, pricey drugs

Should no longer be sanctioned and swept under rugs.

Give us fair trade, union made! Share in the common lot.

(Kay Thode)

 

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DIVERSITY, HUMANITY (FCC)
(tune: Finiculi, Finicula)

 

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!
(Monica Zucker)

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SANTA BUSH 2003
(tune: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town)

 

We had a tax cut, and now we’re in debt.
Who’ll get more 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,
Big oil’s in, social need’s out.
Santa Bush is coming,
Santa Bush is coming,
Santa Bush is coming to town!
(Monica Zucker)

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SECURITIES, SECURITAS!
(tune: Finiculi, Finicula)

 

Some think the world was made for corporations,
Just like World Com,
And like Enron,
For frauds and scams and shady exploitations,
When with aplomb
They drop a bomb.
And we, we lose our jobs and stocks and pensions.
Each three-piece suit
Takes out the loot.
For us, the evil hits in great dimensions.
Execs aren’t miffed-
They take the Fifth.

Harken! Harken!
Those insider trades.
Harken! Harken!
Before their value fades!
Securities, securitas, securities, securitas!
Fraud is everywhere!
Securities, securitas!
(Monica Zucker)

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Environment/Toxics

CHEMICAL RESTAURANT

(tune: Alice’s Restaurant)

 

They won’t say what they’re cooking today

            At the Chemical Restaurant

Maybe it’s beans with monkey genes

            At the Chemical Restaurant

You got one sore breast, or maybe both?

Maybe the milk is full of Bovine Growth

They won’t say what they’re cooking today

            At the Chemical Restaurant

 

They won’t say what they’re zapping today

            At the Chemical Restaurant

They can’t wait to irradiate

            At the Chemical Restaurant

Thanks, Monsanto, it looks so good

We mustn’t bitch if it tastes like wood

They won’t say what they’re zapping today

            At the Chemical Restaurant

 

They won’t say what they’re cooking today

            At the Chemical Restaurant

Those almighty sods are playing God

            At the Chemical Restaurant

They’re patenting seeds—you know what’s next?

If we don’t stop ‘em they’ll be patenting sex!

They won’t say what they’re zapping today

            At the Chemical Restaurant

 

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CLEARCUT THE FOREST

(tune:  My Favorite Things)

 

Clearcut the forest and kill all the fishes.

Denude the hillsides against all our wishes.

Who cares if all of our trees disappear?

We can grow more in about eighty years!

Who needs green trees?

Who needs clear streams?

Who needs oxygen?

We’re fooling around with the health of our Earth--

It may not heal again!

 

If no one knows it,

Let’s expose it,

Make it go away.

Refuse to buy wood that’s

Not cut as it should.

Let us begin today!

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

DIOXIN—WHAT A TOXIN!

(Spoken)

 

Oh dioxin—what a toxin!

It helps make our paper look just right.

Never gritty,

Oh, so pretty.

Keeps our toilet tissue soft and white.

 

Carcinogenics are misunderstood.

They may kill us off,

But it’s for our own good!

 

O, dioxin—what a toxin!

There’ve been traces found in Puget Sound, they say,

In the shellfish—

What a swell dish!

Could be served with mercury flambé!

 

Jobs are important, we all can agree,

But who’ll pay the price

Once we’ve poisoned the sea?

Oh, dioxin—what a toxin!

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

FISHIES

(tune, Three Little Fishes)

 

Out in the ocean in a nice polluted sea

Swam a school of fishes, as happy as can be.

We’re going to the river where we all began—

But wait a minute, Fishies, they’ve got another plan.

            Boop boop didum daddum waddum, choo!

            Boop boop didum daddum waddum, choo!

            Boop boop didum—your luck is overdrawn,

            ’Cause you’ll never make it up—the river to spawn!

 

What happened to the turbot, the herring and the cod

Is happening to the salmon—(Speak) DON’T BLAME IT ALL ON GOD!

The dams are killing salmon and they have got to go

Before the salmon are extinct and we are full of woe.

            Boop boop didum daddum waddum, choo!

            Boop boop didum daddum waddum, choo!

