Raise Your Voice: Songs of Resistance From the Nation’s Capital Lyrics

Hold On 

© 2026 Jillian Matundan, Mark Dann, Eryn Michel 


Everything feels crazy

Everything’s gone mad

They’re trying to confuse us

Take everything that we have


They are playing the oldest game Distract you as they shift the blame


We’ve got to hold on to each other

The best that we can

I’ve got you if you’ve got me

We have to take a stand

We can’t let them tear us apart

We have to be strong, we have to believe

We’re gonna make it through

So hold on.


They’re tearing us apart They’re doing all they can

They want to erase us, they want to replace us

It’s part of their plan


And if you don’t fall in line They’ll leave you far behind


We’ve got to hold on to each other

The best that we can

I’ve got you if you’ve got me

We have to take a stand

We can’t let them tear us apart

We have to be strong, we have to believe

We’re gonna make it through


Don’t you dare give up Don’t you dare give in Don’t you dare bow out Don’t you let them win


If we remember what’s at stake We won’t have a reason to break


We’ve got to hold on to each other

The best that we can

I’ve got you if you’ve got me

We have to take a stand

We can’t let them tear us apart

We have to be strong, we have to believe

We’re gonna make it through

So hold on.


Crimson

© 2025 David Chambers


Crimson ran through the gutters unceasing A carnage illusory as tyranny was creeping

It wasn’t what we thought a paint overflowed But in the current climate it seems apropos


A symbolic hue, we were paralyzed Our work destroyed with a devil’s kiss We’re told to believe not what we see But crimson’s impossible to miss


Crimson was everywhere that sunlight could reach It wasn’t human plasma, just mud on a beach

And yet it represented a liberty dying The endless wreckage, despair was rising


A symbolic hue, we were paralyzed Our work destroyed with a devil’s kiss We’re told to believe not what we see But crimson’s impossible to miss


Fill the gaps with apprehension running wild Paint a picture of an unprotected child

Tears run into puddles splashing as we go

Where’s the end of all the comforts that we know


Crimson was blanketing the ground after dark Not what we suspected, just flowers in the park

But shortness of breath came, we all were on edge Afraid to submit to a loyalty pledge

A symbolic hue, we were paralyzed Our work destroyed with a devil’s kiss We’re told to believe not what we see But crimson’s impossible to miss


Fill the gaps with apprehension running wild Paint a picture of an unprotected child

Tears run into puddles splashing as we go

Where’s the end of all the comforts that we know


Speak Up!

©2025 Krista O’Connell


What you gonna do when they come for your neighbor When they tear apart families of migrant labor Because I'm gonna stand up and fight in their favor

What you gonna do when they seize your body Colonize your womb, make your gender their hobby When they come I'm gonna scream loudly

Yeah I'm gonna speak up Be the squeaky wheel Fight for those I love Declare the things I feel


This land is yours This land is mine It's not for sale

It not for kings Hear my battle cry


What you gonna do when they hate your love Deny your marriage and the stars above

I will hold your hand in a gentle hug


So what you gonna do when they cut your job Taking you for granted and leaving your robbed Joined my union and we’ll march


Yeah I'm gonna speak up Be the squeaky wheel Fight for those I love

Declare the things I feel


This land is yours This land is mine It's not for sale

It not for kings Hear my battle cry


What you gonna do when there's nothing left No people, no targets for their theft

Well it's too late now to just feel bereft


Were all in this together It ain't just you and me We the people all together of a rainbow country We may not be great, well we've never really been But down here in Virginia it's "Sic Semper Tyrannis"


Yeah we’re gonna speak up

Be the squeaky wheel Fight for those we love Declare the things we feel


This land is yours This land is mine It's not for sale

It’s not for kings

Hear our battle cry


I Don’t Want Your Billions, Mister

© 2025 David Scott Weaver


I don’t want your billions mister I don’t want your rocket ships

All I want is the right to live mister

A doctor’s care when my kids are sick


I don’t want your Tesla mister I don’t want your crypto coin All I want is a steady paycheck A living wage and union to join


