DECLARATION OF WAR
©2001 Ethan Miller
(edit: read this carefully and you will know where i stand.
Also i am proud to say the song is written and performed by a member of our community---do not quote without crediting Ethan Miller---this is a great song to hear with your ears).
In terms of how it is sung, it is sung with strength, the blood drip sarcasm laced thru out.
Declaration of War
In times of war the folksingers are supposed to write peace songs,
Go to candlelight vigils and lead all the people in sing-alongs,
Say make love not war and have no vengeance on your enemies,
Meet violence with love, and anger and hatred with empathy
Now don't get me wrong, I ain't got nothin' against peace songs,
Or goin' to rallies to call for an end to the guns and the bombs,
But in times like these I feel compelled to declare my support
For a radical new escalation of our war effort.
------------------------------------------
CHORUS
This ain't no peace song.
This is a declaration of war.
And this ain't no sing-along.
This is the rise of a mighty roar.
------------------------------------------
When the towers came down everyone looked around for a culprit
And the media moguls and corporate elites took the pulpit,
"Ain't no fault of ours that all these people are angry.
They must be hungry for power or crazy with envy."
Draped in a flag they are pointing away at the enemy.
"United we stand." they say, cleverly shirking complicity.
"Don't ask any questions, just follow us, we will show you the way.
Rise up America, come bomb another impoverished nation today."
------------------------------------------
CHORUS
------------------------------------------
Now just look around as the bombs hit the ground, tell me what do you see
Are the ones callin' the shots your friends or your enemies?
Who are the victims? Who are the innocent? And who commits crimes?
And who gets to spin the answers next day frontpage on the New York Times?
And furthermore, if I may ask, who are they anyway?
Who can give us our freedom and then with one vote they can take it all away.
Well, I do declare they've exceeded their share of the oxygen,
And we will not stand for one more command from their lips again.
------------------------------------------
CHORUS
------------------------------------------
An eye for an eye will leave us all blind. I have heard it said.
Yes, but peace without justice and struggle will surely leave a million more dead.
So stand up on your feet and take to the streets, this is no time for fear.
Call us traitors or spies and spread all your lies, but we will persevere.
It's been said before and I'll say it once more, let's bring the war home,
To battle the forces of greed and injustice wherever they may roam.
United we'll stand, here in this land of hypocrisy,
To take back our lives from the rulers and build a democracy.
------------------------------------------
CHORUS
------------------------------------------
No more will we stand idly by
While they ravage the earth and hurl flame from the sky.
No more we'll be silenced, no more we'll be still.
No more will be pillaged, no more will be killed.
No more silent vigils, this time we will roar.
We'll call out the traitors and we will declare war.
On the oil executives, corporate elites,
Wall Street vigilantes in mountain retreats
IMF bureaucrats, Monsanto thugs,
CIA agents with taps and with bugs,
Rich greedy landlords and real estate crooks,
Corporate lawyers with corporate law books,
Fascists in the White House and fools on the Hill,
Puppets in uniform, guns set to kill,
Racist avengers and pentagon brutes,
Slick politicians and bankers in suits,
Old money, new money, privileged few,
Owners of Nike, Chevron, and GQ
Pesticide pushers of chemical war,
Econ departments, Walmart superstores,
Kings and their armies and princes and dukes,
Religious zealots who kill for the truth,
Free trade agreements and global control,
Smokestacks and gasoline and ozone holes...
This ain't no peace song.
In times of war the folksingers are supposed to write peace songs,
Go to candlelight vigils and lead all the people in sing-alongs,
But this ain't no peace song.
AI
