Song for the SOA #2 (Songs for Mahmud version)
The community that can be found outside the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia every November is a beautiful thing, despite the reason for the semi-annual formation of that community (the US Army's School of the Assassins).
"If the great Phil Ochs were to rise from the dead today, he would probably be hailed as the new David Rovics."
Andy Kershaw, BBC
Story behind the song
The community that can be found outside the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia every November is a beautiful thing, despite the reason for the semi-annual formation of that community (the US Army's School of the Assassins). This song celebrates that community.
Lyrics
Song for the SOA #2
David Rovics
Well I pulled up there at the gate
Had to come and keep a date
With ten thousand of my friends
Here to right some wrongs and make amends
Folks came in buses, bikes and cars
With voices, fiddles and guitars
And all kinds of people, shapes and styles
Burned those frequent flyer miles
First thing I see's a singing nun
At the frisky age of 91
She's here fresh out of jail
Told the judge "I ain't got no bail
"I'm bearing witness right here and now
'Cause we've got to change the world somehow
So with you all right here I pray
WE'LL SHUT DOWN THE SOA
There's this year's crop from Oberlin
And there's the folks from Warren-Wilson
But they're not all eighteen to twenty-two
They brought along their neighbors too
There's grandpa, baby, mom and dad
An ARA kid, fighting mad
What are we gonna do today?
WE'LL SHUT DOWN THE SOA
There's some in pink, some in black
There's one wrapped in a coffee sack
There's t-shirts, stickers, pins and more
Saying we don't want your oil war
There's a labor lawyer from Walla Walla
With some Mayan folks from Guatemala
See, north and south the people say
WE'LL SHUT DOWN THE SOA
Pouring blood, crossing lines
Holding crosses, making signs
There's priests and punks in groups and pairs
Along with a gang in wheelchairs
There's Josh and Abi, Bill and Sue
Charlie, Tao and you know who
Giant puppets, paper mache
Saying WE'LL SHUT DOWN THE SOA
Yes, we'll keep coming to this town
Til this torture school's shut down
Then we'll march as we intone
You do not walk alone
To the next symbol in our sights
In the global fight for human rights
But for now we're here in this Georgia clay
Saying WE'LL SHUT DOWN THE SOA
Created October, 2002
Copyright David Rovics 2002, all rights reserved
