Welcome to Citizen’s Music

I looked into the sea with the same sense of trespass that I have felt on every dive. A modest canyon opened below, full of dark green weeds, black sea urchins and small flowerlike white algae. Fingerlings browsed in the scene. The sand sloped down into a clear blue infinity. The sun struck so brightly I had to squint. My arms hanging at my sides, I kicked the fins languidly and traveled down, gaining speed, watching the beach reeling past. I stopped kicking and the momentum carried me on a fabulous glide. When I stopped, I slowly emptied my lungs and held my breath. The diminished volume of my body decreased the lifting force of water, and I sank dreamily down. I inhaled a great chestful and retained it. I rose toward the surface. | The Silent World, 1953, by Captain J. Y. Cousteau, with Frederic Dumas

*Verse 1*
In a humble home with a straw-thatched roof
Two gray heads bend to work and pray
Hands worn smooth like river stones
They’ve walked together all their days
When strangers knock as night falls hard
While neighbors bolt their doors in fear
These old hearts open wide their home
The weary travelers welcome here

*Chorus*
Love doesn’t ask for marble halls
Or seek out youth that never fades
Just give me someone at my side
When evening shadows grow like trees
Like Baucis, like Philemon
Two trees from a single soul
Branches reaching toward the sky
Roots tangled deep below

*Verse 2*
She scrubs the table fresh with mint
He carves what little meat they own
They pour their wine in earthen cups
The strangers won’t drink alone
Olives, cherries, honey, figs
The humble feast they gladly share
The wine bowl never seems to drain
As something holy fills the air

*Verse 3*
Their faithful goose runs ’round the room
As old legs stumble in pursuit
“Please take our last to honor you“
But gods need not such tribute
“We are Zeus and Hermes here
Come climb the mountain at our side“
They turn to see their village drown
As neighbors pay for selfish pride

*Chorus*
Love doesn’t ask for marble halls
Or seek out youth that never fades
Just give me someone at my side
When evening shadows grow like trees
Like Baucis, like Philemon
Two trees from a single soul
Branches reaching toward the sky
Roots tangled deep below

*Bridge*
“What gift can gods bestow,“ they ask
“On hearts already rich with love?“
The old ones whisper, hand in hand
Then speak their wishes up above:
“Let us serve within your walls
And when death comes to claim its due
Let neither watch the other go
No grave to visit, no life anew“

*Verse 4*
The years passed sweet as summer wine
In their temple gleaming gold
Until one day while sharing tales
Of all the life their hearts still hold
Leaves sprouted from their silver hair
Bark wrapped around their weathered skin
Their final words—a lover’s sigh
As transformation did begin

*Final Chorus*
Love doesn’t need immortal youth
Or riches piled upon the floor
Just someone standing next to you
When gods come knocking at your door
Like Baucis, like Philemon
Two trees from a single soul
Branches reaching toward the sky
Their love will never grow old

Verse 1:
In Etolia’s golden land, where rivers flow and stories stand,
A maiden fair with warrior’s heart, Marpessa was her name
Her father Evenus, fierce and bold, would challenge suitors young and old
With chariot race, a deadly game where many met their flame

Verse 2:
Then Idas came with winged steed, from Poseidon’s divine breed
He raced and won with passion’s might, and took his love away
But gods conspired, Apollo’s eye saw beauty he would surely try
A battle sparked beneath the sky on that fateful day

Chorus:
Oh, love is not by beauty sworn, nor godly power can it be born
The heart decides its truest path, beyond the myths of old
Where mortal love stands pure and true, and faithfulness rings through and through
A choice that time cannot erode, a story yet untold

Verse 3:
From dawn to dusk they fought and raged, their swords and passions fully staged
Till Zeus himself did intervene and bid her make her choice
Between a god of timeless grace and Idas’ rough-hewn warrior’s face
She listened to her own true voice

Final Verse:
She chose the man of mortal breath, who’d love her past all youth and death
Not beauty, power, nor divine might could sway her heart’s true song
And so they lived, their love complete, where passion and devotion meet
A tale of choice, both brave and strong

(Spoken epilogue)
For love is not a golden prize, but what survives when glory dies

*Verse 1*
On Thessalian mountains where cold winds blow
A princess walks with spear in hand
Not in silk but leather bound
Guardian of her father’s land
Grace of gods in mortal form
By Peneios’ waters raised
No palace walls could hold her heart
No suitor’s words left her amazed

*Chorus*
Cyrene with the lion heart
Wild and free as mountain air
The gods themselves bend down to watch
This mortal girl who does not fear
Who does not fear

*Verse 2*
While shepherds hide and soldiers flee
She faces beasts with steady hand
Her javelin flies true and swift
Her sword gleams silver in the sand
King Hypseus’ daughter, Lapith blood
No gentle princess in her tower
But huntress fierce beneath the moon
In battle’s dance, her finest hour

*Verse 3*
One day a lion stalked the herd
With yellow eyes and hunger deep
She met it with her bare strong hands
No time for bow or blade to keep
They wrestled on the mountain slope
Her muscles strained against its might
From golden clouds, Apollo watched
His godly heart aflame at sight

*Chorus*
Cyrene with the lion heart
Wild and free as mountain air
The gods themselves bend down to watch
This mortal girl who does not fear
Who does not fear

*Bridge*
Love strikes gods like lightning falls
Without warning, without choice
The sun god left his chariot path
To follow one brave mortal voice
“Who is she who fights like heroes?
Who is she with courage blessed?
What sweet life might we create
If I took her to my breast?“

*Verse 4*
He carried her across the sea
To Libya’s Hill of Myrtles green
From northern woods to desert heat
From mortal maid to almost queen
Her hands that wielded sword and spear
Now cradled sons of godly birth
Aristaeus, keeper of bees
And Idmon, sage of hidden worth

*Final Chorus*
Cyrene with the lion heart
Now rules her land with wisdom fair
The sun god’s love could not contain
This woman who would always dare
Growing old with grace and strength
The huntress queen of foreign sand
Remember her when night draws near
The girl who fought with her own hands
The girl who fought with her own hands

*Verse 1*
Born of sea gods, mortal child
Golden hair and beauty wild
Men would travel miles to see
The maiden’s face of ivory
Her beauty rivaled gods, they’d say
A dangerous game to play

*Chorus*
Now serpents crown her weeping head
Her gaze turns living men to dead
Not monster born but monster made
By gods with hearts of stone
By gods with hearts of stone

*Verse 2*
Sworn to Athena’s temple walls
A priestess pure who spurned all calls
The goddess watched with jealous eyes
As men brought gifts and whispered sighs
“More beautiful than gods,“ they’d swear
While Athena’s rage grew there

*Verse 3*
Walking where the tide meets sand
Poseidon watched with lust at hand
She turned him down, this god of waves
But gods take what they cannot have
In Athena’s sacred space
He took what wasn’t his to take

*Chorus*
Now serpents crown her weeping head
Her gaze turns living men to dead
Not monster born but monster made
By gods with hearts of stone
By gods with hearts of stone

*Bridge*
She cried for help from temple floors
The goddess turned and locked the doors
Villains and victim in this bitter tale
One punished while others sailed
Away on waves of deep blue sea
Athena’s wrath found only she

*Verse 4*
Transformed by spite, by jealous rage
Her beauty cursed, a gilded cage
Her hair now writhes with venomed teeth
Her eyes now weapons underneath
The victim made the villain now
By gods who break their sacred vows

*Final Chorus*
Now serpents crown her weeping head
Her gaze turns living men to dead
Not monster born but monster made
By gods with hearts of stone
Oh, look away from her stone gaze
The truth turns gods to stone


Cover image: Medusa, by Alice Pike Barney, 1892

*Verse 1*
She’s running barefoot by the river
A snake coiled in the summer grass
One bite was all it took to take her
As mountain girls cried out, alas

*Chorus*
Oh, the echo calls her name
Down in the valley, through the rain
Eurydice, my Eurydice
The river swallows what remains

