I WILL BE THERE
Down in the trenches, where nothing shines;
Out on the mean streets and on the front lines;
In darkest times -
I WILL BE THERE FOR YOU (2X)
When institutions turn tail and bail;
When destitution and apathy prevail;
when all else fails -
I WILL BE THERE FOR YOU (2X)
[Bridge]
When all looks lost, and moss gathers on the stone,
You're all alone or you face the unknown.
Stuck in the muck, or just down on your luck,
I will dare to be there and pick you back up !
When fear and hate rule the roost;
The hour's late and the beast is on the loose;
or you just need a boost -
I WILL BE THERE FOR YOU (2X)
[Bridge]
When all looks lost and the cost of freedom must be borne,
You're left high and dry in the eye of the storm.
Stuck in the muck, or simply down on your luck,
I won't jive and shuck and pass the buck;
Leave you abandoned, run for cover or duck;
I will dare to care and be there to pick you back up !
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, January, 2001
COMPLACENCY CITY
Under shelter from the swelter
of the heat and helter skelter world-wide;
Locked inside a bubble,
oblivious to the trouble going on outside.
Up in the clouds, where the ignorance is bliss;
Far from the viles and the wilds of the miles of the human abyss.
With your eyes on the screen,
Your ears to the machine,
Lost in the seems
you're immune from the pity,
the doom and nitty-gritty,
Sittin' real comfy and pretty -
In 'Complacency City.'
Opiated enmasse by the ruling class;
Watching the world through their rose-colored glass.
You're insulated, isolated,
Regulated and sedated to the max...waitin' for the crash.
Empires crumble, systems stumble
Stock markets come tumbling down.
There's a war next door
moving like a wild boar toward the edges of town.
Whirlwinds of danger on a 'search and destroy,' or
Weather patterns much stranger than anything we've ever seen before.
But with your head in the sand,
a silver spoon in your hand,
you hide in a land
that's immune from the pity,
cocooned from the shitty,
sittin' real comfy and pretty -
In 'Complacency City.'
Inside Complacency City.
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, January, 2001
THE DAY HAS COME
Once I was a soldier; I fought on foreign sands for you.
Once I was a molder; I worked with my hands for you.
Once I was a farmer; I tilled the lands for you,
For your wealth and joy to be;
For your class's destiny.
[CHORUS]
But now the day has come
Like the morning sun,
For the beasts to run,
And for the slave to rise and be
Like the waves of the sea - and be free !
Once I was the liar, I bought the bull that fooled the rest for you.
Once I built the fire, that warmed your nest for you.
Once I was for hire; I sold my breath to you.
In the days when we lived tied to your rubbish dreams;
On the chains of your mystery;
On the reins of your history -
[CHORUS]
In case anybody out there has any lingering doubt
About just exactly who the hell Mike Stout is talking about.
I'm talking about the ones left behind, downsized and marginalized
The one who do all the work and never get known or recognized.
The hard-working poor, the scorned,
The have-nots and the ignored;
The ownless, the homeless, the uncompensated, and incarcerated
Here and in every wretched corner of the globe -
I'm talking about The working people of the world.
I'm talking about the workers of the world.
I'm talking about you and me ; I'm talking about you and me.
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, December 2000
(adapted from the Tim Buckley song, "Once I Was")
Phila-POSH AND JIMMY MORAN
Native son, born in the shadow of the Liberty bell.
Chosen one, for the work place of the living hell.
Thousands killed on the altar of greed, millions injured every year.
Cancer makers on a raging stampede, strap us to poison and fear.
Organizer, in the air of uncertainty.
Mobilizer, in the wars inside the chemical sea.
Stir the ranks at the bottom of the shop; make them take it seriously.
Let the cream of the crop rise to the top; whose only hope is solidarity.
So raise your heads, and open your eyes;
With people dyin' there's no time for compromise.
Our children's future demands
That we make our stand –
So come on and dance, dance, dance, dance, dance,
Teach us all you can.
So come on and dance, dance, dance, dance, dance,
With Phila-POSH and Moran, Phila-POSH and Jimmy Moran.
Trouble-teacher to the circles of the powers-that-be.
Safety-preacher to the victims of invisible debris.
Empower those under the iron heel; this is the mobilizer's scheme.
Make the forces of suffering yield; this is the organizer's dream.
{CHORUS}...Phila-POSH and Jimmy Moran
All the people like them - men and women
Who right from the beginning
Have been working and giving for our health and safety living, my friends...
Phila-POSH and Moran, Phila-POSH and Jimmy Moran.
