Yeah freedomfriday. I was very excited when it was announced in Discord that this weeks (actually last weeks, but hey everything got disrupted due to the fork) freedom challenge was about music, where we could write about music that inspires freedom, that calls for freedom or we could write our own song.
Thanks so much to @eaglespirit for creating this challenge and big shout out to the FreedomTribe for getting involved and promoting it.
Music is a huge part of my life, I listen to it daily, and it has helped to heal me in so many ways. Music unites us and helps us to envisage the world we wish to be a part of. I am so glad I read @riverflows fantastic post last night, because it reminded me how much I really was looking forward to doing one myself, I just let it slip my mind, what with the hard fork and all. But here I am and I can not write about Music and Freedom without a huge call out to this band that really woke me up and fired up my passion in my teens. A band that call us to action.
I remember the first time I heard Rage Against The Machine, I was 15 and although, I initially had a hard time understanding some of the lyrics, there was no denying the passion and the meaning behind their messages. Their whole album, Rage Against The Machine was such a huge relief for me. Because when you know, deep down that things are not right, yet you are surrounded by those who happily play along, hearing this album really brought me peace in a way. Because I knew I was not alone in my thinking. I grew up in the countryside in Ireland and that can be a lonely place for some one who sees through all the bullshit and hypocrisy. But after hearing this album, I knew I just had to get out there and educate myself, follow my gut instinct. Learn things for myself and in no way trust the media or the government. What a powerful positive influence this album had on me
Here is just one of my favourite songs from that album. The whole album, is brilliant, but this one, such a call for freedom and action, a call for awareness and a huge dose of walk the feck up, which I sure many of you know already.
Know Your Enemy!
Lyrics
Born with insight and a raised fist
A witness to the slit wrist,
that's with As we move into '92
Still in a room without a view Ya got to know
Ya got to know
That when I say go, go, go
Amp up and amplify
Defy I'm a brother with a furious mind
Action must be taken
We don't need the key
We'll break in
Something must be done
About vengeance, a badge and a gun
'Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system
I was born to rage against 'em
Fist in ya face, in the place
And I'll drop the style clearly
Know your enemy...Know your enemy!
Yeah! Hey yo, and dick with this...uggh!
Word is born Fight the war, fuck the norm
Now I got no patience
So sick of complacence
With the D the E the F the I the A the N the C the E
Mind of a revolutionary
So clear the lane
The finger to the land of the chains
What? The land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy?
Now something must be done About vengeance, a badge and a gun 'Cause I'll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system I was born to rage against 'em
Now action must be taken
We don't need the key
We'll break in I've got no patience now
So sick of complacence now I've got no patience now
So sick of complacence now Sick of sick of sick of sick of you
Time has come to pay... Know your enemy! Come on! Yes I know my enemies
They're the teachers who taught me to fight me
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission
Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite All of which are American dreams (8 times)
All of which are American dreams All of which are American dreams All of which are American dreams
All of which are American dreams
All of which are American dreams
All of which are American dreams
All of which are American dreams
To follow on from Rage Against The Machine, is A Tribe Called Red and Prolific The Rapper, this song Black Snakes, is a call to action, a call to remember that we are nothing without Mother Nature. As Prolific says at the beginning, and which resonates with me so much, even though he is talking about the native people of his land, we all come from a background, that is based on Earth Based Spirituality, but some of us just need to remember.
"Our existence is our resistance,
We protect Mother Earth and The water,
because it is who we are
and we have no other choice."
And what he says here, (which is part of the lyrics) this I love. This is Truth!
"I'm Mexicano, ma Lakota, and I'm white, too
I'm mixed with everyone
So part of me's just like you
Every group of human beings shares the same stars
And if the earth is not your mother
Are you from Mars?"
This video was recorded at standing rock.
The Lyrics are many, but the message is so on point, so powerful, listening to this ignites fire in my belly once again and allows me to always hold hope for our relationship with the earth. We are a people who are spread out wide and far, but we are all connected by the Earth, by our home. I have to provide the lyrics, this message needs to be seen far and wide. This is a call for action.
Lyrics
One family
If we don't stand, who will?
One Earth
The wind comes in four corners
Four directions, four colors
And death rides on 4 horsemen
A black snake with some black tanks (ugh)
How much money do these companies need to make?
They could drive their product
But they want to save a buck
Already extracted billions
When is enough, enough?
I used to be in the oil fields, getting paid
But I quit, 'cause oil-water I can't drink
Looked down and seen Kimimila die in the mud
I looked up and told myself that enough's enough
Money does not own my soul, living comfortable
Is not in my plans, my hands in the sand
Some things worth more than gold
Some things they can't be sold
Some things can't be replaced
She is your mother, the fresh water is her veins
Turtle Island, not black snakes
The fresh water is her veins
What is going on have we all lost our minds?
Every human needs clean water to survive
Love is the strongest
This path is the hardest
But if we weren't strong enough to do it we wouldn't see it
Our prayers would not be needed
This movement's very needed
Indigenous wisdom unheeded
And sacred things depleted
I'm Mexicano, ma Lakota, and I'm white, too
I'm mixed with everyone
So part of me's just like you
Every group of human beings shares the same stars
And if the earth is not your mother
Are you from Mars?
This side of the planet's been in decline since 1492
500 years and counting
Surviving the genocide they call "colonizing my Turtle Island"
What is a fossil fuel?
Continued destruction, nothing new
Live in a system
Taking our children
Shifting their feelings
Till nothings true
I had that money in front of me but I left it
'Cause oil money's dirty if my Mother gets disrespected
We're disconnected, these times are hectic
And feeling heavy
But we still love all living beings
And suffer for the many
We are a peaceful people
That's why we walk with prayer
And if that wasn't true
We wouldn't be standing here
We're peaceful people
Who walk with prayer
Turtle Island, have no fear
Despite what they show in the media
We're kind people, hold your ground
Change is coming now.
So for today I wanted to share music that calls out for freedom, through action and awareness. Music that represents the struggle that so many still have in trying to obtain, what is their right. Music that calls for us to stand strong and together. Music that calls for us to remember who we are and where we have come from. Music to help us become more empowered.
So what music, speaks to you of freedom?
8 Pillars of TribeSteemUp
