OCTOBER 17, 2009 - A National Day of Local & Regional Actions Against the Wars in Afghanistan & Iraq

More info here: at this website.

When: Saturday, October 17, 2009

Where: San Francisco, CA

March Time: Noon

Rally Time: 1pm

Speakers include: Normon Solomon, Cindy Sheehan, Cynthia McKinney, Antonia Juhaz and many more!

Musical performances by: Boots Riley (of the Coup) and other special guests

Take BART! Don't drive. Get off at CIVIC CENTER

You could also get off at POWELL and walk south pretty easily :-)

The plan is to meet at UN Plaza - Civic Center basically - by Civic Center Bart - at Noon. Then the march will go in a circle around the UN Plaza and end up back where it started for the rally.

Sponsored by the October 17 Antiwar Coalition- 415-641-1997 or 510-268-9429

I'm trying to make political tunes that are also just fun to sing. Here
are all of them with quick links:

1. Improving

http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002681.php

2. James Brown Died On Christmas

http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002679.php

3. Democracy

http://www.lisarein.com/democracy.html

4. In the Spirit
http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002044.php

5. James and Marybeth (about copyright law and how the public is losing their
end of the bargain)
written to James H. Billington (Librarian of Congress) and Marybeth Peters
(Register of Copyrights)

http://www.lisarein.com/jamesandmarybeth.html

6. Here's myself and Audrey Howard in Golden Gate Park doing a cover of a
song Green Day's Billy Armstrong covering the song by
Aaron Elliot and PHGP called "Life During Wartime":

http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/001298.php

Glad to finally get this up. (I was waiting to finish the video for it...but I don't want to hold things up any more.)

Fuel Funeral

Direct link to MP3

This song is about war profiteers who knowingly exchange the blood of Iraqis and US Troops for profit, in that they fund the destruction of the country so they can profit on its reconstruction.

It's also about how we all line up behind these scumbags and keep driving our SUV's -- and are effectively trading in the future of our children for convenience in the short term.

This song was inspired by the Bill Moyer's NOW program from November 14, 2003, Cash and Carry, which detailed the direct connections between the Shrub Administration and the main two or three companies that are profiting directly from the Iraqi reconstruction.

Vocals by Lisa Rein - Music by Gregory Howe

Lyrics by Lisa Rein and Gregory Howe.

Lyrics

They tell you all that you wanna know
The roads are paved with a heart of gold
They turn you out on the inside
Kill your world as they come alive

Come on down to the Fuel Funeral
Cause you ain't got too much more to lose
There's only trouble and obstacles
They're all waiting for you for you





This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.

This song is about the crazy idea that any kind of "democracy" the U.S. brought to Iraq could be worth the death of a single Iraqi person.

It's like someone saying:

"Ok here's the plan. First, we bomb all your public water and power systems, then we don't actually rebuild them, so a lot of you are going to die off from that.

Next, your brother and aunt die when us or the insurgents bomb them by mistake.

Next, you get democracy!

See!? It's a bargain!."

MP3 (2 MB) -- WAV source (14 MB)

"Improving"
Words and Music By Lisa Rein

Cut off the power lines my friend
Shut off the water too
The benefits will never end
When we're done bringing this to you

We're just improving
improving
improving
improving

Kill off your family one by one
but we'll give you some rights when we're all done
yeah
It's such a drag
but it's not us!
If you can tough it out
You'll make it.

improving
improving
improving
improving

repeat

(As recorded into my laptop using Audio Recorder, as always...) This track is available under a
Creative Commons Attribution License

This is a little ditty that manifested itself over the holidays.

The MP3 and source wav file are available under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.

Music and Lyrics by Lisa Rein

James Brown died on christmas

James Brown died on christmas
They found him in the morning
It came without a warning

It seems like only last december
I was looking up his police record
To settle a trivial family battle

And I don't mean no disrespect
And I'm not saying anything at all
Cause nothing's ever written on the wall
But I hope that he's in a better place
In a better place

It was the first thing I heard on christmas morning
I saw it on the tele
It was a holiday of tragedy and tyranny

When only a few days later
We were hanging a dictator
As a symbol of democracy

And I'm not saying anything
Cause no one's even listening anymore
And there's not much I really know for sure
But I know that he's in a better place
In a better place

Just released a brand new song: Democracy.

This song comes with its own page to help explain the lyrics.