What right you got wrecking our country You rob and steal and bleed it dry

There ain’t no one vote for you mister

It’s just a grift and a stack of lies


I don’t want your billions mister I don’t want your rocket ships

All I want is the right to live mister

A doctor’s care when my kids are sick I don’t want your future mister

I don’t want to live on Mars

All I want is to save this planet

Protect Mother Earth ‘cause she’s all of ours

I don’t want your billions mister

I don’t want your rocket ships

All I want is the right to live mister

A doctor’s care when my kids are sick


Woke

© 2025 Catherine Pajic


Once we called it reconstruction, we called it civil rights We called it social justice, we call it DEI

And every time someone says, “They’re pushing way too far.” They forgot how hard we had to push to get to where we are


You say I’m woke, I say I’m trying to be fair You say I’m radical, I say I care

About the words our founding fathers wrote but their slaves couldn’t read And all the black folks who were strung up for saying what they please


Well, call it what you want, just show me how you live

Do you share what you inherited or take more than you give? Do you greet a stranger with a helping hand or with a sneer? Are you seeing what’s inside a man or feeding all your fear?


You say I’m woke, I say we’re trying to pay a debt You say I’m radical, I say I can’t forget

All the words our founding fathers wrote that the natives couldn’t read And all their children who were taken for believing what they please


It’s so easy to pass judgement on the way things used to be

‘Cause we’re not like they were then, we’re enlightened, you and me But each of us is blind in at least one of our eyes

The question is who knows it, who’s living in a lie


“Aw, can’t we just move on,” you say, “We settled up the score. We gave you what we could, stop asking us for more.”

But what will future generations have to say

When they’re reading all about us in their history books one day …?

We called it women’s suffrage, we called it equal rights We called it women’s lib, now we call it DEI

And every time somebody says, “they’re pushing way too far” They forgot how hard we had to push to get to where we are


You say I’m woke, I say we’re trying to right some wrongs You say I’m radical, I say I’m going along

With all the words our founding fathers wrote that their wives couldn’t read And all their daughters who were beaten for dressing as they please


You say I’m woke, I say I’m trying to be kind You say I’m radical, I say I keep in mind

All the words our founding fathers wrote that everyone should read And all the couples who were locked up for loving who they please And the people who were kept down

And the people who were shot down And the people who died trying

Just trying to live free, just like you and me


Fight Back

© 2026 Nickie Lambert


Treason is the reason for impeachment Bigotry’s the drug they try to sell

Only ugly billionaires can reach them

In a ballroom made of secrets they won’t tell


Did you want to raise your kids in North Korea? Go camping by a strip mine in the Fall

Hoping that the thug patrol don’t see ya

If you’ve ever pointed out what parts are small


Don’t wait my friends this country’s on fire Don’t wait my friends the doves have all flown Fight back with us the flame’s rising higher

Fight back with us with fire of our own



You better keep your money in your mattress Get a chicken and hope that it will lay

Pray the coming weather’s not disastrous Cuz America right now is pay to play


Did you think the leopards wouldn’t come for your face? After plucking your neighbors off the street

Who’ll be left to testify in your case?

They’ll be wiped out by some once defunct disease


Think fondly of a time when there were warrants When arrests and seizures had a cause

Now the jails they send you to are foreign Free at last from all those pesky laws

Have you seen the famous statue in the green gown? Beacon for those yearning to be free

She’s looking for a place to set her torch down Woman of color who won’t go quietly


Don’t wait my friends, this country’s on fire Don’t wait my friends, the doves have all flown Fight back with us the flame’s rising higher

Fight back with us, fight back because



You care what the future holds Care that the truth be told Know the true meaning of great Come stand with the rest of us Fight with the best of us

Raise a fist in resistance today!