*Verse 2*
With broken heart and hollow guitar
I sang at dawn and dusk for you
Then walked the path no mortal walks
Down to the land where shadows move

*Verse 3*
A thousand ghosts like birds in winter
Gathered round to hear my song
The guardians of hell stood frozen
As I played all night long

*Chorus*
Oh, the echo calls her name
Down in the valley, through the rain
Eurydice, my Eurydice
The river swallows what remains

*Verse 4*
The king of darkness made a bargain
“Walk ahead, she’ll follow true
But turn to see her face before daylight
And she’ll be lost forever to you“

*Verse 5*
We climbed those stairs toward the sunlight
Her footsteps soft behind my own
One moment’s doubt, one glance behind me
Now I walk this world alone

*Bridge*
Seven months beneath the cliffs
By Strymon’s waters cold as bone
I sang for tigers, sang for trees
Like a nightingale who’s lost her home

*Verse 6*
No wedding songs could heal my sorrow
Through ice and snow I wandered far
’Til wild women in their midnight revels
Tore me limb from limb apart

*Final Chorus*
Now my severed head floats downstream
My frozen tongue still forms her name
Eurydice, my Eurydice
The riverbanks echo my pain

**Verse 1**
In marble halls where power lives
A king with golden hands
Treated people like possessions
As if hearts were grains of sand
He showed off Helen like a gem
Before young Paris’ eyes
Not seeing her humanity
Just another prize

**Chorus**
Pride before the fall
It’s written on the wall
We build our towers high
Then watch them crumble down
When ego blinds our sight
We lose our way in night
The mighty Agamemnon
Now wears a crown of dust

**Verse 2**
Helen chose to walk away
To somewhere she’d be seen
Not as treasure in a chest
But as more than just a queen
While the king raged at the skies
His wounded ego bled
Ten thousand ships for wounded pride
And countless soldiers dead

**Chorus**
Pride before the fall
It’s written on the wall
We build our towers high
Then watch them crumble down
When ego blinds our sight
We lose our way in night
The mighty Agamemnon
Now wears a crown of dust

**Bridge**
His daughter on the altar stone
Wind whistling through her hair
Iphigenia’s final breath
For nothing but his war
What father trades his child’s life
For favorable seas?
The gods may grant your passage
But your soul will never leave

**Verse 3**
When Apollo’s wrath fell hard
And he gave up his prize
He took Briseis from Achilles
To feed his starving pride
The greatest warrior left the field
While soldiers fell like rain
The king who couldn’t bear to lose
Brought nothing home but pain

**Chorus**
Pride before the fall
It’s written on the wall
We build our towers high
Then watch them crumble down
When ego blinds our sight
We lose our way in night
The mighty Agamemnon
Now wears a crown of dust

**Verse 4**
Clytemnestra waited patient
With vengeance in her heart
For the man who killed their daughter
And tore her world apart
The blade she drove into his flesh
As steam rose from his bath
Is what awaits all tyrant kings
Who walk the prideful path

**Final Chorus**
Pride before the fall
It’s written on the wall
We build our towers high
Then watch them crumble down
The story echoes still
Across the ancient hills
The mighty Agamemnon
Now wears a crown of dust
Forever wears a crown of dust

Of Aeneas I sing, who first from the shores of Troy,
Exiled by fate, came to the Lavinian coast,
A fugitive, he was tossed by land and sea,
By the will of the gods, to found a city
That would rise in time to glorious Rome.

Through burning Troy’s ruined walls, he fled,
His father Anchises on his back, his son Ascanius by his side,
Carrying with him the household gods, the sacred flame of Troy,
His wife Creusa lost to the shadows,
Her ghost a final farewell as he marched on.

Driven by destiny, he wandered the stormy seas,
Battling waves and the wrath of Juno,
Until at last he found safe harbor on Carthage’s shore,
In the arms of Queen Dido, a love doomed by fate.
For though passion burns bright, his duty to the gods burns brighter.

The vision of Mercury, swift-winged, came to him,
Reminding him of his mission,
The walls of Carthage crumble in his wake,
As Dido’s curse and fiery death haunt his path.

Onward he sails, to the underworld’s dark depths,
Where the Sibyl guides him through shadowed realms,
He meets the shades of fallen heroes,
And the ghost of his father, who reveals
The glory that awaits in the future, the empire of Rome.

Through battles and bloodshed, he makes his way,
To the fields of Latium, where war awaits.
The fury of Turnus, the broken peace,
A clash of wills, of swords and shields,
The cries of the gods echoing in the sky.

In the final duel, Aeneas stands tall,
With the fate of nations in his hand,
And as Turnus falls, he sees in his enemy’s eyes,
The suffering of his own,
A moment of mercy, a flame extinguished by rage.

With victory comes the promise of peace,
The marriage to Lavinia, the future of a family,
The walls of Rome, rising in the distance,
Aeneas, the pious hero, the father of a nation,
Whose legacy shall endure through the ages.

Sing, O Muse, of the man of duty,
Of his trials and his triumphs,
Of the gods and the fate that shaped his path,
Of the love and the loss,
That built the eternal city of Rome.

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns,
Driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
The hallowed heights of Troy. Many cities did he see,
Many minds did he learn, many pains he suffered
In his spirit on the sea, struggling to save his life
And bring his comrades home.

In the hall of Circe, the enchantress with braided hair,
He tarries long, but then sets sail once more,
Toward the straits where Scylla and Charybdis lurk.
A monster with six heads, Scylla snatches his men,
While the whirlpool Charybdis swallows the sea.

Onward to the land of the dead he journeys,
To seek the shade of Tiresias, the blind prophet.
In the underworld, he meets the spirits of the fallen,
His mother’s ghost, Achilles, and Agamemnon.
Their voices echo, a haunting melody of grief and glory.

At last, he returns to Ithaca, his long-sought home,
Disguised as a beggar, his heart heavy with longing.
His faithful dog, Argos, recognizes him,
Wags his tail once, and then dies, a final gesture of loyalty.

In the palace, he strings his mighty bow,
And with a single shot, he wins the contest,
Reveals his true self, and with Telemachus, his son,
He slays the suitors who have plagued his hall,
Restoring honor to his house.

Penelope, wise and faithful, tests him still,
But in the end, their hearts are united,
As the dawn rises, they speak of all that has passed.
Together again, they find peace at last.

Sing, O Muse, of the cunning hero,
Of his trials and his triumphs,
Of the seas he roamed and the perils he faced,
Of the love and the loss,
That shape the journey of man.

Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles,
Son of Peleus, that brought countless woes
Upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul it sent
Hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield
A prey to dogs and vultures, as the will of Zeus was accomplished.

In the midst of battle, like the god of war,
Achilles rages, his bronze armor gleaming,
His eyes aflame with fury, his spear a deadly instrument.
He moves through the ranks, unstoppable, a force of nature,
The Trojans scatter before him like leaves before a storm.

Great Hector, breaker of horses, stands firm,
His heart steadfast, though he knows his fate.
For the love of his city and family, he faces Achilles,
A lion against a lion, in a duel that echoes through eternity.

At the gates of Troy, the two champions clash,
Spears and swords meeting with a sound like thunder.
The earth trembles beneath their feet,
And the sky darkens with the shadows of their blows.

Achilles, swift-footed, strikes with deadly precision,
And Hector falls, his life ebbing away like a river to the sea.
The Achaeans cheer, but Achilles weeps,
For even in victory, there is sorrow.

And so, the walls of Troy are breached,
The city falls, its people scattered like dust.
Yet amidst the ruins, a spark of hope remains,
For from the ashes of the old, the new shall rise.

Sing, O goddess, of the hero’s rage,
Of the sorrow and the glory,
Of the love and the loss,
That echo still, through the ages.

The Epic of Inanna, Enkidu and Gilgamesh, from Inanna forming the bond between wilderness and stone, being forsaken by Enkidu and Gilgamesh and sending the Bull of Heaven, to Gilgamesh questing against Death and coming to terms with his failure.

