Sing along with us!
Women’ Strike June 24, 2024
We Rage for Women’s Rights
Tune: Solidarity Forever
We’re the Raging Grannies and we’re here to take a stand,
To keep choice free for women and all across our land.
We won’t go back to hangars if our right to choose is banned.
We rage for women’s lives.
//CHORUS
No more dying in back alleys
We’ll keep raging in these rallies.
Violence is not accepted
We rage for women’s lives.
We stand here (in the sun) and we wonder with disgrace
That women’s rights might simply disappear without a trace.
We put aside our rolling pins to save the human race.
We rage for women’s lives.
// CHORUS
We stand today in Calgary – not just for the sport
To tell the world we’ll work to keep the rights for which we fought
The right to plan our families and freedom to abort
We rage for women’s lives
// CHORUS
WHERE HAVE ALL OUR SISTERS GONE?
Tune: Where have all the Flowers Gone? Credit: Montreal Raging Grannies 2014
Where have all our sisters gone? From our First Na-ations
Where have all our sisters gone? Down the Highway of Tears.
Where have all our sisters gone? We have ^not forgotten them
Over these many years, over these ma-a-a-ny years
Why is this still happening? To our Sisters
Why is this still happening? Why does no one care?
Why is this still happening? To our ^sisters everywhere,
Over these many years, over these ma-a-any years
Who will stop this violence? To our loved ones
Who will stop this violence? Police – don’t seem to care
Who will stop this violence? WAKE UP and become aware
Bring justice to them all, bring justice to the-em all.
Women’s Song
Tune of Nick Nack, Paddy Wack
Join us now, as we sing
Women can do anything (pause)
CHORUS
We can sing together
Facing an-y fear
Raise our voices loud and clear
No more violence, no more terror
No more feeling we’re in error (pause)
CHORUS
We want safety, we want honour
We will not wait any longer (pause)
CHORUS
We need health care, we need choice
We have a vote, we have a voice
CHORUS
Pay us heed, listen to us
Women power is tre-mend-ous (pause) … Final CHORUS
CHORUS
We decided what’s important
Is to sing the message out –
So we go to demonstrations
Where we sing and rage and
SHOUT!!
There’s a cycle, rotten cycle
There’s a cycle of abuse
Threats and beatings, harsh
mistreatings,
Violence hurts those in our
house
How to break it, that’s the
question
For you people far and near.
All deserve to walk the planet
Walking Safely, without fear.
We as Grannies, take the
challenge
And with thought we do reflect
We’ve the right to live in safety
We can claim our due respect.
• *Spoken* “SOOOO …… “
CHORUS
• *spoken* “BECAUSE…. “
Independent Women
To the tune of Clementine
We are In-dependent women
We hit notes in-de-pendently
But we’re united for choice and
safety
So we wing it cheerfully.
We were thinking a-bout waiting
Till we got the tune just right
But decided it’s too important
So we’ll sing by day or night
We were thinking a-bout waiting
Till we knew the words as well
But our memory is fading
So we figured (shout) – “What
the hell!”
(Slowly, please)
BREAK the cycle, rotten cycle
Break the cycle of abuse
Stop the violence, household
violence
(LOUDLY) Show respect, cut the
noose
*spoken* “EVERYBODY… ”
BREAK the cycle, rotten cycle
Break the cycle of abuse
Stop the violence, household
violence
Hands off Our CPP! June 8, 2024
Hands of our CPP (My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)
The UCP’s after our pension!
They lied when they said that they’re not!
We cannot afford this debacle,
A slush fund is part of their plot!
Hands off, Hands off!
Oh, take your hands off of my CPP!
Hands off, hands off,
We just don’t trust your APP!
They’re using our hard-earned tax money,
To gaslight us on our TV!
The math is just based on invention,
So, MLA’s hear us we plea!
Hands off, Hands off!
Oh, take your hands off of my CPP!
Hands off, hands off,
We just don’t trust your APP!
They’re trying to tell all Albertans,
We’ll get over half of the pot!
That’s truly a load of baloney,
Yet they are pretending it’s not!
Hands off, Hands off!
Oh, take your hands off of my CPP!
Hands off, hands off,
We just don’t trust your APP!
The Canada Pension is healthy,
Returns outpace AIMCo by far,
We’re truly fed up with this garbage,
In owning the Feds it’s bizarre!
Hands off, Hands off!
Oh, take your hands off of my CPP!
Hands off, hands off,
We just don’t trust your APP!
So, listen to all of the Grannies,
As we tell you just to back off!