Don’t wait, Fight back, Don’t wait, Fight back Don’t wait, Fight back, Don’t wait, Fight back Don’t wait, Fight back, Don’t wait, Fight back


Fight back, fight back, fight back

RESIST


The Museum of American Mascots

© 2025 Joey Campfire


I shot a bald eagle and a buffalo

don’t care if it’s illegal gonna post the photo

so the whole damn world will know just what I’ve done


Surely some people will condemn me but others will arise to defend me

start a GoFundMe page to pay my legal bills


Gonna stuff the buffalo mount the eagle to a drone and fly it round the flag

in front of my home and do interviews with the media

on my front lawn


Surely some people will condemn me but others will arise to defend me

start a GoFundMe page to pay my legal bills


And I’d like to announce to the public my latest construction project

the big and beautiful

Museum of American Mascots Resort Casino and the main attraction is

this dead buffalo and eagle

Gonna carpet the lobby in rattlesnake skin

so you can tread on it when you walk on in we got nickel slots

guaranteed to hit the jackpot once a day Enjoy your stay

at the great big beautiful

Museum of American Mascots Resort Casino and it all started with this dead buffalo and eagle


Conman

© 2017 John Vengrouskie


Been workin’ on this steamboat, 20 years or more Keep them engines runnin’, know just how they go.

I know that handbook inside out, know 10 times more than that Mutiny’s never crossed my mind, crew’s scared stiff, I’ve got to act.


There’s a conman in the captain’s chair, swingin’ us left and right Throwin’ people overboard, y’know that that ain’t right.

Someone’s got to take control, keep us from a wreck

Get this boat back on the beam, save everybody’s neck!


I saw this man out late last year, wagon on the road, Hawkin’ patent medicines, selling land to fools!

Them bottles turned up empty, land ain’t worth a note

He just takes folks for all they’re worth, now he runs the boat!


There’s a conman in the captain’s chair, swingin’ us left and right Throwin’ people overboard, (as long as they ain’t rich or white). Someone’s got to take control, keep us from a wreck

Get this boat back on the beam, save everybody’s neck!


I ‘ve seen captains that were friendly, captains that were mean. Seen captains couldn’t get it right, seen captains sharp and keen This one talks but just don’t even know which end is which

He’ll kill us all and drive this big boat right into a ditch!


There’s a conman in the captain’s chair, swingin us left and right Throwin’ people overboard, y’know that just ain’t right

Someone’s got to take control, keep us from a wreck

Get this boat back on the beam, save everybody’s neck!


Queen

© 2025 Lynn Hollyfield


The daily news Where chaos reigns A madman rules

The whole world’s gone insane The pendulum

it swung way, way too far A woman in charge

Could rescue us from where we are


Maybe we need a queen To usher in civility Maybe we need a queen That has humanity Maybe we need a queen That has empathy

To look beyond themselves For all humanity


His lies and deceit would fall away

A real leader

builds trust with what they say And understands

What the people need

Like housing, clean air, health care, Education and groceries


Maybe we need a queen To usher in civility

Maybe we need a queen That has humility Maybe we need a queen That has empathy

And loves beyond themself For all humanity


The way of a loving queen Is through connection

Like the Queen of Sheeba she’ll ask a lot of questions Fostering the truth

no more division

Considers the impact on future generations


Maybe we need a queen To usher in civility Maybe we need a queen That has resiliency Maybe we need a queen That has empathy

And loves beyond themself For all humanity

A strong queen would use her intuition

Her wisdom with powerful compassion

She’d fight for liberty, freedom and justice for all She’d listen and she would answer the call


Maybe we need a queen To usher in civility

We sure don’t need a king

Destroying democracy What we really need

Is a woman in the presidency A woman…


It Could’ve Been A Woman

©2025 Derrick Credito, Christian Alfonso, Bailey Dicus, Paris Thalheimer, Jeremy Konstanzer


We could’ve had a bed of roses We could’ve had a time

We could’ve had another era

Of what’s mine is yours and yours is mine We could’ve had a wild phase

Instead of facing end of days Can’t say I didn’t see it comin’ It could’ve been a woman