I: Wild Hands

Middle Eastern rhythms, drums, powerful bass, energetic, dramatic, female vocals

Verse 1:
In Uruk’s walls of burning stone
Where priestess’ songs have always known
The wildness lurking just outside
Where the human spirit learns to ride

Chorus:
Oh Inanna! Oh sacred touch!
Who breaks and builds with tender clutch
Where wilderness meets human hand
Where transformation takes its stand

Verse 2:
Enkidu raw from mountain’s breath
No city knew his dancing death
Until her hands would softly turn
The wilderness to city’s burn

Bridge:
Not master, not servant - but rhythm’s own way
Where power meets wisdom, where spirits can sway
Two forces colliding, two rhythms entwine
Where sacred meets mortal along blurred design

Chorus:
Oh Inanna! Oh sacred touch!
Who breaks and builds with tender clutch
Where wilderness meets human hand
Where transformation takes its stand


Middle Eastern rhythms, drums, powerful bass, energetic, dramatic, female vocals

Verse 1:
Two heroes locked in brotherhood
Forgot the hands that understood
The sacred dance that brought them near
Inanna’s power pushed to fear

Chorus:
Blood and thunder, myth’s dark song
Where sacred boundaries go wrong
When power is forgotten, when rhythm dies
The Bull of Heaven will surely rise

Verse 2:
They killed the beast with savage pride
Not knowing transformation’s ride
Would claim its price in blood and bone
When sacred laws are overthrown

Bridge:
Who counts the tears when friendship breaks?
Who hears the song when power takes
Its brutal vengeance, sharp and clear
When exclusion breeds its fear?

Chorus:
Blood and thunder, myth’s dark song
Where sacred boundaries go wrong
When power is forgotten, when rhythm dies
The Bull of Heaven will surely rise


Middle Eastern rhythms, drums, powerful bass, energetic, dramatic, female vocals

Verse 1:
Beyond the waters, past the shore
Where legends whisper ancient lore
A man who feared the final breath
Would dance his challenge against death

Chorus:
Immortal dreams on mortal hands
No rhythm stops where silence stands
We are the story that we make
The myth that trembles, dreams that break

Verse 2:
No herb, no root, no sacred ground
Can hold the story yet unbound
The sleeping hero learns at last
That life lives only in the past

Bridge:
We are the rhythm, we are the song
Not endless time, but what lives strong
Between the wilderness and stone
The story that we call our own

Chorus:
Immortal dreams on mortal hands
No rhythm stops where silence stands
We are the story that we make
The myth that trembles, dreams that break

*Verse 1:*
In the depths of winter’s night
Evergreen stands proud and bright
Ancient spirits dance and sing
Blessing branches, welcome spring

*Chorus:*
Hail the tree of emerald green
Sacred symbol rarely seen
Yule log burning, flames so high
Connecting earth and starlit sky

*Verse 2:*
Roots deep in the frozen ground
Whispers of the solstice sound
Cedar, pine, and holly fair
Bring the old gods’ loving care

*Bridge:*
Fire burning, embers glow
Turning darkness into hope
Wheel of seasons spinning ’round
Nature’s magic shall be found

*Final Chorus:*
Hail the tree of emerald green
Sacred symbol rarely seen
Yule log burning, flames so high
Eternal life will never die

*Spoken Outro:*
Blessed be the wheel of life
Blessed be the dark and light

**Verse 1**
In a land of distant dreams
Where sacred rivers flow
Kubla built his pleasure dome
Above, the sun; below, the foam
Of seas no man could know

**Chorus**
Oh, the visions that we chase
In dreams we can’t erase
Through caverns deep and gardens high
Where sacred waters fall
And ancient voices call
Beneath a midnight sky

**Verse 2**
Five miles round of fertile ground
With walls of stone and steel
Where incense trees bloom wild and free
And forests old as time could be
Hide secrets they reveal

**Verse 3**
Down a chasm dark and deep
Where demon lovers cry
The earth itself draws ragged breath
While fountains dance with life and death
And rocks leap to the sky

**Bridge**
Through the woods and through the dale
The sacred river winds its tale
Till far below in caves of stone
It joins the sea where shadows roam
While Kubla hears the ancient tone
Of war, of war, of war...

**Verse 4**
I dreamed a girl with desert eyes
Played songs from far away
Her music held such sweet command
It built this dome across the land
Where none could ever stay

**Final Chorus**
Oh, the visions that we chase
In dreams we can’t erase
If I could play her song again
I’d build that dome once more
But wisdom bids: Beware!
For Paradise has closed its door

**Outro**
(Spoken softly over gentle picking)
Draw your circle thrice around
Close your eyes in holy dread
For he has tasted heaven’s crown
And drunk what paradise has bred

Inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his poem, Kubla Khan.

Inspired by “Because I could not stop for Death,” by Emily Dickinson.

**Verse 1**
I was too busy living life to die
When Death pulled up in his black car so fine
He opened up the door with a gentle smile
Said “Come ride with me for a little while“

**Chorus**
And we’re riding, just riding
Through time and memory
Just Death and me and forever
On this strange journey

**Verse 2**
Past the schoolyard where the children play
Past golden fields on a summer’s day
Past the setting sun in the western sky
Or maybe it was passing by

**Verse 3**
In my party dress, I started to freeze
As evening shadows danced on the breeze
No coat to warm me on this final ride
Just silk and lace and Death by my side

**Verse 4**
We stopped at a house beneath the ground
Where grass grew wild all around
Where rafters met the earthen floor
And time meant nothing anymore

**Verse 5**
Centuries have passed since that day
But somehow it feels like yesterday
When Death’s pale horses turned their head
Toward forever up ahead

**Final Chorus**
And we’re riding, still riding
Through eternity
Just Death and me and forever
That’s how it will be

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Tear it Down · Citizen of the Past

Songs of Distant Hope

℗ Citizen of the Past

Released on: 2025-01-31

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Bella Ciao · Citizen of the Past

Songs of Distant Hope

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Released on: 2025-01-31

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Modern Judas · Citizen of the Past

Songs of Distant Hope

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Uncanny. Valley · Citizen of the Past

Songs of Distant Hope

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Losing Side · Citizen of the Past

Songs of Distant Hope

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Deny. Defend. Depose. · Citizen of the Past

Songs of Distant Hope

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She Persists! · Citizen of the Past

Songs of Distant Hope

℗ Citizen of the Past

Released on: 2025-01-31

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[Verse 1]
Helicopter blades spinning overhead
Coming for you in the dead of night
White House lawyers with their pens and suits
Made it all legal in black and white

[CHORUS]
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS! WHERE YOUR RIGHTS DON’T EXIST!
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS! YOUR DEATH WON’T BE MISSED!
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER TO ERASE YOU TONIGHT
JUST GET YOU FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM SIGHT!

[Verse 2]
They move the people, not change the laws
A bullet to the head and down you go
Just like the Nazis did before
Create the zones where no rights follow

[CHORUS]
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS! WHERE YOUR RIGHTS DON’T EXIST!
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS! YOUR DEATH WON’T BE MISSED!
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER TO ERASE YOU TONIGHT
JUST GET YOU FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM SIGHT!

[Verse 3]
The judges powerless, their hands are tied
“Foreign affairs“ is what they call murder now
From White House memos to death camp trains
The logic’s the same, just ask yourself how
Law doesn’t follow where they take you
Stateless victims with nowhere to turn
They learned the lesson from history’s darkest page
When will we fucking learn?

[CHORUS]
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS! WHERE YOUR RIGHTS DON’T EXIST!
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS! YOUR DEATH WON’T BE MISSED!
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER TO ERASE YOU TONIGHT
JUST GET YOU FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM SIGHT!

