Embedded Files
Short, easy to learn chants from the Singing Resistance Songbook: tinyurl.com/songbookSR
Organized in alphabetical order.
A
A
Abolish ICE (Tune: "Oh when the saints go marching"...)
Abolish ICE! Abolish ICE!
Abolish ICE, right now, right now!
We're gonna love and protect all our neighbors!
Abolish ICE, right now, right now!
Abolish ICE - Lu Aya + Peace Poets
This is for the families who are locked inside!
Together - we will - Abolish ICE.
Ashes and Smoke - Linda Allen
We have been burned, burned by the fire.
And we are ashes, ashes and smoke.
But we will rise, higher and higher
on the wings of compassion, justice and hope
B
B
--
C
C
Ceasefire Now - Sol Weiss + Ilana Lerman (rewritten version)
Abolish ICE! (x4)
Keep our neighbors safe! (x4)
Nobody is free.... til everybody's free! (x2)
Bring the families home (x4)
Abolish ICE (x4)
Target do the right thing! (x4)
Say no to ICE! (x4)
The Central Song - To Be Whole - Lilia Yorkhall
(for Supporting Neighbors)
We will show up to neighbor to resist
as long as it takes for us all to be *whole
*Variations: to be free/exist/find rest...
The Children Are Always Ours - Martín Urbach Inspired by James Baldwin
This song was inspired by James Baldwin’s reminder that , “The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality."
All of the children are always ours
All of the children are always ours
Together we'll abolish ICE
Together unidas le gente will rise
All of the children are always ours
From the river to the sea
Palestina will be free
Peace won't come from genocide
Beloved, join me on justice's side
We were made for these times
Free Our Families! Organize!
Come Back Home - Sarina Partridge
(to encourage defections)
There is a place (There is a place)
Set for you (Set for you)
At our table (At our table)
When you're ready to
Unpin your badge (unpin your badge)
Lay down your gun (lay down your gun)
And come back home (And come back home)
[Repeat]
Ending:
Unpin your badge (unpin your badge)
Lay down your gun (lay down your gun)
And come back home (And come back home)
Courage - Alexandray (Ahlay) Blakely
Courage
is not the absence of fear
It is the feeling of this fear
Being afraid and *showing up anyway
*Variations: standing up / speaking out / singing out / etc…
D
D
The Dark Times - Alexandra ("Ahlay") Blakely
Will there be singing
still in the dark times?*
Yes there will still be singing (x3)
about the dark times
*=Round
Don't Rent to ICE - Sarina Partridge
*campaign targeted at Enterprise
The time is right to do what's right
Put on the brakes (Put on the brakes)
Don't rent to ICE (Don't rent to ICE)
E
E
--
F
F
A Force More Powerful - by The Peace Poets
Written in support of the waves of direct action across the country led by the movement for Black Lives.
We have come with a force more powerful
Than the guns in our enemies hands
It’s our love for all creation
That will liberate this land
Freedom Bound - Jane Sapp, inspired by June Jordan
We have come too far we can't turn around
We'll flood the streets with justice
We are freedom Bound
The Future is Calling - Sarina Partridge
The future is calling, is calling for *healing
Can you hear it? Can you hear it? (echo)
The future is calling, is calling for healing
And the people will sing along
And the singing will keep us strong
*Variations: justice / joy / courage / etc.
G
G
Gather Your Courage - Coco Love Alcorn
(CHORUS)
Gather your *courage into your heart
When we're together we can start
Gather your courage into your heart
When we're together we can start
Everybody show up (echo)
Everybody rise up (echo)
Everybody shake it up (echo)
Everybody here (echo)
(Repeat Chorus)
Everybody speak out (echo)
Everybody reach out (echo)
Everybody shake it out (echo)
Everybody here (echo)
(Repeat Chorus)
Gather this power (echo) into our hands (echo)
Care for each other (echo) on these lands (echo)
Gather your *courage into your heart, when we’re together we can start
*Variations: spirit / etc
Give it to the Water - Sol Weiss
*Give it to the water, till it all runs clear
Give it to the water, till it’s clear.
*Variations: Listen to the water…
Grief and Love - Sarina Partridge
Grief moving through me
Let my body
Feel the waves of love and grief…
Grief, grief and love
Let me feel it all
Let me feel it all
H
H
Hold on - Heidi Wilson (another link)
Hold on, hold on
my dear ones here comes the dawn.
Honor of Pretti - Lilia Yorkhall
(to encourage defections)
You’re taking our neighbors,
you’re hurting our city.
