Lyrics to the Brooklyn Women's Chorus CD.
When I’m down and blue and I need my spirits raised,
And I can’t find warmth or comfort on my own,
I reach out for my friends, who’ve discovered just as I,
That the joy of singing heals an injured soul.
That’s the power of song (ah-oop - ooo)
When everybody sings along (ah-oop - ooo)
At first you might not sing on key (ah-oop - ooo)
Before you know it you will learn to sing
In H-A-R-M-O-N-Y
Everybody’s got the power (ah-oop - ooo)
Like the seed that grows to flower (ah-oop - ooo)
Open up and sing along (ah-oop - ooo)
Together singing feel the power.
That’s the power of song.
You can climb mountains
You can swim the rivers flowing wide
You can heal the pain of loss and loneliness
That’s hurting deep inside
You can fight injustice
You can sing for peace around the world
With music in the air
You can travel anywhere with the power of song
That’s the power of song (It’s the joy to open up and sing)
When everybody sings along (Everybody come and join on in)
At first you might not sing on key (Just give it time and you’ll find
your voice)
Before you know it you will learn to sing in harmony
Everybody’s got the power (We’ve got the power, the power of song)
Like the seed that grows to flower (We’ve got the power, the power
of song)
Open up and sing along (We’ve got the power, the power of song)
Together singing feel the power. That’s the power of song.
You can climb mountains.
You can swim the rivers flowing wide.
You can heal the pain of loss and loneliness
That’s hurting deep inside
You can fight injustice
You can sing for peace around the world
With music in the air you can travel anywhere
With the power of song.
When I’m down and blue and I need my spirits raised
And I can’t find joy or comfort on my own.
I reach out for my friends who’ve discovered just as I
That the joy of singing heals an injured soul.
©1999 Bev Grant
We sew the clothes, the ones that you buy.
We can’t afford them for ourselves. The price is too high.
Our families need food. We don’t need name brands.
We’d just like a fair share of the money that’s made off of our working
hands.
CHORUS
We need the right to organize – no sweat! No forced overtime – no sweat!
Clean drinking water – no sweat! Clean air to breathe
No bosses screamin’, no forced pregnancy tests,
The right to speak and be heard.
We are workers spreading the word – NO SWEAT.
There’s lint in the air. Our lungs are on fire
We work behind tall cement walls, topped with barbed wire
We don’t have a voice so we can’t complain
They just kick us out whenever we shout or cry out in pain
We need the right…
They call us sweatshop workers
We live from hand to mouth
We took the jobs you lost up north
When the companies moved south
We don’t have a union. We barely get by
We need your support. We need you to join in
When you hear our cry
Our wages are low. Our hours are long
They dock our pay if we do anything they say is wrong
They hire us girls, They think we’ll obey.
But we feel the power when we work together and when we say…NO SWEAT!
We need the right…
En las maquiladoras
Sudamos dia tras dia
Con las sobras de trabajos
Que el norte - le deja al sur
Y sin una unión, no habra solución
A menos que a cudas, al grito de lucha
Que exíge este son.
CORO:
Ya es hora de formar la unión – no sweat! Acabar la explotación
– no sweat!
Agua fresca para beber – no sweat! Aire puro y luz de sol
Oye a este pueblo, si no quiere mas, Ni jefes tiranos, ni abuso al
mandar
Oye bien, vé y dile al patron – No sweat!
We need the right…
©1999 Bev Grant and Pat Humphries
Freedom, Freedom after while
Freedom, Freedom after While
Justice, Justice after while
Justice, Justice after while
Courage, Courage after while
Courage, courage after while
Hope, Hope after while
Hope, Hope after while
Peace, Peace after while
Peace, Peace after while
Freedom, Freedom after while
Freedom, Freedom after While
©1968 Michael L. Charles Music, BMI
CHORUS:
Music's in the air - Oh, South Africa Singing everywhere - Freedom has come. Celebration time - Oh, South Africa Leave the past behind - Freedom has come.
| People dancing in the street | - For freedom | |
| Smile at everyone they meet | - With freedom | |
| Spirits rising to the beat | - Of freedom | |
| It took so long but now it's finally come! | ||
Repeat Chorus:
Nelson said, "Never, never and never again,
Shall it be that this beautiful land will again
Experience the oppression of one by another
And suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world."
Nelson Mandela.
Repeat Chorus:
| They're singing "Freedom" | They're singing freedom has come, yes, and now we've got it. | |
| "Freedom" | Hallelujah time has come | |
| They're singing "Freedom" | We're on our way to a life of peace with justice | |
| "Freedom" | Freedom has come! |
©1994 Bev Grant
De colores. De colores se visten los campos en la primavera
De colores. De colores son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera
De colores. De colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi
Canta el gallo. Canta el gallo con el kiri, kiri, kiri, kiri, kiri
La gallina. La gallina con el cara, cara, cara, cara, cara
Los polluelos. Los polluelos con el pio, pio, pio, pio, pi
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi
TRANSLATION:
De colores, Bright with colors the mountains and valleys dress up in
the springtime
De colores, Bright with colors all the little birds fill the skies
in the daytime
De colores, Bright with colors the rainbow brings joy with the glory
of spring.
