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Why I Protest (Bonus Version)

by Mat Ward

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1.
I grew up In England depressed Cos there's no sunshine One day A mate said Down Under It's nothing but good times I said I got 1500 quid Cos my gran died I said Let's split the cash and Fly to the sunshine Always was and always will be Aboriginal land When we landed I couldn't believe it The sky's so blue When I felt That sun in my bones I felt brand new When I tasted The food the quality was Like nothing I knew When I saw The beauty around me I went boo hoo hoo hoo hoo Always was and always will be Aboriginal land But as I got to learn the history I couldn't believe it Lies told About terra nullius Saying no one lived here People wiped Out by smallpox Brought in vials here Land taken By legal fiction There's been no treaty Always was and always will be Aboriginal land This land Deserves better leaders I know who I'd choose People who Can look after it Who've paid their dues Survivors Of its wild ways And all its moves White man Has picked a fight that He's gonna lose Always was and always will be Aboriginal land
2.
Science has the facts, people lose with fake news Anti-vaxxers? That's a first world thing Grow up facing death, you don't reject medicine You don't believe me? Just look at the stats Ain't no Bangladeshis wearing tin foil hats Science has the facts, people lose with fake news So climate change is a Marxist scam And COVID's a ruse in their master plan It's good to ask questions, doubt everything But the wrong answers could do us all in
3.
You put up that wall, we'll tear it down Divide and rule's been round for millennia That shit's getting tired man I'm tellin' ya Give people any enemy to scare them Then tell em you're the one that'll save them Build a wall, stoke fears and shit em up Tell em stories anything to wind em up Whip up, whip up prejudice Whip, whip up the fear You put up that wall, we'll tear it down I can't believe the stuff that you're feeding us There's only one place all this shit is leading us World War 3, oblivion, a dead earth A testament to putting petty profits first You build walls to build fear and build up hate Don't think too hard, just manipulate But your... time is running out Yes you're... facing oblivion You put up that wall, we'll tear it down
4.
Why Are You In Riot Gear? I Don't See No Riot Here We're holding banners, you're holding guns We're smiling at you, but you're no fun We're here to protest, you're ready to fight We know you'll get someone in a cell tonight We're here for justice, but you're the law We know you wanna stop what we're fighting for We want change, and you don't You're here to stop us, but you won't We show our faces, you're all in masks We flaunt our badges, but yours are masked We call for peace, you want a war We see from your actions who you're fighting for You should protect us, but you serve money Without your uniform, you ain't nobody You're meant to serve us, you work for them It's always the two of us that suffer in the end A Capitol riot, you weren't there When they ain't black, you don't care You let them all in, they ran riot But if you're not white, don't even try it You've got your pepper spray, you've got your mace Say anything wrong, it's in our face You've got your batons, you've got your cuffs We look the wrong way, well that's enough What's banned in warfare? Tear gas You spray it on us, we're not masked Your increased weapons are 'for peace' But increase violence by police Your army tactics bend the law The very thing that you enforce Your armoured cars are a huge expense Your riot gear don't make any sense Why Are You In Riot Gear? I Don't See No Riot Here - or am I blind?
5.
Zoom out to space There's no borders No border force Making orders Just a single Human race Inhabiting The same place Zoom back in See the borders Stopping people Fleeing murder Excisions Keep them at bay Divisions Breeding hatred Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in When you wage war Over there Don't expect them To stay there Don't expect them To be peaceful Don't expect to Stay unequal How would you feel Under attack Would anything Hold you back From fleeing For your life Trying to get to The other side Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in Refugees Ain't illegal And banning legals? That's just evil It's our leaders Breaking the laws When they go slam Those doors People dying in detention Going crazy From the tension Got em drugged up On medication Only way to Keep then waiting Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in Global passports They're a new thing Only been around For a century Only standardised In the Eighties So why are immigrants So hated? We're all being divided Being played like We're blinded To the bait that Keeps us biting To the lies that Keep us fighting Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in Got to let them in
6.
They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way Finding this country That's not an accident Saying no one lived here That's not an accident Shooting the Gweagal That's not accident Passing on smallpox That's not an accident Recording no houses That's not an accident Saying they were nomads That's not an accident Wiping out language Is that an accident? I suppose you're gonna say That's an accident as well? They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way Not naming guides That's not an accident Not learning names That's not an accident Poisoning waterholes That's not an accident Not paying wages That's not an accident Taking away children That's not an accident An empty apology That's not an accident Doing at all again Is that an accident? I suppose you're gonna say That's an accident as well? They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way Deaths in custody That's not an accident No investigations That's not an accident There'd been no Commission That's not an accident Its findings were surprising That's not an accident They didn't act upon it That's not an accident Jailing rates doubled That's not an accident Being drunk's illegal Is that an accident? I suppose you're gonna say That's an accident as well? They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way Not allowing a phone call That's not an accident Ignoring illness That's not an accident A poor standard of care That's not an accident Hanging points are still there That's not an accident Cook a man to death That's not an accident Crush a man to death That's not an accident Being chased to death Is that an accident? Well you've made it official That's an accident as well They say accident, but we say murder they say accident, we say no way They say accident, but we say murder they say accident...
7.
