A few days ago the Raging Grannies NYC Metro invited the Granny Peace Brigade to join them in Grand Central Station, to sing their special Granny Carols (song sheets provided). Bev and I grabbed the opportunity, joining Sunny, Mercy, Nora, Susan K and Pam.
photo: helpful passerby
Here’s a taste of what was on those special song sheets:
Muntadhar al-Zaidi
(Tune: “It came Upon a Midnight Clear”)
Lyrics: 1st verse by Jean Norris, 2nd and 3rd verses by Vicki Ryder of the Rochester Raging Grannies 12/08
It came within a conference drear,
That glorious gesture bold…
From a hero bending near the floor
To silence lies being told.
Peace on the earth — a shoe for George
From a throw with a glorious zing.
The world in solemn stillness watched
To see the second fling!
The first was for George, that lying dog,
Who shou-ld be pu-t in jail.
The second for all of the orphaned ones
Whose deaths we now bewail.
We all give thanks to that brave young man,
Mutadhar al-Zaidi his name.
He did what all of us longed to do…
We just wish we had better aim!
Al-Zaidi spoke for all of us
With his gesture that some have called rude,
But George had it coming now don’t you think?
For all of the people he’s screwed.
So thanks, al-Zaidi, for throwing your shoes,
We’re just sorry that Georgie ducked.
We’re grateful you threw both your shoes at George
For all of the people he’s…
[spoken] tortured and murdered and starved and lied to and jailed and bombed and…
photos: Eva-Lee Baird
When listeners asked for song sheets we asked them in return to promise to sing the songs. “Oh I will,” was the universal response with a smile and with passion.
– Eva-Lee Baird
Technical Note:
The first time the stationmaster asked us to move, the Raging Grannies negotiated for a bit more time and then moved to another location. When the same guy asked us to move from the second spot, we moved across the station and down one level to be out of his bailiwick. In our third spot a police officer asked us to move before we got to sing a note. This officer was helpful in suggesting a fourth location where he thought we might not be bothered saying, “I’m with you all the way on this.” Finally, when another officer asked us to move from the fourth spot we packed up and went home. By then we had sung a lot of songs, given out a lot of song sheets, and had some good conversations.
Granny Peace Brigade 