            Boop boop didum—We’ve got to save those fish

            Remove those damn dams before the salmon go squish!

 

Spawn, salmon! Spawn, salmon! Spaaaawn salmon!

(Victoria Grannies)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

GAGGLE AGAINST G.E.S (Genetically Engineered Food)

(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 G.E.s

 

With all the money they’re spending,

Splicing genes unending,

They’re wrecking our food

And spoiling our mood—

NO G.E.s

 

            With all of their gene splicing,

            There is no way to know

            What damage they are doing.

            Ges 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 G.E.s

 

We really mean it! NO G.E.s

We mean precisely! NO G.E.s

We will say it very nicely! NO G.E.s

Read our lips! (Mouth NO G.E.s)

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

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

GM FOODS ARE GOOD FOR ME

(tune, Yes, Jesus Loves Me, to be sung in little girl voices)

 

GM foods are good for me—

So say government agencies.

Sci-en-tists there do agree

GM foods won’t hu-urt me.

 

Chorus:            Yes, scientists love me.

                        Yes, governments love me.

                        Yes, biotech loves me.

                        Spin doctors tell me so.

 

GM corn kills butterflies.

What are other GM lies?

Terminator, can’t you see,

Is good for In-di-a and me.

Chorus

(Halifax Grannies)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

IT AIN’T GONNA RAIN NO MORE

(Seattle, 2001)

 

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!

(Monica Zucker)

 

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GOT GAS?

(tune: Marine Corps Hymn)

 

From Kuwait and Venezuela

The Arabian and Caspian Seas,

We will pump out all the planet’s oil

Just to fuel our SUVs.

We can get ten miles per gallon

As we guzzle gasoline.

Since we’ll always need a lot more oil,

We’ll just call out the Marines.

 

We will pave the way for Texaco,

For Standard, ARCO, too,

And Exxon, Shell and AMOCO—

But the cost is paid by you.

And some foreigners will lose their land

And their lives when we invade,

But we’ll get gas for our guzzling cars,

And enemies that we’ve made.

 

From Honduras for United Fruit,

To anywhere for our banks,

We will conquer anyplace, anytime,

Until we run out of tanks.

So we cultivate our image

As we dominate the skies—

Not to protect rights and values,

But big business enterprise!

(Glen Anderson, adapted by Laurie Rostholder)

 

MONSANTO’S CHEMICAL RESTAURANT (See CHEMICAL RESTAURANT)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

SAINTS—ENVIRONMENT

 

When food is free of pesticides,

When food is free of pesticides,

How I want to be in that number

When food is free of pesticides.

Variations

When old growth trees are left to stand…

When salmon streams have been restored…

When Hanford wastes have been cleaned up…

When wastes don’t flow to Puget Sound…

When all pollutants have been banned…

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS

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

 

Oh, we’re radical environmentalists,

We’re radical environmentalists,

We like clean air and clean water,

Just like the farmer’s daughter.

We’re radical environmentalists!

 

Oh, we like our veggies without pesticides,

And our meat without those hormones placed inside.

We like fish without PCBs,

And forests that still have some trees,

We’re radical environmentalists!

 

We like automobiles that do not pollute,

And we like guns that simply cannot shoot,

We like lawns grown without Weed ‘N Feed,

We don’t like those gene-spliced seeds,

We’re radical environmentalists!

 

So join these radical environmentalists,

Who want wind power and electric cars.

Recycle all your glass and paper,

And you can tell your maker,

You’re a radical environmentalist.

(Kay Thode)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

THE SYSTEM

(tune: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)

 

The bosses get millions in bonus,

The workers get minimum wage.

It’s time for a different system—

Let’s write a brand new page.

 

They’ve downsized the wages, not profits.

They’re managing all of our health.

It’s time for a new distribution—

Give workers their share of the wealth!

 

They’ve sent our jobs out of the country.

They’ve sent our jobs over the sea.

It’s time that we made a commotion!

Oh, get rid of FTAA for me.

FTAA, FTAA,

Oh, get rid of FTAA for me.

(Kay Thode)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

 

Health/Mental Health

BUY, BUY OUR BRAND!

(tune: Bye, Bye, Blackbird)

 

Buy our little purple pill—

It will cure your every ill.

