"If I Had a Rocket Launcher," - Ryan Harvey

Another great and aware song by Ryan Harvey. One of my favourites.
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DISCLAIMER: This song is an attempt to convey the raw emotions of people suffering from the aggression of capitalism. The opinions presented are not necessarily my personal views but are a commentary on the reactionary nature of oppressed people. The greatest changes we can make are non-violent, social, and cultural, because it is our culture and our own actions that ultimately determine our involvement in the world, but there is also plenty to be done about other's actions and in defense of yourself and others.


From Bagdad to Baltimore, a world-wide war
The tactic of destruction as a double-bladed sword
As the contracts hit the billions and the billions hit the street
In protest of the slaughter, getting slaughtered police
We grow to love our neighbors then to stab them in the back
In a crooked game of power with a deck that's always stacked
The goal's to struggle through your labor just to find your place in line
While the profiteers repeat the pattern, holding down rewind
And if the foreground's so destructive think what's happening behind
If I had a rocket launcher, my place would be defined

I watch the television, see the headlines now and then
Slogan after slogan, repeating the refrain
We trust these movie-stars of media, and we're fetishizing fame
As little tidbits of reality go flashing across the screen
They say that everything is even it's all following the plan
The dead are stacked in piles being bulldozed in the sand
There's nothing different about it, it's just like all the rest
Limbless children without parents, homeless cancer-ridden vets
They try to cloak it all in logos, every day another myth
The news reporters smiles, gaining stories from the death
What they did to Southeast Asia they are doing here today
If I had a rocket launcher, I'd make somebody pay

Down at Central Booking in the over crowded cells
The poor are housed together fending for themselves
Against the prison guard's union, the criminals with keys
Calling punishment "correction", doing anything they please
Locked away inside this concrete cage all hope is torn apart
As the guards complete the cycle breaking down the human heart
Until the verdict is not guilty or the final lever's pulled
Still the circle is unbroken and the cells are always full
You know the war across the ocean? Well here's the one at home
From the ghetto to the graveyard, the path is set in stone
The duty done by prisons is maintaining poverty
If I had a rocket launcher, I'd abolish slavery

Time continues slowly sometimes dangerously still
Everyday a new beginning finds you staring up the hill
Another war another clearcut, another killer cop
A society collapsing with the ticking of the clock
You'd think there'd never be an outlet, never something so immense
That it could break this spell of silence and the deeds it represents
But between the benefactor's and the people beaten back
It's evident by history that something's gonna crack
And when it does there's only action, the changing of the hands
Aggression laying waste to all the best laid plans
And don't blame me if I'm smiling when it all comes tumbling down
If I had a rocket launcher, I would make each second count

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Ryan
• Harvey
• Politics
• Activism
• Riot
• Folk
• Guitar
• Freedom
• Culture
• War
• Peace
• Anarchy
• Acoustic

[1223dude1223]

uhm, firerainisangry or whatever, i think that this song isnt so much about wanting to use a rocket launcher but i think he could possibly mean, if he had the power, i think he's summed up the entire capitilist government entity with rocket launcher, a symbol of opression and violence and warefare. just my opinion.

[firerainisangry]

@1223dude1223 You didn't even read the description. Pay more attention. It clearly says it isn't about the actual usage of a rocket launcher in it. Wake up.

[gagandshit]

Amazing! another great social activist song from my hero. Fuck yea Ryan!

[SpiderShane1]

@gagandshit I would reccomend being your own hero. He has good ideas, but then again, so can you with enough knowledge. All he is doing is conveying his ideas while playing guitar, and I honestly can't see whats so "hero-like" about playing a guitar.

"Be the change that you want to see in the world"

Unite with people, but don't look to others to be a hero or change anything for you.

[SpiderShane1]

All of his songs sound like he's hiccuping every 5 or 6 words. There's breathing techniques to overcome that when performing vocals. It's very distracting I must say.

[Brianmuuh]

sometimes i masturbate

[ShadeToSun]

@FOPboycottme Fuck You! Just kidding, good point.

[ShadeToSun]

Bob Dylan meets Violent Femmes, very cool.

[INFOWARforYourMind]

when the shit hits the fan i want this guy at my campfire!! great music

[godofallbums]

this song scared my friend when he was drunk

[thewhiskeykills]

I met this guy down in Tampa years ago in a Guitar Center. He was playing a couple songs and gave me and my friend his cd. Didn't think much of it and didnt listen to it for months. HOLY FUCK I MISSED OUT!

[DevonWhorton]

Some mistakes in the lyrics:

"Bagdad to Baltimore" = Baltimore to Baghdad

"..destruction as a.." = destruction is a

"...contracts hit the billions, and the billions hit the street" = Omit "and", pluralize to "streets"

"getting slaughtered police" = gettin' slaughtered by police

"...neighbors, then to stab them in the back" = neighbors, and stab them in the back.

And that's just the first few lines. I realize your lyrics are congruent with many lyrics websites, but they're clearly wrong.

[techcafe]

@CrawdaddyJoe

If I Had a Rocket Launcher - Bruce Cockburn

/watch?v=z02J_kPincA&hd=1