Songs Not Speeches – Lyrics to Live By
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Songs Not Speeches – Lyrics to Live By Center for Health, Environment & Justice P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040-6806 703-237-2249 [email protected] www.chej.org Songs Not Speeches – Lyrics to Live By Center for Health, Environment & Justice May 2015 Copyright 1989, 2015 by Center for Health, Environment & Justice. All rights reserved. For Permission to reprint, please contact CHEJ. Printed in the U.S.A. P.O. Box 6806 Falls Church, VA 22040-6806 703-237-2249 [email protected] www.chej.org Center for Health, Environment & Justice P.O. Box 6806 l Falls Church, VA 22040 l Phone: 703.237.2249 l Fax: 703.237.8389 l www.chej.org Mentoring a Movement Empowering People Preventing Harm About the Center for Health, Environment & Justice CHEJ mentors the movement to build healthier communities by empowering people to prevent the harm caused by chemical and toxic threats. We accomplish our work by connecting local community groups to national initiatives and corporate campaigns. CHEJ works with communities to empower groups by providing the tools, strategic vision, and encouragement they need to advocate for human health and the prevention of harm. Following her successful effort to prevent further harm for families living in contaminated Love Canal, Lois Gibbs founded CHEJ in 1981 to continue the journey. To date, CHEJ has assisted over 12,000 groups nationwide. Details on CHEJ’s efforts to help families and communities prevent harm can be found on www.chej.org. TOGETHER, WE CAN WIN By Lois Marie Gibbs I learned about the relationship between social justice and the environment as a young housewife at Love Canal. The Love Canal homeowners were perceived as powerless, but after exposing the injustice of the chemical contamination at Love Canal, people acsoss the country responded in the spirit of democracy. This story of the Love Canal struggle is now a piece of American History. It’s an example of how to fight to win that people nationwide are duplicating every day. The people in this country are crying out for justice once again. Govern- ment and large corporations have been throwing us bones from their table of greed and power for years. And we’ve had enough! Poor, rural and minority communities continue to be the targets for unsafe waste disposal facilities. These toxic facilities are posed as the answer to the cries for jobs and economic development in depressed areas. But they also pose health risks that no one should be asked to bear. It is sad that after so many strong social justice movements, poor and working class people must continue to be victims of an unjust society. It is frustrating to hear over and over of another young black person who died in the street, or a worker killed in the plant, or a woman who just lost her child to poisons in her home. At the same time, I see hope. People are beginning to reach out and organize again. More and more people are getting involved to fight for their rights. These efforts by minorities, poor, homeless, workers and leaders of grassroots environ- mental groups, collectively and individually, will aid us all. We all have a common bond: victimization. And we all have a common goal: justice for all. If you just look at our movement alone, you’ll see men, women, and children organizing for the first time. I can remem- ber back in 1978 when I first became involved in Love Canal, only a handful of people saw the true dimensions of the problems that Love Canal symbolized. Since then, CHEJ has worked with over 12,000 of these groups representing millions of active people. It is these types of grassroots efforts that make America great and bring about change. These efforts are critical for change. Our history has shown us this as far back as the Boston Tea Party. The American people are fighting for their rights. It’s not easy, for as Frederick Douglass said, “He who wants change without struggle is like the farmer who wants crops without plowing.” Social Justice movements are regaining momen- tum. As these movements grow we’ll see more and more protests and demonstrations. As the saying goes, “When the people lead, the leader follows.” People are leading and, yes, we will force our leaders to follow us on the pathway of justice. WHY A SONGBOOK? In the history of people struggling for justice, music has always played a key role. In fact, there’s hardly been a successful movement for social justice that didn’t prominently feature music. How does music fit into the fight for justice? People have historically used music to: • Lift their spirits • Tell their story • Celebrate • Mourn • Poke