We could’ve had a beauty queen

With flowers in her hair

We might not have to fear no man Or think to choose the bear

We could’ve tasted better days

Instead of drowning in malaise

We really could’ve become something It could’ve been a woman


We could’ve had a better hand

We could’ve followed better plans Now we’re left with less than nothing


We could’ve had an all-star team

We could’ve had a smile

Life would be the sweetest dream

Guess it won’t be for a while

We could’ve done a better job

But we got cheated and we got robbed

Half the time, I don’t feel human It could’ve been a woman


We could’ve had a better shot

But now we’re stuck with what we got Man, our engine would be hummin’

It could’ve been a woman It could’ve been our world


We could’ve had a woman Why can’t it be a woman


A LITTLE GOOD TROUBLE

©2025 Bill Starks and Jim Robeson


We need some good trouble … some good trouble Old John Lewis had the right idea

how to get the attention of the powers that be

We got to stand up and march, and let’s make it clear, that we don't intend to ever live in fear


We need some good trouble (good

trouble) got to have some good trouble (good trouble) we need some good

trouble (good trouble)


When you’re sitting there watching the TV News, and all the insanity gives you the blues

Then after a while you've got a pretty short fuse then you remember: 'Hey! we get to choose’


We need some good trouble (good trouble)


Might be time to start a little good trouble, don't ya just sit there in your own little bubble

suffer in silence, and the bad feelings double might be time to start a little good trouble (a little good trouble)


The founding fathers did some pretty good things, when they wrote up the rules about having No Kings... Theres a balance of power that we've got to maintain We can't give any one man free reign

So don’t you just give up your right to free speech you might be surprised, how far your voice will reach... If

you're concerned and about to freak out you just can't be shy, and ya gotta speak right out


Peaceful protest is everyone's right Never surrender it, fight the good fight we're not just trying to raise a fuss but we gotta remind them they answer to us


We need some good trouble (good trouble)


Ponle Fin

© 2025 A. Elena Lacayo (ASCAP) and Christylez Bacon (ASCAP)


A las mujeres les dicen Que sean buenas

Que se ajusten Que se aguanten

A las mujeres les dicen Que sean dulces

Sean lindas

“No se amarguen”

A los hombres les dicen Que sean firmes

Que sean duros Que maltraten

Yo no puedo aceptar esas cosas Yo no suelo conformarme


Coro: Ponle fin pon fin, a eso Ponle fin pon fin, a eso

Ponle fin pon fin, a eso Ponle fin pon fin

Ponle fin pon fin, a eso Ponle fin pon fin, a eso Ponle fin pon fin, a eso Ponle fin pon fin


Hay personas que quieren decirte A quienes tu puedes amar

Y después te llaman pecadores Por quererte bien casar

Inmigrantes viven con horror

Que los vengan a deportar Y los negros de la policía Que los suelen fácil matar


No el machismo No a la explotación No a la homofobia No, te digo no

No a la intolerancia No a la deportación No a el racismo

No, a Donald Trump


Rap interlude:

Hey, what year is this So I can just

Start the list of places not to take trips in a time-ship But if you happen to be stranded or on assignment Look to your left, you'll see color and racial bias


The first of the two have already been proven by science To just be the difference of sunshine

I'm just saying that the basis of races is determined by Melanin our skin from evolving in different places


And that doesn't, change the fact that I'm human

That doesn't change the fact that these isms are just illusions

Alternative facts can't justify what they are doing so don't give me reasons why we should start our movements

Let's do it, come on

English Translation:


They tell women To be good

To be flexible To be patient

They tell women To be beautiful To be sweet “Don’t be bitter” They tell men

To be firm To be harsh

To mistreat others

I cannot accept these things I cannot keep quiet


Chorus: Put an end, put an end, to that Put an end, put an end, to that

Put an end, put an end, to that Put an end, put an end

Put an end, put an end, to that Put an end, put an end, to that Put an end, put an end, to that Put an end to that!


