Music: Somewhere In America by The Alternate Routes

On June 9, 2019, Tara Donnelly Gottlieb and her brother Eric Donnelly stood across the green from the very spot where their parents were violently and tragically killed and encouraged us to continue the work to prevent gun violence. Tara recorded her brother singing a song about their parents and so many other victims, Somewhere in America. Please take a few minutes to listen to this powerful message as a way to honor the memory of Kim and Tim Donnelly and the courage of their children.






Lyrics:

Music Video: "Bang Bang Bang" sung by Tracy Chapman

Lyrics:

What you go and do 
You go and give the boy a gun 
Now there ain't no place to run to 
Ain't no place to run

When he hold it in his hand 
He feel mighty he feel strong 
Now there ain't no place to run to 
Ain't no place to run

One day he may come back 
Repay us for what we've done 
Then where you gonna run to 
Where you gonna run

But one fine day 
All our problems will be solved 
Bang bang bang 
We'll shoot him down

Give him drugs and give him candy 
Anything, oh to make him think he's happy 
And he won't ever come for us 
He won't ever come

But if he does 
And if there's no one else around 
Bang bang bang 
We'll shoot him down

If he preys only on his neighbors 
Brothers, sisters and friends
We'll consider it a favor 
We'll consider justice done

But if he comes for you or me 
And we can place a gun in his hand 
Bang bang bang 
We'll shoot him dead

What you go and do 
You go and give the boy a gun 
Now there ain't no place to run to 
Ain't no place to run

Now we'll all be at his mercy 
If he decides to hunt us down 
'Cause there ain't no place to run to 
Ain't no place to run

If he wants the chances that you took from him
Oh, and nothing that you own
Then there'll be no place to run to 
There'll be no place to run

And if he finds himself to be 
A reflection of us all 
Bang bang bang 
He'll shoot us down

Before you can raise your eyes to read 
The writing on the wall 
Bang bang bang 
He'll shoot you down

Before you can bridge the gulf between 
And embrace him in your arms 
Bang bang bang
He'll shoot you down

Songwriters: Clive Kenneth Scott / Desmond Dyer / Donavan L. Johnson

Bang Bang Bang lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Music Video: "Shoot You Down" by the Revivalists

HERE is a link to the video, also posted below.

In a Huffington Post article, two of the Revivalists band members discuss the song and how shootings like the ones at Sandy Hook and Parkland inspired them to try to share this beautiful message.





Lyrics:

I’ll always be the stone, not the one who throws it
I’ll always be the road, that’s the path I’ve chosen
Know you’re not alone when your heart is broken
Say, I just wanna know
Yeah, I just wanna know

Can we for once just live with no guns?
And I tell, tell no lies
We’re not born to just die

People say, people say, what goes around comes around
But I won’t, no, I won’t shoot you down

I’ll always be the bridge, not the one who burns it
I’ll always be the kid with open arms deserving
Of all the love you give in a world that’s hurting
Say, we just want to live
Yeah, we just want to live

So can we for once just live with no guns?
And I tell, tell no lie
We’re not born to just die

People say, people say what goes around comes around
But I won’t, no, I won’t shoot you down
Said I won’t, no, I won’t shoot you down

I won’t shoot you down
I won’t shoot you down
So can we for once just live with no guns?

People say, people say what goes around comes around
But I won’t, no I won’t shoot you down
People say, people say what goes around comes around
But I won’t, no I won’t shoot you down

I won’t shoot you down
I won’t shoot you down
I won’t shoot you down
No I won’t
No I won’t
Shoot you down

Songwriters: David Shaw / Dave Richard Bassett

Shoot You Down lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Music Video: "Sound of Surviving" by Nichole Nordeman

HERE is a link to the YouTube video, where you can also find links to purchase the song and contact information for the singer, Nichole Nordeman.



