Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards

25 Oct 10 - 10:05 AM (#3014933)
Subject: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Lizzie Cornish 1

Well, mine HAS to be....

ARROGANCE IGNORANCE & GREED - by SHOW OF HANDS

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25 Oct 10 - 10:07 AM (#3014934)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Lizzie Cornish 1

Hopefully, this thread will become filled with songs. Please, post them wherever you can, spread the word around, get the message out..

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25 Oct 10 - 10:17 AM (#3014945)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)

Specials - Ghost Town

This town, is coming like a ghost town
All the clubs have been closed down
This place, is coming like a ghost town
Bands won't play no more
too much fighting on the dance floor

Do you remember the good old days
Before the ghost town?
We danced and sang,
And the music played inna de boomtown

This town, is coming like a ghost town
Why must the youth fight against themselves?
Government leaving the youth on the shelf
This place, is coming like a ghost town
No job to be found in this country
Can't go on no more
The people getting angry

This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town

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25 Oct 10 - 10:25 AM (#3014951)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Rapparee

Sung by folks wearing $500.00 suits and carrying real leather portfolios:

Hallelujah I'm a bum
Hallelujah for Uncle Sam
Hallelujah give us a handout
And revive us again.

Why don't you work like other men do?
Why the hell should I when I can get it from you?

Hallelujah I'm a bum
Hallelujah for Uncle Sam
Hallelujah give us a handout
And revive us again.

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25 Oct 10 - 10:30 AM (#3014955)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Fred McCormick

Well, there's always The Parliamentary Polka and Legal-Illegal, both by Ewan MacColl, and there's also a song about David Cameron which I posted Here .

Going back to the days of the Almanacs, there's
I Don't Want Your Millions Mister, and
The Banks of Marble,
plus a whole lot more that I can't bring to mind right now..

Leon Rosseleson's Palaces of Gold, would also qualify, as would Woody Guthrie's Jolly Banker.

There's also Brother Can You Spare a Dime of course. More about the effects of the corporate bastards on the unemployed, than about the corporate bastards themselves. But I don't think I ever heard the misery of the great depression summed up in song half so well.

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25 Oct 10 - 10:41 AM (#3014971)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie

Get those sandals polished and those beards straggled!

Revolution is gonna come, and it eats muesli...

Must have been rather confusing when Labour were in power, handing out Tory policies. At least you have a target to get excited about now, I suppose.

Here, I'm a corporate bastard myself. if you want to write a song about me, then let me know, i might even sing it myself at our local folk club.

Becoming a corporate bastard I found was much nicer than protesting about them and was better for my blood pressure too.

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25 Oct 10 - 11:15 AM (#3014996)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: bobad

"Change"- Ron Bankley with JT Oglesby.

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25 Oct 10 - 11:27 AM (#3015011)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Acorn4

Steve Tilston - "Pretty Penny" , which has the distinction of being prophetic in that it was written well before the banking collapse.

The SOH is a great song but being wise after the event.

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25 Oct 10 - 11:57 AM (#3015040)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Fred McCormick

Yes, and being forced to sing songs like Tomorrow Belongs to Me is exactly what will happen if we don't stand up to the corporate bastards.

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25 Oct 10 - 12:19 PM (#3015058)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: McGrath of Harlow

I googled for the words of Arrogance Ignorance and Greed - and was rather amused to see where it had been posted - "The Financial Service Club's Blog -a unique service designed for Senior Executives and Decision Makers from any firm interested in understanding and planning for the future of Europe's financialomarkets:

I pray one day we'll soon be free
From your absolute indifference
Your avarice, incompetence
Your Arrogance, your Ignorance and your Greed.

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25 Oct 10 - 02:03 PM (#3015154)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: VirginiaTam

Billy Bragg - Ideology

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25 Oct 10 - 02:12 PM (#3015161)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: bobad

"We Can't Make It Here" - James McMurtry

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25 Oct 10 - 02:18 PM (#3015163)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Lizzie Cornish 1

I'm with you on Ron and JT's 'Change', bobad, GREAT song!! And brilliant words, as ever. I'll put this link in to it as well..