            Buy, buy our brand!

If you feel the least bit sick,

Trust in us—our ads are slick.

            Buy, buy our brand!

 

Millions die in other lands

Cause they can’t afford our brands.

            Buy, buy our brand!

So pay the price—and buy some more.

Our goods are flying from the store.

            Buy, buy our brand!

 

            Get your doc to specify our brand name.

            Reject generics even though they’re just the same.

 

We’ve got purple pills galore,

And patent rights forevermore!

            Our brand! Buy, buy!

(Monica Zucker)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

LITTLE BROWN DRUG

(tune: Little Brown Jug)

 

The mate and I live all alone

In a cigarette farm we call our own.

Virginia Slims and Marlboro Man

We sell to every kid we can.

 

Chorus:            Cough, cough, cough, you and me

            Little brown drug don’t we love thee.

            Hack, hack, hack, you and me

            Little brown drug don’t we love thee.

 

Tobacco pushers say it’s not true

That cigarettes will hu-urt you/

But we all know that’s a joke--

Puff! Your life goes up in smoke.

Chorus

 

They pump in double nicotine

That tastes better to a teen.

They advertise at sports events:

“Help your lungs by smoking Kents.”

Chorus

 

Now they’re going overseas.

They want all the world to wheeze.

Don’t care for your health or mine—

Profits are the bottom line.

Chorus

(Edmonton Grannies)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

ODE TO THE MENTALLY ILL

(tune: I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy)

 

Mental illness, hell, I’m (we’re) crazy,

But there is a person here.

I am (we are) taking medication

Whose names make me (us) despair.

 

 Everyday we are courageous.

People need to know the scoop:

            We need housing,

            We need jobs,

            We need kind attention

To be a member of a group.

 

We’re not strangers and we’re lonely.

Why don’t you want us around.

We’re ignored and forgotten—

No wonder our anger abounds.

 

No one seems to want to help us

With the services we need.

Fifty million suffering persons

Waiting for acceptance—

One in four is in your family! (whisper: WOW!)

(Carolyn Hale)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

ON THE STREETS WHERE WE LIVE

(tune: On the Street Where You Live)

 

You must understand why we live out here.

You must know that we need not be any cause of fear.

We need treatment 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 here on the streets where we live.

(Monica Zucker)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

SAINTS--HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH

(tune: When the Saints Come Marching In)

 

When care is spelled L O V E,

When care is spelled L O V E,

How I want to be in that number,

When care is spelled L O V E.

 

Variations:

When health care is a right for all…

When mental health gets parity…

When people’s needs come first of all…

When facts are known and stigma ends…

When the message is that treatment works…

When care and hope give us new strength…

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

SINGLE PAYER BLUES

(tune: St. James Infirmary)

 

I went to the insurance company.

They turned my claim down there,

Said it wasn’t covered,

And they really didn’t care.

 

O, I went to see my doctor,

And he said he couldn’t spend

Fifteen minutes with me!

Such things have got to end.

 

Oh, my pills they cost me plenty,

And I know I’m going broke.

This new fangled health care,

Truly is no joke.

 

So, send Congress a message:

Pass single payer now!

We all really need it—

It’s good for us, AND HOW.

(Kay Thode)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

Labor/Sweatshops

MY LEAST FAVORITE THINGS

(tune: My Favorite Things)

 

Shirts from Honduras and Nikes from China,

Clothes made in sweatshops in North Carolina,

All wrapped in packages tied up with strings—

These are a few of my least favorite things.

What kind of labor lies behind the labels?

Did you think sweatshops were long-ago fables?

They’re very widespread in the Third World today.

Their products are sold just a few blocks away.

            If no one knows it,

            Let’s expose it—

            Make it go away.

            Refuse to buy goods

That aren’t made as they should!

Let us begin today!

 

Skirts made in Malaysia in sweatshop conditions,

Clothes sewn in Toronto for Northern Traditions,

All wrapped in packages tied up with strings—

These are a few of my least favorite things.

            If no one knows it,

            Let’s expose it—

            Make it go away.

Refuse to buy goods

          That aren’t made as they should

          Let us begin today!