There are people who want to tell you Who you can love

And then they call you sinners For wanting to get married Immigrants live with fear

That they’ll come deport them And black people fear the police

Who so easily kill them


No to misogyny No to exploitation No to homophobia No, I tell you no No to intolerance No to deportation No to racism

No, to Donald Trump


Sad Little King

© 2025 Dan Bradley, Tam Raistrick, Scott Stack, Paris Thalheimer


What rough beast

Has slouched up to the Hill Spitting out its bile drowning us in swill


Weak little tough guy

You think you’re so strong You never met a fact that You didn’t get wrong


Build a statue of yourself We’ll only tear it down

The world outside is burning

While you’re eyeing up your crown


Sad little king

You’ve built your party of lies

We know the truth, we won’t be quiet While you help our country die


You don’t even know How impotent you are

You think that you’re a genius When you’re just a reality star


I wish I could hate you But you’re just too sad So I’ll save my contempt

And pity you instead


You put your hands down our pants and you rummage around You violate our rights and shove us to the ground

But we know what’s truth and we know what’s right

We’ve overthrown before and we won’t give up the fight! You Sad Little King!!!


Resist

© 2025 Ray Weaver


You tweeted 49,000 words today, 49,000 lies

The only word this world wants to hear you say is goodbye

You poison my planet with the venom pouring out of your black heart Failing at everything you’ve ever done is your only true trademark


For what itʼs worth, I’ve stopped listening I don’t know who could vote for this

I know the cost of freedom. Resist.


I’m always amazed at the artlessness of your deal

But your rabble cheers you on while you lie, rape, pillage and steal Greenland and Canada are not spaces in some sick boardgame They’re not playgrounds,

They’re not possessions for you to ruin with your pawnshop name


For what itʼs worth, I’ve stopped listening. I don’t know who could vote for this

I’ve found the cost of my freedom. Resist.


I resist in the name of liberty I resist with all my might

I resist for the sake of my children And split your darkness with my light.


You wrap yourself up in the flag that never shows what’s underneath

Lay your hand on the Bible and then stand up and lie between your teeth The whole world is watching and shaking its head in disbelief


For what itʼs worth, I’ve stopped listening

I won’t sit down and I won’t stand for this I’ve found the cost of freedom... Resist


We Are Better Than This

© 2025 Kim Eaton


We are better than this, better than this Mahatma Gandhi reminds us of this

We are better than this, better than this Mahatma Gandhi reminds us of this


We are better than the empire that you aspire To mire us into your hate-filled quagmire

Where you hire liars to conceal your desires And fill your offices with corporate vampires


We are better than this, better than this Martin Luther King reminds us of this We are better than this, better than this Martin Luther King reminds us of this


You rule with deportation, tariffs and tolls Pound your tiny fists like a nasty little troll

Fill the air with fear and try to steal our souls You think you can drag us into your hole?


We are better than this, better than this Nelson Mandela reminds us of this

We are better than this, better than this Nelson Mandela reminds us of this


You can’t turn back the clock on all that has been fixed We never will forget January 6

We won’t forget the chaos in the chambers and the halls Or the hatred when they tried to scale the Capitol walls

You cannot make us put it all back on a shelf

We’ll live again by this: love thy neighbor as thyself


We are better than this, better than this Gandhi, King, Mandela remind us of this We are better than this, better than this Gandhi, King, Mandela remind us of this


So think again, liar, ‘cause time will tell

That your narcissistic bravado creates its own hell You pull us asunder

But I hear December thunder Says your days will be numbered Your feet will be encumbered

By the chains of your hate As you face your fate

At hell’s burning gate


When your day of judgment speaks to the havoc you have wreaked On the hungry, destitute, homeless and the meek

We’ll fly our flags with pride, wave them with joy Rebuild and restore what you have destroyed


‘Cause we are better than this, better than this Gandhi, King, Mandela remind us of this

‘Cause we are better than this, better than this Gandhi, King, Mandela remind us of this


They believed in peace and they’d fight like hell For those ideals, you know them well

It’s our turn now, let’s speak as one

And keep on fighting, we have just begun!

We are better than this, better than this Keep on fighting, we have just begun We are better than this, better than this Keep on fighting, we have just begun

We’ll keep on fighting, we have just begun