'CHANGE' - The Video - Ron Bankley and JT Oglesby

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25 Oct 10 - 02:19 PM (#3015166)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Lizzie Cornish 1

By the way, just to give a thumbs up to Crow Sister above, who mentioned starting a thread like this, a few days back...

Her idea. :0)

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25 Oct 10 - 02:59 PM (#3015196)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Mavis Enderby

Alex Glasgow - Turning the Clock Back

Particularly the verse:

My granny tells me that they're at it once again
The nobs can't get their profit quite as high
And Tom and Dick and Harry
Have forgotten that they carry
On their shoulders all the parasites
That sucked their bodies dry

Written well before the current crisis!

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26 Oct 10 - 05:47 AM (#3015591)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE DEAD MEN (Peggy Seeger)
From: Jim Carroll

Written for the 1968 Festival of Fools - still resonates for me over 40 years later
Jim Carroll

THE DEAD MEN
Peggy Seeger
Tune (Scots traditional)

The rain runs down through London town, like tears the rain does fall
he dead men creep up Downing Street, Westminster and Whitehall
The waters rise, before their eyes and they head the drowning call:
Tired and grey, 'they turn away, A CURSE UPON THEM ALL!

The dead men rise and open their eyes, ready to buy and sell,
To turn the wheel of English Steel, Vickers, Rolls-Royce and Shell,
They live and die for I.C I, and from safe behind their wall,
They buy and they sell a vision of hell, A CURSE UPON THEM ALL!

The dead men range the Stock Exchange, where every game is fair,
A throw of dice and the market price divides the world in shares,
Row on row of carrion crows, they perch on London Wall,
They flourish and thrive on flesh that's alive, A CURSE UPON THEM ALL!

And you who stand and create with your hands the gallows, the bomb, the gun,
Who drop your bob in the Oxfam box, after the killing's done
Who draw your pay, then turn away from the ones up against the wall:
Go to your bed, and sleep with the dead, A CURSE UPON YOU ALL!

The tears run down through city and town, like rain the tears do fall,
The dead men stand with blood on their hands, the blood is upon us all,
Biafra dies before our eyes, and we weave her shroud and pall:
Write on her tomb: "We are your doom - A CURSE UPON US ALL!"

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26 Oct 10 - 07:40 AM (#3015643)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Sir Roger de Beverley

Leon Rosselson's "Palaces of Gold" was mentioned earlier but I have always had a fondness for his "Brass Band Music" that I believe was based on a Louis McNeice poem.

R

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26 Oct 10 - 10:28 AM (#3015790)
Subject: Lyr Add: RIGS OF THE TIME
From: GUEST,oaktree

Rigs of the Time, any of the updated versions but I like Maddy Prior's:

Chorus (after each verse):
Honesty's all out of fashion
These are the rigs of the time
Ay me boys,
These are the rigs of the time
The Transnational companies are running the show
Unaccountable, faceless ones, nobody knows
Richer than countries, their cause they advance
They pull the strings that make politics dance

The private utilities, I must bring them in
A private monopoly is guaranteed to win
They charge what they like, give you cause for much grief
And the customer watchdogs have more gums than teeth

The huge hypermarkets on the outskirts of town
Convenience is up, and the prices are down
But the cost of this comfort is not set at nought
It's all the small business in the bankruptcy court.

The cool high street clothes stores are part of the scene
Neat designer labels, a marketing man's dream
The young people buy them, and here's the surprise
They pay extra for logos, which in turn advertise.

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26 Oct 10 - 10:31 AM (#3015792)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: GUEST,oaktree

Another verse for Rigs of the Time:

Then there's the CEO, I must bring him in
Gives himself some stock options and thinks it's no sin
Plays with the market to make it go down
The poor lose their savings, and he goes to town

Or swap CEO for merchant banker....

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26 Oct 10 - 11:43 AM (#3015874)
Subject: Lyr Add: ENVY AND THEN SOME
From: GUEST,John from Kemsing

Steamin` Willie, I`m with you.

"ENVY, AND THEN SOME"


My name is Isambard Brunel,
Victorian hero you know well.
You cross my bridges, ride my trains,
Drive my tunnels beneath the Thames.
But these things do not grow on trees.
They all cost money if you please.
So why not give a little thanks,
To the gentlemen of the merchant banks.
CH.:- From Lombard Street to Canary Wharf.
      From Wall Street to Manhattan.
      They may not be your cup of tea,
      But our world can`t do without `em.

