November 30th, 99 was a day to remember for all time
at the Battle in Seattle the line was drawn- we showed the bosses and we showed their pawns
and the WTO and the fortune five hundred that have robbed and murdered, raped and plundered
that we got wise to their tricks- we won't stand idly by while politics
fools the people, fakes and spins 'til you look up and it's a deeper hole yer in
"We feel your pain", Clinton lied- in the Seattle rain right was on our side
and didn't we Shut it Down? yeah, didn't we?

Half a decade passed in times of trouble- in every land folx joined the struggle
and while the free trade sharks circled their prize, a new generation was radicalized
in Prague, Quebec, and Cancun we fought against the corporate doom
in Genoa, when Carlo died around the globe his comrades cried
and when Bush and his neoconservative hacks framed up the 9-11 attacks
then once again the stakes were raised- the USA whipped into a war craze
but didn't they Knock them Down? yeah, didn't they?

So in August of 2004 i hit the road to protest the war
with my guitar and good intentions i landed at the Republican convention
i stepped off the train at Union square to join the mass converging there
and i ran head on into the law- so many pigs ya never saw
protesters, tourists, iraq war vets were all corralled in the orange nets
when the lawyers guild bailed us outta the pen the riot squad threw us back in again
and didn't they Shake us Down, yeah didn't they?

Now, ya have yer haves, and ya have yer have nots and if ya lost it ya have to squat
so when i was freed from the police hole i made my way to the Casa del Sol
with travelin' kids from all around- some comin' up, some goin' down
some came together in the South Bronx dirt to build a home, to heal our hurts
to laugh and fight, to thumb our nose- each weekend there was punk rock shows
it was a haven for the community to make some neighborhood unity
but didn't they Burn it Down, yeah didn't they?

In the winter of 2004- when the sun shines ya don't seem so poor
but when storm clouds climb and cold wind bites and ya shiver in the icy night
then those are just the right conditions for the pigs to serve ya their evictions
to guard against the police raids we welded up big barricades
when busted windows let in the storm we chopped wood to burn and keep us warm
more than 20 years that squat had stood- by law it should have been ours for good
but didn't they Burn it Down, yeah didn't they?

November 30th 2004- i woke up to a bang on the door
we tried hard but we couldn't hold- the NYPD threw us out in the cold
"it's for yer saftey" said the liars- hours later our home was on fire
and our beds, our books, our murals burned and this was the moral that i learned-
they must destroy everything we build 'cos if they can't own it no one will
was it the pigs? or ACORN? theres no clues- it got about ten seconds on the evening news
but didn't they Burn it Down, yeah didn't they?

November 30th, 2004
let's rise up now, let's settle the score