Had Enough Yet? Songs of Protest, Resistance and Hope

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Description

Haven’t ever done a CD like this before. All resistance, protest and finally some hope songs. For those of you who are interested, I thought that you might like to know about the individual cuts, the lyrics, and the folks who helped make this statement.

The players who contributed to this CD are:

Acoustic Guitars, Lead Vocals: James Lee Stanley
Electric Guitars: Paul Barrere, Larry Carlton, Laurence Juber, Marc McClure, Rick Ruskin
Keyboards: Jim Ehinger, John Jarvis, Dennis Holseybrook, James Lee Stanley
Bass: Ken Lyon, Chad Watson, James Lee Stanley
Drums and Percussion: Scott Breadman, Joe Pusateri, Washington Tahr, James Lee Stanley
Sax: Rob Kyle
Banjo: Peter Tork
Background vocals: Rita Coolidge, Joann Harris, Pamala Stanley, Lisa Turner, Stephen Bishop, Don Dunn, Dirk Hamilton, Doug Heywood, James Hurley, Eric Lowen, Dan Navarro, Jim Photoglo, Joe Rathburn, Jeremy Saje, Peter Tork, and James Lee Stanley


The Songs

The World We Left Behind (2005) was written in the days after Katrina, when the appointed president couldn’t put together an emergency response team or plan. I was enraged, as I felt if this were Beverly Hills, it would have been fixed in a day.

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It’s a sky the shade of iron, it’s a storm just out of sight
They say the sun may shine tomorrow but it’s going to rain light hell tonight
Even when there’s no denying thunder clouds or rising floods
Still some won’t believe what lies before their eyes til they’re sinking in the mud
Have you ever stopped to wonder, does it ever cross your mind
That there’s a world in which we struggle and a world we left behind.

What has happened to the promise; to the brightest and the best?
Yesterday we had the grandest dreams. Have they all been laid to rest?
Are we going to disregard the rest?
I believe do unto others as you’d have them do for you
Nothing else fulfills with so much grace, so simple and so true
Have you ever stopped to wonder …

Remember our beginnings, every hope so bright and new
And every shining possibility for the many not the few

Some believe there’ll be a rapture and those with faith will disappear
Could it be it’s all mythology? Just a prayer to ease our fear?
Do you see those golden slippers? Do you hear that glory train?
Or do you make your peace right here, right now, in your laughter and your pain
If you’re able …if you’re Cain.

Remember our beginnings? Every hope so bright and new?
Every shining possibility for the many not the few.
Do you ever stop to wonder? Does it ever cross your mind
That there’s a world in which we struggle and a world we left behind …

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Welcome to the New World (1988) (Original Title Welcome to the Greenhouse) is a song of frustration resulting from everyone knowing what’s wrong and everyone ignoring it. Who do you tell if everyone knows?

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Where do you go when you know where it leads?
Who do you tell if every one knows
Heads in the sand, won’t hear another word
Tho they’ve already heard they won’t let it show

They turn away, who are they anyway?
Running the show, making all of the rules
Deep in the dark, we’re caught in a spiders web,
lost in the light ahead, we’re so many fools

‘p high in the sky, we’ll get there by and by
Get our reward if we’re good little sheep
Mud in your eye …Drink to the here and now
Mamon, the sacred cow, she never sleeps

Follow the herd into the slaughterhouse
You can’t lose your place in this long standing line
Lower your head, act like there’s nothing wrong
This is where we belong, there’s plenty of time.

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The Covenant (1991) inspired by the idea that if you see something and you do nothing, you say nothing, then you are complicit. We cannot turn away from injustice and expect it to just go away. “the children are afraid that their world has been betrayed in the covenant that’s made by the silence.”

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There’s a shadow on the land and a silence that surrounds it
It’s the silence of a lamb when it knows the wolf has found it
And it freezes in its tracks and it never makes a motion
“take another, don’t take me” is it’s prayer and it’s devotion
And the children are afraid that their world has been betrayed
In the covenant that’s made by the silence

So we look the other way and pretend that we don’t notice
That our flocks have gone astray fed on media and lotus
Fed on image over truth fed on style over substance
Just more campaign, “read my lips” just more money over justice
And the children are afraid …

Don’t we all know wrong from right? And no matter what they tell us
We know the shadow from the light, we know the lies they try to sell us
But we pretend “they care for us” we pretend they were elected
We pretend they tell the truth, we pretend “it’s complicated”
And the children are afraid …

Riding red eyed on a rail, I had a dream we all united
And a rage swept through this land by the fires we’d ignited
Everybody on their feet raised their fists and raised their voices
They took that rage into the streets and took the heat for their own choices
And in that dream, we’re not afraid, and no world has been betrayed
And no covenant is made by the silence.