We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind They're still pushing gas now I can't believe it Trying to milk that cash cow When the world's gone to shit And they're all pushing clean coal Like it actually exists throwing money in that hole With no sign of an exit We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind Got their fossil fuel subsidies Cos it's a corrupt system propping up an industry That can't go the distance And they're pushing blue hydrogen Claiming it's a clean fuel It's got gas as an origin Who are they trying to fool??? We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind They're still trying to go nuclear Doubting the fallout But let's get one thing quite clear The costs always blow out And they draw up false goals Pushing net zero Grim reaper at the controls Watch it burn like Nero We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind They claim that it's about jobs Despite them being automated But there's not gonna be jobs On a planet that's been wasted So the kids are on strike now And you can't dismiss them All you fossils take a hike now We're changing the system We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind We'll strike till we win, build solar, build wind
8.
Stop being a terrorist We the people must resist Stop being a terrorist You say we're terrorists We know what terror is It's raining down on us and coming from you pacifists All you peace keepers Waging war on us again You got that hammer In your hands now Everything that you see is a nail now Gotta hammer us Till we give it all to you Stop being a terrorist We the people must resist Stop being a terrorist You say you're pacifists We know what pathos is It's getting freed By your peaceful bombing raids Libertarians taking liberties again You got the Peace Prize With drone fly bys Increased the nukes While telling us the opposite So who's the terrorist When you count up all the dead Stop being a terrorist We the people must resist Stop being a terrorist You say your Empire Don't exist now But you've got bases In every place you say you left Still ruling us By the bank or the gun Will war ever end When it's lucrative? Humanitarians are making a killing now You'll never give it up When there's money to be made Stop being a terrorist We the people must resist Stop being a terrorist The British Empire Killed 10 million Another million From B Liar's oil war It takes millions When you're making billions So when we strike back Don't be so surprised What you reap is what you sow now You wanna stop terror? Then don't be terrorists Stop being a terrorist We the people must resist Stop being a terrorist
9.
No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities Politicians had it easy Got their education for free Now they say paying's mandatory What's the lesson? Hypocrisy Gotta export coal and iron Then third is education Just play down all that racism Or else you're gonna scare them off No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities What happened to learning for knowledge? Broadening your mental horizons? Now it's all about monetising Only valued if it can turn a buck What happened to students and scholars? All we've got now is clients and customers And they all want first class service And it's gotta come without a fail No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities Grade inflation becomes a problem When professors give As too often But they're all trying to boost their own scores Gotta hold on to a paying job Got the staff on casual contracts Trying to claw stolen wages back Got them living so precariously They're all terrified of speaking out No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities When your work has corporate funding Don't make any adverse findings Just make sure you turn a blind eye Or you'll find yourself without a job You wanna keep people comforming? Keep them going to work each morning? Keep them mindlessly performing? Load em up then, with crushing debt
10.
Hey hey, ho ho, ScoMo's got to go He brought in a lump of coal To Parliament Held up that dirty rock Like a diamond Told people don't be scared Of the climate Politicians are for sale Is what he meant Australia went up in flames He went on holidays Hiding in Hawaii To dodge the media gaze As Sydney disappeared Beneath the smoke haze And firefighters died Trying to fight the blaze Hey hey, ho ho, ScoMo's got to go He came back and apologised Tried to shake hands But couldn't find a hand to shake right across the land Everywhere that Scotty went He found himself banned no one likes an arsonist In a burnt land The world moved on from coal He started pushing gas Claiming it's a clean fuel Cos they'd donated cash Wrecking all the farmland Despite the backlash Destroying the country From reef to outback Hey hey, ho ho, ScoMo's got to go He told us he'd stop the boats From getting here Told MPs he'd get the votes By tapping fear Didn't care if people fleeing Were refugees Claimed he wasn't racist By cooking curry Opposed same-sex marriage Citing God's will Despite most voters Backing the bill Said he didn't want his daughters Being bedevilled Despite it being legal He's trying to crush it still Hey hey, ho ho, ScoMo's got to go Confronted by a rape claim In his cabinet He tried to shut the case down Wasn't having it When thousands of women marched He refused to meet Said that they could all be shot For protesting shit Refused to condemn Trump For the riot Cos Trump let him to do things On the quiet Like pushing coal to a world that doesn't buy it Cos Trump made him look sane In the light of it
11.
An eight-hour day, yearly vacations Minimum pay, in line with inflation All these things would not exist If it weren't for unions Parental leave, penalty rates Reduced powers to terminate These things would not be here today Without the power of unity The workers united will never be defeated The workers united will never be defeated Safer spaces, fewer deaths Workplaces that must pass the test Would never be reality If it all came down to profit Child labour, people enslaved Contracts where your rights are waived All these things would be the norm If workers never fought The workers united will never be defeated The workers united will never be defeated The bosses know it's a constant war They know what they are fighting for The power to screw every last dime From the labour they exploit The sixties showed the power of the workers Ever since they've been trying to hurt us But there's no way they'll ever get That genie back in the bottle The workers united will never be defeated The workers united will never be defeated Colombia had the strongest unions Bosses hit back with paramilitary units Members get murdered in their thousands But still they're fighting on The firms now use psychology Making out that they're democracies But their feedback groups will fool no one As long as we stick together The workers united will never be defeated The workers united will never be defeated

