Lesser Evil

Lesser Evil

David Rovics

– Artist’s Website –
Friends and neighbors,

I’ve had more time to play the cello since returning home from a very long tour, and here are a couple pieces of evidence of that…

“Standing Rock” is a song about the struggle between the forces of good and evil currently unfolding in a place some call North Dakota. “Gather Round” is a modern labor song. More to come…

(Clicking the titles will bring you to the songs on YouTube. If you want to share them on Facebook, they’re also up there as Facebook videos, and they’re up for free download on SoundCloud, along with “Just A Renter” and other recent compositions.)

Today I made my novel, A Busker’s Adventures, available for anyone who donates $1 or more (click the link and you’ll see). It’s still available for free as part of the David Rovics mobile app (which you can find in either app store under my name). Soon the novel will also exist in audiobook form. Currently it’s an ebook, available in various popular formats.

The novel is about a street musician from Boston, Massachusetts who travels around Europe and the US circa 1988, with a backdrop of European squatters, Chilean refugees, and the Salvadoran civil war. Read it, you’ll like it. Then write a review of it on Goodreads, please.

The past three months on the road was really great in lots of ways. Financially not quite so much, given the unfortunately very strong US dollar at the moment, very weak British pound, and the fact that almost nobody buys CDs anymore. Understandably enough, since they don’t have CD players.

This is basically just to say that I am even more appreciative than ever for all of you who have been able and willing to join my CSA. For those of you who are already CSA members or those who might consider joining, the latest member-exclusive perk you get is a professional-quality recording of one of the last concerts on the most recent tour, in the Irish town of Rostrevor, with Glasgow’s Lorna McKinnon on harmony vocals. A great concert recording, if I don’t say so myself, and it’s just for you CSA members.

The ebook, upcoming audiobook, and everything I ever recorded in a studio also comes with the deal…

OK, lastly, I’m home in Oregon and I’ll be in North America until the next tour of Europe that will begin in mid-April, as plans stand now. There aren’t many plans, though, at this point. The weekend of November 18 I’m in the San Francisco bay area, and I’ve got a gig in Eugene, Oregon in January. That’s it. I’m very, very open to other gigs, if they’re good ones, anywhere in the US or Canada, anytime between now and mid-April.

If anybody might be up for organizing something somewhere, I’d love to hear from you. The basic idea here is that if there’s one gig anywhere on the continent that’s good enough to cover the cost of getting there and back, with a bit of notice I can hopefully organize a second gig in the area, and it all works out in the end…

I can also make plans for Europe for mid-April through summer if any of you Europeans want to plan anything this far in advance, no problem…

Oh, yes, by the way, I voted already. In national, state and local elections I voted for the candidates that actually represent my views on most issues, such as Jill Stein and other people running with the Green Party, and some local independents running for local offices, such as Chloe Eudaly.

Chloe might win. Jill won’t. Either way, the corporatocracy will continue to govern this country. Especially as long as we vote for them. (Them, in this case, being the vast majority of what are known as “Democratic” and “Republican” politicians — very much including Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.)

Either way, here in the USA, to the extent that we have any democracy, it is to be found in the streets. Which is where I hope to see you, whoever wins these farcical elections in a few days — whether you voted for one of the major party candidates, or a third party, or just skipped out on the fun altogether.

Yours,
David

Election Special Lesser Evil – See it live:

Lesser Evil

An Election Day Special!

Posted by David Rovics on Monday, November 7, 2016

Lesser Evil

Lots of folks keep saying, ever since Hillary
Rigged the nomination of her plutocratic party
That there’s a lesser evil and that it supposedly is her
When asked to demonstrate this, then they’re not so sure
But if we look at the records of the parties they come from
It looks very much to me like a game of zero sum
Both parties love the army, and want to arm it more
Both parties voted to start the Iraq War

Both parties push for treaties that benefit the rich
Both parties let the banksters get off without a hitch
Both parties deport migrants – the Democrats especially
Neither party wants to take many refugees
Both parties vote for Crime Bills that put the poor in jail
Both are mostly led by rich, white males
So I just see two evil people putting on a puppet show
If one of them is lesser, I certainly don’t know

Both parties vote for drone strikes – they both think drones are great
Both parties hold fundraisers for a thousand bucks a plate
Both parties love the pipelines, both parties love to frack
Both parties run police departments that kill you if you’re Black
Both parties love corruption, for that is how they’re run
They both take the bankers’ money to make sure nothing useful will get done
So I just see two evil people putting on a puppet show
If one of them is lesser, I certainly don’t know

Both parties serve the wealthy, both parties say they don’t
They both say they’ll improve things, but the other party won’t
Both parties have supporters that make me want to spew
And with each election cycle, it’s all that I can do
Not to strangle someone who thinks they know the score
That one is the lesser evil, and that’s the one we should vote for
So I just see two evil people putting on a puppet show
If one of them is lesser, I certainly don’t know

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