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RESPECT
What I want you're
the one who's got it
What I need you know you got it
All I'm asking is for a little respect
Don't you tell me No Don't you do me wrong that's what I'm asking
Oh and one more thing - a good job would be fantastic
But first won't you give me a little respect
Don't tell me No Yes it's true I ain't got no money
But from today well I'm through with mumblin'
So listen to me I want your respect
And I'm not aloneIt would be sweeter than honey
Cause those names you call me now don't you think that's crummy
All I'm asking is for a little respect
This country's my home too
R E S P E C T
Think about what it means to me
R E S P E C T
Lord it would set me freeSome of you ain't even trying
Some of us are even dying
Start out on your own
Pretty soon you'll find you're not alone
A little respect that's what we want(O. Redding)
©&P Irving Music
Alternate
lyric
©&P
1997 Karl Williams
PEOPLE
FIRST
Everyone you
meet
Has a story all their own
You are different from me
But we don't have to stand alone
People first
We're people first
People first
We're people firstAll the trouble in the world
Comes from ignorance and fear
When you look at me
Can you see the person hereSome of us are free
Yes and some of us are strong
But for those still locked away
We will sing this songWe will stand up for our rights
We will stand and tell what's true
We will show the world
All that we can do
©
1990 Karl Williams
STAND TOGETHER
CHORUS:
G C
Stand together for our rights
G D
Stand together side by side
Em C D
We're gonna see our lives get better and better
C D G
If we stand together
VERSE:
C D
From Connecticut to California
C D G
From Washington to Tennessee
C D
From Pennsylvania to Alaska
C D
We're a national family
We've
been denied transportation
Kept out of jobs and schools
Don't it hurt you don't it make you mad
Don't it show you what we got to do
We
got to close down the institutions
Open up some hearts and minds
Free our brothers and our sisters
Everyone everywhere now's the time
We've
got a chance now to make a difference
Not just for me and you
But for the coming generations
So let's show the world something new
(and the new, international verse written at
the request of the Songwriting Workshop at the International Leadership
Conference sponsored by Central England People First, 12/2001)
In
Canada and Uganda
In Germany and Mexico
In Japan and in Australia
All around the world our movement grows
©1995
& 2002 Karl Williams
HEROES
AND HEROINES
Chorus: Heroes
and heroines
Show us where we're going
And where we've been
We look to them for what they did
Then back to ourselves again
Heroes and heroines
People labelling people
She knew how it can hurt
In Oregon in '73
She started People First
He grew up in Willowbrook
The he helped shut it down
Now he lives in Manhattan
Works for the state downtown
Who's in control was his question
If it's your life it better be you
The day they closed Pennhurst down
He did a radio interview
© 1997 Karl Williams
STICKS
AND STONES
I got one name
to say Hello that's me
My second name tell you bout my family
Pick one name or the other I wish you would
Cause the names you call me say that I'm no good
Sticks and stones break my bones (2x)
If you're no Einsyein we all just let it go
If I'm no Einstein you tell me that I'm slow
If you can't play baseball you just have another beer
What I can't do you shout it in my ear
I tell myself I'll go on as I am
Say what you will I won't give a damn
And names will never hurt me I conclude
But I know it really isn't true
The names you call me cannot be unsaid
They float around in other people's heads
And then they wind up right behind the eyes
That's why I feel like I'm wearing a disguiseYou put a fence around
what I could be
Cause the name you call me isn't really me
©
1990 Karl Williams
THE ADA
SONG
The
curbs are cut the ramps are down
The lifts are in so gather round
The clouds are gone and the sky is blue
We got our rights in 1992
Hey Hey Hey for the ADA
Gonna find me a job gonna ride the bus
You kept us down for so long but now there's no stopping us
Gonna get an education check into a hotel room
And when they start selling tickets
maybe even take a ride to the moon
We're gonna take our place gonna play our part
Lord we been praying for this day with all of our hearts
You're gonna see me in some places new