We ask you to stand with us
in honor of Pretti
I
I
If You've Got a Voice - Alex Noelle Music
If you've got a voice (echo)
Speak up for the silenced (echo)
If you've got a choice (echo)
Stand against the violence (echo)
Every hurting neighbor (echo)
Is human just like you (echo)
If you care about freedom (echo)
Care about theirs too (echo)
I Send My Hope - Jordan Mudd
(To those Resisting Everywhere)
I send my hope
I send my prayer
I send my strength to those resisting everywhere
May you stand tall
may you stay true
may you walk forward towards the work
you're called to do.
***It's Ok to Change Your Mind - Annie Schlaefer
(to encourage defections)
Ooh it's okay to change your mind
Show us your courage
leave this behind
Ooh it's okay to change your mind
And you can join us
Join us here anytime
J - K
J - K
--
L
L
LEAD WITH LOVE (One Foot) —Melanie DeMore
[Chorus:]
You gotta put one foot in front of the other
and lead with love.
You gotta put one foot in front of the other
and lead with love. (x2)
Don’t give up hope. (echo)
You’re not alone. (echo)
Don’t you give up. (echo)
Keep movin’ on. (echo)
[Chorus]
Lift up your eyes. (echo)
Don’t you despair. (echo)
Look up ahead. (echo)
The path is there. (echo)
[Chorus]
I know you’re scared (echo)
and I’m scared too. (echo)
But here I am, (echo)
right next to you. (echo)
[Chorus]
"we" replaces "you"
M
M
More Than Just Talk About It - Annie Schlaefer
We gotta do more than just talk about it
We're moving our feet (echo)
Getting out in the street (echo)
We gotta do more than just talk about it
We take a stand (echo)
We know we can (echo)
N
N
No Están Solos By Francisco Herrera, Emma’s Revolution and The Peace Poets
This song was written in collaboration with migrant justice and anti-militarism organizers from the School of the America’s Watch in front of Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. Always powerful song to sing to those who are inside and to each other as we bravely speak out and act for justice.
No están solos, no están solas
Juntos hacemos la Liberación
No One Is Getting Left Behind - Joshua Blaine
Josh wrote this song in 2022 as part of a We Cry Justice artists collective project of the Kairos Center and was inspired by Dan Jones’ chapter from We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign, “A Mixed Multitude.” He also drew from the poem by Aurora Levins Morales, “Red Sea,” in which she challenges us to ask: what happens this time if we all cross together? This song has become an important song sung in protest spaces and gatherings calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
No one is getting left behind this time
No one is getting left behind
No one is getting left behind this time
We get there together, never get there at all (x3)
O
O
Oye Mi Gente - Peace Poets + Anu Yadav
Oye Mi Gente, was written by the Peace Poets in collaboration with Migrant Justice organizers and Mijente amid struggles against the criminalization and deportation of immigrant communities. Its Spanish lyrics affirm collective strength and lift up the Native prophecy of the Condor and the Eagle—coming together to reunite the peoples of the South and the North.
We Belong Together, written by Anu Yadav with the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice, echoes this call. Drawing from her Hindu faith, lived experience of homelessness, and an interfaith study of We Cry Justice, the song reminds us that liberation is shared belonging—and that we break isolation by joining a movement for justice for all.
Oye mi gente traemos la fuerza
La libertad es mi única bandera
Rise up my people
No human being can ever be illegal
We belong, we belong together (x4)
P - Q
P - Q
--
R
R
Ready - Alexandra (Ahlay) Blakely
I know we've been prepared for these times
I know... in my bones
(repeat)
in my blood... in my belly
I can feel... we are ready
(repeat)
we are ready, we are ready
I feel it in my bones and blood and belly
ready... we are ready
I feel it in my bones and blood and belly
(back to beginning)
Rebel - Peace Poets - Ciara
Rebel against the war they sell
Rebel against the lies they tell
Rebel and let us do this right
Rebel for all the people of Palestine tonight
S
S
Say No - NOENEMIES collective (Diff version-SR)
(song written during Black Lives Matter mvmt) Teach one part , then other. Then half do part 1 while other half does part 2.
Part1:
Say no, we can't be silent while our friends are gunned down (repeat)
Part 2:
I'm a sleeping giant - there is a riot in my bones
Solo El Pueblo Salva El Pueblo - The Peace Poets
Solo el pueblo, salva el pueblo.
If one of us falls, we all rise up!
Somebody's hurting my brother - Yara Allen
Somebody's *hurting my brother
And it's gone on far too long (x3)
Oh somebody's hurting my brother
and it's gone on far too long
And we won't be silent anymore
*Variations: Scaring our children / Trying to divide us / Taking our families
Some Things - Lydia Violet & MaMuse
Some things they don't make no sense (x4)
But I got you you got me too
Some things they make me cry...
Sometimes they got me scared...
Sometimes I got rage coming through...
