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Jacksonville
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Account of the Agent Orange incineration plant in Jacksonville, AR
acoustic folk social commentary political satire western massachusetts oil coal climate change fracking incineration music for social change nuclear energy
Folk singer, social commentary, satire, people's stories, children's music
Hi Folks, The Bard Insurgent here. My comrade D.O. (the Poet Roofer) and I got that handle (The Bard Insurgents) from traveling town to town performing songs and poetry about people's lives. I've been performing since I was 3 years old, cutting my vocal chords on liturgical and classical music. I was a concert soloist as a child, when I wasn't herding cows, throwing hay and shoveling manure. During the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war, I began writing songs about social change. I left the country in 1970 and my dozen years in other countries, mostly in Africa & South America, have provided a global perspective to my music. My travels helped me realize that people all around the world are essentially the same in their basic life needs and their desires to live peacefully in their communities. These experiences have informed my commitment to working for international understanding as I organize at home. A powerful way to educate and inspire is with music. I tell people's stories, do social commentary with a touch of satire that I hope you enjoy and share with your friends, as well as sing together in the streets and in your living rooms. I also have children's music written for the children in my life with Jacob and Kayla as primary muses. Looking forward to seeing you on the road, Tom
Song Info
Charts
Peak #120
Peak in subgenre #20
Author
Tom Neilson
Rights
Tom Neilson
Uploaded
December 23, 2012
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.9 MB 128 kbps 4:18
Story behind the song
Pat Costner's investigation of the Vertac plant in Jacksonville, AR
Lyrics
I got a chem lawn here oily orange & black, rusty shimmer in the sun Forming dry crusty cakes, a quick trick snack in the cancertorium Oozing out over curb stones on rebel drive At Pinewood Elementary the sink holes thrive Heavy metals & arsenic the kids eat there In the soil drinking water in the food & the air We’re talking Jacksonville, pretty Jacksonville, Tall evergreens hide the killing machine burning Jacksonville That Vertac plant’s 100 tanks & barrels Are gonna seep down down into your marrow & if your nervous system short circuits itself, Take another hit of dieldrin off of the shelf Drinking dioxin soup with agent orange goup And the governor’s a contra gun & drug running spook. He can look the other way but he’s still in the loop burnin Jacksonville The superfund’s for hazardous elimination, As well as corporation billionarization And when that toluene becomes incineration, We’ll be spreading cancer all around the nation In Jacksonville, pretty Jacksonville Tall evergreens hide the killing machine burning Jacksonville How many case of leukemia do we need, miscarriages and child deformities Destroy your kidneys, liver and your immunities, Like we did to US soldiers and the Vietnamese What the Vietnamese didn’t swallow on down, You can get at the Muriel Taylor school ground The City Council, Clinton & the EPA Are gonna burn that Agent Orange till they burn that town away. We’re burnin Jacksonville, pretty Jacksonville Tall evergreens hide the killing machine burning Jacksonville. Pat Costner does toxic investigation And was on the heals of burnin corporations 30 years of work went up in smoke to another industry arsoneration In Jacksonville, pretty Jacksonville, Tall evergreens hide the killing machine burning Jacksonville
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