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

SAINTS—LABOR

(tune: When the Saints Come Marching In)

 

When workers rise and organize

When workers rise and organize,

How I want to be in the number,

When workers rise and organize.

Variations:

When the union’s voice is heard…

When women’s work gets equal pay…

When trade is local, green and fair…

When WTO has been replaced…

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

Nuclear/Hanford

CELEBRATE

(tune: That’s the Glory of Love)

 

We’re gonna dance a little, prance a little,

Say goodbye to that reactor.

Heart of America,

You made it happen,

THANKS!

 

We’re gonna sing a little, chant a little,

Raise our glasses up a little.

We’re here to celebrate,

The end of Fast Flux,

For all time!

(Kay Thode)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

HANFORD VICTORY PARTY (January 28, 2002)

Sung To: Now That the Ball Is Over)

 

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 gets completely done.

 

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 demanding more dollars,

We will go on with the fight,

‘Til they’ve finished the cleanup

And the job has been done right.

(Kay Thode)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

Peace/War

AFGHAN SMART BOMBS

 (tune: Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay)

 

Heard the war news on TV?

Smart bombs fill the air you see,

Target only military

With their pinpoint accuracy.

            Afghan go boom de ay!

            Bombs never go astray.

            Some folks get in the way,

            But that’s the price you pay.

 

’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.

            We love Afghanistan!

            We’re after just one man,

            And evil Taliban.

            At least that is the plan.

 

Just as we did in Iraq,

Claim our smart bombs are on track.

Propaganda herds the pack—

That won’t bring the children back!

            Afghan go boom de ay!

            Smart bombs will win the day—

            Or that’s the game we play.

            Afghan go BOOM!

(Monica Zucker)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

AXIS OF EVIL         

(tune: It Ain’t Necessarily So)

 

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.

(Monica Zucker)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

 

GAGGLE AGAINST WAR
(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 MORE WAR!

 

With the starving wages they’re paying

To workers sweating and slaving,

The owners all thrive,

Can workers survive?

            NO MORE WAR!

 

            Whether it’s bin Laden

            Or Saddam Hussein,

            War is not the answer—

            BOMBS JUST KILL AND MAIM!

           

Soooo, join this gaggle of Grannies.

Get up off of your fannies!

We’re telling you now,

We’re angry and how!

            NO MORE WAR!

 

We really mean it—NO MORE WAR!

We mean precisely—NO MORE WAR!

We will say it very nicely—NO MORE WAR!

READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, No more war!)

(Raging Grannies Songbook, adapted)

 

GAGGLE AGAINST WAR (corrected)
(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 MORE WAR!

With all the money they're spending,
Plus the dollars they're lending,
We're going for broke--
This isn't a joke--NO MORE WAR!

Whether it’s bin Laden
Or Saddam Hussein,
War is not the answer--
BOMBS JUST KILL AND MAIM!

Soooo, join this gaggle of Grannies.
Get up off of your fannies!
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how!
NO MORE WAR!

We really mean it--NO MORE WAR!
We mean precisely--NO MORE WAR!
We will say it very nicely--NO MORE WAR!
READ OUR LIPS! (mouth) NO MORE WAR!)
(Version by Kay Thode)

 

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

IRAQ SANCTIONS 

(tune: Where Have All the Flowers Gone)

 

What good have the sanctions done?

Children are starving.

Saddam reigns upon his throne,

Children are dead.

Infrastructure all is gone,

Clean water there is none.

When will this ever end?

When will this ever end?

 

We must all unite to lift

These senseless sanctions.

We must spread the word about

What has been done.

Let us never stop until

There is no more slaughter.

We must see that it ends.

We must see that it ends.

(Kay Thode)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

MISSILE SHIELD

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

 

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!

(Monica Zucker)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

OH, LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

(Using themes of Stuart Heady)

 

Oh, little town of Bethlehem,

Surrounded by guns and tanks,

The children walk amid the threat

Of ever closing ranks.  

            Wise men survey the rubble,

            Remains of Paradise.

            The hopes and fears of all the years

            Are drowned in children’s cries.

