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02-13-2011, 08:43 PM | #251 (permalink) | |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Where people kill 30 million pigs per year
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"REVOLTING" lyrics
Hi MBers.
Today while listening to Amanda Palmer's song in support of women keeping their pubic hair, I felt frustrated that all the women in her video appeared to shave their legs. This reminded me of a mostly autobiographical song called "Revolting" that I wrote in 2009 in which I describe being criticized for having all my body hair, for protecting my child from genital cutting, and for breastfeeding him in public. Then I was listening to "A Man Named Sue," about a man who becomes stronger after being picked on for having a woman's name (as if being like a woman were bad). This song *also* reminded me of "Revolting," because I feel it *is* true that being shunned by society can make you stronger...or turn you into a misanthrope. One or the other. Or both. So, I decided it was a good time for me to post my lyrics for "Revolting." *************************************** "REVOLTING" by Erica I was jogging with my boyfriend around a track when a college woman watching me faked a heart attack, looked me up and down from leg hair to toe, and in a loud, scornful voice, so I was sure to know, said, “Poor guy. What you put him through! You are revolting. I’ve never seen someone like you.” And I replied, I wish you wouldn’t be mean, but it’s true, I am revolting and I hope you’ll be revolting, too, because... I’m revolting. I’m revolting against you critics of a woman’s body who say there’s something wrong with a healthy part of me. I’m revolting. I’m revolting against your culture of discrimination. I stand for human liberation. You can take your shallow love where others tell you who to be, but I accept and love myself and found someone who loves all of me. We were holding our baby, enjoying the fact he was healthy and whole and would be staying intact with all the parts inherited through evolution, when a relative called to tell us what should be done. She said, “For shame! You should circumcise. It is revolting not to, so just ignore his cries.” And I replied, I wish you wouldn’t be mean, but it’s true, I am revolting and I hope you’ll be revolting, too, because... I’m revolting. I’m revolting against critics of the human body who say there’s something wrong with my healthy baby and me. I’m revolting. I’m revolting against genital mutilation. I stand for human liberation. You can take your fragile love from those who don’t like what they see, but I respect and I’ll protect what nature gave to you and me. And it’s a funny irony that by living naturally and doing nothing at all you’ll be revolutionary. I was sitting on a park bench quietly reading, while our child, now a toddler, was breastfeeding, when I man walking by saw us resting there and in a loud, cold voice, to ensure I was aware, said, “Good God, you should stay out of view. You are revolting. I’ve never seen the likes of you.” And I replied, I wish you wouldn’t be mean, but it’s true, I am revolting and I hope you’ll be revolting, too, because... I’m revolting. I’m revolting against you critics of the human body who say there’s something wrong with my healthy child and me. I’m revolting. I’m revolting against cruelty and denigration. I stand for human liberation. You can take your false love from those who bend you to their will. They say they care for you and share with you, but their intent is just to kill. And it’s a funny irony that by living naturally and hurting no one at all you’ll be revolutionary. So when they try to define you and call you second rate, hoping to break your spine, go ahead and stand up straight, because you know you’re fine as you are. I was looking in vain for a role model, a woman unafraid of being natural who embraces her body and earth’s children, too, and tells them all I love all of you. But I found no teacher or movie star, no leader who loves herself and others as they truly are, so I saw I was going to have to stand up alone. If I want a role model I’ll need to be my own, so... I’m revolting. I’m revolting against critics of our human body who say there’s something wrong with my healthy child and me. I’m revolting. I’m revolting against callousness and domination. I stand for love and liberation. ***************************************
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02-19-2011, 04:44 AM | #255 (permalink) | ||
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02-21-2011, 09:17 PM | #256 (permalink) | |||||
Music Addict
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Spain
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...but, at the same time, they are so beautiful...
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"Lullabies for adults / crossed by the years / carry the flower of disappointment / tattooed in their gloomy melodies."
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02-22-2011, 02:37 AM | #257 (permalink) | |
The Omniscient
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Reno, Nevada, USA
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Erica, would you mind checking out my newest lyric? I really like it and I'm curious of what you might have to say about it.
