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Protest Song '68 Lyrics
"To sing you must first open your mouth
You must have a pair of lungs
and a little knowledge of music
It is not necessary to have an accordion, or a guitar
The essential thing is that I want to sing
Then this is a song, I'm singing." - H. Miller
I breathe in and I create
Rewoke the spirit '68
Fresh meaning to torn ideas
Let's bring life to old clichés
Punch a hole in tradition
Yeah, let's listen to the songs of discontent
The chords and the movement
It could all be so simple
We would all stand baffled by the precision and accuracy
Our jaws would hurt from dropping
so hard, fast and unexpected
It would be the perfect metaphor
It would be the perfect song we'd be singing
I breathe out and I scream
Rewoke Malatestas dream
Inspiration from the past
Focus to the future at last
Fixed dogmas can't substitute
Creative thought and action
We could be dangerous
Art as a real threat
And all it is is words
Words said a million times before
And all it is is a song
A song sung a million times before
I breathe in and I create
Rewoke the spirit '68
I breathe out and I scream
Rewoke Malatestas dream
You must have a pair of lungs
and a little knowledge of music
It is not necessary to have an accordion, or a guitar
The essential thing is that I want to sing
Then this is a song, I'm singing." - H. Miller
I breathe in and I create
Rewoke the spirit '68
Fresh meaning to torn ideas
Let's bring life to old clichés
Punch a hole in tradition
Yeah, let's listen to the songs of discontent
The chords and the movement
It could all be so simple
We would all stand baffled by the precision and accuracy
Our jaws would hurt from dropping
so hard, fast and unexpected
It would be the perfect metaphor
It would be the perfect song we'd be singing
I breathe out and I scream
Rewoke Malatestas dream
Inspiration from the past
Focus to the future at last
Fixed dogmas can't substitute
Creative thought and action
We could be dangerous
Art as a real threat
And all it is is words
Words said a million times before
And all it is is a song
A song sung a million times before
I breathe in and I create
Rewoke the spirit '68
I breathe out and I scream
Rewoke Malatestas dream
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You can find out a lot about what Refused's songs mean if you read their manifestos in the liner notes of The Shape of Punk to Come:
"Pro (in favour) – attest (testify for). The time is now and still we sit and wait for it to become the now that we think we need. The movement of protest has strong traditions and we are far from the first to recognise and use the power of the song and the words from the young poets. We are trembling from the taste of days gone to waste and there is inspiration and there is clarity. Phil Ochs stated firmly “If I have something to say I’m going to say it now” and still protest song 68 is nothing more than a pastiche, a blueprint of seduction of the echoes that once filled the corridors of dorms and boys/girls rooms in an era where rebellion and revolt was present in art and music. From the first until the last, from the taste of longing freedom to the shackles of oppression, the weapon of the artist has always been used."
This song is fucking beautiful Refused revelutionised music
yea...fuckin amazing song by an amazing band....wish they still were around today
just one word...wow
w00t w00t
debord
this song is just unbelievably good. this and 'new noise' are all ive heard by this band, ive gota go out and buy some stuff. im not a huge fan of the lyrics, but the way he delivers them is fucking amazing, he has got a fantastic voice. and the music is so clever - the sudden bursts of noise, and the unexpected but beautiful melodic interlude. and the drumming is incredible.
i love refused, they may not be a well known band but they rock woot woot! i love this song.
amazing flipping song. basically it's an anarchist rallying cry. malatesta's dream refers to ericco malatesta, who wrote the influential piece, "anarchy". he's to anarchists what marx is to communists.
i do believe this song is about what happend in May 1968 in France. It started as a student strike and became a full blown protest with almost half of Frances workers going on strike, which led to the fall of the du Gaulle government...may 1968 has influenced countless songs/poems since the 1970s... if you do not know what the May 1968 protests were i strongly sugest you google or wiki it....oh ya btw good song to.
mexico had its "68" too, search October 2 1968.
mexico had its "68" too, search October 2 1968.
@.insomnia 1968 was marked by war and protest, tragedy and revolution—a year around which a whole era of political turmoil, cultural change, and social unrest turned. So much upend in law and order within one year that the terrified 'leets initiated a 50-year stark regression in 1971 when Nixon signed a backdoor deal with Saudi Arabia to replace the gold standard with the petrodollar. It's time for the pendulum to swing the other way, imbued with the spirit of '68
@.insomnia 1968 was marked by war and protest, tragedy and revolution—a year around which a whole era of political turmoil, cultural change, and social unrest turned. So much upend in law and order within one year that the terrified 'leets initiated a 50-year stark regression in 1971 when Nixon signed a backdoor deal with Saudi Arabia to replace the gold standard with the petrodollar. It's time for the pendulum to swing the other way, imbued with the spirit of '68
• The Tet Offensive and the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. • The “Prague Spring” liberalizations in Czechoslovakia,...
• The Tet Offensive and the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. • The “Prague Spring” liberalizations in Czechoslovakia, followed by the Soviet invasion. • The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, sparking rage and grief around the country. • Two months later, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles. • The Poor Peoples’ Campaign. • In France and Senegal, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist student demonstrations. • In Rio de Janeiro, the March of the One Hundred Thousand against the Brazilian military dictatorship. • African-American crusades for racial pride and a more Afrocentric curriculum—and against police violence and endemic poverty. • The publication of A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Leguin; Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick; The Double Helix, by James Watson; The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe; House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday; Myra Breckenridge, by Gore Vidal; Soul on Ice, by Eldridge Cleaver; and Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire. • The release of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rosemary’s Baby, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Night of the Living Dead, Prelude, Planet of the Apes, The Boys of Paul Street, and Funny Girl. • In Atlantic City, a feminist rally against the Miss America pageant. • The Catonsville Nine and other anti-war actions around the world. • The launch of the Apollo 7 mission, the first to carry a crew into space. • The disastrous collapse of the Consol No. 9 coal mine in Farmington, West Virginia. • The beginning of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. • The election of President Richard Nixon. • Shoot-outs between police and Black Power activists in Oakland and Cleveland. • On Star Trek, the first nationally televised interracial kiss.