Lyrics:

They told me I’d never get to tell my story Too many bullet holes It would take a miracle These voices Inside my head like poison Trying to steal my hope Silencing my soul But my story is only now beginning Don’t try to write my ending Nobody gets to sing my song This is the sound of surviving This is my farewell to fear This is my whole heart deciding I’m still here, I’m still here And I’m not done fighting This is the sound of surviving These pieces The ones that left me bleeding Intended for my pain Became the gift you gave me I gathered those pieces into a mountain My freedom is in view I’m stronger than I knew And this hill is not the one I die on I’m going to lift my eyes and I’m going to keep on climbing I’m still here Say it to the ache, lying there awake Say it to your tears I'm still here Say it to the pain, say it to the rain Say it to your fear This is the sound of surviving This is my farewell to fear This is my whole heart deciding I’m still here, I’m still here And I’m not done fighting No, I'm not done fighting And I am still rising Rising, I'm still rising And I'm not done fighting This is the sound of surviving Music video by Nichole Nordeman performing Sound Of Surviving. (C) 2017 Capitol Christian Music Group, Inc.

Music Video: Hallelujah Parody - Letter to Wayne LaPierre, NRA

Parody of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen - Based on the arrangement by Pentatonix.







LYRICS TO THE HALLELUJAH PARODY Open Letter to Wayne LaPierre You see yourself the defender of the amendment passed to you from above, and any change that happens must go through ya. While other freedoms slipped away with nothing standing in their way, you waved your gun and claimed your hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah We’ve heard you say these words before, about the guns that you adore. There really is no point in talkin’ to ya. You pride yourself the ears and eyes of five or so million other guys, and think your words will draw their hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Your mind is stuck in sixty-five when cold-war commies were alive. And those who wanted change were out to screw ya. And gun controls of any kind mean liberal commies in your mind who'll steal your rights then raise their hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Your logic is profoundly flawed, with teachers for your new vice-squad. You’d arm them to the teeth but they see through ya. Your rigid stance results in death. You claim that right with every breath, howling through your broken hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah We think it’s time that you step down. Just walk away and pass the crown, before someone decides they need to sue ya. The arms race lost, it would appear and you’ve become the thing you fear an echo of your bloody hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah


To support Pentatonix's work please visit https://parodyproject.com/supportus

Music Video: The President Sang Amazing Grace

“I was driving when I heard ‘The President Sang Amazing Grace,’” Joan Baez told The Atlantic, “and I had to pull over to make sure I heard whose song it was because I knew I had to sing it.” The 77-year-old folk legend included the song in her final album, Whistle Down The Wind, released in early March. Originally written and performed by Zoe Mulford following the 2015 mass shooting in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, Baez’s rendition of “The President Sang Amazing Grace” has been animated in a powerful new video.

Read more about the song and video at The Atlantic, HERE.

Nine men and women were killed by a lone gunman in a church in Charleston. Less than a week later, President Obama visited the church to lead the eulogy and led the congregation in singing "Amazing Grace," which is the subject of the song and video. Read more about that mass shooting, HERE.




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The Stoneman Douglas High School Drama Club Performs "Shine"

On February 21, one week after the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a town hall meeting was held to discuss the issues of gun violence reduction and how they related to the shooting.

It was an emotion-charged event, where students and teachers confronted legislators and the NRA, face to face, on the issues.

At the end of the event, though, was this moving musical tribute, where members of the Stoneman Douglas High Schooll Drama Club, some of whom lost friends during the shooting, performed an original musical performance, entitled "Shine"....




"You're not gonna knock us down / We'll get back up again / You may have hurt us but I promise we are stronger and / We're not gonna let you win / We're putting up a fight / You may have brought the dark / But together we will shine a light," the chorus says.

It is chilling and amazing. If only we didn't have to have events like this, so that memorial songs like this wouldn't be needed anymore.

Music Video: "What It Means" by Drive-By Truckers

(Link to YouTube Video)

Music Video: "Among The Nine" by Caeli Barnhart

Caeli Barnhart, a singer/songwriter, was in a classroom at Umpqua Community College during the shooting there and experienced the terror of the lockdown and subsequent evacuation.

Caeli has now written a song and performed it on piano, entitled "Among The Nine," in memory of the victims of the UCC shooting.

