Song List for the Hoosier Raging Grannies February 2009
1. We grannies work for peace
2. For every Sexuality
3. Cooking Up Peace
4. I watched it at home on TV
5. Bail out the people
6. Old Gray Granny
7. Obama We don’t need the War
8. I Come From Indiana
9. Sound Off (recruiter’s song)
10. This Land is Made for you and Me
11. Stock Market (RR)
12. Radical Environmentalists
13. We Grannies will rage on
14. Bicycle Song
15. Away in a Sweatshop
16. Oh, How I want to be in that country.
WE GRANNIES WORK FOR PEACE
(Tune: The Farmer In the Dell)
We Grannies work for peace
We work that wars might cease
We sing our songs condemning wrongs
And hope to tame this beast.
We Grannies know for sure
The price that’s paid for war
We’ve sadly lived through many, and
We don’t want any more.
We say it’s an offense
To slaughter innocents
Destroying health and lives defies
Morality and sense.
War kills and maims, destroys
Ends lives and hopes and joys
We Grannies call for No More War
Please do not buy war toys.
No More War
No More War
No More War
And when this cause is won
And war is really done
Will we go home to sit and knit???
Fade off?
Not us!!!
Rage On!!!
For Every Sexuality
Tune: When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
Source: Fredericton Gaggle
Let’s sing out for our citizens
Hip, hip hurray
For every sexuality
For straight and gay
Isn’t it fine for us to see
A little more diversity
And we’ll all feel gay when
Gay pride comes to town
This is a cause to celebrate
A time to cheer
Maybe we could stop thinking straight
For once my dear
Sexuality isn’t straight
There are some things you can’t legislate
And we’ll all feel gay when
Gay pride comes to town
Get ready for a big parade
We’ll sing and shout
Because our gays and lesbians
Are coming out
The closet’s not a friendly place
Let’s give them a little space
And we’ll all feel gay when
Gay pride comes to town
COOKING UP PEACE
(Tune: Hey, Good Lookin’!)
Hey, I’ve been lookin’
For peace, I’ve been lookin’
How’s about cookin’ some of it up with me?
Hey, for the babies
Don’tcha think maybe?
We’d replace war with a brand-new recipe?
I got a heart full-o-hope and it’s goin’ on still
Let’s march a little more right over the hill
There’s a TIME comin’ soon when this country will see
WAR IS NO ANSWER – PEACE GOTTA BE!
Oh, hey, good lookin’
Together we’re cookin’
Up plans for a brand-new, peace-style recipe!
I WATCHED IT AT HOME ON TV
(My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean) by Gillian Edwards
A MILLION SOULS DIED IN RWANDA
I’M NOT SURE HOW THAT AFFECTS ME
BUT I DO KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THE KILLING
I WATCHED IT AT HOME ON TV
ENDLESS WARS GO ON IN GAZA
AND NO MATTER WHICH SIDE THAT YOU SEE
INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE DYING
I WATCHED IT AT HOME ON TV
WOMEN BEING RAPED IN DARFUR
MILLIONS HAVING TO FLEE
WHOLE FAMILIES LIVING IN TERROR
I WATCHED IT AT HOME ON TV
STOP WARS, STOP WARS
WE MUST STOP THE KILLING RIGHT NOW, SOMEHOW,
STOP WARS, STOP WARS,
WE MUST STOP THE KILLING RIGHT NOW
WE ALL MUST GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING
NO MATTER HOW SMALL IT MAY BE
WE CAN’T STOP THE WARS AND THE KILLING
BY WATCHING IT AT HOME ON TV
STOP WARS, STOP WARS
WE MUST STOP THE KILLING RIGHT NOW, SOMEHOW,
STOP WARS, STOP WARS,
WE MUST STOP THE KILLING RIGHT NOW
Bail Out the People
(Tune: “Roll Out the Barrel”)
Lyrics by Vicki Ryder/Revised by W. MA. Song Committee 1/09
Bail out the people
Give them the money they need.