We’re happy with all of our pensions,
We don’t want you losing the lot!
Hands off, Hands off!
Oh, take your hands off of my CPP!
Hands off, hands off,
We just don’t trust your APP!
Clap Your Hands for Your CPP
Clap Your Hands for your CPP
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you want the UCP
To scrap their APP
‘Cause you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
The math they used we know is simply rot👏👏
The math they used we know is simply rot👏👏
It’s a lie Alberta pays,
It’s the worker’s every day
Who’s deferments go into that giant pot!👏👏
You should know our CPP is out of reach 👏👏
And no government can touch a single piece 👏👏
But we know the UCP,
Won’t keep off an APP,
And they’ll use the funds for anything they please! 👏
So……………….. (spoken)
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you want the UCP
To scrap their APP
‘Cause you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
Enough is Enough UCP May 25, 2024
We love democracy, we need democracy,
Tune: You are my Sunshine
We love democracy, we need democracy,
We will dissent when our leaders stray.
We have our voices, and we will use them,
Please don’t take democracy away.
We all object to them overstepping,
With bills designed to give them more power!
For we know this is them over-reaching,
But democracy gives us the power!
We love discussion, we love debate,
And your opinions are safe to state.
But what we don’t want is interference
From a truly heavy-handed state!
In our democracy, it’s OUR democracy,
And there’s no room for those bad bills’ flaws.
We love our Charter, and these bills scare us,
We stand for the democratic cause.
So, in Alberta we have to fight for
Our local places and research needs!
When those elected will not protect it,
We must fight to save democracy!
Written by the Calgary Raging Grannies, revised in July 2020 in response to the UCP passing a vaguely worded bill banning protest in public and private spaces. It was first written in April 1999 in response to government pronouncements that the Opposition serves no purpose, and teachers may lose their right to strike. It was first revised in March 2015 for a rally against Bill C-51, Harper’s secret police bill. This rewrite is for Bills 18 & 20.
Swarming Grannies
(To Sweet Besty May)
The Grannies are swarming with warnings of warming.
It’s time for reforming our country’s great shame.
So we’ll keep performing our global informing,
‘Til they stop deforming the earth in our name.
The Grannies are raging in Calg’ry today,
To sing for the Earth in our Granny-like way….
With humor and hats and with voices raised high,
We sing for the planet, the water and sky.
We sing for our children and grandchildren too,
And our voices ring out clear and strong with the news,
Those big corporations are fouling our lands,
We must change this system, it’s way out of hand!
The Grannies are swarming with warnings of warming.
It’s time for reforming our country’s great shame.
So we’ll keep performing our global informing,
‘Til they stop deforming the earth in our name!
Granny song trans rights
To “Solidarity Forever”
Raging Grannies know assigning gender may not seem a lot,
But we recognize that gender can have many different slots.
Attacks on care for the trans youths have simply got to stop!
Trans rights are human rights.
No more insults, no more slander!
No more right wing propaganda!
Kids’ bodies are their own, and they must see that they belong.
Trans rights are human rights.
We know that kids are NOT allowed to have the surgery.
And she’s wrong to say the meds have no reversibility!
Our premier is lying just to stoke her base you see.
Trans rights are human rights.
No more insults, no more slander!
No more right wing propaganda!
Kids’ bodies are their own, and they must see that they belong.
Trans rights are human rights.
Bigots say that people’s plumbing ought to match their face.
Our government is pandering to its far right wing base.
We cannot let trans children lose their right to a safe place.
Trans rights are human rights.
No more insults, no more slander!
No more right wing propaganda!
Kids’ bodies are their own, and they must see that they belong.
Trans rights are human rights.
Our premier said sex is meant for us to procreate.
Showing why we need to separate the Church from State.
Grannies say be who you are there is no place for hate!
Trans rights are human rights!
No more insults, no more slander!
No more right wing propaganda!
Kids’ bodies are their own, and they must see that they belong.
Trans rights are human rights.
Clap Your Hands for your CPP
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you want the UCP
To scrap their APP
‘Cause you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
The math they used we know is simply rot👏👏
The math they used we know is simply rot👏👏
It’s a lie Alberta pays,
It’s the worker’s every day
Who’s deferments go into that giant pot!👏👏
You should know our CPP is out of reach 👏👏
And no government can touch a single piece 👏👏
But we know the UCP,
Won’t keep off an APP,
And they’ll use the funds for anything they please! 👏
So……………….. (spoken)
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
If you want the UCP
To scrap their APP
‘Cause you like your CPP then clap your hands 👏 👏
Global Climate Crisis April 19, 2024
Cancelled leases, sold, not sold, rescinded, obfuscated!