HERE is an article about her song and her thoughts.  From the article:

Barnhart wrote the song in a half hour. 

“I was sitting there and just trying to think of what to do,” she recalled. “I just couldn't get their faces out of my mind.” 

Barnhart titled the song, “Among the Nine,” in memory of the nine people shot and killed at UCC. 

“The last lyrics in the chorus are, Bring me home, that I may rest among the nine,” she said. “When I'm singing it, I look to them for strength.”

Below is the YouTube video of her performing "Among the Nine" and the lyrics are printed below that.

(Caeli had also written and performed a song on guitar, in 2012, entitled "You Are Safe" in memory of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.)

"Among the Nine" by Caeli Barnhart (YouTube Link):

Lyrics:

Thursday morning, just an every day
Not yet knowing, we'd be forever changed
Sit in the classroom, full of innocent eyes
This world that's been so cruel, had evil in mind

Bring me home, take me where love wins every time
Bring me home, where all of this darkness has no place to hide
Bring me home, I'm so tired
Bring me home, that I may rest among the nine

Tears and candles, filled the park with light
While broken families, wondered how to make this right
All of the faces, forever burned in our memory
Remind of changes, and the love we need desperately

Bring me home, take me where love wins every time
Bring me home, where all of this darkness has no place to hide
Bring me home, I'm so tired
Bring me home, that I may rest among the nine

It was their first year
It was their time for change
They chased their dreams here
And they stood for faith

Bring me home, take me where love wins every time
Bring me home, where all of this darkness has no place to hide
Bring me home, I'm so tired
Bring me home, that I may rest among the nine

Tell me why, tell me
Tell me why, just tell me


Addendum:  You can follow Caeli at:
www.facebook.com/caelibarnhart
www.soundcloud.com/caelibarnhart
www.twitter.com/caelibarnhart

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Music: "Guns & The Crazy Ones" by Danny Schmidt

From the songwriter and musician, Danny Schmidt:  "Regardless of your take on how best to control gun violence (and I have friends on both sides of the table), I think we can all agree that there's way too much of it in this country. This song and video were inspired by the emotional fatigue of seeing tragic headlines and devastated faces in the news, day after day after day after day . . ."


GUNS & THE CRAZY ONES

Seems to me it's just as plain as please
It's plastered the news
Cause every day there's a new display
Of cannons come loose

Once was tough, two's a called bluff, three's enough's enough
Four was cruel, five's a dead school, six is like they're gunning for you

So tell me this, when the spirit slips
And can't hardly stand
What will it grasp if it falls too fast 
I hope just a hand

But if not, if the shell's shocked, if there's no angels near
If fury finds that in the chambered mind, there's just bullets and steel

So blame the guns or blame the crazy ones
It's almost the same
Cause in the home of the free and brave
These tools are insane

The best dirt on the free earth and we can't shake our pride
We're two sides of a mudslide, and we're both buried alive

So tell me now, tell me anyhow
When will it end?
Cause every time it's a friend of mine
The ghosts and the men

It seems to me it's just as plain as please

Music: "Shots" by Imagine Dragons

"Shots" by Imagine Dragons

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done

Am I out of touch?
Am I out of my place?
When I keep saying that I'm looking for an empty space
Oh, I'm wishing you're here
But I'm wishing you're gone
I can't have you and I'm only gonna do you wrong

Oh, I'm going to mess this up
Oh, this is just my luck
Over and over and over again

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

Am I out of luck?
Am I waiting to break?
When I keep saying that I'm looking for a way to escape
Oh, I'm wishing I had what I'd taken for granted
I can't help you when I'm only gonna do you wrong

Oh, I'm going to mess this up
Oh, this is just my luck
Over and over and over again

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

In the meantime we let it go
At the roadside
We used to know
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away
At the bay side
You used to show
In the moonlight
We let it go
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away

And there's always time to change your mind
Oh, there's always time to change your mind
Oh, love, can you hear me?
Oh, let it drift away

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

In the meantime we let it go
At the roadside
We used to know
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away
At the bay side
You used to show
In the moonlight
We let it go
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away

And there's always time to change your mind
Oh, there's always time to change your mind
Oh, love, can you hear me?
Oh, let it drift away

Lyrics: Red Crayons, by Bill McIver

Below are the lyrics to the song "Red Crayons" by Bill McIver, guitarist and songwriter.