It's about what has become our sorry excuse for a democracy, and thinking about it for five minutes, in the context of the world at large.

I recorded the guitar and vocals for this on my mac laptop, using Audio Recorder. (I did mix it in protools, but I didn't do anything special that would have required protools.)

Hope you like it. I've made all the source files available for remix, and it's all under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

I decided to allow commercial use of the work. Let's see how far it can get!

Update 10/31/04 - I've decided to add the other links to this post in case I have trouble today creating other posts -- it's hard to blog right now with so much activity on the server. Links to my mirror of the Eminem video (you should download this to your computer and watch it full size if you can), his SNL performance of "Mosh", and the other song he performed on SNL are all available right here. (These aren't full size, like the .mov file of the video, but they'll play back better from your own computer. There's too much activity on the server, and they're not playing back very well right now. Bit torrent folks: please do your thing!

People have been telling me to check it out all week, but it wasn't until I heard that Eminem was going to be on Saturday Night Live tonight that I thought to record it and check out
the video for myself. (This link goes to GNN website.)

"Mosh" was directed by Guerilla News Network's Ian Inaba.

I'll be storing a mirror of it soon...and putting up the Saturday Night Live performance.

Eminem is with us guys! The video says it all.

The video is out getting the message across on the Web, while he gave the same message on live television just moments ago:

We have to vote Bush out of office.

We're going to do it this Tuesday.

We're going to turn out in such numbers, that our decision will be incontestable.

Here are the lyrics (courtesy of
Internet Veterans For Truth)

Lyrics to 'Mosh' (courtesy of
Internet Veterans For Truth)

Eminem - Mosh
Intro:

(Kids: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America..

(BOOM)

(Kids: And to the Republic..)

Eminem: People..

(Kids: For which it stands..)

Eminem: Hahaha..

(Kids: One nation under God.. Indivisible..)

Eminem: It feels so good to be back!

Verse 1:

I scrutinize every word, memorize every line
I spit it once, refuel, re-energize and rewind
I give sight to the blind, my insight's through the mind
I exercise my right to express when I feel it's time
It's just all in your mind - what you interpret it as
I say to fight, you take it as I'ma whip someone?s ass
If you don't understand, don't even bother to ask
A father who has grown up with a father-less past
Who has blown up now to rap phenomenon
That has, or at least shows, no difficulty multi-taskin' and juggling both
Perhaps mastered-his-craft slash entrepreneur
Who has helped launch a few more rap-bags
Who's had a few obstacles thrown his way
Through the last half of his career
Typical manure, moving past that
Mister kiss-his-ass-crack, he's a class-act
Rubber-band man, yeah, he just snaps back

Chorus:

Come along, follow me, as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength
Come with me, and I wont steer you wrong
Put your faith in your trust, as I guide us through the fog
To the light at the end of the tunnel we gon? fight
We gon' charge, we gon' stomp
We gon' march through the swamp
We gon' mosh through the marsh
Take us right through the doors
Come on..

Verse 2:

All the people up top, on the side and the middle
Come together, let's all form this swamp just a little
Just let it gradually build, from the front to the back
All you can see is a sea of people, some white and some black
No matter what color, all that matters we're gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause, no matter the weather
If it rains, let it rain
Yeah, the wetter the better
They ain't gon' stop us - they can't
We're stronger now, more then ever
They tell us "No", we say "Yeah"
They tell us "Stop", we say "Go"
Rebel with a rebel yell
Raise hell - we gon' let em know
Stomp, push, shove, mush..
Fuck Bush
Until they bring our troops home, c'mon, just..

Chorus:

Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength
Come with me, and I wont steer you wrong
Put your faith in your trust, as I guide us through the fog
To the light at the end of the tunnel we gon' fight
We gon' charge, we gon' stomp
We gon' march through the swamp
We gon' mosh through the marsh
Take us right through the doors
Come on..

