[2004]

"I thought the Iraqis needed a voice and that the American people needed to empathize with their plight.."

[2002]

"Steve Earle has a song entitled Rich Man's War. This isn't it. Steve's song is a wonderful ballad. This is a protest song intended for people to get excited about. It worked. I also hoped people would sing it so I wrote it to be a folk song. That's a song the folk can sing and play. Well, you decide if it's that.

The truth is that this song started out as a poem. It was been published as a part of the Poets Against the War Anthology and subsequently by the Indie Journal, the Web Poetry Corner, and others.

The editor of the Indie Journal called me a communist but published the poem and a related article anyway. We subsequently became good friends and I have contributed much poetry and many articles to their effort."

Tira Poc
Canzone léviane – Tira Poc – Marco Valdo M.I. – 2009
Cycle du Cahier ligné – 69

Tira Poc est la soixante-neuvième chanson du Cycle du Cahier ligné, constitué d'éléments tirés du Quaderno a Cancelli de Carlo Levi.

Voici, mon ami Lucien l'âne si patient, un bien curieux titre pour une bien curieuse canzone. Si curieuse et si étrange, qu'il me faut t'entretenir un peu de son contenu. Ainsi qu'il est dit depuis le début de ce Cycle du Cahier Ligné, toutes ces canzones naissent au cœur d'un rêve, d'un songe, d'une méditation, enrobées de mystère et ce rêve, ce songe, ce mystère sont ceux d'un guerrier-blessé-prisonnier-enfermé et seraient pour lui, la seule manière de s'assurer qu'il vit encore et également, la seule manière de résister à une pression mortelle qui pèse sur lui. En outre, ce sont des canzones lévianes, c'est-à-dire qu'elles sont construites à partir et avec des éléments... (continuer)

[2009]
Album: Ballads of Joe Hill

One suicide in the Army is one too many.

General unsure if repeated combat tours to blame for record Army suicides
Army to report record number of suicides
War lingers, GI suicides rise

"I kinda wrote this song down this mornin': it's about a soldier writin' a goodbye letter to the things he loves. This is actually a true story, well every story is true in some way. But this one actually has happened."

[2005]
Words & Music by: C. Michael Stout
Album: Soldiers of Solidarity [2006]

[2005]
Songwriters: Hyde & Ali Baba
Album: Status Quo

"Corporations attempt to unify what we wear, eat and even think. Corporations are given human rights, yet they don’t feel sympathy, compassion or concern, they don’t show you or the environment any love. There is only one thing they care about and that is to make money. They do this by any means necessary, for example Coka Cola has built its factories near Indian villages and privatized their freshwater. Nike, a brand most hip hop tick heads like to wear can only meet its demands by slave labor. The same with Starbucks and their supply of coffee beans through unfair trade, Halliburton, a major war mongering corporation that serves military needs. I could go on and on…."

[2006]
Album: Hold On To Your Dreams

"Haven't We Learned' is essentially a song about American politics and the general condition of the USA . I have long considered the parallels between the United State and its excesses and the great Roman Empire. It is Rome's crumbling from within that I refer to in "Haven't we learned from those who've come before us".

[2006]
In early 2006, after the U.S. government threatened to pass harsher immigration laws, hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly immigrants, demonstrated for legalization across the country. Many of those who rallied were workers who are fighting to build a union. One sign at the march in Los Angeles said, "If you think I'm 'illegal' because I'm a Mexican, learn the true history, because I'm in my homeland." [please italicize "I’m"]

[2002]
Album: Take Out

New York Times magazine couldn't understand why Palestinian children do what they do...
Well, that is not so difficult: they were being ethnically cleansed by the Zionist movement. People were force from their home, people were killed and homes were burned down, so the people fled in hope for a new and better live somewhere else (which most of them didn’t). Because of they would make it bigger it would lose it’s status as a refugee camp and would lose most of the support their getting from the UN and other organizations. If aid to the people would be stopped there would not be much hope for these people since they’re not educated, they don’t have money and don’t have any means to make a life for them selves. So the problem would only grow for these people.
The biggest ratio of martyrs in the two Intifatas came from Balats (if you count per capita), that the... (continuer)

Album :The Safe Thing to Do

by Ray Korona and Pete Seeger

[2007]

Physiologie de l'allergie
Canzone léviane – Physiologie de l'allergie – Marco Valdo M.I. – 2009
Cycle du Cahier ligné – 68

Physiologie de l'allergie est la soixante-huitième chanson du Cycle du Cahier ligné, constitué d'éléments tirés du Quaderno a Cancelli de Carlo Levi.

Aujourd'hui, dit Marco Valdo M.I., Lucien mon ami l'âne à la cervelle plus claire que ton poil, nous allons faire la physiologie de l'allergie.

De quoi tu causes ?, dit Lucien l'âne en agitant sa crinière d'une façon un peu sèche pour la saison. Je te rappelle que tu es censé me faire voir une canzone et pas me faire un cours de médecine.

Je ne l'ignore pas, mon ami l'âne aux si jolis sabots. Mais souviens-toi que si la physiologie relève de la science médicale ou biologique, il existe une autre acception de ce terme. Ainsi, Brillat-Savarin qui fut un grand cuisinier a publié une « Physiologie du goût » et Honoré... (continuer)

[2007]
Album: "Wars Will Cease...When We Refuse To Fight Them"
Lyrics by Dave Gwyther.
Music by Dave Gwyther & Sturt Wills.