You can go HERE to hear the song and purchase it.  I hope you will.  As stated on his page:

All proceeds from online sales of "Red Crayons" will be donated to the non-profit group "Sandy Hook Promise," which is trying to bring about sensible gun legislation in the United States.

Thank you, Bill, for supporting common sense gun legislation.


Red Crayons 
written by Bill McIver © 2012, All rights reserved 


Armed with innocence, armed with crayons 
Blunt-tip scissors in small hands 
Cut construction paper and paste 
Will something be constructed or will it be waste? 

Little jackets on hooks, drawings on walls 
Empty metal jackets lay heavy in the halls 
Books are unread behind closed doors 
Empty magazines are spread on the floors 

Fight baby tooth and nail to hold that glock 
Shout “arm the teachers” nevermind the chalk 
Let no gun or slug be thought restricted 
If I loved a drug as much you'd call me addicted 

Fill malls and cinemas and schools with police 
Slow creep of the State’s ok so you can keep a piece 
Fill the holsters, sword the sheaths 
True freedom and safety means we’re armed to the teeth 

Can’t yell fire in a theater but I can say what’s strange 
I can drink a beer these days without a password exchange 
My wife she can vote now and there are no slaves 
Have you seen the flag? Hell, even it has changed 

“War is hell” is what was heard in my father’s day 
Don’t even have to look outside the USA 
Where a score and ten die from guns each day 
From Anchorage to Aberdeen from Maine to LA 

We'll never know what Dolly heard from James 
But don’t you find it odd and ain’t it strange? 
That bullets find the children but the 2nd finds no change 
So Johnny gets his rocks off at the range 

There are far more bullets than crayons in the stores 
Bullets and crayons strew the floor 
The only action’s with a gun, there’s inaction in the Halls 
Crayons and bullet holes mark the walls 

All these fuckers dress in black and attack kids in schools 
An unregulated militia who are we kidding with no rules 
You say every arm and sleeve despite all this wrong 
I came in here with my sleeves rolled up to sing this song 

Sales of bullets shoot through the roof 
People draw conclusions and offer proofs 
Children, well children will draw what they see 
They’ve sold out of red at the crayon factory 

Musical Tribute for Trayvon Martin

A musical tribute video in memory of Trayvon Martin, by Chaka Khan and other musicians.

A reworking of her 2007 song Super Life remade specifically for Trayvon Martin. A great song and video with tons of cameos from celebrities in hoodies supporting the cause.

As the trial of George Zimmerman proceeds, holding him accountable for killing an unarmed teenager, let's remember the boy who died at his hands, whose only "crime" was walking through a neighborhood in a hoodie and daring to defend himself against a paranoid gunman stalking him through an apartment complex at night.


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Music: "Melt The Guns" by XTC

"Melt the Guns"
by the English "new wave" band, XTC:

(YouTube link)

Lyrics (by Andy Partridge):

Programmes of violence,
As entertainment,
Brings the disease into your room.
We know the germ,
Which is man-made in metal,
Is really a key to your own tomb.

Prevention is better than cure,
Bad apples affecting the pure,
You'll gather your senses I'm sure
Then agree to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them.

Children will want them,
Mothers supply them,
As long as your killers are heroes.
And all the media
Will fiddle while Rome burns,
Acting like modern-time Neros.

Prevention is better than cure,
Bad apples affecting the pure,
You'll gather your senses I'm sure
Then agree to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them.