Verse 3:

Imagine it pourin', it's rainin' down on us
Moshpits outside the oval office
Someone's tryin to tell us something
Maybe this is God just sayin' we're responsible
For this monster - this coward that we have empowered
This is Bin Laden
Look at his head noddin'
How could we allow something like this without pumpin' our fists
Now, this is our final hour
Let me be the voice, and your strength and your choice
Let me simplify the rhyme just to amplify the noise
Try to amplify it, times it, and multiply it by sixteen million
People are equal at this high pitch
Maybe we can reach al CIAda through my speech
Let the president answer our high anarchy
Strap him with a AK-47, let him go fight his own war
Let him impress daddy that way
No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our own soil
No more psychological warfare to trick us to thinking that we ain?t loyal
If we don't serve our own country, we?re patronizing our hero
Look in his eyes, its all lies
The stars and stripes, have been swiped
Washed out and wiped and replaced with his own face
Mosh now or die
If I get sniped tonight, you?ll know why
'Cuz I told you to fight

Chorus:

Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength
Come with me, and I wont steer you wrong
Put your faith in your trust, as I guide us through the fog
To the light at the end of the tunnel we gon' fight
We gon' charge, we gon' stomp
We gon' march through the swamp
We gon' mosh through the marsh
Take us right through the doors
Come on

Outro:

Eminem: And as we proceed to mosh through this desert storm.. in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ.. as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president for the present.. and mosh for the future of our next generation.. to speak and be heard.. Mr President.. Mr Senator..

(Kids: Hear us, hear us?.. Hahaha)

Ran into Peace Man while he was selling his CDs walking up and down Solano Avenue in Berkeley.

He has a CD Baby website too.

Just checking it out myself right now, so I don't know what to expect whatsoever -- but the guy was a trip and I told him I'd give him a plug...

Anti War Songs, à la Carte

And this I really, really like:
Putting the Anti-War Songs to Work

Sing it loud. "Hell no! We won't go for it!" Take a while each day to pull out your old anti-war songs. Find some new ones. Play them in your car. Print them out for your children and their friends. Burn some new theme CDs. Load them into your iPod. Call every local radio station request line and ask for a different song. Repeat. Link to here from your own web page. Download the lyrics to your hard drive as a hedge against the day when such transmissions may be illegal. Encourage musicians to make new anti-war songs by buying the ones already available. Play them as backdrop to your anti-war efforts or while you make a living. Sing them while marching or between marches. Play them when you feel there's nothng more that you can do.

Here is the text of the page in case the link goes bad:

http://www.lacarte.org/songs/anti-war/about.html#How_to_Use_the_Anti-War_Songs

Putting the Anti-War Songs to Work:
Sing it loud. "Hell no! We won't go for it!" Take a while each day to pull out your old anti-war songs. Find some new ones. Play them in your car. Print them out for your children and their friends. Burn some new theme CDs. Load them into your iPod. Call every local radio station request line and ask for a different song. Repeat. Link to here from your own web page. Download the lyrics to your hard drive as a hedge against the day when such transmissions may be illegal. Encourage musicians to make new anti-war songs by buying the ones already available. Play them as backdrop to your anti-war efforts or while you make a living. Sing them while marching or between marches. Play them when you feel there's nothng more that you can do.

It's a nice one, too. I've saved a copy of it in my archive, in case the link goes bad.

Thanks, John. You are a true patriot!

To Washington - John Cougar Mellencamp. (Lyrics)

I also just bought the

new John Cougar Mellencamp Album to show him my support!
Please do the same, if you can.

Just added Davey D's new song Down w/U.S. to my peace song archive.

I was just transcribing the lyrics so a friend and I can perform this song at an upcoming peace rally, and I just realized, again, what a nice piece of songwriting Green Day's "Life During Wartime" is.

MP3 of Life During Wartime (5 MB) (Or download it from my archive.)

Sorry ahead of time for not being able to make out a few words of the lyrics...
(Can anybody help out with those?) Think we got 'em now..:-)

Here are the tabs

Life During Wartime
Music and Lyrics by Green Day

yeah we say making changes starts
in the little things you do
revolution begins at home
but for most of us it ends there too

we're doing something
we're making changes
like changing the brand of crap we buy
we say it makes a difference
but that's just another lie

it used to be us and them
and you and me
and now we can't reach our potential
without a common enemy

a real war to fight against
instead of our petty disagreements
how can i rationalize
my life during wartime lie

a call to action
and a reaction
taking our lives in our own hands
instead of sitting around and talking bout
the same old shitty bands

the war's going on right now
and i'm not doing anything about it
without a crowd I'm not so loud
i can't do anything by myself
but that's just another lie

I should have put this up a while ago. It was actually one of the first to come out:

JACOB'S LADDER (NOT IN MY NAME)

(requires Flash)