And a bright love with colors has found us with peace all around us
that makes our hearts sing.
Hear the rooster, Hear the rooster singing kiri, kiri, kiri, kiri, kiri
In the morning, In the morning the hen sings her cara, cara, cara,
cara
All day singing, Baby chicks all day sing pio, pio, pio, pio, pi
And a bright love with colors has found us with peace all around us
that makes our hearts sing.
Zog nit kaynmol az du gayst dem letstn veg,
Chutch himlen bloyene farshteln bloye teg,
Kumen vet noch undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trut - mir zynen do!
Kumen vet noch undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trut - mir zynen do!
Never say that you are going your last way.
Though lead-filled skies above blot out the blue of day.
The hour for which we long will certainly appear.
The earth shall thunder ‘neath our tread that we are here!
The hour for which we long will certainly appear.
The earth shall thunder ‘neath our tread that we are here!
For us the morning sun will radiate the day
And the enemy and past will fade away,
But should the dawn delay or sunrise wait too long,
Then let all future generations sing this song.
But should the dawn delay or sunrise wait too long,
Then let all future generations sing this song.
This song was written with our blood and not with lead
This is no song of free birds flying overhead,
But a people amid crumbling walls did stand
They stood and sang this song with rifles held in hand.
But a people amid crumbling walls did stand
They stood and sang this song with rifles held in hand.
Zog nit kaynmol az du gayst dem letstn veg,
Chutch himlen bloyene farshteln bloye teg,
Kumen vet noch undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trut - mir zynen do!
Kumen vet noch undzer oysgebenkte sho,
S'vet a poyk ton undzer trut -
Mir zynen do!
In Montgomery and in Selma and the streets of Birmingham
The people sent a message to the leaders of the land
We have fought and we have suffered and we know the wrong from right
We are family. We are neighbors. We are black and we are white.
CHO:
Here I go bound for freedom. May my truth take the leadFrom a cell in Pennsylvania, from an inmate on death row
Not the preacher, not the congress, not the millionaire, but me
I will organize for justice. I will raise my voice in song
And our children will be free to lead the world and carry on
CHO: repeat
BRIDGE:
Here I go, though I’m standing on my ownFrom the streets of New York City, ‘cross the ocean and beyond
I remember those before me and I know I’m not alone
I will organize for justice. I will raise my voice in song
And our children will be free to lead the world and carry on
Repeat Chorus and Bridge
©1997 Pat Humphries Moving Forward Music
Circle Chant segues into Peace Salaam Shalom
LYRICS COMING SOON!
LYRICS COMING SOON!
As we go marching, marching through the beauty of the day
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing “Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses”.
SOLO
As we go marching, marching we battle too for men,
For they are women’s children and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes.
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing, their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for but we fight for roses, too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the brighter days
The rising of the women means the rising of the human race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life’s glories, Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.
words by James Oppenheim, music by Caroline Kohlsaat with new music
by Mimi Farina.
We have ploughed and we have planted
We have gathered into barns.
Done the same work as the men
With babies in our arms.
But you won't find our stories
In most history books you read.
We were there and we're still here
Fighting for the things we need.
Cho:
We were there in the factories,
We were there in the mills,
We were there in the mines,
And came home to fix the meals.
We were there on the picket lines,
We raised our voices loud.
It makes me proud, just knowing
We were there.
From the textile mills in Lawrence
To the sweat shops in New York,
From the fields in California
Where our children had to work,
We fought to make a living
Bread and roses was our cry.
Though they jailed and beat our bodies
Our spirit never died.
We were Polish, We were Irish
We were African and Jew
Italian and Latina
Chinese and Russian, too
They tried to use our differences
To split us all apart
But the pain we felt together
Touched the bottom of our hearts.
We are teachers, we are doctors,
We are cooks and engineers.
Letter carriers, truck drivers,
Conductors and cashiers.
We operate machinery,
We fly the big airplanes.
And we help to build our unions,
We got struggle in our veins.
©1997 Bev Grant
UNISON
When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one
Because the union, yeah, the union makes us strong.
CHORUS
MEZZOS:
So- (solidarity) –lidarity forever (we’re singing bout solidarity)They have taken (they have taken) untold millions (millions)
So- (solidarity) –lidarity forever (we’re gonna shout solidarity)
So- (solidarity) –lidarity forever (forever)
Because the union, yeah, the union makes us strong.
REPEAT CHORUS
In our hands is placed a power (we got a power) greater than their hoarded
gold
Greater than the strength of armies magnified a thousand fold.
(it’s greater than their armies by)
We can bring (bring to birth) a new (a new) world from the ashes of
the old
Because the union, yeah, the union makes us strong.
©1988 David Welsh
One more time, one more time
Let's get together, one more time
One more time, one more time
Let's get together, one more time
Other Lyrics
Only a creek separates their village from the terminal of Chevron Texaco
Pumping oil for 40 years, the village watched the oil empire grow
As life for them got harder, the women’s discontent grew every day
So they wrote a letter to the corporation hoping someone would listen
to what they had to say.