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03-01-2011, 01:19 PM | #258 (permalink) | |||||
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Where people kill 30 million pigs per year
Posts: 2,014
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I also like thinking about how movies and art are a reflection of life and are also part of life, shaping our perceptions of it. Quote:
The movie sounds very sad, such as when it shows so accurately the very realistic situation in which Nazi soldiers laugh and enjoy the spectacle as they lock people in a church and burn them: "Grenades are thrown into the church, which is then set on fire and shot at; Florya watches the inferno of burning Byelorussian peasants while the Nazis stand and applaud, taking photographs and laughing, and listening to music. The woman who escaped the church is put into a moving truck with a group of soldiers and repeatedly raped." I am similarly disturbed when I see the joy and excitement of hunters who make a kill, and when I read about hog confinement personnel in Iowa shoving things up pigs' vaginas and beating them. Are people who feel no remorse at killing others "innocent killers" like the wolves are said to be in your first video's title? Is a remorseless murderer of humans an innocent killer? If a person cannot feel empathy for a victim, under what circumstances do we blame the killer for her or his lack of empathy? I think the root cause of people's desire to hurt others, whether human or pig, is the same. This is one reason I am scared when people hurt animals: if they are choosing to treat a weaker being unkindly and cruelly, how can I trust them to treat me well, especially when I am someday weaker myself? Quote:
Even wolves (as shown in your second video) appear to like to shnuffle flowers or enjoy the flowers moving around them. They are affectionate toward each other, too, with all that mouth-licking going on! I didn't know wolves got so intimate with their mouths. They make human kissing seem quite tame! Quote:
Zaqarbal, have you ever noticed how people almost always overdub music onto nature videos, as if the natural sounds weren't sufficient and must be dramatically altered for the viewers' pleasure? I always find the addition of music to such scenes of brutal and horrifying death (for the deer) and excitement (from the wolves' perspective) rather odd. Why do people feel they have to alter viewers' emotional responses by using music to accentuate drama or horror or whatever else is going on? Is it wrong to turn someone's death into a dramatic spectacle? If those were wolves chasing after a human, would the cinematographers of the documentary find "appropriate music" to match that person's end? I doubt it. Done!
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Last edited by VEGANGELICA; 03-01-2011 at 01:25 PM. |
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03-02-2011, 04:18 PM | #259 (permalink) | |
Facilitator
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Where people kill 30 million pigs per year
Posts: 2,014
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"CLOVEN" lyrics
Hello again, fearless MB People,
Zaqarbal's and my discussion about how humans and wolves treat their prey and about how each of us has the capacity to act like a "demon" has inspired me to post the lyrics for my song, "Cloven," about mulesing. Mulesing (Mulesing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) is a practice in which people slice off strips of wrinkly skin from the bottoms of lambs (without anesthetic) to prevent flystrike (Myiasis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Flystrike is a problem in hot, wet areas such as Australia because people have bred the sheep to be wrinkly to maximize the wool obtained per sheep, despite the fact that the wrinkles around the moist bottoms of lambs attract the flies. And flies will lay their eggs. And eggs hatch into larvae that then start to eat the lambs alive. I only learned about mulesing 14 years ago when I, as an ovo-lacto vegetarian, was investigating veganism, with one issue being why to avoid purchasing wool. Around 10 years ago I was also able to discuss mulesing with an Australian sheep farmer, a family friend who told me that after mulesing of lambs they no longer frisk about like they did before. She was a lovely woman, kind and gentle...just not to sheep. I vent some of my bitterness about the practice of mulesing in this song, which explains one reason I don't buy wool or support the wool industry. The other reason is that the wool industry is cloven hoof in cloven hoof with the mutton/lamb industry. One cheery note is that lambs intended for slaughter aren't subjected to mulesing since they won't live long enough to "benefit" from having their skin chopped off. ************************************** "CLOVEN" by Erica So you think you are peaceful and gentle and loving. So you think you are thoughtful, empathic and kind. Well pull the wool from your eyes! Face the festering lies like the skin people slice from the asses of lambs to save money and time. When they want someone’s hair, the more skin the better, though they know that maggots will feed on the slack, so count this trying to sleep – they cleave skin from the sheep so the flies will have less to attack. So you think flocks