Here is the lyrics in case the link goes bad:

http://www.peace-not-war.org/Music/Chumbawamba/index.html

Acoustic Mix

JACOB'S LADDER (NOT IN MY NAME)
ACOUSTIC MIX
Composed by Chumbawamba & Davy Graham

Like a sermon on the mountain
hellfire and brimstone
swapped for oil and guns
when we're pushing up daisies
we all look the same
in the name of the father maybe
but not in my name

on this Jacob's ladder
the only way up is down
one step from disaster
two to make the higher ground
Jacob's ladder

a million lifetimes
left dying in the sun
in the streets down in Whitehall
dogs picking at the bones
nine eleven got branded
nine eleven got sold
there will be no one left to water
all the seeds you've sown

on this Jacob's ladder
the only way up is down
one step from disaster
two to make the higher ground
Jacob's ladder

and they sent him to the wars
to be slain to be slain
and they sent him to the wars
to be slain

if you can't hear the music you'll need Flash Player

Free Peace, Love and Hip Hop/Rock and Roll/Dance/Country/Folk/Punk Rock Baby!

This collection of peace songs is growing larger every day.

Please spread the word by downloading these songs and sharing them with your friends.

Call your local radio stations and demand that they play these songs.

And when these artists come out with their next album for sale or come to play live in your town, show them your support!

As in the foreign policy that's biting us in our own ass.

Here are a few kind words that were sent to me by the

Compassionate Conservatives.
(Lyrics)

Please don't be fooled by our name... we bear no resemblance to the frauds currently inhabiting the White House. Our mission is to uncover the deception, hypocrisy, and arrogance of the court-appointed Bush Administration through our music and wit. We release all songs in MP3 format for free download... no strings attached. We are not in this for the money...

1. Another War

Set to the tune of the Beatles' "Drive My Car", Bush and Cheney are overjoyed at the prospect of -- you guessed it -- another war. Featuring a special excerpt from Bush's March 19th speech introducing the Iraqi war.

Dubya wants another war
Dubya's just a corporate whore
Dubya wants another war
'cause Dubya's a Nazi

Ask Dick Cheney what's he going to do
He starts a-sneering, you know you're screwed
He's been known to keep a secret or two
And now he's keeping them all from you

Cheney wants another war
Halliburton's gonna score
Cheney wants another war
'cause Cheney's a Nazi

Jawohl Mein Fuehrer Ja!

2. Midnight Confessions (of Emperor G.W. Bush)

This is a remake of the Grass Roots song on the same name, circa 1968. Featured commentator is, of course, George W. Bush, who comes off sounding every bit the buffoon that he is.

3. In The Garden of Eden (war crimes/DC rally mix)

This is a remake of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", which we chose in light of Iraq's geographical location. We have added some commentary, including unintentional Bush irony from the State of the Union address, comments from Francis Boyle on how the Iraq war violates the Nuremberg Charter, and numerous commentators from the January 18th anti-war rally held in Washington DC.

Here's the Zinn/Fisk/Nader remix of the same "Garden of Eden" song.

Drop Bush Not Bombs
Digital Cutup Lounge = Stephen and John von Seggern.

The duo has a great weblog too.

1. The anti-war movement supports our troops by urging that they be brought home immediately so they neither kill nor get killed in a unjust war. How has the Bush administration shown its support for our troops?

a. The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee voted to cut $25 billion in veterans benefits over the next 10 years.

b. The Bush administration proposed cutting $172 million from impact aid programs which provide school funding for children of military personnel.

c. The administration ordered the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to stop publicizing health benefits available to veterans.

d. All of the above.

Anti-Flag has released it's own protest song and the band is encouraging others to perform it freely.

They worked on this song with the guys from DONOT's.

This song and their great idea about giving songs to people to play at protests gave me the idea of learning a bunch of these songs and playing them for crowds during the next protest here in San Francisco (April 4, 2003).

Perhaps some of you could do the same in your cities across the world?
That ought to liven things up a bit!

A lot of these songs are pretty easy, I've been figuring out the chords for them and I'll be posting the info here on this topic.

Lyrics forthcoming. (Can't seem to find them on the site anymore...)

Congrats to Lenny Kravitz for finding a way to both express himself while reminding us of the single thing we can do together as a united community against the WAR that will have a direct effect on our country's future in the years ahead:
vote him out of office in 2004!
(And by voting as many of "his people" out in all the little elections at every step along the way. )
(Um. When's that next election again?:)

WE WANT PEACE

Here's what this is all about.