My name is Rolls, his name is Royce.
We manufacture cars of choice.
Fit for kings and the well-to-do.
If you were rich you`d have one too.
From acorns grow our mighty oaks,
It`s much the same for business folks
Toil, sweat, tears and stress
Accounts for much of their success.
Ch.:- ..........

My name is VISA, your plastic friend.
Simply a tool that helps you spend.
I don`t twist your arm or threaten your life.
It`s you that decides on whether to buy.
Gucci, Nintendo and mobile phones
Fifty pound lunches, five thousand pound loans
If you can`t afford, but buy all the same
The you really have little cause to complain.
Ch.:-...........

JHH. Oct.26, 2010

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27 Oct 10 - 07:57 AM (#3016621)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Jim Carroll

Sam Larner's rhyme.
If life was a thing that money could buy,
The rich would live and the poor would die.

Jim Carroll

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27 Oct 10 - 08:48 AM (#3016659)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Bobert

The best song that I've heard on the subject is Mark Germino's "Rat and the Snake"... Hits the nail on the head... Maybe someone with better pudder skills can find the lyrics and post them...

B~

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27 Oct 10 - 09:01 AM (#3016677)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE WHISKEY RING AND THE RAILROAD TRUST
From: DebC

Coincidence that you should mention that Jim...I have been singing a Si Kahn song lately called "Whiskey Ring and the railroad Trust"from his recording, "We're Still Here". Some of the lines in the song are taken from traditional songs:

The Whiskey Ring and the Railroad Trust
by Si Kahn

If living was a thing that money could buy
The rich would live and the poor would die
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust
Let the rich man live and the poor man bust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust

Are you loyal to the Constitution
Are you looking for a contribution
Here's a little present from the boys in the back
From the river of whiskey and the solid gold track

Let's have a hand for the railroad track
Let's have a hand for the boys in back
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust
Let the rich man live and the poor man bust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust

Are you praying for the Resurrection
Are you running in the next election
Here's a little something you can use as you choose
From the solid gold engine and the river of booze

Hand on your shoulder means a man you can trust
Hand in your pocket means the railroad trust
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust
Let the rich man live and the poor man bust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust

Are you of a pure and lofty nature
Do you make a bundle from the legislature
Here's some provisions for the campaign trail
From the bottles of bourbon and the silvery rail

Pickles and glue and any only thing
Let's have a hand for the whiskey ring
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust
Let the rich man live and the poor man bust
With the arms trade ring and the oil trust
Let the rich man live and the poor man bust
With the whiskey ring and the railroad trust


Deb Cowan

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27 Oct 10 - 10:11 AM (#3016749)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: GUEST,bankley

I'd recommend Seattle Jim Page.. he's prolific,
some Dan Bern, Michelle Shocked,
Murdoch has a good one in the works

I still like my own attempts esp.with 'Insurgent Sun','Anthem for Dissent',
'Big Muddee', 'Break Even', 'Change', 'Jabaliya', 'Mirage'...

as Mort Saul, and later Ochs, said, all you have to do is read a newspaper and make something up.. there's more to it than that, but I know what they're getting at... the money is lousy but it's good to get the frustrations out in a melodious/lyrical way... then maybe someone else won't feel as alone in their social perceptions... if that makes any sense at all... cats like Guthrie, Robeson, McCall, Seeger, early Dylan, Ochs, Dunn,and Murdoch did it for me.., made me think for myself, which is a dangerous thing for the Thought Police and their well dressed bosses !

