Take_It_Back

John Newlands

Take It Back lyrics

Sudbury, Stony Bay, Manitoulin Island

1 Take It Back

sampled e.pno, toms, percussion, vocal, drums, guitar, bass, bongos, acoustic guitar

We traded wonder for confidence
Balance for convenience
Consciousness for brands
While the well-connected thieves
Run a circus that never leaves

Corporations kill and profit
With cops and judges in their pocket
Quick or slow, their work is lethal
But this world belongs to people
We've got to take it back
We've got to take it back
We've got to take it back
We've got to take it back
And shareholders can screw themselves
If greed is all that gets them out of bed

The future is now a dream of Mars
Sense of place is a sexy car
Timelessness is speed
When you plant those Frankenseeds
They will all come up as weeds

From Vietnam to Guatemala
Down go bombs, up come dollars
From Prudhoe Bay to Athabasca
Don't look away from this disaster
From Shopping Town to Landfill City
It's falling down, so we're kept busy
Tied up in deals, the land unravels
The common weal under the gavel

2 War For Oil

guitars (fuzz, crunch, and 'storted), drums, bass, keys, tambourine, voice

One more billionaire tightens my belt
The cause endures because my pain is felt
The sly tyranny they call must-see TV
Might soon be a gun to my head

The CIA okays another shock
Find a thug on every bombed-out block
China's all red 'til they get into bed
Keeping time with a dollar sign clock

Recall when we used to keep the peace
That was only to protect a lease
If Uncle Sam wants you to be a man
It's just to make profits increase

Get more
Move it offshore
What's the price of gold?
Make bail
Devour the tail
War for oil to fight the next war for oil
   to fight the next war for oil to fight the next
      war for oil to fight the next war for oil to fight
         the next war for oil to fight the next war
            for oil to fight the next war for oil to fight the next war

While the well-connected thieves
Run a circus that never leaves

Corporations kill and profit
With cops and judges in their pocket
Quick or slow, their work is lethal
But this world belongs to people
We've got to take it back
We've got to take it back
We've got to take it back
We've got to take it back
So shareholders can fuck themselves
If profit's all that's dancing in their heads

3 Air Pollution

bass, beatbox, drum kit, vox, keys, guitar, synth, skyway guitar, tambourine

Rock stars, belly up to the bar
Looks like home from here
Five miles high over your back yard
Looks like home from here
You'll decide how to blow your rent
Looks like home from here
No one knows where the poison went
Looks like home from here

Condi fixes you a drink called Permanent Confusion
Uncorks a smile and thanks you all
For flying Air Pollution

Belly up - it's a big world
Belly up - it's a short life
Belly up - take the skyway
Flying Air Pollution
Flying Air Pollution

You touch down in a runway town
Looks like home from here
Some Wall Street talent buys you a round
Looks like home from here
Yes! Your Capital One skies are clear
Looks like home from here
Gotta climb higher and higher each year
Looks like home from here

The captain joins you for a taste of Permanent Confusion
Staggers back and says,
"Hey, thanks for flying Air Pollution"

Belly up - it's a big world
Belly up - it's a short life
Belly up - take the skyway
Flying Air Pollution
Flying Air Pollution

The diplomat, so hammered now on Permanent Confusion, says,
"Just think where we would be without Air Pollution"

Belly up - it's a big world
Belly up - it's a short life
Belly up - let's all lose our fucking minds
Flying Air Pollution
Flying Air Pollution

4 War Is Over

kit, bass, guitar, maracas, vox, synth

In a dumbed down world, got to get smart about it
Life change coming round and we can't live without it
The failure trade's a smash, in misery they trust
When empire falls, they'll gamble with the dust

We will shift down inside
We will coast up that hill
We need a brand new ride
And we'll know peace the day we

Hear that war is over on the whistling wind
Read that war is over on a crashing wave
Run our bright tomorrow on our favourite star
Favourite star

Syncrude, BP, Shell have no concern for next year
Walmart gets to sell their toxic sweatshop junk here
Shoot down the drones and turn them into windmills
The only wells we need are ones that get refilled