I'm speaking to the Justice League of America.
The U S of A,
Hey you,
Yes you in particular!
When it comes to the judgement day and you're standing at the gates with your weaponry,
You dead go down on one knee,
Clasp your hands in prayer and start quoting me,
'Cos we say...
Our father we've managed to contain the epidemic in one place, now,
Let's hope they shoot themselves instead of others,
Help to civilize the race now.
We've trapped the cause of the plague,
In the land of the free and the home of the brave.
If we listen quietly we can hear them shooting from grave to grave.
You ought to,

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more to fire them.

Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
Melt the guns,
And never more desire them. 

Music Video: "Gun Shop" by Alan Magee

"Gun Shop"
by Alan Magee

From the Vimeo webpage:

The satirical song Gun Shop comments on the escalation of mass gun violence in the United States. Its message is that the proliferation of guns will only increase the number of shooting victims. The song does not advocate violence. It is an appeal to our nation to reexamine its obsession with guns.

Gun Shop from Alan Magee on Vimeo.


The United States, by far, has more guns in civilian hands than any other advanced country in the world, and, not coincidentally, by far have the most shootings.  More guns means more deaths.
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Music: "Blindness" by Peter Almeida

"Blindness"
written and performed by Peter Almeida

From Peter, who lives here with me in Eugene, Oregon:
"Twenty years ago, a friend was murdered in a mass shooting in San Francisco.  Recent events of gun violence have pulled at my heartstrings again and spurred me to compose a new song, dedicated to the 26 dead [in Newtown], my friend, John Scully, and all other victims."

From his site.

(click on the song title below and wait a moment for it to load:)

Promote your mixtape at ReverbNation.com

Lyrics:

Blindness

In the land that’s known as blindness

The one-eyed man is king

He sees for all his people

Half of everything

Direct lines straight and unbending

Long talk of rights each day

Disturbing message for his masses

Who hang on every word he says

They bow

They listen

Anointed

Then they’re blessed

Blind faith

So convenient

They cannot see

What’s at stake

In the land that’s known as blindness

The one eyed man is king

Holding fast to God and weapons

His aim is all too keen

Takes blood, takes money

He is deaf to the sounds of

Grieving mothers, wounded lovers

While clinging his legal ground

Sold out to

One more blind sinner

They all watched as children bled

Senselessness

Pulled the trigger

Twenty-six more

Now, are forever dead

In this land that’s known for freedom

How can this be so

So much madness, so much bleeding

So much blindness of the soul

In the land that’s known as blindness

The king has just one eye

Fanning fears, breaking lives

As we slip into decline

How much longer

Must tears linger

How much more

Must we cry

Each senseless finger

On a trigger

Leaves broken hearts

How many more must die

How much longer

Must tears linger

How much more

Must we cry

Each senseless finger

On a trigger

Leaves broken hearts

How many more must die

How many more must die

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Lyrics: Weapon Wonderland Song Parody

A parody.  See the original post by Madeleine Begun Kane at her site, along with a link of her singing it, reposted here:

Weapon Wonderland Song Parody  

(to be sung to Winter Wonderland)

by Madeleine Begun Kane 

Gun sales surge. Are you listenin'?
Ammunition keeps glistenin'.
They're arming tonight and causing a fright. U.S. Constitution arms the land.

People die for no reason.
Children shot! 'Tis the season.
A terrible blight, each night after night.
Gun rights absolutists harm our land. 

NRA and cronies claim our homeland
Must allow their arms in every town,
Claiming guns will help us.
We say "No man!
"The murder stats have got to go way down." 

Weapon fans have conspired
Now our nation is mired.
With lives we have paid.
New laws must be made.
Or soon we'll have a gun in every hand.

Music Video: If Only Lincoln Had A Gun

"If Only Lincoln Had A Gun"
By Taylor Ferrara

Music Video: "Every School Needs An Armed Guard?"

I came across this little gem on YouTube today.  I couldn't say it any better than she does.  She even looks like a school teacher, I think.

"Every School Needs An Armed Guard?"
Music and Lyrics by Lauren Mayer

Music: "Devil's Right Hand" by Johnny Cash

"Devil's Right Hand" 
Sung by Johnny Cash
Lyrics by Johnny Cash





(lyrics found here)