You may be angry won't be a thing you can do
You can bolt all your padlocks bar all your doors
I'll hire me a lawyer and see you in court
©
1992 Karl Williams and Speaking For Ourselves
ANYWAY
(for Peter Vaughn)
I ain't no beauty
queen
Well I know I'm no movie star
And all the money we got between us
It wouldn't get us far
But we love each other anyway
Oh I love you anywayIf I lose this job
You'll go out and get another one
And til one of us pass that driving test
Guess we'll have to take the bus
But we love each other anyway
Oh I love you anywayI love you anyway You're my night and day
And though I know I don't know how to say it right
You've got a heart of gold You've been my self-control
We've heard a million Nos We keep on getting by
Cause we love each other anyway
Oh I love you anywayNo one can sing our song
No not quite the same as me and you
So let them tell us that we're all wrong
We know that it's not the truth
And we love each other anyway
Oh I love you anyway
© 1997 Karl Williams
DANCE AND
DANCE AND DANCE
Wasn't this a
great day I got no doubts about that
I met some people I can talk to Now I'm on the right track
Gonna get what I got coming Find out who I am
Look world tomorrow But tonightAll I want to do is
Dance and dance and dance
All I want to do is
Dance and dance and dancePeople giving me a hard time Back where
I come from
Now I see things in a new way Won't let it bother me none
They don't know who's coming But they'll find out who I am
Look out world tomorrow But tonight
Don't
it make you feel Lord it makes me feel
Never knew this could be real
Take another deep breath and we'll
©
1997 Karl Williams
SPEAKING
FOR OURSELVES
We
are speaking for ourselves
Speaking for ourselves
No one else can do as well
Speaking for ourselves
Once I was afraid to speak
I was lonely I was weak
With a voice so very small
That I had no voice at all
Then I found a friend like me
And another made us three
And we laughed and then we cried
And then this is what we tried
We've been called by many names
We've been made to feel ashamed
We've been locked behind a door
But we'll come outside once more
©
1987 Karl Williams
THE
PROMISED LAND
They're dying
by the hundreds every year
Or living lives of suffering and fear
Poorly dressed and poorly fed
Some lying helpless in their beds
They're dying by the hundreds every year
The doctors say it's the best that can be done
How could they function in the outside world alone
Doomed to lead lives of regret
But in here they're safe and their needs are met
The doctors say it's the best that can be done
The promised land is just beyond the gate (2x)
Their families say just keep them in that place
No one out here can bear to see their faces
We don't believe that they're deprived
Besides we have a right to our own lives
Their families say just keep them in that place
The promised land is just beyond the gate (2x)
The lawyers say they'll help us change things in the court
It's the only way to open up the doors
All the laws are on our side
They're not criminals to be confined
The lawyers say we'll change things in the court
The promised land is just beyond the gate (2x)
Our leaders say aren't they just like you and me
Our brothers and our sisters must go free
Give them dignity and pride
Give them back their names give them back their lives
Our leaders say they're just like you and me
The promised land is just beyond the gate (2x)
©
1993 Karl Williams and Ruthie Marie Beckwith
EMPFANATIC@aol.com
DON'T YOU
WANT TO DO RIGHT
Don't you want to do right Mr. Governor
Don't you want to do right
Take a step to our side
Close down that institution
Start today
Don't you want to do right union members
Don't you want to do right
Take a step to our side
Help us close that institution Start today
Don't
you want to live right brother
Don't you want to live right sister
Don't you want to live right
Take a step to our side
Move on out of that institution
Start today
©
1994 Karl Williams
CLOSE THE DOORS
Close the doors
(3x)
Behind us foreverTil you throw away the key
I won't have my dignity
I won't be really free to live
While
my brother's locked away
While my sister's in that place
I can't see the light of day myself
Til
the day you can announce
That you've torn the last one down
You will hear me calling loud and clear
Close
the doors (3x)
Behind us forever
Close the doors (3x)
Cause we deserve better
Close the doors...