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, July, 2000
BALANCE IS THE KI
Balance is the ki, to open the door;
Balance is the tree, whose fruit will bare more;
Balance is the street, up which we will go forward.
Balance the below, with the heavens above;
Balance the war, with the white-winged dove;
Balance all the hate, with the thunder of love.
Balance the fear, with emotions of trust;
Balance the tears, with a burst of happiness;
Balance all the years, with the children in us.
(Refrain)You're not the only one whose been
on the brink of a bad breakdown;
I've seen my share of insanity.
But it's right when things are getting out of control
You have to grab hold of your soul and destiny.
Balance the hunger, with the harvest of the moon;
Balance the weeds, with the flowers in bloom;
Balance all the chaos, with the harmony of a tune.
Balance the facade, with the essence of things;
Balance the fraud, with the bird that sings;
Balance all the law, with a freedom that rings.
[Refrain] I'm not saying we're the same in every respect, heck no;
We have our differences, that's for sure.
It just seems that something bigger is coming together,
Something much better, than anything we've seen before.
Balance is the sea, between 'us and them;'
Balance must be, between women and men;
Balance is when we, come together again.
We'll come together again, oh ya (3X).
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, 1989
TAKE ME
Take Me.
Please Stephanie,
Take Me.
In matrimony,
Take me.
Take me.
Into your heart,
Take me.
Into your lovin' arms,
Take me.
Let the bells ring out of
our higher union of love.
Let trust and respect sing and shout,
drive out the doubt,
and the rest will work out.
Take me.
Let us begin;
Take me.
Down to the end,
Take me.
Let our bridge build to be
our new family.
Let the walls in between and around
come tumbling down;
let our unity abound.
Take me.
Into your soul,
Take me.
While we're growing old,
Take me,
come on and take me;
please take me - 'cause I'm takin' you.
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, June 29, 1996
ARMIES OF THE WORKING CLASS POOR
In the hell holes and sweatshops of the world,
Below the living wage line;
At the bottom, forgotten by time.
Invisibles, with no name or face.
Sold as bargains, in the global market place.
On the margins, of this one human race.
On the shelves at the Wal-marts and malls,
and the big shopping chains.
'Neath the labels of the fancy brand names.
Far from the eyes of the consumer parade.
Behind the lies of the commercial masquerade.
Under the guise of what they call 'free trade' -
[Chorus]It's just the armies of the working class poor;
Knockin' on infinity's back door.
It's just the unfree of the global economy;
Roaring in silence at you and me - to be free
[REFRAIN] Their sweat and blood flows through our clothes
down through the souls of our shoes;
And the toys that keep our children amused.
And I will be damned, if the people don't stand
And choose to refuse,
When they hear the news-when they see the truth.
[CHORUS]It's just the armies of the working class poor,
Knockin' on infinity's back door.
It's just the unfree of the global economy,
Screaming for some humanity.
It's just the armies of the working class poor,
Knockin' on infinity's back door.
It's just the unfree of the global economy,
Roaring in silence at you and me - to be free -
We won't be free - till they are free.
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, January, 2000
We Fed You All For A Thousand Years
We have fed you all for a thousand years,
And here we are, still unfed.
And there's never a dollar of all your wealth
That doesn't mark the workers' dead.
We have given our best
Just to give you rest,
So you can lie on crimson wool.
But if blood be the price of all your wealth,
Then we have paid in full.
{Bridge}There is never a mine blown skyward now,
That we're buried alive for you.
There is never a wreck drifts shoreward, now,
That we are its ghastly crew.
Go reckon our dead by the forges red,
And the factories where we spin.
If blood be the price of your cursed wealth,
Then good God, we have paid it in.
We have fed you all for a thousand years,
For that was our doom, you know.
From the days when you chained us in your fields,
To the shutdown a week ago.
You have taken our lives and our babies and wives,
And we're told it's your legal share.
But if blood be the price of your lawful wealth,
Then we have bought it fair.
For a thousand years...for a thousand years.
For a thousand years...for a thousand years, oh yea.
Words: IWW Song book, unknown worker, 1906
Music by Prairie Fire, 1974
(We the People Have) The POWER IN US
We the people, have the power to choose.
We the people, have the will to refuse
All the murder, the torture, repressive regimes;
The taxpayer's funding of their killing machines.
We the people, have the power to use.
We the people, have the voices to talk.
We the people, have the numbers to stop
All the guns, the violence, the brutality;
The taxpayer's funding of their inhumanity.
We the people, have the power in us.
We the people, must have the courage to stand.
We the people, have the right to demand
No funds, for guns, and police states;
No more, support, for schools of hate.
We the people, have the power in us.
[Bridge] No indecision, by some heartless politician
Gonna keep our train from coming to town.
No intoxication by some greedy corporation
Gonna keep this people's movement down.
WE HAVE THE POWER IN US !
We the people, have the vision to see.
We the people, have the spirit to be
A force, on the course to a new reality;
Right, in the fight for a true democracy.
We the people, have the power in us !
[Bridge] No lobby lawyers, or modern-day exploiters
Gonna keep the truth from coming to light.
No distraction by the preachers of inaction
Gonna stem this tide for human rights -
WE HAVE THE POWER IN US ! (5X)
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, March, 2000
LOVE IS
Love is real;
You can feel it in this room.
Love is near;
You can hear its melodious tune.
Love is there;
Like the air and the sun and the moon.
With radiance it shines,
From your heart and mine;
Love conquers space and time.
Love is fair;
Always dar-ing to be kind.
Love is just;
The only must thing we will find.
Love is truth;
The fountain of youth since the beginning of time.
It's always humble and wise;
It calms and clarifies;
Love is the ultimate high.
Love is free;
It's never envy or jealousy.
Love is peace;
The only real release from negativity.
Love is whole;
The total soul of infinity.
[Bridge] It's not possessive or obsessively bold;
It can't be bought or sold like gold.
It's the art of giving;
It's the part of living that goes on forever
and never grows old.
Love is real;
You can feel it everywhere.
Love is here;
Never fear-ing to share or care.
Love is the friend;
Who in the end will always be there.
It's our togetherness;
It's righteous selflessness;
Love is the oneness in us.
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, April,2000
STICK TOGETHER
Trapped on a treadmill, always spinning your wheels.
Buried deep in bills, under someone else's heels.
Stuck in dong again
On the wrong end of them backroom deals.
Scrappin' and scrapin' at the bottom for crumbs;
Like there was no escapin' and nowhere left to run;
Like the 'dog-eat-dogs' ruled and the spirit was beat;
Like sanity was fooled and facin' certain defeat;
At the mercy of sharks on a dark, stark and turbulent sea.
(Somethin' was missin from me...)
Balled and chained, alone again, left out of the fold.
Rejected, disrespected, disconnected from the whole.
Reelin' from the feelin'
That just fendin' for yourself would never hold no water.
Well there off their bonkers if they think we can't see
This 'divide and conquer' doesn't really have to be.
Let's flood the hallow halls where the sacred laws are wrote;
Knock down the walls that keep us separate and remote;
Looks like we're all in the same stinking, same sinking boat.
{CHORUS} I think we better...
Get back together, it's all we got now.
Check out the weather, it's gettin' hot now..
It's now or never, throw in your lot now.
Stick together, 'cause all I got now - is you !
Seems like the real test is when the bubble bursts.
Seems like we're at our best when things are at their worse.
Seems like we shine
In the darkest of times like we were under some curse.
Well seize the hour, turn back the tide;
We have the power, it's right here inside.
The future's bought and sold, we have no where else to go;
We're left out in the cold, where only lonely winds blow.
Pick up your oars and row, it's time to get this show back on the road.
CHORUS
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, July, 2000
WHEN THE NEW WORLD COMES ALONG
I see the prejudice fading away.
I see the black and white turning to gray.
I see a rainbow coming our way.
Somewhere in the cracks between the sand and the sea;
Somewhere in the future of humanity.
I see a place with nations erased.
I see a time with no boundary lines.
I see the date when love conquers hate.
Somewhere in the cracks of time.
Somewhere in the future of yours and mine.
{Refrain}I see storm clouds gathering around; I see the reigns come pouring down.
I see the darkness, but I can see the dawn; When the new world comes along.
I see an age when hunger is gone.
I see a stage when the homeless are home.
I see a page where our language is one.
Somewhere in the space between our word and our deeds;
Somewhere in the face of infinity.
I see the year when justice is here.
I see the day when peace comes to stay.
I see the hour when the good come to power.
Somewhere in the air between what is and will be;
Sometime down the line of eternity.
{Refrain}I see blood shed, torture and more;
I see the winds of a bigger war.
I see demise, but I can see the rise
When this new world comes along.
{Refrain}I see the toxic waste washed up to shore; I see the ozone layer torn.
I see the dyin', but I can see the born, When the new world comes along.
I see the ego kings fading away.
I see the superheart coming our way.
I see the oneness in the light of the day.
Somewhere in the cracks of time;
Somewhere in the future of yours and mine.
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout, 1988