Oh, little town of Bait Jala,

A’burning in the night,

The olive trees are seared and black,

And shepherds all take flight.

            And as the missile thunders,

            The helicopter aims.

            The hopes and fears of all the years

            Are perished in the flames.

Oh, little towns of Palestine,

Cut off by settlers’ roads,

Where poverty’s enforced by guns,

What dire future bodes?

            Though peace on earth was promised,

            And everlasting light,

            The hopes and fears of all the years

            Are met in thee tonight.

(Monica Zucker)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

PACK UP YOUR MISSILES

(tune: Pack Up Your Troubles)

 

Pack up your missiles

And disarm them all,

And make no more.

It is disarmament

Makes us stand tall—

Not weapons of war.

 

What’s the use of missiles,

They’re only used to kill.

So, pack up your missiles

And disarm them all—

It just takes will.

(Kay Thode)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

PEACE IN THE WORLD

(tune: All Through the Night)

 

Lives were lost, a country damaged,

Terror unfurled.

Revenge and blame will never get us

Peace in the world.

While the nations grieve in sorrow,

Together we will face tomorrow.

Combine our strength and join our call for

Peace in the world.

 

Women work with determination for

Peace in the world.

Tell our leaders and our nations,

Peace in the world.

We need faith and trust and kindness,

No more fighting, no more blindness.

Freedom is the goal we strive for—

Peace in the world.

(Kelowna Raging Grannies)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

PEACE, PEACE

 

Peace, peace, peace, peace.

Wars must end and wars must cease!

We must learn to live together.

Peace, peace, peace,

Peace, peace, peace.

SAINTS—WAR

(tune: When the Saints Come Marching In)

 

When we make peace instead of war,

When we make peace instead of war,

How I want to be in that number,

When we make peace instead of war.

Variations:

When all the world has human rights…

When Iraq sanctions are no more…

When there’s just peace in Palestine…

When no land mines can kill a child…

When all Afghans unite in peace…

When justice rules instead of arms…

When East Timor can live again…

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE WAR BUSINESS

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

 

There’s no business like war business,

The best business we know.

Never mind the homeless and the hungry!

Never mind the people without jobs!

Nowhere can you get that special feeling

Like when you’re piling up the bombs.

 

There’s no business like war business,

The best business we know.

Sixty seconds spending is a lot of bucks,

It seems a lot, but golly shucks,

The same amount buys food and clothes for all the world—

For all of the world!

 

(Dance interlude, with kazoos)

 

(tune: Goody, Goody)

So you bought yourself some Trident submarines—goody, goody!

With the power of several thousand Hiroshimes—goody, goody!

Speak:   Did you think that these would fix

              The problems we must lick

              Like the millions without food and homes

              And water not fit to drink?

 

(March; tune: Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay)

Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay!

We don’t like war today.

The bombs are now passé,

They must be put away.

 

Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay!

War doesn’t work no more.

It could go nuclear!

Ta ra ra BOOM!

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

WASTEFUL MILITARY SPENDING       

(tune: Frere Jacques)

 

Taxes unending, military spending

What a waste! What a waste!

Reinstate some sanity—

Turn it to humanity.

Work for peace! Work for peace!

(Edmonton Grannies)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

YELLOW SUBMARINE

(About Bangor, Washington, home of Trident)

           

In the town where we reside

There are certain things we’d like to hide.

Yes, our harbor’s very quaint,

But at times it seems like what it ain’t.

All the tourists walk around

Thinking this is such a pretty town.

It’s so clean and safe and pure,

Nothing dangerous, that’s for sure.

 

            What about those Trident submarines,

            Trident submarine, Trident submarines?

What about those Trident submarines,

Trident submarines, Trident submarines?

 

Politicians like to say,

“We’ll look into this right away.

Nukes are not our favorite toys,

But we can’t offend the other boys.

Ladies, please, don’t be alarmed.

We can guarantee you won’t be harmed.

Now, let’s smile like we agree

For our photo opportunity.

 

            We don’t want those Trident submarines,

            Trident submarine, Trident submarines!

We don’t want those Trident submarines,

            Trident submarines, Trident submarines!

