WE NEED A MOVEMENT

We need a movement that will reach across the mountains and the seven seas.
We need a movement that will teach us how to live and work together in peace.
One that lets a million different flowers bloom, a thousand thoughts contend.
One with compassion in its action from beginning to end !

We need a movement that will glow like a rainbow crossing the sky.
We need a movement that will flow like a mighty river, deep and wide.
One that shines in the darkest of times, no matter what we face;
One with long-distance runners in a life and death race !

We need a movement that will keep us steady on the course of freedom road.
We need a movement that will spur and stir the force down deep in the soul.
Some people tell us it can never be done;
It's 'wishful-thinkin' pie-in-the-sky.
But one thing come along, they never counted on was the spirit of you and I.

There are no saviors, only you and me, with the power of we.
The only second coming, is the summon of our common humanity.

We need a movement that will rise above the lines of nationality.
We need a movement that defies every kind of inequality.
One that empowers the poorest of poor;
One led by both women and men.
One that aims to break the chains both without and within.

We need this movement, nothing less will do.
I'll throw in my hat; how 'bout the rest of you ?
It's possible if we want it; it's possible if we really want it;
If you and me really want it; if we really want it, if we really want it!

Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, February, 2002

I THINK YOU NEED SOME SOLIDARITY

When you're bogged in the 'dog-eat-dog';
When looking out for number one won't do.
When you're broke, at the end of your rope;
And the whole world is caving in on you -

I think you need some solidarity,
Some real support,  some human  company.
I got more than  tea and sympathy;
I got something that starts from the hearts - it's SOLIDARITY !

When you're trapped,  under attack;
When all the vultures are circling over you.
When you're in hock,  hit bottom rock;
The reins of poverty are jerking on you -

They rule the seas, they're the powers that be;
You'll never beat them alone.  You see -
The only damn thing that's gonna  break that chain
Is when we stand hand and hand and join together again  !

When you're down, left on the ground;
Underneath the heals and wheels of history;
When you've been burned, got no where to turn,
Teetering on the edge of insanity -

...Just raise your voice...make some noise...silent majority will never do...
...I think it's time to step out of line...you might as well you got nothing to lose...with SOLIDARITY !

Music & Lyrics by: C. Michael Stout, September, 1981
Revised: September, 2001
           
WE AIN’T GOING AWAY

They can put us jail, in an isolation cell,
Lock us up and throw away the key.
Bury the truth under a cold steel roof;
And try to hide reality.
Skirt us and divert us with their television circus;
Blind us with their media machine
But in the end, when all is said and done my friend,
We’ll be back here again – ‘cause we ain’t going away!

They can stall, drop the ball, give us the big stonewall;
Mush us and push us away.
Deport us and distort us, try their hardest to ignore us;
Bullshit and delay.
Hide underneath the covers of their mercenary lovers;
Sugar-coat their dirty deeds and crimes.
But in the end when all is said and done, my friend,
We’ll still be crossing that line – ‘cause we ain’t going away.

[Bridge] They got position and all the money in the world,
They got their guns and their big bad bombs.
But we don’t fear it ‘cause we got the spirit;
Stand up let ‘em hear it,
Let your hearts play the parts they were meant to all along.

They can put us in jail, make our lives a living hell;
Try to kill our will to resist.
Ostracize, polarize, try to demoralize us;
Act like we don’t even exist.
Isolate us, alienate us, drive a wedge to separate us;
Call us the lunatic fringe.
But in the end, when all is said and done my friend,
The voice of justice will ring – ‘cause we ain’t going away!

There Are No Real Winners In War

           
Violence strikes with a hideous crash;
In a 'New York minute' they're gone.
Melted steel, human flesh, concrete and glass,
Welded in the rubble as one.
Fear on the streets, terror in the skies;
War's ugly horror right in front of your eyes.
And over and over, you ask yourself why
So many innocent people must die!

