SONGS FROM ALDERMASTON PART III
Link to CND website: www.cnduk.org
We Shall Not Be Moved
American civil rights movement song adapted and the adopted by direct action Committee of 100 as their anthem, sung on all sit-down demonstrations.
We shall not, we shall not be moved
We shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's standing by the water (waterside)
We shall not be moved.
We 're fighting for our children,
We shall not be moved,
We'fe fighting for our children,
We shall not be moved,
Just like a tree..... (etc.)
We don't want Polaris,
It shall be removed,
We don't want Polaris,
It shall be removed,
Just like the scum that's floating on the Holy Loch
It shall be removed.
No more Hiroshimas,
We shall not be moved,
No more Hiroshimas,
We shall not be moved,
Just like a tree... (etc.)
(The variations were endless - you could just go on and on making up new verses as you sat and waited to be arrested.)
Monster In The Loch
Another of the Scottish protest songs against the American Polaris Holy Loch base near Dunoon.
Och, och! There's a monster in the loch,
A monster in the loch, a monster in the loch,
Och, och! There's a monster in the loch,
And we dinnae want Polaris!
The USA are giving subs away,
Giving subs away, giving subs away,
The USA are giving subs away,
But we dinnae want Polaris!
The mayor o' Dunoon has sold the toon for half-a-croon,
The toon for half-a-croon, the toon for half-a-croon,
The mayor o' Dunoon has sold the toon for half-a-croon,
But we dinnae want Polaris!
Tell the Yanks tae drap 'em doon the stanks,
Drap 'em doon the stanks, drap 'em doon the stanks,
Tell the Yanks tae drap 'em doon the stanks,
'Cos we dinnae want Polaris!
Anchors away for poppa Kenned-ay,
Poppa Kenned-ay, poppa Kenned-ay,
Anchors away for poppa Kenned-ay,
For we dinnae want Polaris!
Put the whole damn show in the River Alamo,
River Alamo, River Alamo,
Put the whole damn show in the River Alamo,
'Cos we dinnae want Polaris!
It's suicide to hae them on the Clyde,
Hae them on the Clyde, hae them on the Clyde,
Sheer suicide to hae them on the Clyde
And we dinnae want Polaris!
Off, off, get off the Holy Loch,
Off the Holy Loch, off the Holy Loch,
Off, off, get off the Holy Loch,
For we dinnae want Polaris!
Put My Name Down
(Jim Crow was slang for the segretation system)
I've got a brother in the infantry,
I thought you know'd,
I've got a brother in the infantry,
Right down the road,
He's got a home and a wife and a baby,
He don't want war and he don't mean maybe,
So he's gonna put his name down.
Chorus:
Put my name down, brother,
Where do I sign?
I'm gonna fight for peace
Right down the line,
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,
If you don't sign up the world goes bust,
So I'm gonna put my name down.
I've got a sister in Portland, Maine,
I thought you know'd,
I've got a sister in Portland, Maine,
Right down the road,
She lost a son at Anzio,
And now she wants the world to know,
That she's gonna put her name down.
(Chorus)
I've got a brother in Birmingham,
I thought you know'd,
I've got a brother in Birmingham,
Right down the road,
He don't want an ocean trip
In a Jim Crow Navy, on a Jim Crow ship,
So he's gonna put his name down.
(Chorus)
I've got a brother in Stalingrad,
I thought you know'd,
I've got a brother in Stalingrad,
Right down the road,
On lots of things we don't agree,
But he wants peace, just like me,
So he's gonna put his name down.
(Chorus)
I've got brothers thruout this land,
I thought you know'd,
I've got brothers thruout this land,
Right down the road,
From the Golden Gate to Baltimore
We all say we don't want war,
So we're gonna put our names down.
Free The Prisoners, Frederika!
(Tune: John Brown's Body)
(In the 1960s the Greek junta murdered leftwing Greek MP Lambrakis, who had taken part in a British Aldermaston march. When Queen Frederika of Greece visited London, the anti-nuclear movement got involved in protests. The Queen of England was booed for the first time, according to tabloid headlines. Queen Frederika was the main target of the demonstrators, however, since she was very close to the rightwing junta and had been photographed in Hitler Youth uniform as a teenager. This song was sung outside Claridges where she was staying during her State visit.)
In the cradle of democracy a thousand prisoners rot,
Starvation, pain and misery for years have been their lot,
They guard the flame of liberty, shall these men be forgot?
Whilst the royal trip goes on?
Chorus:
Free the prisoners, Frederika,
Free the prisoners, Frederika,
Free the prisoners, Frederika,
And we'll welcome you to London town.