Rock the Vote and Lenny Kravitz today announced a new song by Kravitz called "We Want Peace," which is available exclusively at Rock the Vote's website, http://www.rockthevote.org.

The song, which says, "There won't be peace if we don't try" is an urgent call from Kravitz for America to be a peaceful leader in the world. Kravitz wrote the song and performed it with Kazem Al Sahir, Iraq’s #1 pop music artist, who is better known as Iraq’s Diplomatic Ambassador to the world and hailed as a true legend of Arabic Music. In addition, the song features Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen on the 'oud and violins and Lebanese artist Jamey Haddad’s on djembe and tambourines.

Rock the Vote praised Kravitz for speaking his mind about the importance of peace and issued a call to action for young people to work for peace and defend free expression. Noting that artists, actors, activists, journalists and the world’s people have come under attack for their views on the war, Rock the Vote re-affirmed its commitment to supporting those who have the courage to speak out-- and to mobilizing young people to shape the future of our world. Rock the Vote's website, where the song will be released, also urges visitors to register to vote and to join the Rock the Vote Community Street Teams, which will be organizing "free expression" events and rallies in dozens of cities across the country in the coming weeks.

Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:
(3-26-03)
http://www.rockthevote.org/statement.php

ROCK THE VOTE RELEASES NEW SONG BY LENNY KRAVITZ
" WE WANT PEACE "

With exclusive, free, web release of Kravitz' new song in response to the war on Iraq, Rock the Vote calls on young people to defend free expression

Los Angeles, March 25, 2003 - Rock the Vote and Lenny Kravitz today announced a new song by Kravitz called "We Want Peace," which is available exclusively at Rock the Vote's website, http://www.rockthevote.org.

The song, which says, "There won't be peace if we don't try" is an urgent call from Kravitz for America to be a peaceful leader in the world. Kravitz wrote the song and performed it with Kazem Al Sahir, Iraq’s #1 pop music artist, who is better known as Iraq’s Diplomatic Ambassador to the world and hailed as a true legend of Arabic Music. In addition, the song features Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen on the 'oud and violins and Lebanese artist Jamey Haddad’s on djembe and tambourines.

Rock the Vote praised Kravitz for speaking his mind about the importance of peace and issued a call to action for young people to work for peace and defend free expression. Noting that artists, actors, activists, journalists and the world’s people have come under attack for their views on the war, Rock the Vote re-affirmed its commitment to supporting those who have the courage to speak out-- and to mobilizing young people to shape the future of our world. Rock the Vote's website, where the song will be released, also urges visitors to register to vote and to join the Rock the Vote Community Street Teams, which will be organizing "free expression" events and rallies in dozens of cities across the country in the coming weeks.

"I came to Rock the Vote because of its strong stance with young people as defenders of free expression," said Lenny Kravitz. "This song for me is about more than Iraq: It is about our role as people in the world and that we all should cherish freedom and peace."

Jehmu Greene, Rock the Vote's executive director, said "Lenny Kravitz is a true patriot, and Rock the Vote is proud to support his artistic expression. We are here to rally young people to their sacred duty as patriotic Americans to speak out and participate in our democracy. To all the young people who might feel intimidated in the present political environment, pay attention to what Lenny Kravitz is doing. He is leading in this difficult time and so can you."

According to Ms. Greene, "Rock the Vote supports the young men and women in our military whose lives are now at risk. We hope the war will come to a swift conclusion with minimum loss of human life and that we can move on to build a better future for the Iraqi people. The millions of young people who hear this song should take Kravitz' message to heart and stand up for what they believe. As Lenny Kravitz says, 'we're at the crossroads,' and we need to defend democracy right now here at home."

ABOUT ROCK THE VOTE
Rock the Vote is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and empowering young people to change their world. Over the past decade, Rock the Vote has registered over three million new young voters and called on young people to recognize their role in creating significant political and social change.

CONTACTS:
Rock the Vote — Jamie Falkowski / Sarah Evans
310-444-7041 / 310-444-7039

Lenny Kravitz — Carleen Donovan
212-582-5400
CarleenD@ksapublicity.com

And gives it away for free.