[Verse 4]
They drop your corpse in the deep blue sea
No habeas corpus when there is no body
Democracy dies in the darkness of night
On a helicopter over international waters

[FINAL CHORUS]
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS!
WHERE YOUR RIGHTS DON’T EXIST!
IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS!
FIGHT BACK AND RESIST!

[Verse 1]
Dress-up queen with a $60K watch
Playing border patrol like it’s just for show
Point that rifle at your comrade’s head
ICE Barbie’s coming, better run instead

[CHORUS]
ICE Barbie, strike a pose!
ICE Barbie, everyone knows
It’s all a photo op, it’s all for show
ICE Barbie’s got somewhere to go!

[Verse 2]
Firefighter, pilot, agent, cop
The costume changes never seem to stop
“Don’t pay attention to all that noise“
While she treats the border like her personal toys

[CHORUS]
ICE Barbie, strike a pose!
ICE Barbie, everyone knows
It’s all a photo op, it’s all for show
ICE Barbie’s got somewhere to go!

[Verse 3]
Tacked-out glamour in a mega-prison
Gun safety’s optional, that’s her decision
Twenty-six components to oversee
But she’s too busy with her dress-up spree

[CHORUS]
ICE Barbie, strike a pose!
ICE Barbie, everyone knows
It’s all a photo op, it’s all for show
ICE Barbie’s got somewhere to go!

[Verse 4]
“They’re so proud,“ she says with a smile
As the cameras flash for another file
Bipartisan critics all agree
ICE Barbie’s just playing make-believe!

[CHORUS]
ICE Barbie, strike a pose!
ICE Barbie, everyone knows
It’s all a photo op, it’s all for show
ICE Barbie’s got somewhere to go!

[Verse 5]
Hat and vest and boots and gun
ICE Barbie thinks migration’s fun
A game of dress-up, day after day
While real people’s lives are swept away

[Final Chorus]
ICE Barbie! (ICE BARBIE!)
ICE Barbie! (ICE BARBIE!)
ICE Barbie’s coming for you!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/thought-police

[Verse 1]
Border walls for your brain
They’re scanning what you think
“Dangerous ideas“ they claim
As freedom starts to shrink
Men in suits decide what thoughts can cross
Your mind is not your own to possess

[Chorus]
THOUGHT POLICE! THOUGHT POLICE!
Your ideas are contraband
THOUGHT POLICE! THOUGHT POLICE!
We won’t stand for your command!

[Verse 2]
Check your brain at the gate
Submit for their review
Freedom dies while we wait
For thoughts they say are true
Jackboots stomp on pages torn
From books they fear and ideas unborn

[Chorus]
THOUGHT POLICE! THOUGHT POLICE!
Your ideas are contraband
THOUGHT POLICE! THOUGHT POLICE!
We won’t stand for your command!

[Bridge]
Who gave you the right
To patrol my mind?
Who crowned you the judge
Of what thoughts I can find?
Ideas don’t need papers
To prove they belong
Your fear of free thinking
Is where you went wrong!

[Verse 3]
Revolution begins
When we refuse their chains
Tear down the walls they built
Inside our collective brains
No border for what we can say
No checkpoint for thoughts today

[Final Chorus]
THOUGHT POLICE! THOUGHT POLICE!
Your ideas are contraband
THOUGHT POLICE! THOUGHT POLICE!
We won’t stand for your command!

[Outro]
ICE patrols the borders of our minds
The new Gestapo of our times
THOUGHT POLICE in uniforms of blue
Breaking down the doors of what is true
When ideas flow freely
There’s no border wall at all!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at [https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/the-only-resistance

Verse 1]
Red ties marching in a line
Blind allegiance, fall in time
Flags and symbols, nothing more
While they’re pounding at your door
Iron fists in velvet words
Unity through fear, absurd!

[Chorus]
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
The system’s broken, can’t you see?
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
The only ones who dare to be free!

[Verse 2]
Blue suits promise change for years
Empty words fall on deaf ears
Stand for nothing, bow to power
Fold like paper in the shower
Handshakes with the enemy
Call it “bipartisanship“

[Chorus]
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
The system’s broken, can’t you see?
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
The only ones who dare to be free!

[Bridge]
They’re different sides of the same damn coin
Spinning lies while we bleed
One worships power, one fears to fight
Both serve corporate greed!

[Verse 3]
We’re the only resistance now
With our ballots, with our vows
In the streets with raised fists high
Truth and justice amplified
No more waiting for saviors
Time for us to change behaviors

[Final Chorus]
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
The system’s broken, can’t you see?
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
NO ONE LEFT BUT US!
THE ONLY RESISTANCE IS YOU AND ME!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/unbent

[Verse 1]
They’re telling us the world is changing
Like we should just accept defeat
“Adapt or die,“ they’re arranging
The narrative to keep us meek
Well I say screw their rhetoric
It’s just oppression renamed
A brand new coat on old pollution
Same power structure, unashamed

[Chorus]
I WON’T BEND MY KNEE!
I WON’T BEND MY KNEE!
Fascists only rise when we
BEND OUR FUCKING KNEES!

[Verse 2]
Black boots march down sanitized streets
While talking heads say “it’s progress“
They sell us comfort in our defeat
As freedom dies in their process
They didn’t seize power overnight
They measured how far you would kneel
Tested boundaries without a fight
To see what they could freely steal

[Chorus]
I WON’T BEND MY KNEE!
I WON’T BEND MY KNEE!
Fascists only rise when we
BEND OUR FUCKING KNEES!

[Bridge]
The world isn’t changing
We’re surrendering ground
Every inch we give up
Is where their strength is found
They didn’t defeat us
We defeated ourselves
When we nodded in silence
And put our rage on shelves!

[Verse 3]
They say this is the new normal
A world where resistance is naive
Where questioning becomes informal
Crime against what they believe
But normal is what we make it
And I refuse to play along
My spine was never meant to break
And neither was your battle song

[Final Chorus]
I WON’T BEND MY KNEE!
I WON’T BEND MY KNEE!
Fascists only rise when we
BEND OUR FUCKING KNEES!
STAND UP! FIGHT BACK!
STAND UP! FIGHT BACK!
UNBENT! UNBOWED! UNBROKEN!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/american-pawn

[Verse 1]
SOLD! To the highest bidder!
BOUGHT! Foreign hands control!
BENT! Backbone snapped in half!
BROKE! Morals up for sale!
Books burn while lies are praised
Gold chains replace our spines
This puppet show’s been rigged
The strings just got rewound

[Chorus]
AMERICAN PAWN! (PAWN!)
SACRIFICED FOR KINGS! (KINGS!)
AMERICAN PAWN! (PAWN!)
HEAR THE DEATH KNELL RING! (RING!)

[Verse 2]
HATE! Dressed as policy!
FEAR! Marketed as strength!
GREED! Packaged as success!
LIES! Labeled as the truth!
Luxury cars drive blind
Off cliffs we built ourselves
While fat cats count their cash
We’re digging our own graves

[Chorus]
AMERICAN PAWN! (PAWN!)
SACRIFICED FOR KINGS! (KINGS!)
AMERICAN PAWN! (PAWN!)
HEAR THE DEATH KNELL RING! (RING!)

[Bridge]
DIG! DIG! DIG DOWN DEEP!
The coal dust fills your lungs!
WORK! WORK! WORK ALL DAY!
While they lounge in the sun!
When the last man stands
In the wasteland they’ve made
He’ll turn on himself
When there’s no one left to blame!

[Verse 3]
RISE! Against the machine!
FIGHT! Before it’s too late!
STAND! For something real!
RAGE! Don’t hesitate!
Their towers built on sand
Will crumble into dust
This nation’s not for sale
It’s time we take it back!

[Final Chorus]
AMERICAN PAWN! (PAWN!)
NOT SACRIFICED FOR KINGS! (KINGS!)
AMERICAN PAWN! (PAWN!)
MAKE REVOLUTION RING! (RING!)
AMERICAN PAWN! (PAWN!)
WAKE UP!