©
1995 Karl Williams & Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered
THE
BALLAD OF DAVID WAYNE LEE
Washing dishes
down at the diner since 1983
He had a smile for everyone he met walking down the street
There was a woman raped and murdered Officer Moore ran out of leads
So he stopped in to talk to David Wayne Lee
He said David Wayne I consider you a friend of mine
You heard about that Jones girl killed last year about this time
Well I've been working on the case and I'm really in a bind
Will you come down to the station and help us solve this crime
I didn't do it (3x) thought David Wayne
If I didn't do it there's nothing to it
I'll go down to the station then I'll come back again
Hidden in that station was a room few people saw
A bare lightbulb a table and a chair and nothing on the walls
Officer Moore said he'd be right back he gave no reason at all
David Wayne sat for 45 long minutes alone with his thoughts
I didn't do it (3x) thought David Wayne
I didn't do it but there's something to it
Here I am at the station when will I go home again
The door opens Moore reads from a paper he calls Miranda rights
David Wayne Lee you can keep silent you can have a lawyer on your
side
David Wayne can't understand it no matter how hard he tries
Why would he keep silent why would he need a lawyer when he's got
nothing to hide
I didn't do it (3x) says David Wayne
You didn't do it that's a new twist
Officer Moore locks the door when he goes out again
When Officer Moore comes back he's with another man this time
He says David Wayne we have evidence you're the one who did this
crime
David Wayne's head is spinning and then he starts to cry
He learned in school a policeman is your friend
so how could Officer Moore be telling a lie
Hour after hour Officer Moore and the other man
One says You remind me of my son I hate to see you in this jam
The other says We know you did it - now tell us why and when
Hour after hour after hour first Moore then the other man
I didn't do it (3x) says David Wayne
I didn't do it I was in St Louis
On weekends I visit my sister I go to see her on the train
Maybe I do need a lawyer says David Wayne finally
If that's what you want says Officer Moore you'll get no more help
from me
We're really close to the end of this I think I'm what you need
But if you decide to have a lawyer then I'm gonna have to leave
You didn't do it (3x) That's what you say
You didn't do it You're sticking to it
But the fingerprints and the witness say you were there that day
(over)
Maybe you can't remember maybe you blacked out
You got the knife from the kitchen right it was already in the house
Officer Moore keeps talking til David Wayne begins to doubt
If you sign this paper they say you can go home now
I didn't do it (3x) says David Wayne
I didn't do it but I can't go through this any more
So he signs their paper and his whole life is changed
He's a jackal says the prosecutor and he deserves to die
David Wayne in a WalMart suit with the receipts pinned inside
The public defender's got 400 cases and precious little time
There's not a witness or any evidence but the jury must decide
He didn't do it he says he didn't do it
But here's his confession the prosecutor shouts
David Lee did do it he put his signature to it
Now you go and do your duty and find him guilty when you come out
Now David Wayne sits in a cell sentenced to the electric chair
His friends and family have turned away but still somebody cares
A psychologist a lawyer and a literacy volunteer
A detective a nurse and a businessman working to get him out of
there
He didn't do it he didn't do it
They believe what David Wayne says
He didn't do it but they can't prove it
There's no one to testify now that his sister's dead
All across this country there are people on death row
Convicted with no evidence of crimes they didn't do
Tricked to sign confessions by policemen who should know
Better than to take advantage of defenseless folks
They didn't do it (2x) They hear Miranda but they wave their rights
Here in the U.S. is this what we call justice
And the way the laws are written it's impossible to fight
They've shaved his head and body put shackles to his hands and feet
Hot dogs applesause and mashed potatoes that's what he asked to
eat
David Wayne stumbling down the row of cells held up by two guards
and a priest
And Moore promoted to Captain just last week
I didn't do it (3x) hear David Wayne cry
(repeat and fade...)
©
1997 Karl Williams & Robert Perske
159 Hollow Tree Ridge Rd.
Darien, CT 06820
203-655-4135
203-655-0635 (fax)
Rperske@aol.com
WE'LL BE THINKING
OF YOU (for Roland Johnson)
I
remember how you helped me see
That I was someone
That there was something good in me
You changed my life
Just look at all the things I do
I'll remember I'll remember you
We'll be thinking we'll be thinking of you
We'll be thinking we'll be thinking of you
Always
We'll be thinking we'll be thinking of you
The way you spoke out when you saw something wrong
The way you stood fast
Though the struggle lasts so long
It was your voice
Put us on the right track
Now you've gone away but we're never turning backWhen we speak out
when we stand up for our rights
When we find the strength we need
To go on with the fight
When we stand together
And help each other through
We'll be thinking we'll be thinking of you
©
1994 Karl Williams
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