Songbook for Climate Marches
350PDX Arts Team
How to Sing a Good Climate Song
“If you wanna end war and stuff, you gotta sing real loud.” - Arlo Guthrie
A good song sung at a climate march emboldens a group for the communal task of climate work. But sometimes marchers fall silent and become a group of quiet strangers. That’s when we need a good song, regardless of whether we think we have a good voice. With this little Songbook for Climate Marches, we all can be the change agent needed to build community at a march.
THIS IS HOW:
1. Choose one song from these songs that you know and love. Share the link with fellow marchers.
2. Enlist some co-conspirators to join with you in at least the first few words.
3. Then, out loud, sing the song you love in your truest voice. Clap the rhythm if you want.
4. Patiently and bravely wait for the social glue to establish a critical mass of singers.
5. Be true to your song and yourself and what you bring to our important movement.
Sing for the Climate
(Sung to Bella Ciao)
We need to wake up
We need to rise up
We need to open our eyes
And do it now now now
We need to build a better future
And we to start right now
We’re on a planet
That has a problem
We’ve got to solve it, get involved
And do it now now now
We need to build a better future
And we need to start right now
Make it greener
Make it cleaner
Make it last, make it fast
and do it now now now
We need to build a better future
And we need to start right now
No point in waiting
Or hesitating
We must get wise, take no more lies
And do it now now, now, now
We need to build a better future
And we need to start right now
Voice of my Great Granddaughter
People gonna rise like the water
Gonna calm this crisis down
I hear the voice of my great granddaughter, singing
Keep it in the ground.
The Tide is Rising
The tide is rising, and so are we!
The tide is rising, and so are we!
The tide is rising, and so are we!
This is where we are called to be,
This is where we are called to be!
Verses:
The task is mighty...
The storm is raging...
The sun is shining...
The world is ready...
The tide is rising...
© Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman & Yotam Schachter (c) 2015. Used by permission.
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody
Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around
turn me around, turn me around (repeat)
Gonna keep on walking, keep on talking,
Gonna build a better world
Ain't gonna let no fracking
…Big O-il
…No corporations
…No lobbyists
…No denial
…No funding cuts
This Little Light of Mine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine (2x)
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!
We believe in science…
Fighting for our children…
Fighting for our forests…
Fighting for our oceans…
Wind & solar power…
Clean tech for us all;
Government protect us…
Mother earth sustains us…
All of us together…
Stop the Money Pipeline
Stop the money pipeline
May our money and our values be aligned
To life and the future we are loyal
And we stop the flow of money
When we stop the flow of oil
Chants
1.
We are unstoppable, a better world is possible!
2.
System change, not climate change
Climate justice now!
3.
When the air we breathe is under attack
What do we do? Rise up! Fight Back!
When the water we drink is under attack
What do we do? Rise up! Fight back!
When the earth we need is under attack
What do we do? Rise up! Fight back!
When indigenous treaties are under attack,
What do we do? Rise up! Fight back!
4.
What do we want? Climate justice!
When do we want it? Now!
5.
Hey, Hey! Ho, Ho! Climate change has got to go!
Hey, Hey! Ho, Ho! Fossil fuels have got to go!
Hey, Hey! Ho, Ho! Pipelines have got to go!
6.
Ain't no power like the power of the people
'Cause the power of the people don't stop! (Say what?)