(Victoria Grannies)

 

RETURN TO RECENT SONG INDEX

DON’T MAKE WAR ON THE “AXIS”!
(tune: Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear from Me)

 

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!
(Monica Zucker)

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EIGHTY-SEVEN BILLION
(tune: Sixteen Tons)

 

Eighty-seven billion and what do we get?
A lot more trouble and deeper in debt.
Dubya, don't you ask us cuz the answer will be
We won't sell our souls to the GOP!
We're the Raging Grannies, now listen up!
You're making a mess and we've had enough!
We're gathering steam, it's time for change,
So rent a U-Haul and start packing you thangs!
Now there's an election in two thousand four.
It's our chance to boot them out the door.
We've got the power and we've got the will,
So get out and vote the bums off the hill!

Repeat first verse
(Tacoma Raging Grannies)

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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.

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HOW MUCH IS THIS WAR GOING TO COST US?
(tune: How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?)

 

How much is this war going to cost us?
As it breaks bonds with good families?
How can we as ca-aring people
Trust Bush with the presidency?
Bush won't do much to support them
When troops return ho-ome to staaay.
It hurts to find families with children
Lose benefits from the V.A.

How much is this war going to cost us
As more troops are sent to the fraay?
No one knows how much war will affect them.
May they come back home safely one day.

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IRAQ SMART BOMBS
(tune: Ta Ra Ra Boom de Ay)

 

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!
(Monica Zucker)

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LIBERATION RAP
(spoken)

 

Wanna liberate a country?
Well I'll tell you what to do:
Bomb the lights and the water
And spread DU.
(Depleted Uranium, that is.)
Loot all the treasure and
When that's done.
Set up military bases
For the long run.
Wanna liberrate another
When one's under our control?
Say it has WMD--
We're on a roll.
Maybe we'll pick Syria,
Maybe Iran.
Or is it North Korea
That fits our plan?

Wherever there's a region
That we want to control,
We'll send our troops and bombers
To achieve our goal.
No one else has our power
And the U.N. is done,
So we'll soon control the whole world
Everywhere beneath the sun.
(Kay Thode)

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SCHOOL OF THE ASSASSINS
(tune: My Country 'Tis of Thee)

 

(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!
(Monica Zucker)

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TAKE DOWN THE WALL (Palestine)
Tune: Adams Family Snap, Snap

 

Chorus:
Take down the wall! Snap, Snap
Take down the wall! “ “
Take down the wall, take down the wall,
Take down the wall, Snap, Snap.
We must all take a stand
It’s wrong to grab more land,
Such actions must be banned,
We must take down the wall.

Chorus:
Return confiscated lands,
Extend a helping hand,
This is our demand,
We must take down the wall.

Chorus:
Keeping folks from care,
Leads to more despair,
And rage builds everywhere,
We must take down the wall.

Chorus:
Don’t let our tax bucks go,
To make more hate and woe,
Stop building the wall with our dough,
We must take down the wall.

Final rousing chorus
(Kay Thode)

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THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE WAR BUSINESS, revised words
(tune--There's No Business like Show Business)

 

There's no business like war business,
The best business we know.
Never mind the homeless and the hungry!
Never mind the people without jobs!
Nowhere can you get that special feeling
Like when you're piling up the bombs.
There's no business like war business,
The best business we know.
Sixty seconds' spending is a lot of bucks,
It seems a lot, but golly shucks,
The same amount buys food and clothes
For all the world, for all of the world!
(Dance interlude, with kazoos)
(tune: Goody, Goody)
Now you stole yourself a new supply of oil--
Goody, goody!
And IT'S loCATED on Iraqi soil--
Goody, goody!
(spoken) Did you think that this would fix
The problems we must lick,
Like million without food and homes
And water not fit to drink?
(Kazoos; tune Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay)
Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay!
We don't like war today.
The bombs are now passe--
They must be put away.

Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay!
War doesn't work no more.
It could go nuclear!
Ta ra ra BOOM!

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THE WALL (Palestine)
(tune: My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean)

 

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.
Chorus:
Take down, take down,
Take down those huge prison wa-a-alls.
Take down, take down,
Take down those huge prison walls.
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!