DIG! DIG! DIG DOWN DEEP!
The coal dust fills your lungs!
WORK! WORK! WORK ALL DAY!
While they lounge in the sun!
When the last man stands
In the wasteland they’ve made
He’ll turn on himself
When there’s no one left to blame!

WAKE UP!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/reflection

[Verse 1]
Build a wall ten miles high
To keep your nightmares out
Barbed wire around your mind
Is what it’s all about
Every shadow makes you jump
Every difference makes you shake
The enemy you’re running from
Is the one you help create

[Chorus]
THE WORLD’S A MIRROR! (MIRROR!)
REFLECTING WHAT YOU FEAR! (FEAR!)
THE WORLD’S A MIRROR! (MIRROR!)
YOUR DARKNESS GROWING NEAR!

[Verse 2]
Terror at the borderline
Panic in the streets
Monsters in your headlines
With faces just like me
What you hate in distant lands
Lives inside your head
The threats you think you understand
Are the thoughts you never shed

[Chorus]
THE WORLD’S A MIRROR! (MIRROR!)
REFLECTING WHAT YOU FEAR! (FEAR!)
THE WORLD’S A MIRROR! (MIRROR!)
YOUR DARKNESS GROWING NEAR!

[Bridge]
FACE IT! FACE IT!
The enemy is you!
TRACE IT! TRACE IT!
Back to what is true!
That stranger in the night
That difference you despise
Is just your shadow cast
Against the distant skies!

[Verse 3]
Rip the blindfold from your eyes
Smash that mirror clean
The monsters that you demonize
Are projections of your dreams
When you stop fearing yourself
When you face what dwells inside
The borders start dissolving
And there’s nowhere left to hide

[Final Chorus]
THE WORLD’S A MIRROR! (MIRROR!)
CONFRONTING WHAT YOU FEAR! (FEAR!)
THE WORLD’S A MIRROR! (MIRROR!)
NOW FINALLY SEEING CLEAR!
THE WORLD’S A MIRROR! (MIRROR!)
BREAK! THE! GLASS!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/american-gulag

[Verse 1]
Midnight flights to foreign lands
People vanished without a trace
“Administrative oversight“
Is what they call disgrace
No judge, no jury, no rights at all
Just a proclamation from on high
Cross the wrong man, question power
And you’re next in line to fly

[Chorus]
American Gulag! (Gulag!)
Outside the Law! (The Law!)
American Gulag! (Gulag!)
Democracy’s Fatal Flaw!

[Verse 2]
“Build more prisons,“ the tyrant laughs
“We’ve got space,“ his puppet grins
Today it’s them, tomorrow you
When the real purge begins
“Homegrowns next,“ the threat rings clear
In the oval office light
No court can bring them home again
When they’re hidden from our sight

[Chorus]
American Gulag! (Gulag!)
Outside the Law! (The Law!)
American Gulag! (Gulag!)
Democracy’s Fatal Flaw!

[Bridge]
FOREIGN SOIL! FOREIGN BARS!
BUT AMERICAN CHAINS!
SOVEREIGN POWER! SOVEREIGN SHIELD!
TO HIDE THEIR BLOODY STAINS!
The Constitution can’t be heard
Through concrete walls so thick
When power claims immunity
From justice’s angry fist!

[Verse 3]
They call it “foreign policy“
To dodge judicial review
A century of precedent
Torn up and thrown away
The writ of habeas corpus dies
While we all stand and watch
Wake up now or find yourself
In cells we can’t unlock

[Final Chorus]
AMERICAN GULAG! (GULAG!)
OUTSIDE THE LAW! (THE LAW!)
AMERICAN GULAG! (GULAG!)
DEMOCRACY’S FATAL FLAW!
AMERICAN GULAG! (GULAG!)
FIGHT! BACK! NOW!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/patriots

[Verse 1]
Post-truth is pre-fascism
The first brick in the wall
When facts become opinion
That’s when nations fall
Wrapped in empty symbols
Blind worship of the flag
While ideals get trampled
In the nationalistic drag

[Chorus]
TRUE PATRIOTS RISE! (RISE UP!)
QUESTION EVERYTHING THEY SAY! (QUESTION!)
TRUE PATRIOTS FIGHT! (FIGHT BACK!)
FOR WHAT THIS LAND COULD BE SOMEDAY!

[Verse 2]
Nationalists sell delusion
“We’re perfect as we are“
They feed on raw emotion
And worship from afar
But patriots face the mirror
See flaws we must repair
Hold the nation to its promise
With vigilance and care

[Chorus]
TRUE PATRIOTS RISE! (RISE UP!)
QUESTION EVERYTHING THEY SAY! (QUESTION!)
TRUE PATRIOTS FIGHT! (FIGHT BACK!)
FOR WHAT THIS LAND COULD BE SOMEDAY!

[Bridge]
THEY SAY “IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE“
WHILE PLANTING FASCIST SEEDS!
WE SAY “NOT ON OUR WATCH“
AND STAND FOR WHAT WE NEED!
Universal values!
Beyond the tribe and clan!
Real love means improvement!
Not worshipping a man!

[Verse 3]
Their truth is shaped by hatred
Of everyone outside
Our truth is forged in struggle
For justice nationwide
Don’t tell me that you love it
While letting it decay
True patriots save nations
From those who’d throw them away

[Final Chorus]
TRUE PATRIOTS RISE! (RISE UP!)
QUESTION EVERYTHING THEY SAY! (QUESTION!)
TRUE PATRIOTS FIGHT! (FIGHT BACK!)
FOR WHAT THIS LAND COULD BE SOMEDAY!
TRUE PATRIOTS RISE! (RISE UP!)
TRUTH! WILL! PREVAIL!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/twisted

[Verse 1]
Smiling faces, twisted hearts
Finding joy in others’ pain
Power hungry from the start
A sickness with no name
Photos with the caged and bound
Trophies of their cruelty
What broken circuit in their minds
Makes suffering a delicacy?

[Chorus]
TWISTED PLEASURE! (PLEASURE!)
WHAT BROKE INSIDE YOUR BRAIN? (YOUR BRAIN!)
TWISTED PLEASURE! (PLEASURE!)
HUMANITY’S DARKEST STAIN!

[Verse 2]
March the innocent through halls
Between stern-faced guards in pairs
Celebrate each person’s fall
While pretending that it’s fair
Masked agents in the dead of night
Snatching voices from the streets
While you cheer from velvet thrones
And call repression sweet

[Chorus]
TWISTED PLEASURE! (PLEASURE!)
WHAT BROKE INSIDE YOUR BRAIN? (YOUR BRAIN!)
TWISTED PLEASURE! (PLEASURE!)
HUMANITY’S DARKEST STAIN!

[Bridge]
HOW DO YOU FIND EACH OTHER?
THESE BROKEN HUMAN PARTS?
SOME SIGNAL NORMAL PEOPLE MISS
SOME DARKNESS IN THE HEART?
Throughout all of history
This sickness reappears
Power attracts the cruelest souls
Who feed on others’ tears!

[Verse 3]
Children in cages crying out
While you sleep soundly through the night
Shaved heads and bodies bent in shame
Becoming your delight
What twisted mirror of yourself
Do you see in their distress?
What void inside are you filling
With others’ helplessness?

[Final Chorus]
TWISTED PLEASURE! (PLEASURE!)
WHAT BROKE INSIDE YOUR BRAIN? (YOUR BRAIN!)
TWISTED PLEASURE! (PLEASURE!)
HUMANITY’S DARKEST STAIN!
TWISTED PLEASURE! (PLEASURE!)
NOT! WHO! WE! ARE!

[Verse 1]
History’s monsters crawl from their tomb
Wearing new faces, festering doom
We buried these lies long ago
Now they’re back,
Running a different show
We see through their masquerade
Time to send them back to their grave

[Chorus]
STAY DEAD! (We won’t go back!)
STAY DEAD! (No turning back!)
All you fascists, kings and cruel dictators
Time to face your terminators
STAY DEAD!

