Movement Music

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution," said Emma Goldman, who might also have said "If we don't dance, not enough people will work long and hard enough in our revolution." This is one of the two most useful quotes for Americans right now, the other being another remark by Emma Goldman: "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."

But when people ask you, as they tend to ask you, "Shouldn't we all give up and die of heartbreak because, for the umpteenth time, voting didn't change anything?" you can't simply reply "What are you, stupid?" In fact, you can't simply reply with words at all. You have to use music. In the face of powerful forces, dangers, and long odds, people cannot be reasoned into moral action. They have to be inspired. A rule for political events (alongside "Be the media and put video online" or "Include new people") should be "Sing and dance."

Even just singing, without the dancing, will do it. But you have to sing, and hear, songs of inspiration. They aren´t on the radio very much, but they are online and at the best events. One of the most inspiring groups of performers, of a great many I could name, is in fact called "Emma's Revolution."

But I want to talk about David Rovics, a singer, song-writer, guitarist with whom I've shared a stage recently, he singing, me talking. You can listen to some of his music online and even download a song book.

Much of Rovics' music combines the inspiration of rhythm and melody with the inspiration of stories about people who struggled for justice. If you see David Rovics perform you are guaranteed to learn new stories about struggles in our own country and around the world, labor struggles and campaigns of all sorts for justice and fairness. You'll leave wanting to get CDs of his music and books about the stories he's told. History always helps to put our own miniscule attention spans and flagging determination into perspective.

Rovics sings of violence too much in an age when we have overwhelming evidence of the superior success rate of nonviolence, but he makes the nonviolent members of his audience overlook that -- which only demonstrates the power of music. Watch and listen to this video of Rovics' song "Saint Patrick's Battalion." Then watch this humorous video of a laugh-at-ourselves activist ditty called "I'm a Better Anarchist Than You." (The first half of the video is a story leading into the song. I recommend listening to the story, too, but it's not needed.)

While words alone lose nine-tenths of the value, Rovics' words alone are powerful, and those of us who don't sing should read poetry at our events, forums, and rallies. This is how "Saint Patrick's Battalion" begins:

My name is John Riley

I'll have your ear only a while

I left my dear home in Ireland

It was death, starvation, or exile

And when I got to America

It was my duty to go

Enter the Army and slog across Texas

To join in the war against Mexico

It was there in the pueblos and hillsides

That I saw the mistake I had made

Part of a conquering army

With the morals of a bayonet blade

So in the midst of these poor, dying Catholics

Screaming children, the burning stench of it all

Myself and two hundred Irishmen

Decided to rise to the call

From Dublin City to San Diego

We witnessed freedom denied

So we formed the Saint Patrick Battalion

And we fought on the Mexican side

And here is a song I've only read and never seen David perform. But just try reading it and then whining about something as trivial as a particular elected official's corruption. Try it. It can't be done. Read this and let's get to work on saving this world:

When I say the hungry should have food

I speak for many

When I say no one should have seven homes

While some don't have any

Though I may find myself stranded in some strange place

With naught but a vapid stare

I remember the world and I know

We are everywhere

When I say the time for the rich, it will come

Let me count the ways

Victories or hints of the future

Havana, Caracas, Chiapas, Buenos Aires

How many people are wanting and waiting

And fighting for their share

They hide in their ivory towers

But we are everywhere

Religions and prisons and races

Borders and nations

FBI agents and congressmen

And corporate radio stations

They try to keep us apart, but we find each other

And the rulers are always aware

That they're a tiny minority

And we are everywhere

With every bomb that they drop, every home they destroy

Every land they invade

Comes a new generation from under the rubble

Saying "we are not afraid"

They will pretend we are few

But with each child that a billion mothers bear

Comes the next demonstration

That we are everywhere