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Can't Turn Back

by Ryan Harvey

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1.
It spread to Egypt They were walking like Tunisians there It spread to Egypt They were walking like Tunisians there That spirit blew across Libya And ended up in Tahir Square   Now it spread to Yemen They'e walking like Egyptians there Now it spread to Bahrain They'e walking like Egyptians there That spirit blew across the Red Sea And ended up in Pearl Square And it's an open door But you only get what you go for It spread to Wisconsin They're walking like Egyptians there It spread to Wisconsin They're walking like Egyptians there That spirit blew across the Atlantic And it ended up in Capitol Square Now it spread to Syria They're walking like Egyptians there Now it spread to Indiana They're walking like Egyptians there That spirit's blowing across the world It could end up anywhere   And it's an open door But you only get what you go for
2.
Declaración 03:06
We have come here on our own free will to fight for dignity Against that which places profit above humanity We who have been crushed by the schemes of Capitalists And excluded and abandoned by the laws of Politics We have learned from Cairo, Iceland and Madrid. Now it’s time to extend the fight and spread the word We have taken to the square, where all voices carry weight, Fighting for the lives that we deserve They thought we were asleep, that they could carry out the cuts Cutting back our rights without resistance, but They were wrong: we are fighting, both peacefully and not With great determination, we will drive the old world out chorus We who share a common rage against inequality Are united by our will to build a new society Representing no Party and represented by none We say the people as a whole must drive the transformation chorus We have come here on our own free will to fight for dignity Against that which places profit above humanity Together we are fighting, both peacefully and not With great determination, we will drive the old world out chorus
3.
They got cops on the streets, walking in lines With tazer guns, and wooden batons They're trying to keep you scared with violent attacks It all comes down to how you react Now you're face to face, seeing it all Dispersal warnings, they're making the call They got buses to pack, with people like you When they did that in the 50's the movement grew Young student, new to the game Movement elder, fanning the flames Combat Veteran, seen it before Same tactics used in the foreign war Final warning, you're keeping your ground Committed people sitting all around Through the bullhorn it's all distorted You can't leave now, we can't afford it [Chorus:] Hold the line, even if your voice shakes Friend of mine, even if your voice shakes Push forward, it's up to you See it through Silence breaks, voices are loud Rubber bullets crack, pierce the crowd Heart's start pumping, scared but proud Because there's people still sitting in the tear gas cloud The line advances, they're swinging the sticks Hear the marching boots and the tazer clicks Screaming erupts, someone got struck People calling for a medic, they better hurry up Vomit, comes like a flood Getting choked by the gas, hands covered in blood Bruised and beaten, limping away Remember it's always been this way They'll beat you down, show the guns It gets violent sometimes, but that how it comes You stand firm, organize and then come back Until there's too many people for them to attack [Chorus] It's days like this when something clicks When you're tired, confused and scared as sh*t But you're body's alive with that heartfelt drive And you engage the problem before you eyes When you could have ran but you stayed and sat When you were beaten and gassed but you still came back That courage, that power that you got deep down That rises to the top when you get beat down There's a world to win when you're heart is strong And a dozen news wrongs to focus on Everyday brings a vision to strive for Something to live and die for And you go back home and you're on your own It's easy to feel like you're all alone It's through memory and hope that we stay supported Cuz we can't quit now, we can't afford it
4.
Flowers 03:10
You raised up your flag with the Egyptian tide And took to the streets for your future and your pride And the cops and the soldiers, some took your side The rest pulled their triggers Oh, comrade, We are listening To your songs of the streets We are listening Through the bullets and the bombs We can still hear you sing They can crush the flowers But they can't stop the Spring You walked down a path so many walked before An unexpected martyr in an unwanted war But it was a moment of pushing, a global open door And the people of the world moved forward chorus You raised up your flag for the world to see As you stood face to face with the military But you're suffering and pain, well it hasn't been in vain Cuz there's a lot more flowers blooming chorus
5.
Wisconsin 02:28
6.