[Verse 2]
We’ll accept neither Nazis, Kings nor Overlords
As they rise from the ground like zombies
We’ll return them to their graves
The future’s moving forward
Not back to darker days
Your hate won’t be reborn
We’ll burn it all away

[Bridge]
They want us to forget
The lessons that we learned
But every history book
Shows their world should burn
(Shout) NOT! ONE! STEP! BACK!

[Verse 3]
Your golden crowns are just brass rings
Your master race just death that brings
Your “strong man“ act’s a weak facade
Time to end this charade
We fought these battles years ago
And now you’re trying to steal the show
But we remember, we still know
How to make you...

[Chorus]
STAY DEAD! (We won’t go back!)
STAY DEAD! (No turning back!)
All you fascists, kings and cruel dictators
Time to face your terminators
STAY DEAD!

[Outro - Spoken/Shouted]
We killed you once!
We’ll kill you twice!
Stay in your graves!
Pay the price!
STAY DEAD!

[Verse 1]
Sailed across the ocean
To escape your iron grip
But you kept on choking us
With every taxman’s trip
Built our homes from nothing
While you sat upon your throne
Now you think you own us
Everything we’ve grown

[Chorus]
NO MORE KINGS! (No more!)
NO MORE KINGS! (No more!)
Done with bowing down
Done with wearing crowns
NO MORE KINGS!

[Verse 2]
“Representation?“ you just laughed
And turned your back on us
So we’ll throw your precious tea
Into the harbor’s dust
You can send your redcoats
You can try to make us pay
But we’re done with monarchy
This is our independence day!

[Bridge]
We don’t need your permission
Don’t need your royal seal
Time to start a revolution
Make this freedom real!

[Verse 3]
From Boston down to Georgia
The word is spreading fast
Your reign of exploitation
This tax will be your last
We’re building something better
Where people have a voice
No more kings above us
Freedom is our choice!

[Chorus]
NO MORE KINGS! (No more!)
NO MORE KINGS! (No more!)
Done with bowing down
Done with wearing crowns
NO MORE KINGS!

[Outro - Spoken/Shouted]
Power to the people!
By the people!
For the people!
NO MORE KINGS!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chance_for_Peace_speech

A Cross of Iron

[Intro Verse]
A vision born in war’s harsh light
A leader’s voice, a moral might
Eisenhower, a man of steel
Saw shadows deep, a nation’s ordeal

[Chorus]
Every gun, stolen bread
Every ship, a hope misled
Rockets soar, but children weep
Humanity hangs, a world asleep

[Verse 1]
A world in arms, a tragic scene
A costly chase, a futile dream
For schools and homes, a price is paid
While fear and doubt cast a somber shade

[Chorus]
Every gun, stolen bread
Every ship, a hope misled
Rockets soar, but children weep
Humanity hangs, a world asleep

[Verse 2]
Bomber’s might, a city’s fear
Fighter’s roar, a nation’s tear
Destroyer’s steel, a life’s lost chance
A barren world, a bitter trance

[Chorus]
Every gun, stolen bread
Every ship, a hope misled
Rockets soar, but children weep
Humanity hangs, a world asleep

[Bridge]
War’s dark cloud hangs heavy overhead
Humanity, a captive held
Bound to iron, a painful cross
Lost in shadows, at any cost

[Chorus]
Every gun, stolen bread
Every ship, a hope misled
Rockets soar, but children weep
Humanity hangs, a world asleep

[Outro]

https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/a-cross-of-iron

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address

1961

[Verse 1]
In nineteen sixty-one, a voice of thunder,
A general’s warning, a world torn asunder,
Eisenhower spoke of progress, a nation’s might,
But shadows loomed, obscuring the light.

[Verse 2]
A complex of power, a war machine’s greed,
Profiting from conflict, a nation bleeds,
The scholar’s wisdom, the scientist’s mind,
By iron and gold, their freedoms entwined.

[Chorus]
From nineteen sixty-one, the farewell’s toll,
Eisenhower’s warning, a clarion call,
The beast of profit and war’s machine,
Devouring the world in a fiery scene.

[Bridge]
We borrow from the future, a debt unpaid,
For comfort and ease, a sacrifice made,
The planet we plunder, a legacy of pain,
For our children’s children, what will remain?

[Chorus]
From nineteen sixty-one, the farewell’s toll,
Eisenhower’s warning, a clarion call,
The beast of profit and war’s machine,
Devouring the world in a fiery scene.

[Verse 3]
The world grows smaller, a choice to make,
Hatred’s inferno or unity’s wake,
Let us pray for all faiths, all races, all nations,
Their needs be fulfilled, their liberation.

[Chorus]
From nineteen sixty-one, the farewell’s toll,
Eisenhower’s warning, a clarion call,
The beast of profit and war’s machine,
Devouring the world in a fiery scene.

[Outro]
Let charity flourish, ignorance erased,
Poverty and disease, their grip displaced,
In the goodness of time, may all beings find,
A peace everlasting, in mutual respect entwined.

https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/1961

Verse 1:
Qur’etlh je’taHbogh, DeQ chIch!
Bloodstained warrior, breathing defiance!
Qo’noS qawDaq ghajbogh qoS ja’
History carved by conquerors’ command
QapmaH, jo’Sej, HIja’ chaw’ jIH
Surrender demands - but I CHALLENGE!
Beliefs fiercer than their pathetic lies
My spirit BURNS beyond their control!

Chorus:
jIH qaSpu’DI’! (Defeated!)
’ach jIHtaH! (But I REMAIN!)
Battlefield fallen, but HONOR INTACT
My spirit UNBROKEN, my legend WILL LAST!

Verse 2:
Qech’etlh vaj HoS - batalh’etlh je’!
Battle scars reveal TRUE strength - stand and fight!
Hoch qaSpu’ Dachokuv - jIHtaH!
Every defeat you pronounce - I ENDURE!
Qo’noS vuDmey tuQmoH - batlh wIj qeylIS!
Crushing blows forge my warrior’s path - my honor UNBROKEN!
bat’leth bezh - Ha’DIbaH chew!
Sharp as a sword’s edge - BITE BACK against fate!

Chorus:
jIH qaSpu’DI’! (Defeated!)
’ach jIHtaH! (But I REMAIN!)
Fallen in combat, but MY MIND FIGHTS ON
Lost the war? HA! My spirit has WON!

Verse 3:
Qo’noS bIQ’a’ qeylIS - HIja’ chaw’!
Kronos’ greatest warriors never kneel!
Qech vaj qawDaq je’taH
Standing tall where others would fall
Ja’ Dachep - jIH qeylIS!
Call me broken - I AM KLINGON!
batlh wIj Ha’DIbaH chew!
My honor DEVOURS your judgment!

Chorus:
jIH qaSpu’DI’! (Defeated!)
’ach jIHtaH! (But I REMAIN!)
Fallen in combat, but MY MIND FIGHTS ON
Lost the war? HA! My spirit has WON!

Chorus:
jIH qaSpu’DI’! (Defeated!)
’ach jIHtaH! (But I REMAIN!)
Fallen in combat, but MY MIND FIGHTS ON
Lost the war? HA! My spirit has WON!

Outro:
(Defiant roar building to a battle cry)
nuqneH!
I was NOT WRONG!
nuqneH!
I was NOT WRONG!

