Resistance In Song

11 hours ago by @heid

Liner Notes

#folk #protest #piano #mandolin #stopcopcity

I'm proud of this song.

It fits within my musical ministry project, which is to find, make, and spread singable, understandable songs of resistance and liberation. We've already sung it once at Labor Church, a monthly event I run in Portland for the purpose of getting folks to sing such songs.

The song refers to Tortuguita, an activist who was murdered by police in 2023, while camping out to protect a huge swath of the Atlanta forest from being bulldozed to build a police training facility commonly known as "Cop City".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Tortuguita

I'd like to re-record it sometime after February with better tempo/rhythmic consistency. But I'm still proud of the song, and proud of getting a demo done!

Lyrics

They're cutting the forest,
and building a city
that no one will live in, while thousands sleep cold

They're building a city
to practice the snuffing
of the people, so their empire can hold

They practice the snuffing
of everything we do
to tell them we think they are wrong

They're building Cop Cities
to train up their troops,
let us plan our resistance in song

(aaaaaaaaaaahh)

This is not a made up story,
This is happening in the U.S.
It started in Atlanta,
Now to 69 cities it's spread.

They killed Tortuguita,
and they might kill us, too,
when we tell them we think they are wrong

We knew it could happen,
they've got so many guns,
and we planned our resistance in song

(aaaaaaaah)

We'll need a lot of thinkers and fighters
Who have more than just guns on their side

We'll need clothes and shoes,
and soup and babysitters,
and songs we can sing far and wide

The odds are against us,
but it's still worth a try,
though the fight will be tiresome and long

We'll train with our weapons,
and talk with our neighbors,
and plan our resistance in song.

(aaah)

Comments