Activist Times Inc. teargas

Published in

· 25 Apr 2019

  

The Teargas Anthem 
  a song written by Desert Rat 

I've seen the lands beyond these borders 
Where the corporations rule 

And they spin their lies and they globalize  
and the working man's their tool. 

And the streams are so polluted 
that their banks are bleak and bare 

and the babies all are born deformed 
and the smog is everywhere  

and the workers wages drop  
30% in just one year 

now the greedy bastards want to bring 
that situation here 

and you called upon me brother 
and you asked what I could do 
and I told the truth dear brother 
when I spoke these words to you 

I will stand beside your shoulder 
when the teargas fills the sky 

and if a national guardsman shoots me down 
I'll be lookin him in the eye 

and I will wash their pepper from your face 
and go with you to jail 

and if you don't make it through this fight 
I swear I'll tell your tale 

And I will stay with you in the prison cell 
In solidarity 

and I will not leave that cursed room 
til you walk out with me 

For we the people fight for freedom 
While the cops just fight for pay 

and as long as truth is in our hearts 
we're sure to win some day 

I will not falter when that iron fist 
comes out of the velvet glove 

I will stand beside you brother 
and defend this land I love 

I've heard the tales from conquered islands 
where the sweatshop barons rule 

recruiting girls from the Asian slums 
to be the rich mans' tool 

and they are promised lies of luxury 
in the golden usa 

and then they're stranded on these islands 
with their passports stripped away 

And their aging fingers toil and bleed 
year after grueling year 

now the greedy bastards want to bring  
those same conditions here. 

and you called upon me sister 
and you asked what I could do 
and I told the truth dear sister 
when I spoke these words to you 

I will stand beside your shoulder 
when the teargas fills the sky 

and if a national guardsman shoots me down 
I'll be lookin him in the eye 

and I will wash their pepper from your face 
and go with you to jail 

and if you don't make it through this fight 
I swear I'll tell your tale 

And I will stay with you in the prison cell 
In solidarity 

and I will not leave that cursed room 
til you walk out with me 

For we the people fight for freedom 
While the cops just fight for pay 
and as long as truth is in our hearts 
we're sure to win some day 

I will not falter when that iron fist 
comes out of the velvet glove 

I will stand beside you sister 
and defend this land I love 

yes, I will stand beside you sister 
and defend this land I love 

 
=============== 

Desert Rat sings this with a drumbeat and an awesome 
Irish brogue. I do it a capella and kind of scream it, 
kind of chant it, kind of sing it. I think both work 
well, but I do wish I could do it his way. :)  
  This is one of those songs that you finish and  
people come up to you afterwards asking for a copy 
of the lyrics. This has happened to me half a dozen 
times just in the past week. And it happened today 
at a rally where I just belted it out as people were 
milling around when the program itself was finished. 

--marco. milwaukee, 6oct02