Violence hides in the shadows of the hungry child;
Wherever there's poverty it breeds.
In the slums, the sweatshops and the refugee camps,
On the hopelessness it feeds.
Below in the holes where the human's abused;
Where there's never a mention on the evening news;
A hell where there's nothing, and nothing to lose;
It's easy to see why it ain't love that they choose.
                       
[Chorus] Over here, over there, it's the same everywhere; retaliation just recycles the pain.                    
How many turns will it take till we learn that someone must come break this chain.                                     
When it's 'eye for an eye,' both sides are blind; no one can really tell the score.               
Live or die, saint or sinner, there are no real winners in war.

Wars don't decide who's wrong and who's right;
Only who's left.
When the choke from the smoke and the ashes subside,
There's only death.
We call each other satan to justify our hate and
Give reason why so many die.
But no matter who's in it, do you think for a minute
That in war God really takes sides ?

[Chorus] Over here, over there, it's the same everywhere;
Retaliation recycles the pain.
How many turns will it take till we learn
There's no bargain in this devil's game.
'Cause when it's 'an eye for an eye', everyone's blind;
No one can really tell the score.
Good and bad, saints and sinners,
There are no real winners in war.

Words and music by:     C. Michael Stout, September 29, 2001

WE’RE ALL JUST SISTERS AND BROTHERS
           
Past the flags and the tags and the labels and signs.
'Neath the reach of the superficial boundary lines.
Outside the divides of the nations and states,
Molds and holes, and the self-imposed lonely escapes.

Stripped from the grip of the ego's veneer,
Below the surface of the circus of fear;
After the shows, 'neath the clothes of the artificial covers -
WE'RE JUST SISTERS AND BROTHERS.

Above the perches in the churches where the conscience is kept,
Divisions and religions and traditions of react and regret;
Beyond the laws and the cause of the tribal crusades,
Past the caste and class system that exploits and degrades.
Behind space and time, deep in the heart;
Clean from the scenes that keep us apart;
Free from the fences and pretenses that distract us from each other -
WE'RE ALL JUST SISTERS AND BROTHERS.

No matter how many different languages we talk,
Directions we go in or roads that we walk;
It's a well-known fact, they all lead back to the same mother...

Beyond the sagas and the dogmas and parochial scenes,
Behind the blinds of the closed minds and TV machines;
Far from the cars and the stars of material wealth,
Outside the only-ness and loneliness of ego and self;
Under the thunder and the factional roar;
Higher than the fire of irrational war;
Out of the shell and the hell of the separated colors -
WE'RE ALL JUST SISTERS AND BROTHERS ! (4X)  

Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, February, 2002            

HEY, MR. GOOBERHEAD

Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so stupid and crude?
Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so rude?
Raised up to think that your ship won't sink;
You're the grand poobah whose poop don't stink.
Fed a steady diet of 'me, me, me;'
Who'd a known a rube is what you'd grow up to be, well -

Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so self-centered and crude?
Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so rude?
Cuttin' off your nose, to spite your face;
Think you’re god's gift to the human race.
Treatin.' everyone like your personal slave;
It's hard to tell you're human by the way you behave - (well)

Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, where'd you get that bad attitude?
Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so rude?
'Do as I say, not as I do,'
That's Mr. Gooberhead's golden rule.
Up in the clouds with the bourgeois view
It's clear to see your not just any man's fool , (well-)

Lootin' and pollutin' and spreadin' lots of waste;
Always throwin' your garbage all over the place.
Usin' and abusin' everything you come across;
To the Gooberhead's brain, it's only profit or loss - (well)

Worship at the altar of the almighty buck,
Where 'the sky is the limit' ain't even enough.
Think the whole world is a big shopping mall;
Everything's for sale and YOU want it all.
           
Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so selfish and shrewd?
Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so rude ?
Lyin' and connivin' and scammin' all the time;
You're the dork who's always cuttin' in front of the line.
You don't give a damn about nobody else;
It's 'all for one,' and the one's yourself !

Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, where'd you get that bad attitude ?
Hey, Mr. Gooberhead, how'd you get so rude ?
How'd you get so crude ? How'd you get so shrewd ?  
You're one ignorant boob !

Words & Music by:
C. Michael Stout, February, 2002

ENOUGH's ENOUGH

I've been shut down,
I've been cut down,
I've been run out of town
Enough, how's about you?  Haven't you too?

I've been locked out,
I've been blocked out,
I've been knocked up and down
Enough, how's about you?  Haven't you too?

Ripped off and scammed for others' fortune and fame;
Left high and dry like a dog time and time again;
I've been a pawn in a hundred different games.

I've been kicked out,
I've been shipped out,
I've been written up and out
Enough, how's about you?  Haven't you too?

I've been brain- washed,
I've been double-crossed,
I've been black-balled and white-washed
Enough, how's about you?  Haven't you too?  (2X)

I've seen the sewers of the streets of hell,
I've been a prisoner of fear.
Your don't have to be some kind of genius to tell
It's time to get up and out of here - It's time to rock and roll.

I've been roughed up,
I've been cuffed up,
I've had enough of it
Brothers and sisters, how's about you?  Haven't you too? (3X)
Haven't you had enough of pain, their reign,
And all their silly games?
Guilt and fear, autocracy and hypocrisy -
How's about you?  Haven't you too? (3X)

Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, July, 1994

DON'T LET 'EM PUT OUT THE FIRE

Don't Let 'em put out the fire, inside of you.
Don't let 'em cool the desire that’s driving you;
Don't ever let it expire, or die in you.
Don't let 'em put out the fire !

In a sea full of soul-killer sharks;
Thought-police who want to keep you in the dark.
Just stay the mark ('cause)
Sooner or later you'll spark and hear the hark that's puts your heart out on the wire -

Thousands of borders that keep you in line;
So many orders that unravel your mind.
Just take your time ('cause)
Sooner or later you'll find the like kind that will take your love higher –

So many fences that lock you inside;
Dull your senses, put the breaks on your drive.
Keepin' it alive is a matter of rational pride
If you're on the ride that's heading out of the mire -

Don't ever let it expire.
Don't let 'em cool your desire for living.
Don't ever let it expire.
Take the flame a little higher (oh yea)
Don't let 'em put out the fire.

Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, May, 1998

WHITE CORPORATE MAN IN A BUSINESS SUIT

Well I was watching TV at election time;                                                                  
There were 2 candidates trying to lay it on the line                                              
One of the  looked like he was training to be cute,
He was a White corporate man in a business suit.
I looked at the other, he was equally astute;
He was a white corporate man in a business suit.

Well they kept on talking, they didn’t make sense;
They both seemed to be on the same side of the fence.  
There was no real debate, it was a phony dispute;
They were just  2 white Corporate men in business suits.
If you want to be president you better learn to salute,
And be a white corporate man in a business suit.

He's a white corporate man in a business suit.
Well every single one of them are in cahoots.
He’s running the U.S., Europe and Russia too;
He’s a white corporate man in a business suit.

Well I went to the sink to get a little drink;
The water was dark and murky and it sure did stink..  
I went upstream to find the source of the spill;
There was a chemical plant on top of  the hill.
I asked for the owner of this place of ill-repute;
He was a white corporate man in a business suit.

He was a white corporate  man in a business suit.
The profits are his; it’s our world he pollutes.
He’ll never pay for his crimes he’s got a golden parachute;
He’s a white corporate man in a business suit.

Well I got sued by a lawyer; he was after my loot; he was a white corporate man in a business suit.
I got fired by my boss ‘cause I wouldn’t lick his boots; he was a white corporate man in a business suit.
I got evicted by my landlord ‘cause my rent was overdue; he was a white corporate man in a business suit.  
I got rejected for a loan at the financial institute, by a white corporate man in a business suit.
I tried talking to my Senator, he didn’t give a hoot; he was a white corporate man in a business suit.
I went to my preacher but he just asked me to contribute; he was a white corporate man in a business suit.
They finally hauled me to a shrink; he said my case was acute; he was a white corporate man in a business suit.