Clarified, twirled in the air, repealed and reinstated!
It really takes incompetence to make this complicated!
Cancelled leases, sold, not sold, rescinded, obfuscated!
Um diddle diddle diddle, Um diddlle aye, Um diddle diddle diddle, Um diddlle aye
They said that grassy now was safe
How stupid, we believed them.
But now we see it was a lie and
We were all mistaken,
The AER pathetically have let the talks re-open.
For money, bribes and ignorance, our lands have been forsaken!
Oh……
Cancelled leases, sold, not sold, rescinded, obfuscated!
Clarified, twirled in the air, repealed and reinstated!
It really takes incompetence to make this complicated!
Cancelled leases, sold, not sold, rescinded, obfuscated!
We thought Grassy Mountain was safe and was fine, But now those darn Aussies again plan to mine! They think that by changing their name to Northback, That people won’t notice the ethics they lack! The last time they tried this the Feds told them no! So, we say to Northback, Just pack up and go! The Oldman’s the driest that it’s ever been. And at the dam there’s no drops to be seen! They’re trucking the water to Pincher Creek folk, So, letting them mine there is beyond a joke! We all say to Northback, coal mining’s a NO! Just stop with your bull crap, please pack up and go! The fate of our mountains and water, we fear. Depends on this message ringing out loud and clear! So, now southern ranchers and activist groups, Must once again rally and bring out the troops! Stay away Northback, as we all say no! Return to Australia, for home you must go!
Swarming Grannies (To Sweet Besty May) The Grannies are swarming with warnings of warming. It’s time for reforming our country’s great shame. So we’ll keep performing our global informing, ‘Til they stop deforming the earth in our name. The Grannies are raging in Calg’ry today, To sing for the Earth in our Granny-like way…. With humor and hats and with voices raised high, We sing for the planet, the water and sky. We sing for our children and grandchildren too, And our voices ring out clear and strong with the news, Those big corporations are fouling our lands, We must change this system, it’s way out of hand! The Grannies are swarming with warnings of warming. It’s time for reforming our country’s great shame. So we’ll keep performing our global informing, ‘Til they stop deforming the earth in our name!
Climate Change Woes (she’ll be Coming Round the Mountain) Climate change is our concern that’s why we’re here! Climate change is our concern that’s why we’re here! Thank you for the invitation, For our participation. We fear the earth’s destruction is damn near. Oh, we have no planet B that’s there for us, Oh, we have no planet B that’s there for us, We are running out of water, So, we really, really oughta Be making better plans for all of us! So, we must get out from under mental funk. Find a plan that lowers all that carbon junk. We are facing devastation, And a world of desolation. Let’s change it all before we’re truly sunk! Climate change is our concern that’s why we’re here! Climate change is our concern that’s why we’re here! Thank you for the invitation, For our participation. We fear the earth’s destruction is damn near.
we stand up for love,
We stand up, we stand up for love,
There is no place for hatred in our classrooms,
We stand up for love!
Housing Song (to Sweet Betsy) Taken from the Rochester Grannies
There’s too many folks sleeping out in the street,
They’re clutching their bundles through the cold or the heat;
No place to call home and no blankets or bed…
They’re lucky if some of them even get fed.
When wages are too low to pay the high rent,
And folks are left homeless — not even a tent,
It’s time for a change, and on that we agree.
More affordable housing is what we all need.
In this prosperous country, now wouldn’t you think
We could house all the homeless as quick as a wink?
If they stopped giving billions to those we abhor,
We’d have affordable housing for all of the poor.
In Calgary city it’s time to get down
And to feed and to house all the poor in our town.
We must fight against poverty, not ’gainst the poor,
So that no one goes hungry or homeless no more!
FAMILIES IN SHELTERS
(To “My Favorite Things”)
Families in shelters and men wrapped in doorways
Anguished and hungry, how will they find their way?
Fair food and housing for all those in need
Think about people, not corporate greed!
People who cannot afford decent housing
Their need is what keeps us grannies all grousing
People, not profit, let’s give them a break,
Life’s not just what the oil companies make!
Caps on the rents that a landlord can ask for,
Wages that keep pace with things that now cost more,
Dignity shouldn’t be that hard to bring,
Affordable housing’s a really good thing….
This is stupid, really stupid
In a place so rich.
Let’s find the solutions and act on them now
We have to do more than bitch!