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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