To hell with the bankers
Who suffer from terminal greed.
Bail out the people,
That’s where our taxes should go.
We say no bailouts to bankers
Or to the big three CEOs.
We hate to say it
Fascism seems to have come:
The poor, they go hungry,
We bail out the corporate scum.
They take our tax money
And send all our jobs overseas.
We’re losing our health care and homes now,
While the rich do as they please.
Layoffs are rising
And more folks are now unemployed.
Whatever happened
To the land of the free we enjoyed?
It’s time for the Grannies
To rise up and now take a stand!
We’ll rage to bail out the people
And we’ll shout out, “Yes, we can!”
This Old Gray Granny
“F” (“The Old Gray Mare”)
Lyrics © by Vicki Ryder
This OLD gray Granny ain’t what she used to be,
HAD a hysterectomy, NEEDS a colonoscopy,
But SHE can’t afford to PAY for her care and so
I GUESS we’ll have to shoot her now.
‘Cause WHERE is she supposed to go
WHEN she doesn’t have the dough?
She DARE not get sick without health insurance so
I GUESS we’ll have to shoot her now.
This OLD gray Granny SPLITS all her pills in half.
The DRUG companies just laugh;
Their PROFITS are off the graph.
But GRANNY can’t afford to PAY for her pills and so
I GUESS we’ll have to shoot her now.
‘Cause WHAT is she supposed to do
When MONEY for the rent is due?
She CAN’T buy pills and GROCERIES, too, and so
I GUESS we’ll have to shoot her now.
This OLD gray Granny NOW needs a test or two.
Her BOOB has a lump, it’s true. But WHAT is she supposed to do?
She CAN’T pay the bill so she’ll JUST have to muddle through.
I GUESS we’ll have to shoot her now.
Well, GRANNY’s old but she is wise.
She KNOWS we have to organize,
So CALL up your rep and your SENators, too.
We want HEALTH care for us all!
Just GIVE your Representatives a call,
And TELL ‘em we need health care, one and all!
Then OLD gray granny WON’T have to worry
‘Cause we WILL not have to SHOOT her after all!
Obama We Don’t Need This War
(tune: It Ain’t Necessarily So lyrics by Shirley Wittman NYC Metro R.G.)
Obama, we don’t need the war
We don’t want the war anymore
We told our last leader
But he was a cheater:
“We don’t want the war anymore”
Obama, get out of Iraq
Get out and don’t ever go back!
We’re glad you’re elected
And now you’re expected
To pull out the troops from Iraq
Obama we send you this song
It’s not that you’ll never go wrong
But we must remind you
That we stand behind you
Just pull out where we don’t belong
More fighting in Afghanistan
Is part of the same lousy plan
Civilians are dying
In this war you’re buying
Obama, we need a new plan
Obama We Don’t Need This War
I Come from Indiana
to the tune of Oh, Susanna. This one written by Sandy Ducey
Oh, I come from Indiana with my heart upon my sleeve
I’m coming here to sing to you of that which I believe.
A world of hope and dignity is every person’s right
A life of joy and hope and love will fill us with the light/
Chorus:
Oh my kinfolk now come along with me.
We’re headed for the promise land
What life right now can be
It ain’t so hard to sit and mope regretting what is not
It takes a heart and open eyes to see what we have got.
The beauty of this blessed land’s a gift to one and all
Just get on up and walk the path we’ll catch you if you fall.
Chorus
The other night I had a dream when everything was still
I thought I saw a world of light in valley and on hill
The air was soft, the smell was fine, the sun it shone on all
My heart took flight into the stars in answer to the call
Chorus
Recruiter’s Song
I don’t know but I’ve been told,
Recruiters gettin’ way too bold.
Hear closely what recruiters say.
They will trick you anyway.
Recruiters tell you lots of lies,
But they don’t tell you, you might die.
There’s a quota they must fill.
They send you off and get you killed.
If you listen to their lies
You can kiss your ass good-bye.
f YOU get DEployed to Iraq,
You, my dear, might not come back.
