Occupy

Please check out the youtube video. The song is awesome.


A NEW POTENT ANTHEM FOR THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT HAS BEEN SUNG IN FRONT OF THE LEADERS OF HALF THE WORLD'S POPULATION DURING A DINNER AT THE APEC MEETING IN HAWAII A COUPLE DAYS AGO
(You can download this song HERE to play on your computer or at Occupy rallies)

OCCUPY WITH ALOHA: Makana at the APEC Dinner, Hawaii (13 nov. 2011) 11 min - Lyrics below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VegV-8vu7go
In this version Makana tells the FULL STORY as well as sings the full version of the song, "We Are The Many." Makana's guitar tech shot this with a camera phone during his performance for the World Leaders Dinner at APEC, which was hosted by the First Family. Makana wore an "Occupy with Aloha" t-shirt under his black blazer and sang his newest song, "We are the Many," an anthem of sorts for Occupy protestors. He had to be extremely discreet as Secret Service had warned those on site that any phones used to capture photography or video would be confiscated. Since the technician has a guitar tuner app on the phone they were able to justify having it out, but grabbing video was not easy. They were under constant surveillance. Makana likes to have video of his every performance saying, "It's my art and my right." About an hour into his set of generally ambient guitar music and Hawaiian tunes, he felt inspired to share some songs that resonated with the significance of the occasion. He sang a few verses from "Kaulana Na Pua" (a famous Hawaiian protest song in honor of the anniversary of our Queen's passing), then segued into Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," Sting's "Fragile," and finally his newest song "We Are The Many." Makana's goal was not to disturb the guests in an offensive fashion but rather to subliminally fill their ears and hearts with a message that might be more effectively received in a subconscious manner. He sweetly sang lines like "You enforce your monopolies with guns/ While sacrificing our daughters and sons/ But certain things belong to everyone/ Your thievery has left the people none." The event protocol was such that everyone there kept their expressions quite muffled. Now and then Makana would get strange, befuddled stares from Heads of State. It was a very quiet room with no waiters; only myself, the sound techs, and the leaders of almost half the world's population. If he had chosen to disrupt the dinner and force my message I would have been stopped short. He instead chose to deliver an extremely potent message in a polite manner for a prolonged interval. I dedicate this action to those who would speak truth to power but were not allowed the opportunity. The lyrics include, "Ye come here gather 'round the stage; The time has come for us to voice our rage." The morning before the performance, Makana said he was initially afraid about singing the piece, but decided to do it anyway because he believes APEC's leaders are not representing common people."It was my message that they are occupying Hawaii right now and they need to do it with aloha and not just say it," he said. "I don't personally feel they've done that. They are not representing the people they purport to represent." http://MakanaMusic.com - https://www.youtube.com/MakanaVideos - http://yeslab.org/APEC

Here are the lyrics - from http://makanamusic.com/?slide=we-are-the-many

We Are The Many

Ye come here, gather 'round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who've trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won't withdraw

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You can't divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can't buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We are the many
You are the few

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Related articles:

APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied (November 13, 2011)
http://www.yeslab.org/APEC
Within secure zone, musician sings on behalf of the many APEC World Leaders Dinner Gets Occupied Honolulu -- A change in the programmed entertainment at last night's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gala left a few world leaders slack-jawed, though most seemed not to notice that anything was amiss.
During the gala dinner, renowned Hawaiian guitarist Makana, who performed at the White House in 2009, opened his suit jacket to reveal a home-made "Occupy with Aloha" T-shirt. Then, instead of playing the expected instrumental background music, he spent almost 45 minutes repeatedly singing his protest ballad released earlier that day. The ballad, called "We Are the Many," includes lines such as "The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw.... And until they are purged, we won't withdraw," and ends with the refrain: "We'll occupy the streets, we'll occupy the courts, we'll occupy the offices of you, till you do the bidding of the many, not the few."

Those who could hear Makana's message included Presidents Barack Obama of the United States of America, Hu Jintao of China, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and over a dozen other heads of state.

"At first, I was worried about playing 'We Are The Many,'" said Makana. "But I found it odd that I was afraid to sing a song I'd written, especially since I'd written it with these people in mind."

The gala was the most secure event of the summit. It was held inside the Hale Koa hotel, a 72-acre facility owned and controlled by the US Defense Department; the site was fortified with an additional three miles of fencing constructed solely for the APEC summit.

Makana was surprised that no one objected to him playing the overtly critical song. "I just kept doing different versions," he said. "I must've repeated 'the bidding of the many, not the few' at least 50 times, like a mantra. It was surreal and sobering."

Makana's new song is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has taken root in cities worldwide. Last Saturday, eight protesters were arrested when they refused to leave the Occupy Honolulu encampment at Thomas Square Park. Occupy Honolulu has joined other groups, including Moana Nui, to protest the APEC meeting, and while Makana performed, hundreds of people protested outside.

After facing large-scale protests in South Korea, Australia, Peru, and Japan, APEC moved this year's event to Hawaii, the most isolated piece of land on earth. In preparation for the meeting, homeless families were moved out of sight and millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on security-including over $700,000 on non-lethal weapons for crowd control. In a bitter twist, the multi-million dollar security plans backfired when a local Hawaiian man was shot and killed by a 27-year-old DC-based federal agent providing security for dignitaries.
Makana's action was assisted by the Yes Lab and Occupy the Boardroom. In recent weeks, Occupy protesters have been showing up at corporate events, headquarters and even on the doorsteps of those in power. "Makana really raised the bar by delivering the Occupy message inside what is probably the most secure place on the planet right now," said Mike Bonanno of the Yes Lab.

"My uncle taught me to feel out the audience and play what my heart tells me to," said Makana. "That's what I did tonight."

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Singer crashes Obama summit with 'Occupy' song
http://news.yahoo.com/singer-crashes-obama-summit-occupy-song-212243354.html
A popular Hawaiian recording artist turned a top-security dinner of Pacific Rim leaders hosted by President Barack Obama into a subtle protest with a song in support of the "Occupy" movement. (...) The performance occurred at a dinner for summit participants from 21 economies around the Asia-Pacific, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, amid a security lockdown in Waikiki. As Makana sang, about 400 protesters including anti-globalization and native Hawaiian rights activists staged a protest march toward the dinner site but turned back after encountering the smothering security. CLIP

Here is a shorter 2 min. video description of his action

Occupy With Aloha Protest Song Obama 'We are the Many' APEC Gala Hawaiian Guitarist Singer Makana
https://youtu.be/dXCXI3hLeZo