fun at their opponents • Teach others • Keep alive their traditions • Pray So, too, we see these roles for music in the Grassroots Environmental Health Movement. And, we’re pleased to present this Songbook as the evidence that the people in this movement like those in movements that have come before us, have instinctively felt and used the power of music. Many of the songs in this book are examples of the classic use of the “Zipper Song.” A “zipper song” is a song whose words and tune are commonly known, but which has been adapted with new words “zipped in” to tell a new story. The Civil Rights church hymns became the foundation on which the rich library of music for the Civil Rights Movement was founded. Even the Movement anthem, “We Shall Overcome,” was adapted from a much older song that was composed for an entirely different reason. Other songs in this book are original, both in words and melody. They’re good songs and we reasonably hope that some future movement will see them, too, as potential “zipper songs” to be adapted for their struggle. By no means have we captured all the songs that have been circulated through this movement. These are but a few that hit close to home for CHEJ and that people shared with us. We in turn want to share them with you. Finally, we’ve included some classic songs of struggle, such as “This Little Light of Mine,” “This Land Is Your Land,” “We Shall Not Be Moved,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” and “Amazing Grace.” They not only speak to what we all feel and believe in their original form, but also represent a wonderful opportunity for yet more “Zipper Songs.” Table of Contents pg. 1 Chapter 1. Songs (Alphabetical Order) ACRES OF DRUMS PYROCHEM AIN’T GONNA TAKE IT NO MORE RECYLYRICS AIN’T YOU GOT A RIGHT RENEWABLE RESOURCES AMAZING GRACE ROLL OUT THE BARRELS AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL ROLL THE UNION ON BALLAD OF THE WATTS FARM SAVE THE SUPERFUND BIO-MEDICAL’S FIREBOX SHE’LL BE COMING ‘ROUND MT. TRASH BLOWING IN THE WIND MORE COMMONWEALTH OF TOIL 16 TONS COUNTRY ROADS, KEEP THEM FREE SOLIDARITY FOREVER DON’T HOG OUR AIR SOME WHERE OVER THE WASTE DUMP DON’T THROW YOUR JUNK N MY BACK STEP-BY-STEP YARD STOP MAKING IT DON’T WORRY – IT’S CRAPPY STOP WASTE AT THE SOURCE DOWN AT THE LANDFILL SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT DOW’S RUSTY BARRELS TALKIN’ TRASH DUMP BLUES DUPONT, DUPONT THE ATOMIC RIDDLE SONG ENVIRONMENTAL RAP (E) THE BEST OF ME GO TRY AND DUMP IT THE DUMP SONG HARK THE POLITICIANS SELL THE EPA IS ON THE WAY HOLD THE FORT THE FLOWER SONG HOME IN THE HILLS THE GREAT SOUTHWEST HOME OF THE BARGE THE OBJECT OF YOUR AFFECTIONS I DON’T WANT YOUR TOXICS, MISTER THE TOXIC SHUFFLE IF I HAD A HAMMER THEY CALL IT THE STATE OF THE ART INCINERATOR WALTZ THEY’LL FIX IT I’M SURE KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE THIS DUMP IS YOU DUMP KEEP YOUR PLANET CLEAN & GREEN THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND LET’S GIVE A DAMN THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE LITTLE BARRELS THREE CHEERS FOR SHERRY BANARD MICHAEL CAN’T ROW TOXIC SMELLS MR. RUBBISH WANTS A DUMP TOXIC TRUCKS ARE COMING’ NIMBY NATIONAL ANTHEM WASTE WHORE NO PLACE FOR NUCLEAR WASTE WE ARE SOLDIERS OH FREEDOM! WE CAN, WE CAN AND WE CAN GET IT OUR DAY WILL COME DONE PCB BELLS WE DON’T WANT IT HERE WE NEED CLEAN UP MONEY RIGHT AWAY WE WISH YOU SAFE DRINKING WATER Center for Health, Environment & Justice | Mentoring a Movement, Empowering People, Preventing Harm P.O. Box 6806 | Falls Church, VA 22040 | Phone: 703.237.2249 | Fax: 703.237.8389 | www.chej.org Table of Contents (cont’d) pg. 40 Chapter 2. Verses ELEGY TO AN AGENCY FOR THE LOVE OF OUR CHILDREN GREEN IS CLEAN WE DEMAND THE RIGHT TO KNOW Center for Health, Environment & Justice | Mentoring a Movement, Empowering People, Preventing Harm P.O. Box 6806 | Falls Church, VA 22040 | Phone: 703.237.2249 | Fax: 703.237.8389 | www.chej.org Chapter 1 AIN’T GONNA TAKE IT NO MORE By: Terry Kelleher (Copyright 1995) Songs CHORUS Ain’t gonna take it no more, no more Ain’t gonna take it no more! Ain’t gonna take it no more, no more Ain’t gonna take it no more! A chemical company came to town Put in a dump one day Filled their dump and their pockets too Then went on their merry way! CHORUS The bureaucrats at the EPA ACRES OF DRUMS Say there’s nothing to fear Tune: “Acres of Clams” Makes you wonder why they stay away Adapted by: Chemtones, of Louisa, Kentucky. And never come around here! CHORUS I’ve lived all my life in this country I love every flower and tree If the EPA won’t do its job I expect to live here ‘til I’m 90 Issuing enough citations The toxics must go and not me.