And don’t count on those benefits,
They’ll leave you flat if you get sick.
Raising kids takes time and toil.
We wont let them die for oil.
Sound off Sound off
Sound off Sound off
Sound off- one, two three, four,
NO WAR!
I’ve been working for the Bankers
(Tune: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad)
I’ve been working now for ages
All my lifetime through
Paying FICA on my wages
Till my pension now is due
Then my company went bankrupt
Ate up the pension fund (and more)
Social Security Trust Fund
Just bankrolled all those wars
Oh, Wall Street why’d you blow
Wall Street why’d you blow
Wall Street why’d you blow my IRA?
Wall Street why’d you blow
Wall Street why’d you blow
Wall Street why’d you blow my cash?
Something fishy going on with bankers
Something fishy going on and o-on.
Something fishy going on with bankers
Fiddling away my cash!
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o,
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o,
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o,
Fiddling away my cash!
This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie
Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
I’ve roamed and rambled and I’ve followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
As I was walkin’ – I saw a sign there
And that sign said – no tress passin’
But on the other side …. it didn’t say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!
Chorus
In the squares of the city – In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office – I see my people
And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’
If this land’s still made for you and me.
Chorus (2x)
We Grannies Will Rage On
(Tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic)
(Lyrics: Vicki Ryder, Rochester Raging Grannies; 1st verse- Corinne Willinger)
1. We’re the Raging Grannies an-d we will not retreat.
We send our message far and wide to everyone we greet
We tell the world that we’re in style but war is obsolete,
We Grannies will rage on!
Chorus:
Move on over, or we’ll move on over you,
Move on over, we’re the Grannies trekking through!
Move on over, or we’ll move on over you,
We Grannies will rage on!
2. We’ve been around a time or two, and lived through lots of wars,
And seen the senseless killing on so many distant shores.
We’re here to say that they can’t take our grandkids anymore!
We Grannies will rage on!
Chorus:
Move on over, or we’ll move on over you,
Move on over, we’re the Grannies trekking through!
Move on over, or we’ll move on over you,
We Grannies will rage on!
3. They thought that if they jailed us we would meekly go away,
But they didn’t know that Grannies always have to have their say.
We say this war must end and all our troops come home today!
We Grannies will rage on!
Chorus:
Move on over, or we’ll move on over you,
Move on over, we’re the Grannies trekking through!
Move on over, or we’ll move on over you,
We Grannies will rage on!
HOME ON THE RANGE
Oh give me a home
with a fixed rate bank loan
and a mortgage that I can afford
I’m about to lose mine
with my payments behind
and a wage that won’t buy room and board
Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
now that seldom is heard an encouraging word
we’ll be asking them if we can stay
Bicycle Song (key of A)
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!
Won’t you wish that we had commuter trains,
Proper bike paths and friendly bicycle lanes?
Who needs an eight lane highway?
Why can’t they do it my way?
We’ll clean the air, have dough to spare
If only we used our brains.
Repeat first verse.
Away in a Sweatshop (key of A)
(tune:Away in a manger)
Away in a sweatshop where no one can see
The immigrant seamtresses work constantly
Conditions are awful, the pay is absurd
The boss he will fire them if they say a word.
Away in a fact’ry, an ocean away
Young girls making shoes for a dollar a day.
Please do not complain about exploitation.
Cause this factory’s in a Most Favored Nation.
Away in the Congress, the Senators fat
Count up their PAC dollars, pass NAFTA and GATT
They couldn’t care less about workers in need
They’ve traded their conscience to service their greed!
Oh how I want to be in that country
(to When the saints go marching……..)
When everyone has equal rights
When everyone has equal rights
Oh how I want to be in that COUNTRY
When everyone has equal rights
When health care is a right for all………..
When we make peace instead of war………
When taxes go for schools not jails…………..
When corporate rule is history……………..
When gays are free to live their lives…………..
When old growth tress are left to stand………
When women and girls get more respect ………
When Congress speaks for you and me.
Repeat first verse
Notice the change to country from “number”
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