The Common Voice

THE COMMON VOICE

He stood up on the soapbox
Wool cap and overalls
I will not leave my rights behind
To work inside these factory walls

She marched out of the sweatshop
Through cotton dust like falling snow
We will not cough our lives out
Making someone else’s clothes

Chorus:
You can call it resistance
You can call it dissent
It’s the common voice that wakes the senses
And fans the flames of discontent

Brown faces at the counter
“Whites Only” painted on the sign
We will not move an inch from here
Our hunger knows no color line

Behind the banner of an eagle
They left the fields where migrants fall
We will not die to pick your grapes
Si Se Puede! is our call

Chorus

They braved cops and corporations
Seattle, nineteen ninety-nine
Free Trade has wrapped the word in want
We come to break the chains that bind

They came from Appalachia
To the streets of Washington D.C.
We’re here to take our mountains back
From the grip of Big Coal’s greed

Chorus

Alternate Ending Chorus:

Don’t give up on Resistance
Democracy’s about Dissent
Be the common voice that wakes the senses
And fan the flames of discontent.

© 2010 Katherine Downing and Nathan Moore