OK, so what’s a blues song without some words? I finished my tribute to Jimi Hendrix’s âRed Houseâ by cutting some vocals dedicated to the Occupy movement, and the ninety-nine percent struggling to wake up from the nightmare the one percent is inflicting on us every day with corruption, oppression, and greed. Oh, and if you want a blues song without some words, here is the instrumental version.
The directions to the camp are in the song. Beretania and Ward is the location of the Occupy Honolulu camp at Thomas Square. Thomas Square was the site where on July 26, 1843, Admiral Richard Darton Thomas returned the Kingdom of Hawai?i to the Hawaiians after the first illegal takeover, by the British. King Kamehameha III said âUa Mau ke Ea o ka ??ina i ka Ponoâ (meaning “the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousnessâ) in his speech at the ceremony marking his restoration. The sentence has become the state motto of Hawaii, incorporated into its seal. The second illegal overthrow was of course the one under which Hawai?i eventually became part of the United States. That is why we cross out âoccupyâ in our name, to show solidarity with the already occupied kingdom, otherwise known as the most heavily militarized state in the Union.
Come down and show some love for Occupy Honolulu if you are in town!
Here are the lyrics:
99 Percent Blues
Copyright 2011, Rich Rath
Creative Commons Commons Share and Share Alike type 3 license
(based on Jimi Hendrix’s Red House and a couple hundred other blues songs)
There’s a red house over yonder
Bank’ll get me one of those
There’s a red house over yonder
Bank they got me one of those
But I couldn’t get no bailout money
And the bank, well it foreclosed
I was standing on the corner
of Beretania and Ward
Holding signs there on the corner
of Beretania and Ward
I got the 99 blues
And that’s all I can afford
That’s ok I still got my guitar if they don’t take that away.
Police say get off the corner
You can’t occupy this space
Police say get off the corner
You can’t occupy this space
But i f they haul me off calling for justice
Five more will take my place
Extra Verses
I got three jobs
I can barely pay my rent
I got three jobs
I can barely pay my rent
I got those 99 blues
It ain’t like the one percent.
Corporations banks and lobbies
Bought the laws beyond a doubt
Corporations banks and lobbies
Bought the laws beyond a doubt
But when we raise our voice in protest
Its a crime to point it out