Listen&Watch

When caravans approach our lands
when caravans approach our lands
Well I want to be in that number 
When we all can lend a hand 

When families are forced to flee 
To the land of the Not Quite Free 
Well I want to be in that number
When we welcome the refugee

Economies are broke and bent
By the 1/10th of 1% 
Dictatorships deployed 
Local industry destroyed 
We say enough, let the people be free

And when our friends must emigrate
Escaping terror from the state
Just like ref-u-gees 
Throughout history
They will make our country great 

Boss Tweet harangues 
He talks of gangs
They’re coming here to kill, he barks 
But we know it’s just a distraction
From the rule of oligarchs 

The USA has had its way 
The IMF and CIA
Honduras and El Salvador 
We’ve got to open up the door 
Welcome in strangers and kin 
Welcome in 

When there’s a coup
Rule by the few 
I know just what we’re gonna do 
We will welcome our sisters 
And brothers 
Including LGBTQ

So welcome in 
Strangers and kin
Let’s live together 
We all win 
You’ve got the freedom to be moving
Your life to be improving
Welcome in welcome in welcome in

Eurovision, my decision
They are not ok
If they’re songwashing settler land grabs
I just walk away
To invite me guess they must be
Desperately seeking branding
To sing worldwide for apartheid
That’s not where I’m standing

Cause we are
Living in an imperial world
But I am no imperial girl
You know that we are
living in an imperial world
But I am no imperial girl

Roger Waters, Lorde and Lauren
Hill will not be singing
If I cross that picket line
More massacres they’re bringing
(I) instagrammed for cease-fi-er
We’ve got to save the children
I even posted years ago that
“I love Palestinians”

and we are
Living in an imperial world
But I am no imperial girl
(You know that we are)
living in an imperial world
But I am no imperial girl

A billionaire will pay one mill
For a two song intermission
And glory be I can’t conceive of that much narcissism
I won’t sing for a thing that really is
State terrorism
I won’t put a pretty face on their expansionism

cause we are
Living in an imperial world
But I am no imperial girl
You know that we are
living in an imperial world
But I am no imperial girl

Freight train:
Single payer is the deal
Guaranteed health care for real
Profiting from suffering
Is not the way to go

Somewhere over the rainbow:
Health care has been a no-show
Price too high
And the schemes of insurers
Have left us high and dry
Somewhere over the rainbow
We break through
When we fight for our right
To health care for me and you

Folsom Prison Blues:
I hear that train a-comin’
It’s Medicare for all
This health insurance profits game is bound to fall
Yes we’re stuck inside this prison
They’ve got us feelin’ small – it’s time for a brawl, y’all!
Cause were coming to our senses
It’s Medicare for all

Oh my name is Smedley Butler, Major General to you
Got a little story, kinda gory, you’ll be glad when I am through
I admit it was a sin, take only two minutes to vent
120 seconds, and I reckon it’ll be well-spent

I spent 33 years and 4 months in active military service
In this country’s most agile military force, the Marines
I served in all commissioned ranks from 2nd Lieutenant to Major-General
And all the while I spent most of my time in sordid scenes
Being a high-class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the Bankers
I don’t say this out of any kind of perverse egotism
But in short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914
I helped make Haiti, and Cuba, decent for the National City Bank boys to
collect revenues, I helped
purify Nicaragua for the banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909
I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916
In China I helped Standard Oil say hey, it’s all mine

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room say, a swell racket
Looking back at it, I could have given Al Capone some hints how to attack it
The best he could do was operate in three districts, not so immense
I operated on three continents

For one another
We are marching
Sister and brother
We are marching
Father and mother
We are marching
For each other we are here

For the homeless
We are marching
For the jobless
We are marching
For the imprisoned
We are marching
For each other we are here

For the immigrants
We are marching
For the refugees
We are marching
For the indigenous
We are marching
For each other we are here

And for Ferguson
We are marching
And for Standing Rock
We are marching
And for Palestine
We are marching
For each other we are here

How much is that judgeship in the window?
The one with the balancing scale
How much is that judgeship in the window?
I do hope that judgeship’s for sale

I believe all corporations were created as a prequel
To the leadership of those too big to fail
And when we have alighted in the Congress and been knighted
Not that we were invited and our love is not requited
To make up for that we call ourselves Citizens United

They say dollars and democracy don’t mix
One swallows the other – guess which
I’m accused of gaming the system
You’re just blaming the victimizer
‘Cause money is speech, oh yes lots of it
A vote is fine but money is above it
Buying elections, you gotta love it
money wins every time, it’s no crime

Don’t donate to a candidate, that would be too brash
The chamber of commerce will redeploy your cash
Make creative use of intermediaries
Launder your cash, to keep elections clean
A rising tide lifts all votes
Some a little higher so they stay afloat
Every politician has his or her price
Who’s to decide if that is or isn’t nice?

I’m an innovator, I’m on the cutting edge
If things need improvement I just buy a new ledge
-islature, a rose by any nomenclature
Is still a rose it’s just the one I impose

Don’t be shy with the corporate cash
Democracy’s a billion dollar bash
Though they say corporate government is fash….ism
That can’t happen here.
Maybe in Germany or Italy but never here at home
Where the people all have health care and the buffalo still roam
Yeah!….

The sky’s the limit, my guy’s gonna win it, power? He’ll be at its hub
To prepare for his election he’s puttin’ in his hours at the country club
If you miss me at the voting booth
You can’t find me there
Come on over to the ad agency
I’ll be buyin it there

I’ll be buyin it there, I’ll be buyin it there
Come on over to the TV studio
I’ll be buyin it there
All you fools are my tools, I’ve seen to that
Through sub-standard schools and media that
I won’t mention, and I didn’t
You didn’t hear it, you were never here

You know democracy is not so much about what you do
It’s about what you choose on pay per view
Remember corporations are people too
A major donor is a system owner
And when we have alighted in the Congress and been knighted
Not that we were invited and our love is not requited
To make up for that we call ourselves Citizens United