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Political Party (1995) was written by my pal Larry Good and simply points out the treason inherit in putting party before country, party before decency, party before the constitution.

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It’s a couple of well places phone calls it’s a noticeably empty chair
A secret agenda, unwritten rules, you don’t even have to play fair
We’re having a party, we’re having a party

Laughing people carry on in an undertone of panic
Those who have the most to lose are grossly diplomatic
Recruiting happens instantly with a handshake or a kiss
A fingerprint or a photo will get you on the list
We’re having a party …
Political, political party, political political party …

It’s just you me and them, the hostess knows who I am
Be sure and mind your manners so they ask you back again
And don’t come empty handed if you wanna make some friends
We’re having a party …

All for one and one for all the best intent you’ve got
Til someone’s rainbow crashing down sweetens up the pot,
We’re having a party …

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The Jackal (1986) is a song written from the point of view of a terrorist who has no other platform to air his grievance other than violence. We must take responsibility for this as well. The powerless and the voiceless can only resort to violence.

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It won’t be long, it’s coming soon
We’re only waiting for the dark of the moon
Then we’ll rise like a tide, we’ve got God on our side
So how can we lose? And what have we got to lose?

We’ve lived our lives under the gun
For years and years the helpless ones
But the worm has turned and the lessons will burn
As bright as the sun, as bright as the desert sun

In every war somebody dies
And we know there are no innocent lives
When you turn away from what’s wrong
Each day you’re living a lie
You’re living a lie

To us you’re all one of a kind
And when we leave, we’ll leave no one behind
We don’t care who dies, it’s an eye for an eye
Til the whole world is blind, til the whole world is blind
Eye for an eye til the whole world is blind
Eye for an eye til the whole world is blind
Will it be an eye til the whole world is blind?

It won’t be long it’s coming soon
Its won’t be long it’s coming …soon

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Do It In His Name (2015) was inspired by the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue same sex marriage licenses and used her religion to explain her bigotry, ignorance and intolerance. Delusional mythology is its own curse but it impacts all of us.

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Some say nothing’s bad or good til thinking makes it so
Some believe in heaven, some say thay just don’t know
I keep my own counsel I wish you’d do the same
cursing me or blessing me, you do it in his name

you do it in his name you know what he would do
you do it in his name, I guess it’s nothing new
you do it in his name you know not what you do

people have opinions, people have beliefs
some come for the comfort, some for the relief
some borrow what they cannot steal, some do it for their gain
some fake it when they cannot feel, they do it in his name

they do it in his name they know what he would do
they do it in his name as if they really knew
they do it in his name and to hell with me and you

blackened beads of rosaries, golden wheels of prayer
crosses with the Star of David, crescents in the air
symbols of the faithful, the truth is theirs alone
superstition, sacred cows, roll away the stone

embrace whatever comforts you and i will do the same
no one knows what’s coming next and who knows who’s to blame
why judge anybody, just let each other be
hey, I’ll let you in my heaven, you can do the same for me
hey, I’ll let you in my heaven, you can do the same for me

we’ll do it in his name who knows what he might do
we’ll do it in his name, it’s up to me and you
we’ll do it in his name

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Easy To See (2016) inspired by the constant lying of the 45th president, a person put in place by manipulation of a foreign power, gerrymandering and voter suppression. Shame on us all. Eschew obfuscation?

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It’s so easy to see when you lie, you get that far away look in your eye
And then your lips start to move as you get in that groove
It’s so easy to see when you lie
Yes, it’s easy to see what we’ve lost and it’s easy to measure the cost
Banker priests multiply what adds up to a lie
It’s so easy to see what we’ve lost

All the mobius conversation is just a dubious exhortation
And when I object to your tweets and your texts you say,
“I must eschew obfuscation?”

We all know why you do what you do, you think the choices should be up to you
But regardless your money, it’s not up to you honey,
We all know why you do what you do (whacka due whacka due)
Don’t you dare tell me how much you care when the rest of us barely get a share
We all know that your able and there’s room at that table, so
Don’t you dare tell me how much you care

All the dubious exhortation is just a spin doctor clarification
And when I object to your tweets and your texts you say …
“I must eschew obfuscation!”

Enough is enough I’ve heard tell, and it’s not that we don’t wish you well
But there’s really no doubt, you are squeezing us out
Enough is enough ring the bell!