T
T
This is a Wave - Sarina Partridge
This is a *wave, I am the ocean
This is a *wave, I am the ocean
This is a *wave, I am the ocean
I am strong enough to hold, wave after wave
*Variations: This grief is a wave... / This fear is a wave.../ This pain is a wave... / This is a wave...
End repeating x 3: I am strong enough to hold, wave after wave
This is for our Neighbors - Lu Aya of the Peace Poets
(For direct actions against family separation in 2018)
This is for our *neighbors who are locked inside,
together, we will, Abolish ICE
*Variations: people, families, children
'Til All Are Free - Heather Mae
(whole song is call and response - aka echo)
The night is long
But still we rise
No backing down
We won't be quiet
Though fear and pain
Are in our streets
Our voices roar
'til all are free
(repeat 3 x)
End with:
'til all are free, 'til all are free, 'til all are free.
U - V
U - V
--
W
W
We Are Here - Sarina Partridge
We are here (We are here)
With our *voices (With our *voices )
Our love for each other
will carry us through
*Variations: city / neighbors / courage / grief / families / children / hope / demands
We Are Many - Katie Eckeberger
We are many (We are many)
We are one (We are one)
We won't stop fighting (We won't stop fighting)
Til ICE is gone! (Til ICE is gone!)
We are many (We are many)
We are one (We are one)
The fight ain't over (The fight ain't over)
Til LOVE has won! (Til LOVE has won!)
We Are Not Afraid - Lu Aya of the Peace Poets
English:
We are not afraid, we are not afraid.
We will live for liberation
cuz we know why we were made
Spanish:
No tengo miedo, no tengo miedo.
Viviré por la libertad
porque yo se mi razon de ser
We Belong To Each Other - Annie Schlaefer
Everyone, oh everyone, oh everyone
of these people are ours,
just like we are theirs.
We belong to them, and they belong to us.
We belong to them, and they belong to us.
We Breathe Together (Credit ???)
We *breathe together (x 3)
Stop the deportations
*Variations: march / sing / etc
Ending repeating:
Stop the deportations
We Keep Us Safe - The Peace Poets and SKOR
This song was written as an organizing tool—a shared safety song for community gatherings, actions, and events. Building on a practice developed by song leaders with Jewish Voice for Peace, the song is used when a situation begins to feel unsafe. Song leaders initiate it as a cue to the community—without panic or escalation—that it’s time to move together into agreed-upon safety protocols. The song reminds us that safety is a collective responsibility, and that we will act together to protect one another.
Who keeps us safe? (Who keeps us safe? )
We keep us safe. (We keep us safe.)
Our love for our people (Our love for our people)
will conquer hate! (will conquer hate!)
(Repeat several times -then put it all together without echo)
Who keeps us safe?
We keep us safe.
Our love for our people
will conquer hate!
We Remember All the People by The Peace Poets in collaboration with The Justice Commitee and Mother’s Cry for Justice in NYC
To honor and welcome the spirits of those we’ve lost to police murder and it’s since been adapted by Charon Hribar and Songs in the key of Resistance to lift up our children in ICE detention.
We remember all the people
These police kill
We can feel their spirits
They’re with us still
We remember all the people
Ice violence kills
We remember all the children
Torn from their homes
We hear you lifting your voices
You’re not alone
We Walk the Same Ground - Annie Schlaefer
We walk the same ground (echo)
But we've been torn apart (echo)
Put down your *weapons (echo)
Come sing your part (echo)
*Variations: hatred / anger / armor
*Some borrowed (with permission) melodies from Sarah Burgess
We Were Made for These Times - Angela Gabriel
Don't *lose heart > Do not lose heart
We were made for these times > We were made for this. (x3)
Show your soul,
it shines likes gold in these dark times.
*Variations: Don't lose hope, Don't give up.
We Will Protect Each Other By the Peace Poets with Francisco Herrera and Oona Valle
This song was written for migrant justice work in California and across the country. Used to ground the group in our commitment to each other and also to remember that the lands, waters and skies are always on OUR side.
We will… protect each other
We will… be everything we need
(Repeat 3x)
The good land… the wild water
The whole sky… is always on our side!
Who's Got the Power - Sarina Partridge
Who's got the *power? (Who's got the *power?)
We've got the power (We've got the power)
(Repeat)
What do we do when (What do we do when)
We've got the power (We've got the power)
We take care of each other
Yes we do, we take care of each other.
*Variations: vision / courage / etc.
x-Y-z
x-Y-z
You Can Quit - Barbara McAfee
(to encourage defections)
You can quit
You don't have to stay
Part of you knows it's wrong to treat people this way
In the words of dear Renee
We're not mad at you dude and you can step away (x2)
You're One of Us - Lu Aya + Peace Poets
(to encourage defections)
You're one of us, you know
You're one of us, who knows
There is love and pain inside of us
We won't let fear divide us
We won't let fear divide us
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse