Songs We Like to Sing

The Raging Grannies . . . and Their Friends use song to protest and raise awareness of issues including liberty and economic betterment for all people, unity, sustainable development. Raging Grannies around the world write their own material, setting political lyrics to familiar tunes. All gaggles borrow and adapt songs from other gaggles. We choose our songs by consensus, intending to challenge assumptions. But we do not intend to offend with unkind humor or crude language. We expect to enjoy each rehearsal and performance. We want to increase awareness and raise the spirits of all who hear us Songs will be added to this page frequently (and some will be removed), so scroll down to see what we're singing now.


Give Iraq Our Constitution Lyrics by Corinne Willinger of the NYC Metro Raging Grannies Tune: "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" by George M. Cohan Give Iraq our Constitution, We don't use it anymore! Bush & Congress passed the Patriot Act; And we've got a new emperor. He sends his prisoners to be tortured, With no trial he jails them all! Yankee Doodle went to Iraq, On a broken Humvee, It's time we work for his recall. Bush can trash our Constitution, McCain and colleagues all agree. They have compromised the rule of law And Congress changed our history. Now those deemed "enemy combatants" Stay in jail without a trial. Habeas Corpus is now cancelled And they can't appeal. It's time we vote for its repeal We demand a better deal!	You can hear and see us sing Give Iraq Our Constitution with gaggles from New York City and Western Massachusetts, with Pete Seeger on banjo, at the 2007 Clearwater Festival at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpdH20tiJPI

Indian Point Must Go! lyrics by Sunny Armer, inspired by Kay Thode of the Seattle Raging Grannies Tune: "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" We went to an NRC meeting. What we sang they did not want to hear: Don't dare to extend this plant's license By even as much as one year. Yes, Entergy promises safety, But sometimes their sirens don't blow, And strontium leaks are polluting So Indian Point has to go! CHORUS: No nukes, No nukes, Indian Point has to go Right now! No nukes, No nukes, Yes Indian Point has to go! This plant is unsafe for employees But we don't want anyone fired. Retrain them for alternate energy And make sure that they get rehired. This plant is a terrorist target. Why not use much less toxic fuels? Convert to a natural gas plant! Secure those nuclear waste pools. REPEAT CHORUS: Once Indian Point was reviewed by An expert whose name was James Witt. He proved that evacuation By Entergy's plan was worth... [BRIEF PAUSE, THEN THUMBS DOWN GESTURE] The NRC paid no attention. At least all of them stayed awake. A security guard we could mention Slept right through his whole coffee break. VARIATION ON CHORUS Shut it down! Shut it down! Indian Point is unsafe, we know! Shut it down! Shut it down! Indian Point has to go! Note: The subject of the third verse was added at suggestion of Pete Seeger, when he sang an earlier version of this song with the Raging Grannies at the Clearwater Festival (June 17, 2007). You can hear and see us sing the 2007 version of Indian Point Must Go! with gaggles from New York City and Western Massachusetts at the 2007 Clearwater Festival at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpdH20tiJPI We also sang this song for the program we taped at PNN July 15, 2008.
	We Rage to End All War Lyrics adapted by Sunny Armer and revised by Westchester Grannies; originally by Granny Vicki of Rochester, NY Raging Grannies Tune: "Battle Hymn of the Republic" We’re the Raging Grannies and we’re here to take a stand Against the senseless killing raging in Afghanistan, Iraq is now a quagmire and we’re sinking into sand. We rage to end all war! CHORUS: No more military action! We declare dissatisfaction With greedy politicians who make war with nukes and guns We rage to end all war! We put away our knitting, tuck the grandkids into bed, Throw on our shawls and aprons, put our hats upon our heads. We stand up for the casualties whose blood is being shed. We rage to end all war! CHORUS No more militarization! We are raging at our nation For spending all our taxes to destroy, exploit, and kill. We rage to end all war! We stand here on this stage and wonder at the sad disgrace That civil liberties can disappear without a trace! We’re tired of their lies! It’s time to put them in their place! We rage to end all war! CHORUS: No more lies from Dick and Georgie! We deplore their wartime orgy! With Granny clothes and voices strong, We’ll fight with all our might Until we end all war! Until we end all war! We sang this song for the program we taped at PNN July 15, 2008.
	Radical Environmentalists Lyrics adapted by Sunny Armer and revised by Westchester Grannies; original lyrics by Kay Thode of the Seattle Raging Grannies, rev. by Corinne Willinger of the New York City Metro Raging Grannies and their Daughters Tune: "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" Oh, we’re radical environmentalists, We’re radical environmentalists We like clean air and clean water, Just like the farmer’s daughter. ’Cause we’re radical environmentalists. Oh, we like our veggies without pesticides, And hate beef and chicken fed with cows who died. We like fish without PCB’s, And forests filled with old trees, ’Cause we’re radical environmentalists. We like autos that will cause us no pollution, And we think laws should provide a sane solution. We like lawns grown without Weed and Feed, We’ll toss out every gene-spliced seed, We’re radical environmentalists. We want power that can always be renewed, And we want to change consumer attitude, Recycle all your glass and paper, And then you can inform your maker: You’re a radical environmentalist! We sang this song for the program we taped at PNN July 15, 2008.

April 28, 2008: We sang "Indian Point Must Go!" at an official meeting held by Entergy, the owner of Indian Point. A group of 12 experts had been commissioned by Entergy to conduct an "independent safety evaluation" of the nuclear plant, which is one year into a three-year effort to extend its operating license until 2035. We sang one of our newer songs for an encore: "Taking a Chance on Nukes." July 31, 2008: We sang at the follow-up to the April 29 meeting. The panel of12 experts announced: “Our first principal conclusion is that Indian Point is a safe plant.” We wrote two new songs in response. MidHudson News wrote a good article with a picture of us singing with our backs to the panel. Many thanks to Hank Gross, Publisher/President of MidHudsonNews.com for giving us permission to use the photo. http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/August08/01/IP_ISE-01Aug08.html.	The "Raging Grannies" entertain during the public comment was the caption for our photo, but we were not there to entertain. Granny Alice made the sign she's holding: "Make cupcakes, not nukes!" The glowing green tube on Granny Sunny's chest wasn't there before she walked into the room. (Just kidding? One of our songs says we might see "an eerie glow" when we're "taking a chance on nukes.")
Some of our lyrics for July 31: This panel is independent They tell us so cleverly. Do they think we don’t know It was chosen by Entergy?	In 2007 we sang at a meeting conducted by the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) about relicensing the power plant. We were mentioned at a website that reported on the meeting: "The Raging Grannies of Westchester – four senior citizens – composed their own song, which they sang, for the record. 'Don’t dare to extend this plant’s license, by even as much as one year.'” http://www.midhudsonnews.com