I've seen the bitter worker Whose labor paid little in return Struggling to meet her monthly bills With the little that she earns And I've seen the foreclosures The banker with the double-bladed loan Who in the name of economic law Pushes people out their homes And I've seen the polished skylines Poking through the thick yellow haze Where the number crunchers and corporate thieves Are now counting down their days Oh I know, we've got a long way to go But we can't turn back I've seen the gang fighter With a misplaced but justified rage Fighting his brother on the broken streets Til they put him in a cage And I've seen the politician Telling lies to the faces of the poor Bout fixing the conditions of their lives With one hand on the door Oh I know, we've got a long way to go But we can't turn back Keep your spirit high, there's no turning back now We can't turn back There's no going back Cuz I've seen the people's movements In Egypt, Tunisia, and Greece Iceland and Oakland , Chile and Spain Saying it's our turn to speak And the dreams they dream are rising A whirlwind in an autumn of change Born from the ashes of a bitter fear That's falling like the leaves Oh I know, we've got a long way to go But we're on the right track Oh I know, we've got a long way to go But we can't turn back Keep your spirit high, there's no turning back now We've got a lot to learn, but there's no turning back now But we're strong and we're winning, there's no turning back now We gotta push this one all the way
7.
It's best to know the worth of what you've got before its gone But you cant let yourself get stuck because you're afraid you might be wrong Your nostalgic for 68, I'm nostalgic for the 99 But sometimes thinking back too much can make you close your eyes What we do today Matters both today and tomorrow The point of learning history is to build something new I don't care what you've read about unless it impacts what you do You wanna recreate 68? You wanna recreate 99? Try learning their hard lessons to reflect and then and refine Because the good old days just sucked sometimes, if you ask those were there And the answers weren't just blown' in the wind, they were put there chorus Ah, but history gets simplified with the passing on of time And causes and effects sometimes take decades to define I seen the long shadow of 68 by the ruins of the Berlin Wall I seen the long shadow of 68 in Seattle And looking back from here now all the pieces seem to fit Sometimes its hard to notice the changing world when you're right inside of it Ah, but without us the future is a boat without a sail Without our best attempts we set the next ones up to fail
8.
Every artsy little college town's Got a ghetto down the road Where the farmer and the field-hand Cling to what they hold And they buy a daily bottle To ease their heavy load Yeah but they got ways of getting by And every touristy little shopping strip's Surrounded by abandonment Where the parent and the teacher Bear the burden of joblessness While their homes are eyed constantly By the forces of development But they got ways of getting by And you cry cries of pity and you raise up your hands But that's not how you change the situation And every downtown business district's Got a prison and a court Where the addict and the street pharmacist Pace back and forth And the lies of rehabilitation Exploit and distort But they got ways of getting by And every waterfront condo's Got a ghetto down the road Where the cleaner and the dishwasher Cling to what they hold And they buy a daily bottle To ease their heavy load But they got ways of getting by And you cry cries of pity and you raise up your hands But that's not how you change the situation All around this hard-worked world There's places just likes here Where farmers and dishwashers Slowly turn the gears And teachers and prisoners Labor though the years But they got their ways of getting by
9.
She says the truth is like the sun Cuz once it shines it shines And you can build yourself a roof But it will find its way inside And I think struggle is a river That twists its way through time And she's a drop of water Playing her part in the tide Cuz it's little drops of water falling one by one That carve the canyon, and make the river run She's got books beneath her Burqa As she walks off to the side Through a world of attempted assassinations And she slips her way inside The illegal school Where teaches kids to read and write And the dreams that are born here Are the front lines of the fight chorus An idea is like a time-bomb And spreading it's the fuse But they know this all too well So they try to keep her from the tools These brave Afghan women are the force behind the dam The little drops of water that will one day flood the land When the tide rises up to join them
10.