Chorus
(Monica Zucker)

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WAKE UP, AMERICA
(tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

 

Wake up, America!
Work for peace, not war.
Justice and freedom and rights for all
Are what we're standing for.
End the war in Palestine,
Export arms no more.
No new bombing of Iraq--
Don't start another war.

Wake up, America!
It's time to work for peace.
No more bombs or missiles or guns--
Making war must cease.
(Kay Thode)

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WAR HAWKS
(tune: Red, Red Robin)

 

When the war hawks in Washington
Start putting armor on,
Should we make war?
Must we start the killing
Cause they’re unwilling
To talk some more?
Wake up, wake up, America!
Rise up! Stop this hysteria.
Be mighty wary o’
U.S. world domination!
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?

We never could agree
With no diplomacy
And temper on boil,
When the war hawks in Washington
Put their armor on for war.
(Monica Zucker)

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WE AIN'T GONNA WAR NO MORE!
(tune: It Ain't Gonna Rain No More)

 

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!
(Monica Zucker)

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WHERE ARE THE WEAPONS?
(tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic)

 

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!
(Monica Zucker, based on a song by the
Sonoma County, California, Grannies)

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Social Justice/Welfare

GAGGLE AGAINST CUTS

(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 MORE CUTS!

 

With all the money they’re spending,

Plus the dollars they’re lending,

They’re behaving like butts

With those welfare cuts—

            NO MORE CUTS!

 

            Stop cutting service programs--

            It’s patently unfair.

            Fund needed human services

            SHOW THAT YOU REALLY CARE!

 

Soooo, join this gaggle of Grannies.

Get up off of your fannies!

We’re telling you now,

We’re angry and how!

            NO MORE CUTS!

 

We really mean it—NO MORE CUTS!

We mean precisely—NO MORE CUTS!

We will say it very nicely—NO MORE CUTS!

READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, No more cuts!)

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

 

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HOUSING SONG

(tune: Sweet Betsy from Pike)

 

There are millions who’re sle-eping out in the street.

Clutching their bundles they all have no heat,

No place to call home or bed for their head—

They’re lucky if some of them even get fed.

 

In this rich prosperous country wouldn’t you think

We could house all the homeless as quick as a wink,

If we weren’t spending billions on weapons of war.

Get out of Afghanistan! Make war no more.

 

When wages are too low to pay the high rent,

And cities refuse to even put up a tent,

It’s time for a change—on that we agree.

More bucks for housing, not military!

More bucks for housing, not military!

(Kay Thode)

 

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MOCKINGBIRD SCHOOLS

(tune: Hush, Little Children)

 

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!

(Monica Zucker)

 

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SAINTS—WELFARE

(tune: When the Saints Come Marching In)

 

When welfare grants meet basic needs,

When welfare grants meet basic needs,

How I want to be in that number,

When welfare grants meet basic needs.

Variations:

When no one is without a home…

When mothers’ work gets some respect…

When workers get a living wage…

When poverty has been erased…

WELFARE CLOCK

(Rap)

 

The clock is tickin’ day by day,

Thanks to “reform” welfare’s going away.

Who cares if you’re hungry

Or can’t pay the rent?

Jobs are the answer

Said the President…Clinton, that is.

Now five years are up

On the welfare clock.

There’ll be more homeless

Sleeping on the block.

It’s time to pay moms

Who take care of their kids.

Raise the grants!

Lift the lid!

(Kay Thode)

 

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WHOSE WELFARE?

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

 

If you’re rich and ask for welfare, they will come.

If you’re rich and ask for welfare, they will come.

They will grant a new exemption

From state and local taxes,

They will grant a new exemption when they come.

 

If you’re poor and ask for welfare, they will come.

If you’re poor and ask for welfare, they will come.

They will tell you there’s a limit,

And YOU have reached that limit,

They will tell you there’s no welfare, when they come.

 

If you’re poor and cold and homeless, they will come.

If you’re poor and cold and homeless, they will come.

They will kick you off the sidewalk

And say (speak)“You’re bad for business”

They will kick you off the sidewalk when they come.

 

So it’s time to build a movement, yes it is.

Oh, it’s time to build a movement, yes it is.