about

An album based on protest chants.

"This album is absolutely fantastic." - Protest singer David Rovics
youtu.be/Jngzt3ltUgk

This is the 17-track bonus version that includes three extra tracks, radio interviews about the album and a fully hyperlinked PDF booklet explaining all the lyrics. To download it free, just enter zero as the amount to pay.

credits

released January 21, 2022

All music and lyrics written by Mat Ward.
All songs produced, arranged, mixed and mastered by Mat Ward.
All vocals performed by Mat Ward.
Additional vocals on track four performed by Lucky Luke.
open.spotify.com/artist/7AmmKLPUA7Vga6Ro3K6pYk
Australian samples from recordings made at protests by my long-time activist pal and hero, Rachel Evans.
www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.3344
International samples from Noriko Manabe's Medium website.
www.norikomanabe.com
Thanks to rapper Ben Iota for telling me to do my own vocals.
beniota.bandcamp.com
Thanks to rapper Zane Alcorn, of the band When Our Turn Comes, for telling me I'd eventually stop hating the sound of my own voice.
whenourturncomes.bandcamp.com
Thanks to veteran activist Jim McIlroy for opening up Sydney's Resistance Centre during the pandemic to let me photograph the badges.

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Mat Ward Australia

Mat Ward blends future bass, drum and bass, punk and politics to come up with a different sound. He has released albums about financial markets, Apple, Elon Musk, surveillance, the media, Mars, protest chants and the climate. He also writes books and a music column that has been shared by the likes of Ru Paul, Chuck D, Tom Morello and Al Jourgensen. ... more

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