March On Wisconsin – free download

Over the past three weeks the events in Wisconsin have been nothing but captivating. The popular uprising is both exciting and empowering and is turning into quite the showdown:

corporate greed vs. the middle class.

Governments have been obsessed with corporate tax cuts and the destruction of the middle class for three decades now. But the popular uprising in Madison is delivering a clear message – enough is enough!

My own personal experience is that it’s the middle class that drives the local economy not massive corporate profits. They are the ones who live in our communities and spend the most in local shops, restaurants and on the arts. i learned this lesson well over the past few years down in Windsor, Ontario where lots of good paying jobs quickly dried up. The end result for me was that my ability to pay rent quickly dried up as well.

i’m certainly not part of the middle class, and like most artists in the country struggle just to make it to the poverty line, yet i can’t see how the destruction of the middle class is going to improve my lot one bit. It doesn’t infuriate me that some folks have good paying secure jobs while i don’t. It makes me happy. It gives me hope for a better society and that some of that dough might trickle my way too.

But hey, not all are struggling. The two head honchos over at Ford Motor Company just got paid $98.9 million in combined bonuses.

Let’s break that down. The average Canadian family income (two people or more) was $74,600 in 2008. So two Ford execs got combined bonuses of that of 1,200 Canadian families entire earnings. The average income for unattached individuals in 2008 was $31,000 making that roughly 3,200 individuals. But we’re only talking about bonuses here not even the actual income of these two Ford execs.

And where might all that money be coming from?

Win or lose, what’s happening in Wisconsin is extremely important.

Surely the McGuinty Government and the newly minted Harper Government (excuse me?!) are watching closely. Will they take a calculated risk, bet on Canadian passivity and further the dismantling of Canadian democracy and continue to aid the corporate takeover of our country? The events in Wisconsin just made that a much riskier move.

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i’m not seeing a whole lot of coverage about this in our national or local papers so i decided to write my first topical political song in the spirit of Phil Ochs. Possibly this will become a regular thing.

Here it is…

March On Wisconsin
(free download) – right click “save link as”

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March On Wisconsin – words & music by Ron Leary © 2011

march on Wisconsin
don’t be pushed around
oh we know what’s right
and what we’re hearin’ is just plain wrong
march on, march on

it’s a coup d’était
by the corporate class
they tried to slip it past
while no one was lookin’
but they were caught in the act
march on, march on

i hear voices
growing day by day
releasing decades of belt tightenin’
joinin’ hands yellin’ “SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!”
shame shame, shame shame

you been told
keep your mouth shut
let the experts shed light
while they drain pockets
in one great heist
shame shame, shame shame

there’s a chance
this is the first you’ve heard
cause the media’s been sold off
to just a very small rich few
those who control the message
we all know they rarely lose
til today in Wisconsin
we’re learnin’ there’s a brand new day
march on, march on

it ain’t just about
workers rights
it’s an attack on democracy
and that’s what they got
square in their sights
shame shame, shame shame

this ain’t no time
to just stand around
stretch your legs and your mind
let Wisconsin know
that we’re all behind
stretch your legs and your mind
let Wisconsin know
that we’re all behind
march on, march on, march on

march on Wisconsin
don’t be pushed around

Behind the Song: Steak in the Raw

After years of slugging away in the Windsor bars, playing folk roots music while the grunge scene raged locally, i received my first ever press.

What grabbed the attention of the press was my humourous song called Steak in the Raw. While i certainly appreciated the recognition, all the attention quickly led to the decision to never EVER write another humourous song for fear of becoming pigeonholed as the next Barenaked Ladies.

The inspiration for the song came about cause in my early 20s i became a vegetarian and, being from the Dairy Capital of Canada no less, well that decision was not always terribly well received.

“Smell that juicy piece of meat!” waving it in front of my face. “Mmmm, does that make you wanna puke?” “Come on just have a little, you know you want it” Usually these comments and taunts were delivered by faces all screwed up and looking stupid.

You know, shit like that was nearly a daily thing for years. It was kinda like the whole gay marriage thing. Just cause same-sex couples can marry now does not mean you have to become gay as well. It changes absolutely nothing in your life. Someone being a veggie does not mean you have to subscribe either. It was no personal attack, though it appeared that many folks seemed to take it that way.

After a while i was like F-you, so i wrote a song to warn those meat eaters dangling a blood dripping raw steak in my face to back off suggesting that by forcing us veggies to eat meat may in fact release a pent up voraciousness for eating meat like never witnessed before. One where even your cats and dogs may not be safe from the unleashed insatiable desire to eat meat once again.

Well, it’s a stupid song. But here it is….

Steak in the Raw – words & music by Ron Leary © Feb 2000

slab of bacon served on my breakfast plate
though i’ve not eaten meat in years
“but son don’t you think it’s been draggin on far too long
it’s just a phase and it’ll end today”

give me a hot dog, a steak in the raw
ground beef i resist no more

oh how my life has changed since you unleashed my pain
like my eggs i’m on the sunny side
but lock up the kittens and the dog or i’m liable to eat them all
shake a paw let’s go out for a walk

give me a hot dog, a steak in the raw
ground beef i resist now more

p.s. i’m not a full-time veggie anymore. Insert meat eaters club vindicated smile and “i told you so’s” here. Nowadays i subscribe to the survival diet (aka the musicians diet) pretty much eating anything that lands in front of me in order to stay alive. i’ve yet to eat cat or dog but hey don’t tempt me!

* next post, coming soon…Grasslands National Park & Holy Piss Them Stars!!

Behind the Song – “Sitting On A Bench”

The most magical place for me is alongside the Detroit River. i’ve never been able to quite put my finger on it but there’s an energy there that matters. It’s an energy that continues to draw me in and always intrigues.

Over the 15 years that i lived in Windsor very few days passed by where i didn’t go for a walk down by the River. It was the place to clear my mind, work out ideas, walk through dreams, and shake off the previous night’s stupidity.

In the winter there’s the sound of moving chunks of ice crashing into each other combined with a bitter cold coming off the water freezing the skin. During the summer months it’s a place of excitement and wonderment. A place that turns into a soup of different cultures flowing alongside its river’s edge.

I used to stare at Detroit for hours and hours trying to imagine what was happening over there at that exact moment. Other times i just stood soaking up the evidence of Detroit’s historical abundance.

The River was also the place i went to read and to write regularly. Many lyrics and journal entries were written sitting on various benches alongside the River. So many in fact that after years and years of writing there it hit on the brain i should actually write a song about the experience and excitement of being down by the riverside.

And thus, Sitting On A Bench was conceived. i tried to capture as much of the spirit that i saw and felt down there as possible, and pay homage to my favourite bench.

There is in fact a favourite bench. It’s quite close to the Ambassador Bridge. It’s slightly angled west looking towards the Bridge with Zug Island as its background. It was an excellent place for me to get some much needed afternoon sunlight, comfortably read and write, and appreciate the gorgeous sunsets that happen on the American side.

Here it is, Sitting On A Bench, taken from my most recent release Dependent Arising:

purchase on iTunes | eMusic

* next post, coming soon: Phil Ochs Talking America