Well there’s a whole lot of things I’d rather do
Than be a white corporate  man in a business suit.
I’d rather be homeless and singing the blues,
Then be a white corporate man in a business suit.

Well it might be  pretty, it might be warm;
That business suite is just another uniform.
It’s a symbol of privilege, greed and abuse;
That’s why they wear that business suit.
Well we need a role-model that’s a little more unique,
Instead of some obsessive greedy, money-hungry geek

[Like a white corporate man in a business suit.
He wants his control to be absolute
I wonder who many could fit in a telephone booth.
From Enron to Chrysler to the President too
Well something must have to go wrong in your youth,
They're all just white corporate men in a business suit.
To want to be a white corporate man in a business suit.
He's just a white corporate man in a business suit                           

Words & Music by: Rick Hoyt, adopted by Mike Stout
                       
WHEN THE JUDGEMENT DAY COMES

At this moment, in this space and time,
The earth is ruled by kings in decline.
Greed and hate are their weapons in hand;
'Divide and conquer' is how they command.
Addicts of power, out of control.
Fanatics towering over our soul.
But just when things look like the end,
The earth will move and shake once again.
Eons of victims will rise up as one -
WHEN THE JUDGEMENT DAY COMES (2X)

False gods sail on their ego trips;
Blasting off on their star war ships.
Launching plagues of irreversible harm
On generations not even born.
Poisoning the water, land and the air.
Spreading disease and their garbage everywhere.
But soon there will be a total eclipse;
The truth will ride in like the apocalypse.
The oppressed will rise in final retribution -
WHEN THE JUDGEMENT DAY COMES (4X)

[BRIDGE] What goes up is gonna come back down;
What goes around is gonna come back around, you and I know.
How you fish is what you will net;
What you give is what you will get.
And those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind that blows...and there it blows !

They seem invincible, so damn strong,
Like their rule will last real long.
With weapons that reach out to every shore;
Gendarmes stationed at every port.
But winds of peace will blow like a storm;
Dragons and beasts will be overthrown.
Guillotines of justice will signal the end;
The earth will move and shake once again.
The toiling masses will rise up as one -
WHEN THE JUDGEMENT DAY COMES (5X)

WORDS & MUSIC BY: C. Michael Stout, November, 1991

THE HUMAN SPIRIT WILL PREVAIL

Up against the man, and his ‘dog-eat-dog’ system,
that beats and eats you alive.
Up against the creed,  of greed and consumerism
The human spirit will survive.

Up against the hate, this ruthless corporate state,
That buys and ties and drives you down;
Up against the blows of the status quo’s dictate -
The human spirit resounds.

Up against the hunger, the ego profit-mongers,
Their history of misery and shame.
Up against the senseless, endless poverty prolonging -
The human spirit remains.

Up against the walls, wars, guns and cannon balls,
the coarsest forces of fear.
Up against the fright of their military might and all -
The human spirit will still be here.

Up against the odds, the global money gods,
their days of slaves and prison time.
Up against the masters of disaster and facades -
The human spirit will shine.

The day is short, there’s no time to hesitate;
We’re heading  straight into the eye of the storm.
The  ball is in our court, we can’t afford to wait.
Later is too late; Step up to the plate;
Grab a hold of fate and run, run, run!

Up against indifference, ignorance and inhumanity,
Ages of cages and hell.
Up against the wrongs, and eons of insanity -
THE HUMAN SPIRIT WILL NOT FAIL.
THE HUMAN SPIRIT WILL SET SAIL.
THE HUMAN SPIRIT WILL PREVAIL.

Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, June 19, 2001