All your spin doctor clarification is just a mobius conversation
And when we object to your tweets and your texts you say,
“I must eschew obfuscation.”

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Everybody Knows (1994) written because everybody DOES know, they just pretend they don’t, or look away, or deny it.

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Too much to drink and not enough thinkin
soon we’re running the the back room bare
I stubbed my toe on a bucket full of snow,
Bet you’re wondering how much I could possibly care
Found myself in a honky tonk naked from my head down to my toes
Winking at some stranger while her boyfriend’s getting angry,
He says, “never trust a man with no clothes”
Cause everybody knows ( the soup from the bone)
Everybody, everybody knows (the soup from the bone)

Everybody knows it’s really not the clothes that make the man
It’s the man that makes the clothes
Nobody has to tell you what to think or what to say or how to act
Cause I think everybody knows
Everybody knows each opinion he holds
isn’t one that he made up on his own
so let’s all get together, take a good look at this water
see if we can tell the soup from the bone
cause everybody knows …

Everybody knows you see it on the TV, it’s just another shepherd for the sheep
Sex stars, rock stars, lying politicians are all making promises they never mean to keep
And everybody knows every word they say, cause we’ve heard it all before
So let’s all get together, tell those mother fila-bastards that we ain’t gonna take it no more
Cause everybody knows …

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Open Your Eyes (1995) inspired by all that goes on in our world, the good, the bad and the ugly. It is all on all of us. We either wake and get active or we bury our heads in the sand and wait until our bodies follow.

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Open your eyes, this is a battle cry
All that you see is owned by you and me

Rivers flow down to the sea, it’s what all rivers know
Journey’s end and then the cycle starts all over again
Open your eyes …

Right and wrong, cry of hunger and a robin’s song
Prison bars, prom queens, drive by shootings crack wars
The battle cry is “open up your eyes …”

Down to you now that you know what are you gonna do
Turn your head or raise your voice and say what must be said
The battle cry is “open up your eyes …”

Rivers flow, it’s what all river’s know

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Change (2005) was inspired by the political situation of this decade. I feel it is so obvious how to treat each other, how to be on this planet together, how to live, but evidently I am even more naïve than my detractors would have you believe.

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When are we going to change
When are to live and let be
When will we finally see
It isn’t them it’s you and me
And nobody else can set us free
When are we going to learn

What will it take for you and me
To follow the path and find the key
To live here in peace eternally
When are we going to learn

When are we going to change
When will see not black and white
But all of the colours shining so bright
When will we see the light
As easy to tell the day from the night
As easy to see what’s wrong and what’s right
So when are we going to learn

Why must we follow helplessly
Leaders so blind why must we be
Like lemmings who rush into the see
When are going to learn

When are we going to change
When will see what we must know
We always reap what we sow
We plant all the seeds and watch them grow
We’re moving in faith and still don’t know
When we are going to learn

I know we’re going to learn
I know one day we’ll live in peace
And we will finally see there is no them
Just you and me and nobody else can set us free
And we are going to see
And we are going to learn
And we are going to change
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Once Touched By Flame (1992) reminds us that once we know and acknowledge the truth of a situation, experience or epiphany we cannot ever go back to the way we were. No matter how much we deny it, we are changed.

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Once touched by flame, nothing’s ever the same
The changes remain when you’re once touched by flame

Listen, something’s in the wind and
you can hear it, it’s coming
It’s the word that will not die
Once touched by flame …
It’s leaving something to believe in
when the soul is grieving
For the light that will not fade.
Once touched by flame …

So wrong, in the dark for so long
Catch the spark and hold on
Hold on, hold on …

Once touched by flame …

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What Would You Do (2013) inspired by the idea that protest songs are only listened to or have impact on folks that already agree with them, so I wanted to write a song that pointed no fingers, placed no blame, just asked the question, “what would you do” and let everyone come up with their own answer.

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What would you do, say it’s all up to you
Say the whole world’s in your hand
Would there be change or would things be the same
Have we already done all we can?

Would your world be about power and greed
And would the choices you make lose our souls
Or would stand for every woman and man
And see every heart broken made whole
What would you do …

All of our lives we’ve been told paradise
Resides in the heavens above
What would you do if you suddenly knew
It was here with the people you love

Would you wage war, would you breed hate more
Would you use terror to rule
Or would the water run sweet and the land at our feet
Be peaceful and green, clean and pure

What would you do …

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All songs by James Lee Stanley except where noted and all songs published by James Lee Stanley Music, BMI or The Real James Lee Stanley Music, SESAC

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