Some background to the ongoing global refugee/"illegal immigrant" crisis.

Refugees & Migrants

This is an album in three parts.

First, the ongoing genocide in Palestine, songs that were written in the past few months.

Second, mostly songs related to the class struggle, some very recent and some slightly less so.

The third part relates to the album title.

To paraphrase Renée DiResta, we live in an era especially characterized by the collision of the rumor mill and the propaganda machine.  A collection of the songs I've written over recent years on that subject, such as the album's title track, make up the third part.  

Credits:

The songs were all written by David Rovics.  Depending on the song, you'll also hear David's guitar, bouzouki, or mandola.  If you hear female vocals, that's Kamala Emanuel.  Anything else you're hearing -- bass, drums, synth, banjo, electric guitar, and various other odds and ends -- is Chet Gardiner.

Cover graphics by the brilliant Kalindi Jackson.

I Heard A Rumor

A song about current events or one related to this date in history, with a little bit of context.  Available on all the usual podcasting platforms if you look for This Week with David Rovics.

Song For Today

A song of appreciation for all the protesting students, staff, and faculty at Columbia and many other institutions across the US.

Boycott, Sanction, and Divest

"Antisemitism" is the new "communism" -- have you ever said anything that could be construed in someone's convoluted mind as somehow anti-Jewish?  Iran is the new USSR, Elise Stefanik is the new Joe McCarthy, and the House Un-Israeli Activities Committee is going strong, ruining one life at a time, and striking fear throughout academia and beyond.

The House Un-Israeli Activities Committee

As I sit here, most of the journalists still reporting from Gaza seem to be somewhere in a hospital complex in Rafah that is currently under siege by the Israeli military.  This song is not a prediction of their deaths, but rather a plea for their lives.

Hani Mahmoud and Tareq Abu Azzoum

And now watch them justify the missiles that they sent
To bomb the starving children dying in their tents

Since Long Before October

On June 8th, 1967, during the course of the Six-Day War, the Israeli military tried to sink an American ship and kill all the crew -- knowing full well that's exactly what they were doing.  The attack left 34 Americans dead, hundreds maimed, and a ship destroyed.

The Ballad of the USS Liberty (When Israel Attacked the USA)

In 1834, organizing a union in England was legal on the books, but not in reality.  Farmworkers in Tolpuddle, on the south coast of England, tried to organize a union and were deported to Australia for it.  A massive movement across the country forced the government to pardon the Tolpuddle Martyrs, as the farmworkers became known, and transport them back to England.

This version of the song, from a live show in Crewe, England, was enhanced afterwards by multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer, Chet Gardiner, from his studio in Hawai'i.  It will be part of our next collaborative album, to be titled, I Heard A Rumor, to be released on July 4th, 2024.

Tolpuddle

If we deported the billionaires and nationalized their wealth, the rest of the US could be twice as well-off at least.  A much better deal than whatever benefit we're supposed to get from deporting our neighbors!

Deport the Billionaires

ICE agents taking orders directly from the top and disappearing a student activist with no warrant, no due process, canceling his green card and holding him incommunicado in an unknown location, this is what's happening in the USA right now.

Mahmoud Khalil

The point, obviously -- and openly stated by our government officials -- is to make the USA such a terrible place to seek asylum that people would rather face torture or death or hunger at home, than to even try to leave.

Sending an SOS from Krome

Among the various absurdities is Trump saying Los Angeles looked like "occupied territory."  It is, of course -- since at least 1846.  But he probably wouldn't get the irony.

The Pilgrims Were Immigrants, Too

On April 18th, 2012, Khader Adnan was released from an Israeli prison after being on hunger strike for 66 days. He was objecting, among other things, to Israel’s policy of indefinite detention without trial, which still continues — but only for Palestinians.

Khader Adnan

On April 19th, 1943, what might be accurately described as the greatest urban rebellion in the history of civilization began.

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

On April 20th, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana, killing eleven workers and causing the worst environmental disaster in US history.

Deepwater Horizon

On April 22nd, 1991, a young Palestinian named Saed Bannoura was shot 6 times by IDF soldiers — but he refused to die.

The First Intifada

On April 23rd, 1971, veterans of the war in Vietnam carried out a series of operations in Washington, DC, actions involving thousands of recently-returned soldiers, one of which involved the depositing on the White House lawn of 700 medals veterans had received for their service in the military.

Throwing of Medals

This rendition is from Live in Rostrevor (2016), with Lorna McKinnon on harmonies.

No One Is Illegal

Singer/songwriter, writer, podcaster (on Spotify, Substack & Patreon), libertarian socialist, dad, lover of life.

Tolpuddle

davidrovics