Around the corner – the women are coming
Around the corner – the women are coming
Around the corner – the women are coming
Around the corner – the women are coming
Letters, letters we get lots and lots of letters said the Chevron CEO
They get lost in the shuffle and the bustle. We’ve got a business to
run, you know?
Mama Ayo felt insulted. She’s the one who wrote the letter. To disrespect
her made her mad
So she called upon her neighbors, and they discussed the options that
they had.
Woman to woman, shack to shack
From dugout canoe, across and back
The rivers and creeks that cross the land
The women of Ugborodo made a plan
Around the corner – the women are coming
Around the corner – the women are coming
Around the corner – the women are coming
Around the corner – the women are coming
Hundreds of women gathered by the riverfront before sunrise on July
8
And they watched the Chevron boat approach the dock to take their men
to work that day
It took the captain by surprise when the women came on board and left
the men behind
Sailing past the Chevron guards they set foot on company grounds for
the very first time.
Woman to woman, shack to shack
From dugout canoe, across and back
The rivers and creeks that cross the land
The women of Ugborodo took a stand
Around the corner – the women are coming (4x)
You’ve been getting rich for 40 years off the oil from Nigerian land
We don’t think it’s fair and we will stay right here until you answer
our demands
For 10 days and nights they bargained hard ‘til the company agreed
To build schools and roads and hospitals and to provide electricity.
Woman to woman, shack to shack….
Around the corner – the women are coming (8x)
©2003 Bev Grant
NO SWEAT
By Bev Grant & Pat Humphries
We sew the clothes, the ones that you buy.
We can’t afford them for ourselves. The price is too high.
Our families need food. We don’t need name brands.
We’d just like a fair share of the money that’s made off of our working
hands.
CHORUS
We need the right to organize – no sweat! No forced overtime – no sweat!
Clean drinking water – no sweat! Clean air to breathe
No bosses screaming, no forced pregnancy tests,
The right to speak and be heard.
We are workers spreading the word – NO SWEAT.
There’s lint in the air. Our lungs are on fire
We work behind tall cement walls, topped with barbed wire
We don’t have a voice so we can’t complain
They just kick us out whenever we shout or cry out in pain
We need the right…
They call us sweatshop workers
We live from hand to mouth
We took the jobs you lost up north
When the companies moved south
We don’t have a union. We barely get by
We need your support. We need you to join in
When you hear our cry
Our wages are low. Our hours are long
They dock our pay if we do anything they say is wrong
They hire us girls, They think we’ll obey.
But we feel the power when we work together and when we say…NO SWEAT!
We need the right…
En las maquiladoras
Sudamos dia tras dia
Con las sobras de trabajos
Que el norte le deja al sur
Y sin una unión, no habra solución
A menos que a cudas, al grito de lucha
Que exíge este son.
CORO:
Ya es hora de formar la unión – no sweat! Acabar la explotación
– no sweat!
Agua fresca para beber – no sweat! Aire puro y luz de sol
Oye a este pueblo, si no quiere mas, Ni jefes tiranos, ni abuso
al mandar
Oye bien, vé y dile al patron – No sweat!
We need the right….
©1999 Bev Grant and Pat Humphries
We have ploughed and we have planted
We have gathered into barns.
Done the same work as the men
With babies in our arms.
But you won't find our stories
In most history books you read.
We were there and we're still here
Fighting for the things we need.
Cho: We were there in the factories,
We were there in the mills,
We were there in the mines,
And came home to fix the meals.
We were there on the picket lines,
We raised our voices loud.
It makes me proud, just knowing
We were there.
From the textile mills in Lawrence
To the sweat shops in New York,
From the fields in California
Where our children had to work,
We fought to make a living
Bread and roses was our cry.
Though they jailed and beat our bodies
Our spirit never died.
We were Polish, We were Irish
We were African and Jew
Italian and Latina
Chinese and Russian, too
They tried to use our differences
To split us all apart
But the pain we felt together
Touched the bottom of our hearts.
We are teachers, we are doctors,
We are cooks and engineers.
Letter carriers, truck drivers,
Conductors and cashiers.
We operate machinery,
We fly the big airplanes.
And we help to build our unions,
We got struggle in our veins.
(c)1997 Bev Grant
TOGETHER WE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
By Bev Grant
CHORUS:
Together we can move mountains
Alone, we can’t move at all (2x)
You know, people. Sometimes we despair
When we think we’re alone and nothing’s gonna change
We get stepped on, abused, ignored and confused
Made to suffer and told we’re to blame, but…
Repeat Chorus
Now the ones who get rich, while we scrape to get by
Know our unity means their defeat
So they set us against one another, sister and brother, color ‘gainst
color
Keeping us weak. You know they’re keeping us weak, but…
Repeat Chorus
From the smallest seed a mighty tree can grow
With its roots planted firmly in the ground
We’ve got to reach for the sun, only then will we know
All the love and the beauty and the life to be found, because…
Together we can move mountains
Together we can move mountains
Together we can move mountains….
©1975 Bev Grant
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