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27 Oct 10 - 12:42 PM (#3016889)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BUSKER'S SONG
From: GUEST,Nobody's Bard

Not to blow me own trumpet (ok - iam) but here's one i penned meself about a year ago :

The Busker's Song

Here's a short rhyme sir
A song for our times sir
I'll sing you a line or two three or four
& if you feel inclined sir
or have half a mind to
pay me a penny
I'll sing you some more

I'll sing you a song sir
it won't take too long sir
I'll sing of sea captains & of maidens fair
I'll sing of kings & bold villians
& for the price of a shillin'
I'll sing of Olde England & of Scarboro fair


I'll sing you a rhyme sir
of men in their prime sir
I'll bring you sunshine sir but of you I implore
If you've half a mind sir
or feel so inclined sir
please to pay me some pennies
so I don't go home poor


I'll sing you a song sir
of men who did wrong sir
of bankers retiring with money untold
of leaders so greedy they ignored the needy
whilst lining their pockets with silver & gold

though like fools we do trust them
they'll bring down the system
In cahoots with the lawyers & strong arm of the law
& now we're in debt sir, up to our necks sir
they bailed out the banks, at the cost of the poor


So now I've sung my song sir
didn't take too long sir
though if you were inclined sir
I could sing so much more
but time is now short sir
in the end it all comes to nought sir
dark times lie ahead sir, so God bless you & yours!



...feel free to use it if you like it.

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27 Oct 10 - 12:53 PM (#3016905)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Richard Bridge

Lords of Steam and Iron.



Lines from random songs:

"Every day you're in this place
You're two days nearer death"

"Not much to do since he turned 65
So he turns to his garden to keep him alive"

"I just wanted to take a broom
And sweep the bloody floor".



Personally, I use "If living was a thing(etc)" in "All my trials".

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27 Oct 10 - 01:08 PM (#3016926)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: SINSULL

Jez Lowe has two new ones on his recent CD:
The Judas Bus
Bare Knuckles

Both gems.

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27 Oct 10 - 07:54 PM (#3017307)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Bobert

Yeah, Jim Page is great!!!

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28 Oct 10 - 07:39 AM (#3017599)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: GUEST,bankley

His `Hiroshima-Nagasaki Russian Roulette` enhanced his reputation in Ireland... it was covered by a few bands..

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28 Oct 10 - 08:05 AM (#3017614)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Amergin

Jez Lowe-The Guilts is perfect for the occasion...

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28 Oct 10 - 09:33 AM (#3017663)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: GUEST,Neil D

Lest we get too pessimistic, here's one where the good guys win:
"From Little Things Big Things Grow"

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28 Oct 10 - 09:47 AM (#3017674)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BITE OF THE UNDERDOG (G Papavgeris)
From: George Papavgeris

Bite Of The Underdog
George Papavgeris, March 2004

Beware of the bite of the underdog
His teeth are rotten, but more dangerous for that
Beware of the bite of the underdog
When he gets loose, you better hold on to your hat
Too late then to calm him or placate him
Or try to feed him when already he's fed up.
For life my friend can be very capricious
And the bite of the underdog is vicious
So the time will come around when your defences will be down
And that's the day when you'll find against your wishes
A vicious underdog is sitting on your lap.

As far back as history is recorded
The wheels of industry are greased with blood and sweat
We have our dream but most cannot afford it
If there's a trick to this, we haven't found it yet.
You raise our hopes and raise our expectations
That each and everyone can make it to the top
but greed and cost of living and inflation
ensure that we will have to work until we drop.

But beware of the bite of the underdog.. etc

And when the time comes for sacrifices
The people at the top are never for the chop
Though often they're the ones that caused the crisis,
They're not the ones to go to war or lose their job.
And each campain and every downsizing
Is fed by innocents because they can be spared
While those to blame just stand there eulogising
And of the glory they will take the lion's share.

But beware of the bite of the underdog... etc

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28 Oct 10 - 10:49 AM (#3017712)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: Richard Bridge

I should have mentioned that if you leave out the silly verse about sprouts (or insert a different one, as I do) GOrdon LIghtfoot's "BOss Man" has some good things going for it.

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28 Oct 10 - 11:04 AM (#3017731)
Subject: RE: Protest Songs for the Corporate B*stards
From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie

Looks like these protest songs are getting popular.

I might write one, make a bob or two. What do you think? Ewan McColl became a millionaire writing songs about despising those who er... make money.

Goose & gander springs to mind.

"The working class can kiss my ass,
I've got the foreman's job at last.
Put the workers on the dole,
And stuff the red flag up your hole."

Bugger, someone beat me to it...

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