That will help the poor and needy—

(speak) NOT the corporate greedy!

Oh, it’s time to build a movement that helps all.

(Kay Thode)

 

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WORK FIRST LAMENT

(tune: Ol’ Man River)

 

Slavin’ at Work First, we start at daybreak,

Gettin’ the kids up and off to day care,

And then get the bus and work nine hours till dusk.

 

When work is over, we get the kiddies,

And do the shoppin’ and then the cookin’,

But laundry’s waitin’ and kids have homework to do.

 

Welfare moms all sweat and slave

At dead end jobs for minimum wage,

Work all day, then at night,

Keep getting poorer, no end in si-ight.  

 

We are tired and sick of tryin’.

Can’t pay the rent and the kids are tryin’.

But the welfare clo-ock, it just keeps tickin’,

It just keeps tickin’ along.

(Kay Thode)

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Women’s Issues

DANGER IN THE NIGHT

(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!

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993)

 

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OH, DEAR, WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE?

 

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.

There physique is always insurable,

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!

(Edmonton Grannies)

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
(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.
(Monica Zucker)

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Violence/Guns

GAGGLE AGAINST GUNS

(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 MORE GUNS!

 

The NRA likes its shooting.

Its influence is polluting.

We need to portray

A much better way.

            NO MORE GUNS!

 

            We need to solve the problems

That underlie this mess.

Poverty, despair addictions,

Are issues to address!

 

Soooo, join this gaggle of Grannies.

Get up off of your fannies!

We’re telling you now,

We’re angry and how!

            NO MORE GUNS!

 

We really mean it—NO MORE GUNS!

We mean precisely—NO MORE GUNS!

We will say it very nicely—NO MORE GUNS!

READ OUR LIPS! (mouth silently, No more guns!)

(The Raging Grannies Songbook, 1993, adapted by Laurie Rostholder)

 

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Other

EAST TIMOR INDEPENDENCE (May 2002)
(tune: It's a Grand Old Flag)

 

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!
(Monica Zucker)


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FIDEL
(tune: Banana Boat Song)

 

FI-DEL, OHO FI-DEL!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
How can you be such a stubborn man?
FOR FORTY-TWO YEARS WE'VE HAD A BOCKADE.
How can you be such a stubborn man?
STILL YOU REFUSE TO SEE THINGS OUR WAY!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
COME ON FIDEL, DON'T YOU WANT OUR MONEY?
How can you be such a stubborn man?
COME ON FIDEL, DON'T YOU WANT SOME FREE TRADE?
How can you be such a stubborn man?
TEN YEARS, 20 YEARS, 30 YEARS MORE. UGH!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
TEN YEARS, 20 YEARS, 30 YEARS MORE. UGH!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
FI-DEL, OHO FI-DEL!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
How can you be such a stubborn man?

CAPITALISM IS REALLY COOL!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
YOU CAN GET REALLY RICH AND SHUT DOWN YOUR SCHOOLS.
How can you be such a stubborn man?
WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT HEALTH AND EDUCATION?
How can you be such a stubborn man?
YOU CAN MAKE MORE MONEY WITH A CAPITALIST NATION!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
FI-DEL, OHO FI-DEL!
How can you be such a stubborn man?
How can you be such a stubborn man?
(slowly) FI-DEL, OHO FI-DEL!
(slowly) How can you be such a stubborn man?
Gail MacDonald, Bellingham Raging Grannies

 

 

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VOTING SONG
(tune: Addams Family Theme)

 

Chorus:
Get out and vote! (snap, snap)
Get out and vote! (snap, snap)
Get out and vote! Get out and vote!
Get out and vote! (snap, snap)

It's time to take a stand
On issues in the land.
Don't bury your head in sand--
Get off your duff and vote!

Chorus:
Young and old alike
Claim our hard fought fight.
Exercise that right:
Get off your duff and vote!

Chorus:
Don't gripe if you have not
Marked the ballot spot
To register your thought.
Get off your duff and vote!

Chorus:
Vote by absentee.
Keep this country free.
Join you and you and me:
Get off your duff and vote!

Chorus (twice)
(Karen Schneider-Chen et al.)

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