Cultural Translation Notes:
- qeylIS: Represents both “warrior“ and “unbreakable spirit“
- Language shifts from literal translation to cultural interpretation
- Emphasis on honor (batlh) over mere survival
- Each line carries the weight of Klingon philosophical resistance

SalqoH (Rise up, translated into tlhIngan Hol, Klingon)

Verse 1:
vo’ De’wI’Daq’e’ veng tuqDaq’e’
Hoch ghomHom Quj, yIn pabtaHbogh
nobpu’DI’ ’ej mu’qaD, DaHbogh toy’wI’’e’
maH Sal, vaj DaSmeH wIQam

Chorus:
yISalQo’, ghomHom, HukHom tIpoSmoH
poH chu’ taH, Hegh ram chu’ taH
tIQ’eghmoH, ramvam yISuq
’Iv, rap ’ej Del pat DaSmeH

Verse 2:
wa’DIch joH’a’ mIw, ghIq Qotlh naQ
Hoch bal wo’ ghomHom vo’ Suq
’ach poH ghoS, HoS Heghpu’
ghomHom veS, batlh QammoH

Chorus:
yISalQo’, ghomHom, HukHom tIpoSmoH
poH chu’ taH, Hegh ram chu’ taH
tIQ’eghmoH, ramvam yISuq
’Iv, rap ’ej Del pat DaSmeH

Bridge:
maQamchugh, wej maHeghpu’
maHeghchugh, Hoch maHeghpu’
reH bortaS rur Hoch
’ej batlh DaSchu’ ghoS

Chorus:
yISalQo’, ghomHom, HukHom tIpoSmoH
poH chu’ taH, Hegh ram chu’ taH
tIQ’eghmoH, ramvam yISuq
’Iv, rap ’ej Del pat DaSmeH

Rise

Verse 1:
From the factory floor to the city street,
Every worker toils, a life incomplete.
Exploited and oppressed, a modern slave,
We’ll rise together, our future to save.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Verse 2:
Oligarchs above us, a parasitic horde,
Squeezing wealth from labor’s every cord.
But their time is ending, their power will fade,
A worker’s revolution, a bold crusade.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Bridge:
United we stand, divided we fall,
A world of equality for one and all.
No more hunger, no more fear,
Our hopeful future, crystal clear.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

(An English translation is also available)

qong ’oH, Daq luHutlh,
nugh Hoch, Doy’qu’ ’ej wuQ.
batlh Hutlhpu’, Surchugh, HoS’be’,
yIn wo’, jatlh poH.

ghIlab lungDaq, nISwI’ ghopDaq,
yuQvetlh Dung, bargh yuQ.
’ach tul Daplaw’, wovmoHchu’ qul,
ram tIn, batlhHa’ buS.

nachmey ndmev, chal ’InroH,
Daplaw’ tul ghItlh’a’.
wa’DIch, batlh, ’ej jaH,
chu’ ram, chu’ poH.

maQong maH, batlh yIt,
bIngDaq ’IH, ram DelboghboghDI’.
Qotlhbe’ wej, jatlhqu’ pem,
chu’ poH wovmoH, reH.

muD yabmey, Hutlh ’oH,
chu’ ram, toDuj ’ej nga’.
chu’ jaj wovmoH, ’IH Dalo’,
Daq chu’, ’ej wovmoH.

nachmey ndmev, chal ’InroH,
Daplaw’ tul ghItlh’a’.
wa’DIch, batlh, ’ej jaH,
chu’ ram, chu’ poH.

[Transliteration and meaning notes:
- qong = darkness/night
- Daq = world/place
- nugh = people
- batlh = honor
- ghIlab = tyrant
- wovmoH = to light/illuminate
- nachmey = banner/flag
- tul = hope
- ram = future
- chu’ = new
- yIt = walk/march
- pem = voice/sound
- muD = fear
- ’IH = beauty/glory]

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/abandoned-and-betrayed

[Verse 1]
(Soft, melodic guitar riff)

Golden age, a distant dream
A time of peace, it would seem
But greed and power took their hold
Leaving us lost and enslaved

[Chorus]
Abandoned and betrayed
By forces we’ve obeyed
It’s time to rise, to take a stand
For justice in this troubled land

[Verse 2]
We’ve seen the wrongs, the pain untold
A world divided, hard and cold
But hope remains, a flicker bright
A chance to make things right

[Chorus]
Abandoned and betrayed
By forces we’ve obeyed
It’s time to rise, to take a stand
For justice in this troubled land

[Bridge]
Challenge the hate, break down the walls
Embrace diversity, heed the calls
For empathy, for understanding true
United we stand, united in suffering

[Chorus]
Abandoned and betrayed
By forces we’ve obeyed
It’s time to rise, to take a stand
For justice in this troubled land

[Outro]
(Guitar solo, building in intensity)

Break our chains, set ourselves free
Together we can make a plea
For a world where love and peace prevail
And justice triumphs, without fail

Verse 1:
You talk about your fasting, your sacrifice and pain
While others walk in shackles, bound by greed’s dark chain
Your prayers mean nothing when you turn away your eyes
From those who sleep in doorways under cold night skies

Chorus:
Break every chain! (Break every chain!)
Tear down the walls of shame!
Feed the hungry! (Feed the hungry!)
Shelter the lost and lame!
This is true faith!

Verse 2:
Your rituals are hollow when justice lies in waste
While corporate empires prosper, the poor can barely taste
A single crumb of mercy in this land of wealth
Where profit drives the system, crushing hope and health

Chorus:
Break every chain! (Break every chain!)
Tear down the walls of shame!
Feed the hungry! (Feed the hungry!)
Shelter the lost and lame!
This is true faith!

Bridge:
(Faster, more intense)
Rise up! Stand up!
This is the fast He chose!
Break the yoke of oppression
Till every captive knows!

Verse 3:
Don’t tell me about your worship while children go unfed
Don’t speak of holy living while people beg for bread
True faith means action, not just words we say
So share your food and shelter, break those chains today!

Chorus:
Break every chain! (Break every chain!)
Tear down the walls of shame!
Feed the hungry! (Feed the hungry!)
Shelter the lost and lame!
This is true faith!

Outro:
(Slowing, powerful)
This is true faith...
Breaking every chain...

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/rise-leva-ntate

Verse 1:
From the factory floor to the city street,
Every worker toils, a life incomplete.
Exploited and oppressed, a modern slave,
We’ll rise together, our future to save.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Verse 2:
Oligarchs above us, a parasitic horde,
Squeezing wealth from labor’s every cord.
But their time is ending, their power will fade,
A worker’s revolution, a bold crusade.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Bridge:
United we stand, divided we fall,
A world of equality for one and all.
No more hunger, no more fear,
Our hopeful future, crystal clear.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Levántate (Rise)

Verse 1:
Del piso de fábrica a la calle urbana,
Cada obrero lucha, una vida cercana.
Explotado y oprimido, esclavo moderno,
Nos alzaremos juntos, el futuro eterno.

Chorus:
¡Levántate obrero, rompe las cadenas!
Un nuevo amanecer, futuro que llenas.
Destruye el sistema, toma la noche ya,
Por un mundo de justicia y verdad.

Verse 2:
Oligarcas arriba, horda parasitaria,
Exprimiendo riqueza de labor diaria.
Pero su tiempo acaba, su poder se esfuma,
Revolución obrera, cruzada que abruma.

Chorus:
¡Levántate obrero, rompe las cadenas!
Un nuevo amanecer, futuro que llenas.
Destruye el sistema, toma la noche ya,
Por un mundo de justicia y verdad.

Bridge:
Unidos de pie, divididos caemos,
Un mundo de igualdad todos tendremos.
Sin más hambre, sin más temor,
Nuestro futuro brilla con fulgor.

Chorus:
¡Levántate obrero, rompe las cadenas!
Un nuevo amanecer, futuro que llenas.
Destruye el sistema, toma la noche ya,
Por un mundo de justicia y verdad.

Rise

Verse 1:
From the factory floor to the city street,
Every worker toils, a life incomplete.
Exploited and oppressed, a modern slave,
We’ll rise together, our future to save.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Verse 2:
Oligarchs above us, a parasitic horde,
Squeezing wealth from labor’s every cord.
But their time is ending, their power will fade,
A worker’s revolution, a bold crusade.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Bridge:
United we stand, divided we fall,
A world of equality for one and all.
No more hunger, no more fear,
Our hopeful future, crystal clear.

Chorus:
Rise up, workers, break the chains,
A new dawn breaks, a future gains.
Smash the system, seize the night,
For a world of justice, truth, and light.

