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I Don’t Fight for Conquerors

Having forgotten that “I Ain’t Marchin’ Any More” had already been written, I wrote this. Oh well can’t have too many anthems – unless they’re boring. (Also from Phil Ochs Night, 12/19/15)

I didn’t fight for the Romans
I fought for the Christians and Greece
But when Christians turned into Crusaders
I prayed for their tribes to decrease

And I didn’t fight for the Spanish,
French, Portuguese or Dutch
When their ships sailed into the Indies
I said look but do not touch

And I didn’t fight for the English
When the colonies had to go
But I have to say, the very next day
I was fightin for Geronimo

Chorus:
And I don’t like to kill
Never have and never will
But I will fight for freedom
Though the battle be uphill
And I don’t fight for conquerors
Even if they’re presidents
They try to buy me with dollars
They must think I’ve got no sense
And I don’t keep my silence
When my country bombs a town
Cause I don’t fight for conquerors
I fight to bring them down

I didn’t fight for the Ottomans
Or the empire of the czar
When they asked me to kill in their colonies
I said who do you think you are?

And I didn’t fight for the Nazis
No, I fought for the Jews
And when Israel asked me to conquer
You know I had to refuse

I didn’t crown the Shah of Iran
Greek colonels or a butcher in Zaire
Didn’t bank on Franco or apartheid
Or any who ruled by fear
Chorus

I didn’t overthrow Chile
Slaughter peasants in El Salvador
And when they went in with shock and awe
I knew exactly what it was for

I didn’t send men to be tortured
Leave their families living in dread
I didn’t build prisons all over the world
And pretend it was freedom I spread

Yes they say they’re spreading democracy
With their soldiers and CIA
Is that why they propped up Mr. Marcos,
Suharto, Duvalier

Vietnam and Iraq, I protested
While all of my Presidents lied
When Presidents stoop to conquer
I’m on the other side

All Along Renewable Power

Climate Man rewrote All Along the Watchtower, and I rewrote his rewrite, so here’s the result.

There must be some way out of here
Said the broker to the thief (same guy)
My profit comes from climate change
Destruction of barrier reefs
Droughts and floods and fires
Our greed destroys the earth
None of us who ruin it
Know what any of it is worth

No reason to get excited
The skeptic slyly spoke
It’s just a hoax from socialists
Or maybe some kind of joke
But you and I must shout it out
Or this will be our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late

All along renewable power
Has been clearly in view
While all the oilmen plundered us
Coal and nuclear too
Outside all the people
Marched for sanity
Moment of truth approaching
To save humanity

The Climate It Is A-Changin’

Live at the climate march, NYC, Dec ’15.

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your planet to you is worth savin’
Then you better change course cause the truth is now known
For the climate is a-changin’

Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall
For we all will be hurt
Cause Exxon has stalled
While you prattle along we are ragin’
And we’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the climate it is a-changin’

Come climate skeptics throughout the land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand
Your fossil addiction is beyond our command
It’s a fight to destroy you are waging
Please give us a chance to save oceans and land
For the climate is a-changin’

The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
Spewing carbon you see is a thing of the past
But there still is hope, for the people have massed
The old lies are rapidly fadin’
To have any future we’ve got move fast
We must be the ones who are changin’

Star of Goliath

Song cycle with visuals about Palestine/Israel, remixed 2015.

Lipp Band: Lipp’s 50th anniversary of…

At the Brooklyn Commons on August 22, 2015, Dave Lippman celebrated 50 years of making music for justice.  The LippBand rolled out songs dating from the eighties right up into the Age of Technology. Videos from that night plus relevant graphix = The Illustrated Band.

LippBand1

I Hate Wal-Mart

1
I’ve always hated Starbucks
Amazon, almost as much
If I’m not boycotting at least 3 oil companies
I start to feel out of touch

I wouldn’t be seen in Google Glass or any such
And I hate Wal-Mart
2
I don’t like whips, I don’t like chains
I don’t go choppin up my neighbors’ brains
Don’t really even like shopping
except at the Flea Mart
And I hate Wal-Mart
3
Now you may wonder what’s all this fuss?
If you don’t like the train, take the bus
But I’ve found religion, and just between us
I hate Wal-Mart
4
If you didn’t hear the story, here’s how it is

Big company sells below cost

Drive mom and pop out of biz

Pretty soon all over the land

One big square store, identical brand

And that’s why I hate Wal-Mart
5
Used to be you could drive around

Stop in at three or four towns

Encounter different sights and sounds

Different if not unique

Different accent, different smell

Different things to buy and sell

Now it’s all Taco Bell

I hate Wal-Mart
6
Roads used to dip and wind

You drive slow, relax your mind

Never knew what you’d find

Round the next bend

Now the freeway goes so straight

It’d go right past the Pearly Gate
I don’t feel human, I feel like freight

I hate Wal-Mart
7
I like to roam, I like to greet

Individuals on the street

You always know the one you meet is

One of a kind

But more and more they seem to be

Reflections of something on TV
When we’re all alike, nobody’s free

I hate Wal-Mart
8
I boycott Burger King, I boycott Newt Gingrich
I boycott everything which I’ve seen advertised
I used to go out to dinner in a diner

Now they say fast food is finer

But it tastes like fell out of an airliner

It’s enough to make you weep
9
I don’t like board games

I don’t like brand names

They make inflated claims

They’re full of bleep

Everyone I meet is a high-tech dealer

Wants to sell me a digital potato peeler

At least we’ve still got Garrison Keillor but

But he’s so white
10
Turn on my radio dial
Like to hear somethin’ new once in a while
But it’s the same old crap in a brand new style
Clear Channel, please!
Still I try to pick and choose
Turn the dial but I always lose
They only play the worst rock and roll
And once in a while if you’re lucky one little rhythm and blues
And that’s why God made mp3s.
11
Used to be we wore beads and bells
Made our own clothes in our own way
Now we all wear a uniform says
Hard Rock Cafe
We’re in a state of sartorial decay
And that’s why I hate Wal-Mart
12
If there’s a pretty spot they’ll pave it over

Put a cloverleaf over a four-leaf clover

Black paint on the White Cliffs of Dover

It never fails
They’re bankin’ billions
We make minimum wage
Whole towns closed up, where’s the rage?
Not that I believe in nations per se
But if just might be time
To nationalize Wal-Mart