are grazing in fields idyllic and are shepherded happily under bright skies. Well pull the wool from your eyes! Face the pestering flies laying eggs in the folds of the skin of the lambs people bred wrinkles in to save money and time. Profits speak louder than conscience. Conscience conceives no remorse for the torture condoned when victims are owned and treated as if they’re a resource. Victims are cut by their captors. Captors make victims your feast and the clothes on your back so I have to ask who is the lamb and who is the beast? So you think you are helpful, aware, and big-hearted. So you think you are merciful, decent and wise. Well pull the wool from your eyes! Face the terrified cries of the lambs being bound on their backs and flung onto racks where shepherds cut chunks off their bottoms so flies can’t lay eggs in the skin breeders bred wrinkles in for they don’t give a damn since I man’s not a lamb. So as you wear your wool, stop playing the fool. Did you buy someone’s cry just so you could save money and time? ************************************** Mulesing:
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Last edited by VEGANGELICA; 03-15-2011 at 09:07 PM. |
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03-15-2011, 08:55 PM | #260 (permalink) | |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Where people kill 30 million pigs per year
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"Our Kind" lyrics
Hello Humans,
Recently I learned about a comic strip called "Lola Lollipop" whose author often uses irony and sarcasm to discuss vegetarianism and specifically veganism, in which people try to reduce the suffering of sentient beings by avoiding all animal products. Apparently quite a few non-vegetarians like this comic strip because the wry humor helps them consider the points being made without feeling terribly affronted by them. Many vegetarians can also relate well to the situations in which the character Lola finds herself. I especially related to these comics: 143. Pet Cow - Lola Lollipop Comic Strip 145. Animals in the Meat Industry Don't Suffer http://lolalollipop.com/139-christmas-ham/ http://lolalollipop.com/136-moral-codes-killing/ I like how the author includes thoughtful quotes after each strip, such as this one that I hadn't heard before but feel is very true: "Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity." -- George Bernard Shaw Reading and appreciating the irony in the Lola Lollipop comic strip inspired me to write the song, "Our Kind," because I realized I haven't used much sarcasm and irony in my lyrics and maybe humor is an effective technique for breaking through to some meat-eaters. This song is based on my experiences as a vegan living among mostly meat-eaters. I use the song to describe not only them, but also something I've never felt comfortable with, which is myself trying to "keep the peace" in situations in which I confront what I view as an atrocity, such as the tradition of people killing the Christmas pig and putting her or him on the table to celebrate "love" and "kindness" and "peace on earth." This phrase "keeping the peace" also relates to meat-eaters who refuse to acknowledge the pain of animals to which their eating habits contribute. Sometimes all the "peace" in these animal-eating orgies makes me sick. ****************************************** "Our Kind" by Erica Oh you’re so kind. You never mind when people make your meal that used to feel. You don’t care on whom you’ve dined. Oh you’re so good. You always do as you should. You base your decisions on traditions, whether or not they’re understood because you know you make the world a better place. It doesn’t matter if your food had a face. Nothing you do could make you fall from grace for you want to be merciful though you’ve never tried, but it’s the thought that counts and you’ve got love inside. You’re not a liar so of course you’ve never lied. In your mind you’re kind. You always thank the cook in kitchen for shoving roasts and hams in the oven, and when the meal is done you ask the hostess, “May I be excused?” But what about for all the animals you’ve used?! Oh you’re so sweet. You overlook whom you eat. You’re just so thankful your plate is full of legs and ribs, a tasty treat. You’re so polite. You keep the slaughter out of sight. You say, “Please pass the meat” and use a knife to be neat for you’ve been brought up right because you know what matters is the superficial. La de da, life is wonderful. You keep the peace though it’s artificial because you know nobody should ever complain about someone else’s suffering and pain. Killing is fine but don’t take god’s name in vain because you’re kind. You have such lovely table manners. You’re so intent not to offend. As blood is pooling on your plate you just ignore the souls you ate for they’re the means and you’re the end, always justified. Oh you’re so kind, you never mind when people make your meal that used to squeal. You don’t care on whom you’ve dined. You don’t care that they’re confined because your kind, you’re so kind, so good and kind, so sweet and kind, oh your kind. ******************************************
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Last edited by VEGANGELICA; 03-15-2011 at 09:08 PM. |
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