Terrorist is such an ugly word… and such a false one. Terrorist simply means those who cause acts of terror WHO ARE NOT the governing body. Governments cause acts of terror all the time but these are not seen as being as morally wrong as those caused by terrorists. The spin on terrorism is that its this brand new thing that has only sprung up in a post 9/11 world but that couldn't be further from the truth. Terrorism has existed as long as civilisation has existed, because terrorism is conflict with the state. And terrorism will always exist. What we must fight is the causes of terrorism: poverty, oppression. religious extremists (but no where near as much as we're led to believe), to name but a few. Dropping a bombs on peoples houses, who may very well be against the so called terrorists that the bomb is aimed for, will only fuel terrorism, not vanquish it.

[2007]
Album: "Wars Will Cease...When We Refuse To Fight Them"
Lyrics by Dave Gwyther.
Music by Dave Gwyther & Sturt Wills.

We didn't go to Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction, that was always obvious. But the excuse convinced the masses for a time. And then when that was failing, we were told we went to war with Iraq to free their people from a brutal dictatorship (forgetting the brutality that exists in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Israel and many other countries in the world). But the cost of 'freeing' the Iraqi people was death and destruction: 'We killed the children of those who weren't free, because we believe in democracy'.

[2005]
Lyrics & Music by Clockwerk

Examination of the contradiction between the presumed religious/moral motivations and economic impetus of the war on Iraq.

[2004]
Album: Better Kind of World [2008]

–…but they will have set that Iraqi oil free. –

Vue des Deux Mondes
Canzone léviane – Vue des Deux Mondes – Marco Valdo M.I. – 2009
Cycle du Cahier ligné – 67

Vue des Deux Mondes est la soixante-septième chanson du Cycle du Cahier ligné, constitué d'éléments tirés du Quaderno a Cancelli de Carlo Levi.

Comme tu le vois, Lucien l'âne mon ami aux si belles oreilles, la canzone s'intitule « Vue des Deux Mondes » et de fait, elle est composée de deux parties distinctes qui présentent chacune un monde différent et les interactions entre ces mondes. Ce qui explique partiellement son titre. Comme tu le sais aussi, il existe en langue française une revue – celle-là – assez, comment dire, prestigieuse et assez réactionnaire... intitulée quant à elle « La revue des Deux Mondes ». C'est évidemment à elle, à cette revue de l'autre monde cette fois, du monde adverse, qu'il est ici fait allusion en quelque sorte par antiphrase. Mais rassure-toi,... (continuer)

[2008]
Album: The Point of Pittsburgh

The story of the Cotton Mill Women of Pittsburgh who fought to end child labor and the 10 hour work day.

In the 1840’s cotton mills were the primary employers of Pittsburgh’s young women and children. Allegheny City, now the North side, was the location of seven cotton mills employing thousands of women and children. They toiled 12 hours a day 6 days a week repetitiously feeding the relentless and unforgiving spinning and weaving machines. Getting home from work at 10 at night their long days were endless toil for little pay. Women cotton mill workers were paid a mere $2.50 per week for 72 hours of work, while male laborers in other trades earned $1.00 per day. In response to pay cuts in 1843 the female cotton workers marched through the streets of Pittsburgh parading with a banner proclaiming “Two dollars a day and a plate of roast beef”. Their outspoken... (continuer)

[2008]
Lyrics & Music by: C. Michael Stout
Album: The Point of Pittsburgh

The story of abolitionist leader and renaissance man Martin Delaney

[2003]
Album: War and Resistance
Lyrics & music by: C. Michael Stout

Rachel Corrie a 23 year old college student from Olympia Washington, was murdered by a bulldozer driver on March 16, 2003 in Rafah Palestine. She stood in the path of an Israeli army bulldozer trying to prevent it from destroying a Palestinian home. Other non-violent international activists who witnessed the murder said the bulldozer driver was aware Rachel was there and intentionally destroyed the house and her. He dropped sand and heavy debris on her, then pushed her to the ground and drove over her. Rachel was in Gaza opposing the bulldozing of Palestinian homes as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. In her emails to her parents before the incident she described the plight of hundreds of innocent families who homes and businesses have been bulldozed. Rachel's death, made the U.S. papers for... (continuer)

[2007]
Album: "Wars Will Cease...When We Refuse To Fight Them"
Lyrics by Dave Gwyther
Music by Dave Gwyther & Sturt Wills

On one Christmas day during World War 1 both sides put down their guns and met in No-Mans land. They shook hands and shared cigarettes and stories and played a game of football… The WW1 was a brutal bloody battle of dying empires that saw millions perish. And yet on one historic day two sides who had been locked in desperate fighting ceased their guns and met in no-mans land where they realised that they weren't German, or English, or anything like that. They realised that they were just men. All the same. And the war, and perhaps all wars could have ceased on that day with this monumental realisation, if the commanders had not ordered the men back into the trenches, threatening that if they did not go back to shooting each other, they would be shot themselves.... (continuer)

[2007]
Album: Wars Will Cease...When We Refuse To Fight Them
Lyrics by Dave Gwyther
Music by Dave Gwyther & Sturt Wills

The land of Israel, being the ancient land of Canaan before being conquered by Moses, and arguably being a Jewish territory before that, was promised by a withdrawing British Empire to be given to the native Arabs for their assistance in World War 2. However, the devastating holocaust lingering anti-Jewish resentment in Europe resulted in millions of displace Jews. The Allies needed to resettle them. Several places were suggested, including Africa, but the Jewish people were adamant that only the land of Israel would do. And thus in 1948, to the dismay of the local Arabs, the state of Israel was born. Today it remains a state of turmoil, where the Arab population is arguably treated as second class citizens. Their freedom of movement is restricted and what little land they have is taken away. This song is about the Apartheid here.

[2006]
Album: Upcoming Sixth Album

[2004]
Album: TruthSeeker

Living in post colonial southern African economy. An illustration on the injustices of globalization and colonization.