The Final Straw (Streaming Tracks and Lyrics)

MP3 of Final Straw (MP3 - 5 MB) (In 2005, this link was requested to be removed. Thanks again guys for helping to spread the word when it really mattered!)

This is the strongest voice I could think of to send out there.
We had to send something out there now.
We are praying and hoping for the lives of all people involved,
the troops, the Iraqi civilians, refugees, pow's, families of troops, the innocents--
that they are safe and okay. Safe home, all. --Michael Stipe

Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:

http://www.remhq.com/finalStraw/finalstraw.html

This is the strongest voice I could think of to send out there.
We had to send something out there now.
We are praying and hoping for the lives of all people involved,
the troops, the Iraqi civilians, refugees, pow's, families of troops, the innocents--
that they are safe and okay. Safe home, all. --Michael Stipe

[this is a rough mix from the studio]

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN TO:
FINAL STRAW Windows Media Player

FINAL STRAW Quicktime

As I raise my head to broadcast my objection
As your latest triumph draws the final straw
Who died and lifted you up to perfection?
And what silenced me is written into law.

I can't believe where circumstance has thrown me
And I turn my head away
If I look I'm not sure that I could face you.
Not again. Not today. Not today.

If hatred makes a play on me tomorrow
And forgiveness takes a back seat to revenge
There's a hurt down deep that has not been corrected
There's a voice in me that says you will not win.

And if I ignore the voice inside,
Raise a half glass to my home.
But it's there that I am most afraid,
And forgetting doesn't hold.

It doesn't hold. Now I don't believe and I never did
That two wrongs make a right.
If the world were filled with the likes of you
Then I'm putting up a fight. Putting up a fight.
Putting up a fight. Make it right. Make it right.

Now love cannot be called into question.
Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love-- love will be my strongest weapon.
I do believe that I am not alone.

For this fear will not destroy me.
And the tears that have been shed
It's knowing now where I am weakest
And the voice in my head. In my head.

Then I raise my voice up higher
And I look you in the eye
And I offer love with one condition.
With conviction, tell me why.
Tell me why.
Tell me why.
Look me in the eye.
Tell me why.

(p) 2003 R.E.M./Athens L.L.C.
Buck, Mills, Stipe ©2003 Temporary Music (BMI)
Administered in total by Warner- Tamerlane

And gives it away for free:

Green Day - Life During Wartime - messages from the band, etc. (Mike sez: "Fuck this war!")

MP3 of Life During Wartime (5 MB)

Or download it from my archive.

Sorry ahead of time for not being able to make out a few words of the lyrics... A reader has kindly helped me complete the lyrics :-)

Here are the tabs

Life During Wartime
Music and Lyrics by Green Day

yeah we say making changes starts
in the little things you do
revolution begins at home
but for most of us it ends there too

we're doing something
we're making changes
like changing the brand of crap we buy
we say it makes a difference
but that's just another lie

it used to be us and them
and you and me
and now we can't reach our potential
without a common enemy

a real war to fight against
instead of our petty disagreements
how can i rationalize
my life during wartime lie

a call to action
and a reaction
taking our lives in our own hands
instead of sitting around and talking bout
the same old shitty bands

the war's going on right now
and i'm not doing anything about it
without a crowd I'm not so loud
i can't do anything by myself
but that's just another lie

Zack de la Rocha and DJ Shadow have teamed up on a new peace song.
You should Check it out.
Lyrics and a free
Download are also available.

here it comes the sound of terror from above
he flex his Texas twisted tongue
the poor lined up to kill in desert slums
for oil that burn beneath the desert sun

System Of A Down: Boom! Video and News Blog

And he's giving it away for free! (just like the beasties)
Updated June 15, 2003 - The Video has been released
To Washington
By John Cougar Mellencamp

TO WASHINGTON
Eight years of peace and prosperity
Scandal in the White House
An election is what we need
From coast-to-coast to Washington

So America voted on a president
No one kept count
On how the election went
From Florida to Washington

Goddamn, said one side
And the other said the same
Both looked pretty guilty
But no one took the blame
From coast-to-coast to Washington

So a new man in the White House
With a familiar name
Said he had some fresh ideas
But it's worse now since he came
From Texas to Washington

And he wants to fight with many
And he says it's not for oil
He sent out the National Guard
To police the world
From Baghdad to Washington

What is the thought process
To take a humans life
What would be the reason
To think that this is right
From heaven to Washington
From Jesus Christ to Washington