We will shift down inside
We will coast up that hill
We need a brand new ride
And we'll know peace the day we

Hear that war is over on the whistling wind
Read that war is over on a crashing wave
Run our bright tomorrow on our favourite star
Favourite star

5 Shoot The Dye

guitar, voice, tom, tambourine, bongos, synth, kit, bass electric, clav emu, additional guitar,
additional additional guitar, cowbell

Diplomats provide the facts, like storybooks
Close the loop, support the troops, no need to look
Blood is ink to the New York Times
Section L covers up your crimes

Far between and few
Are those who do what they must do
In a bloodless coup
They shoot the dye
And now we see through you
They shoot the dye
And now we see through you

Talking heads, all millionaires who can't spell 'shame'
While Bradley Manning dares to play Brzezinski's game
Blood is ink to the National Post
"Please wear camo" says party host

Far between and few
Are those who do what they must do
In a bloodless coup
They shoot the dye
And now we see through you
They shoot the dye
And now we see through you

Now we see
Now we see through you
Now we see
Now we see through you

Hear that war is over on the whistling wind
Read that war is over on a crashing wave

Far between and few
Are those who do what they must do
In a bloodless coup
They shoot the dye
And now we see through you
They shoot the dye
And now we see through you

6 Army Math

acoustic bass guitar, drums, guitar, vox, piano, synth

Army math
Army math
Always comes to zero
Killer equals hero

Army math
Army math
Theatre applications
Testing their equations

There is no debate
Once they calculate
The shareholders can't wait

Those bright minds
Can draw lines
To undo
The clear blue

From blackboards to black sites

Army math
Army math
Public subsidizing
Seldom realizing

Army math
Army math
Dead count estimated
Much too complicated

There is no debate
Once they calculate
The shareholders can't wait

Those bright minds
Can draw lines
To undo
The clear blue

From blackboards to black sites

7 Garbage, Inc.

keys, kit, bass, percussion, synth, guitar, vox

How much more will the underside bleed
So we can keep getting things we don't need
Those pinstriped priests on Bay Street chanting:
Need to make a profit today
And there's no other way

Millions here must be completely insane
As long as you don't ask who all's to blame
Those pinstriped priests on Bay Street want to
Buy you, sell you
Pinstriped priests on Bay Street want to
Buy you, sell you
Pinstriped priests on Bay Street chanting:
Need to make a profit today
And there's a price to pay

Everyone versus everyone
That's the good corporations have done
Everyone versus everyone
That's the good corporations have done

Built-to-last: just another slippery lie
And bureaucrats don't advertise the bribes
Those pinstriped priests on Bay Street chanting:
Need to make a profit today
And there's no other way

And when the time of revolution draws near
Not sure if I'll join in or disappear
Those pinstriped priests on Bay Street want to
Buy you, sell you
Pinstriped priests on Bay Street want to
Buy you, sell you
Pinstriped priests on Bay Street want to
Buy you, sell you...

Need to make a profit today
And there's a price to pay

Everyone versus everyone
That's the good corporations have done
Everyone versus everyone
That's the good corporations have done

8 Don't Panic

guitar, vocal, drums, bass, fuzz guitar, organ-type device

Take the best of what we know
From right now and long ago
Cheap tickets to the show
That's playing everywhere
As we eliminate
The marketplace for hate
No one accumulates
And there's no cosmic vow
The payoff is here and now

Don't, don't panic
There's a way to plug in to the sun
No, don't panic
There is power and peace for everyone
No, no, don't panic
We know how to lean upon the wind
No, don't panic
Everybody wins

Empire dying makes the sound
Of people spinning round
In media machines
That run all night and day
We're told there will always be a gap
We're fooled and then we're trapped
By quick and easy fun
Distract our lives away
While the world turns grey

But don't, don't panic
There's a way to plug in to the sun
No, don't panic
There is power and peace for everyone
No, no, don't panic
We know how to lean upon the wind
No, don't panic
Everybody wins

John Newlands