Uke the News: Occupy Song

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.

“Occupation Song” featuring Ariel Finegold and Fatimah Hameed
[audio:http://daily.swarthmore.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Occupation-Song.mp3|titles=Occupation Song”]

#thatawkwardmomentwhen you write a song about Occupy being over…and then it’s not really over.

I finished writing “Occupation Song” on January 20, recorded it on the afternoon of January 21, and discovered the flaring violence at the Occupy Oakland protests at 1 a.m. on January 22. Since then, newly reinvigorated demonstrations have spread to other cities–among them New York, Washington, D.C., and, as reported by David Sterngold in the Daily Gazette, our dear neighbor, Philadelphia. Someone in Occupy has, as prompted toward the end of this song, proved me wrong.

Yet as far as I can see, enthusiasm for Occupy on campus is not what it once was; Sterngold’s article, as of this writing, hasn’t attracted even a single comment. I guess this song has become a small challenge for Swatties interested in sustaining Occupy: You say you want a revolution? Well, you know–it can’t hurt to have some classy back-up vocalists.

Lyrics:

You tell me corporate greed
Has occupied all of my freedoms,
But I don’t need
To occupy anybody’s kingdom.

Cause I remember when we met
You said the whole movement was people-led
Well, the people rose and the people tread—
And come the cold the people fled.

You’ve got a street to haunt
And it occupies all of your desire,
But I don’t want
To soak the smoke instead of the fire.

Now you’re stuck at home waxing nostalgic
About days when it was a trending Twitter topic.
But Tweets moved on to the latest trend,
#thatawkwardmomentwhen.

[Musical break]

Now you’re stuck at home waxing nostalgic
About days when it was a trending Twitter topic.
But Tweets moved on to the latest trend,
#thatawkwardmomentwhen

I’m singing bye-bye, Occupy.
I’m singing bye-bye, Occupy.
I’m singing bye-bye, Occupy—goodbye.

[False end]

1, 2, 3 test
1, 2—can I get a mic check? (Mic check!)
Mic check! (Mic check!)
Tell me is this thing turned on?

Can I get a hashtag? (Hashtag!)
Hashtag! (Hashtag!)
Won’t someone please prove me wrong?

Zuccotti Park
Is clean and dark;
The pounding drums are gone.

They’ve cleared the grounds
And the only sound
Is my Occupation Song.