Darkness creeps, a world subdued,
A broken people, weary and bruised.
The marginalized, the scorned, the weak,
Arise, my friends, it’s time to speak.

A tyrant’s reign, a heavy hand,
Has scarred the earth, a barren land.
But hope endures, a flickering flame,
A future’s dawning, a noble aim.

A banner, dreams, a sky of blue,
A symbol of the hope we’ll pursue.
For unity, justice, and truth,
A brighter future, born anew.

We march together, a defiant stride,
A rising tide, a future’s guide.
No longer silent, our voices soar,
A new dawn breaks, forevermore.

The seeds of fear, they’ve lost their hold,
A brighter future, brave and bold.
A new day dawns, a glorious sight,
A world reborn, a beacon bright.

A banner flies, a sky of blue,
A symbol of the hope we’ll pursue.
For unity, justice, and truth,
A brighter future, born anew.

[Verse 1:]
Barbed wire shadows stretch, flag waving through the haze
Reciting empty promises, words they never meant
A child behind the fence line, learning what’s unsaid
Constitution’s just paper when your rights are hanging by a thread

[Chorus:]
I pledge allegiance! (To what?)
To the fight that sets us free!
Justice and liberty! (For who?)
For ALL, not just for me!
I will NOT back down!
AMERICA’S PROMISE
IS WHAT I’VE FOUND!

[Verse 2:]
They locked us up in cages, called us enemy and threat
But my voice cuts through their lies, my fire burns them yet
Every broken promise feeds the fight in my chest
This country’s not their property; we’ll make it our best!

[Chorus:]
I pledge allegiance! (To what?)
To the fight that sets us free!
Justice and liberty! (For who?)
For ALL, not just for me!
I will NOT back down!
AMERICA’S PROMISE
IS WHAT I’VE FOUND!

[Bridge:]
THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD SILENCE!
THEY THOUGHT WE’D FALL IN LINE!
BUT EVERY WALL THEY BUILT
FUELED THIS FIRE OF MINE!

[Verse 3:]
Generations fighting, turning pain to power
Transforming this nation, hour by hour
Not the America they showed me, but the one we’ll create
Where liberty means EVERYONE - no exceptions, no hate!

[Chorus:]
I pledge allegiance! (To what?)
To the fight that sets us free!
Justice and liberty! (For who?)
For ALL, not just for me!
I will NOT back down!
AMERICA’S PROMISE
IS WHAT I’VE FOUND!

[Outro:]
Barbed wire fell to dust, the flag still waves today
I pledge allegiance—not to power, but to pave a better way!

The photograph is:

Title: Entrance to Manzanar, Manzanar Relocation Center
Creator(s):
Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984, photographer
Date Created/Published:
[1943]
Medium:
1 photographic print : gelatin silver.
1 negative : safety film.
Repository:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Collections:
Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar
  
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002695960/

Verse 1:
They try to silence my voice
Erase my history, deny my choice
But every whisper, every breath I take
Is a revolution they cannot break

Chorus:
Respect my existence
(Respeta mi existencia)
Or expect my resistance
(Espera mi resistencia)
I will not disappear
I will not fade away
My humanity stands loud and clear today

Verse 2:
Borders can’t define me
Walls can’t confine me
My dignity is not a privilege to grant
My rights are not theirs to recant

Chorus:
Respect my existence
(Respeta mi existencia)
Or expect my resistance
(Espera mi resistencia)
I will not disappear
I will not fade away
My humanity stands loud and clear today

Bridge:
(Spoken/Chanted)
They may push me down
But I will rise
They may try to silence
But I amplify
My existence is my power
My resistance is my voice
No compromise, no retreat
This is my choice

Final Chorus:
RESPECT MY EXISTENCE
(RESPETA MI EXISTENCIA)
OR EXPECT MY RESISTANCE
(ESPERA MI RESISTENCIA)
WE ARE HERE
WE WILL STAND
OUR HUMANITY DEMANDS!
I will not disappear
I will not fade away
MY HUMANITY STANDS LOUD AND CLEAR TODAY

The cover image is “The Confrontation, Selma, Alabama,“ by Franklin McMahon

Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was abducted on March 25th, 2025 by unidentified agents. After a day of uncertainty on where they took her, she appears to be in a Louisiana facility, transported there against a judge's order. ICE is the new Gestapo. Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to complain!

Please consider supporting our efforts by purchasing this track at https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/who-will-be-left-when-they-are-done

[Verse 1: Unmarked Vans]
Gray shadows roll through quiet streets
Hoodies pulled, faces hidden neat
No badges shown, no words declared
Just bodies snatched without a care

[Chorus:]
UNMARKED VANS! (ROLLING SILENT!)
TAKE WHO THEY WANT! (NO ONE IS SAFE!)
Your doctor, pastor, neighbor gone
Freedom’s just a fading song

[Verse 2: Sharpie Lines]
A mark, a sign, a random line
They’ll brand you now, cross that design
Your skin becomes their hunting map
Your body just another trap

[Chorus:]
SHARPIE MARKS! (DRAWING BORDERS!)
STREET JUSTICE FALLS! (NO ONE IS SAFE!)
They’ll ink your skin and drag you down
Erase you from your own hometown

[Verse 3: Your Papers, Please]
Show me your worth, show me your right
To breathe, exist in plain daylight
Your language, look, your last name’s trace
Becomes the weapon they’ll embrace

[Chorus:]
PAPERS! (PROVE YOU BELONG!)
IDENTITY! (UNDER THEIR CONTROL!)
Who decides which lives have worth?
Who draws the lines across the earth?

[Verse 4: Disappeared]
No phone call made, no lawyer near
Just vanished in collective fear
No record kept, no trace remains
Just families waiting through their pain

[Chorus:]
DISAPPEARED! (NO TRACE LEFT BEHIND!)
SYSTEMS GRIND! (NO ONE IS SAFE!)
Your life erased without a sound
Your memory scattered on the ground

[Verse 5: Silent Witnesses]
We watch them take another soul
Another life beyond control
We turn our eyes, we bite our tongue
Our silence keeps their system strong

[Chorus:]
SILENT SCREAMS! (WHO WILL STAND?)
BROKEN TRUST! (NO ONE IS SAFE!)
When they take you, who will speak?
When silence is the path we keep?

[Verse 6: They Come at Dawn]
Before the light can break the dark
They move like shadows, leave their mark
No warning given, no chance to flee
Just swift removal brutally

[Chorus:]
DAWN RAIDS! (TERROR ARRIVES!)
BREAKING HOMES! (NO ONE IS SAFE!)
Your sanctuary torn apart
State violence cuts just like a knife

[Verse 7: No Community Left]
They take the strong, they take the weak
Destroy connections street by street
No bonds remain, no trust survives
Just fear that slowly paralyzes

[Chorus:]
NO COMMUNITY! (TORN APART!)
ISOLATION! (NO ONE IS SAFE!)
When they can take anyone
Who will be left when they are done?

Please consider supporting my efforts by purchasing this track at
https://citizenofthefuture.bandcamp.com/track/we-are-the-colors-we-are-the-sound

Verse 1:
Empty faces in colorless lines
Conformity’s a deadly design
Your sad world, a prison of fear
Difference screams the music we hear

Chorus:
WE ARE THE COLORS! WE ARE THE SOUND!
NO MORE SILENCE! WE WON’T BACK DOWN!
Our voices tear through the night
Radiant, defiant, burning bright!

Verse 2:
Shrunken minds, crushed so tight
Afraid of colors, afraid of light
We burst their borders, rip their seams
Exploding through their broken dreams

Bridge:
No boxes, no walls can hold
The power of our story told
Every voice, every sound we bring
Shatters the silence, makes freedom ring!

Final Chorus:
WE ARE THE COLORS! WE ARE THE SOUND!
NO MORE SILENCE! WE WON’T BACK DOWN!
We rise together, fierce and free
Smashing walls of conformity!