There's bombs in your buildings, America the great And you're terrified of strangers and you foster so much hate You stormed around this planet tearing at the roots Now the chicken's are coming home to roost, America   Half the world is starving and they're starving cuz of debt You say "they want an open Market, they just don't know it yet" As your economic hitmen talk bullshit to the press The teenage refugees strap explosives to their chests   Build a wall along the border, enclose your enemies Keep food and the water from the hands of those in need Parade your military, fold flags for the parents Send them out to occupy and die around the planet   America, this your policy   There's a war in Northern Pakistan directed from Nevada By some Summer Soldier playing games on the computer Is he already dead? Has he been stripped of reason? Killing from afar while he's comfortably living…   This is the country that the rest of the world sees Ignorant, obnoxious, xenophobic, anti-peace Cul-de-Sac Conquistadors, with everybody's share With its hands and soldiers and money everywhere   Saying "fuck the world community, we'll go it on our own!" Dropping bombs on third-world countries to prove how much we've grown But there's an orphaned generation, just waiting When it all blows back it's gonna blow up in our faces   America, this is our destiny   There's bombs in your buildings, America the great And you're so shocked and awed that people would retaliate You've run from your past but now the breeze is blowing in If you wanna heal these wounds then it's a good to time to begin   America, because this is real
11.
LIVE MY LIFE Oh the tired old words of the television preachers Sooth the tired wasted minds of retired suburban workers Drown out the adventures planned by inspired dreamers Bounce off the walls of shopping malls that guide us to our purchases I wonder where it comes from? Is it greed or is it anger? A hatred born from a culturally taught fear of "the stranger"? Or the slow creep of history, manifesting as we grow Or self-hatred externalized to feed a macho ego These walls that close around us, we keep them close inside us We learn to find comfort in the limits they provide us To chant down or ignore those who step to break the silence To cheer those we pay to maintain an downward flow of violence Lean on the flag when it's time to go to war again Find comfort in the fact that you''ll probably never feel the burden Of these wars, of these laws, of these halls deprived of justice Ignore the biased failures of the policies before us Link your life up on this long chain of debt and deprivation And join the rats racing towards twisted affirmation Rise for the the "honorable," die for the honor Place your right hand over your heart and surrender Is this how you're gonna live your life? Let me stand beside the ones who stand to fight for freedom For the world that they envision, free from poverty and racism Where no journey is stalled by separation walls and borders Where the hard work of the long-ignored is honored and rewarded I wonder where it comes from? Is it love or is it anger? A faith and a compassion in the value of a "stranger"? Or education lined with an indignant sense of reason Or a hard-built up rage manifesting as action These spaces that we build. we must build together With tools that we can use to empower one another So our words and our attempts serve to breed a generation That will risk more than the one before to bring about the changes I sing my song to instigate rebellion To urge an escalation through strategic intervention For the young, for the old, for the ones who sit in cages For the tired and depressed, stressed from the turning of the pages Keeping one hand on hope and one hand on reality To ground my inspiration in the sadness that surrounds me I am in the world to change the world My dreams are big, and I will work to make them possible This is how I'm gonna live my life
12.
Fulfill It 02:16
They say every generation Has a purpose, has a mission To fulfill it or betray Wherever it rears its head    This is my time to put the work in This is my generation I got the insight and motivation To take it somewhere new I'm a catalyst, and a builder I'm a digger, and a tiller Not just a dreamer, but a fulfiller With the tools to get there   I'm standing right here, cuz I'm stronger  I'm staying one day longer  Or two days if I have to  Doing what I need to do I'm not hoping, I'm not wishing  I'm doing, I'm resisting I am Egypt, I'm Wisconsin  Walking down that open road   This is my time to put the work in This is my generation I got the insight and motivation To take it somewhere new I'm a catalyst, and a builder I'm a digger, and a tiller Not just a dreamer, but a fulfiller With the tools to get there   They say every generation  Has a purpose, has a mission  You fulfill it or betray it  And the next one does the same  We got the numbers, we got the passion We've got the light of freedom We are Egypt, we're Wisconsin   And we're in it for the win This is our time to put the work in This is our generation We got the insight and motivation To take it somewhere new We're catalyst and builders We're diggers and tillers Not just dreamers, but fulfillers Walking down that open road

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"Can't Turn Back" is themed around the 2011 uprisings in the Arab World, across Europe, and in the Occupy Movement worldwide. Recorded and mixed at home in one night.

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released May 15, 2012

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Ryan Harvey Baltimore, Maryland

Folk singer, writer, activist, and co-owner of Firebrand Records.

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