We’re not looking to stir up the pot too much, but this just happens to be a time when people feel the need to express their feelings, through poetry, through articles, through a megaphone… through song. That said, the “high priestess” of the Buffalo rock scene has come up with a tribute to the country that she loves. She submitted the video in hopes that others rally around the message.
“The song really started when I heard news reports about hate crimes immediately after Trump was elected,” said Alison. “The Southern Poverty Law Center kept/keeps a record of hate crimes in the United States. The first one I read about was a Muslim woman – who was in a Walmart – and another shopper pulled off her hijab and said something to the effect that ‘you can’t wear this anymore because Trump is our president.’ So that was my starting off point.”
It is my first protest song! How could I not write one these days?
In the video, Alison is seen waving a flag, not just for her own convictions, but for those looking to seek asylum in the country of the free and the brave. “I have family from Colombia and so I am also very tuned in to the treatment of immigrants (and of course we are all immigrants with the exception of Native Americans).”
For Alison, one particular verse stood out from the others. “The verse about “my strong black mother” – I was thinking about Margaret Walker’s poem “I Want to Write.” She is one of my heroes and so I was inspired to include one line from her poem in my song,” Alison noted. “Below is the actual poem that I referenced.”
“I Want To Write”
Margaret Walker
I want to write
I want to write the songs of my people.
I want to hear them singing melodies in the dark.
I want to catch the last floating strains from their sob-torn
throats.
I want to frame their dreams into words; their souls into
notes.
I want to catch their sunshine laughter in a bowl;
fling dark hands to a darker sky
and fill them full of stars
then crush and mix such lights till they become
a mirrored pool of brilliance in the dawn.
Following are the lyrics to the song ‘Not Going Down’:
Not Going Down
Words and music by Alison Pipitone
Copyright Songs O The Pie, BMI
I saw my Muslim sister
She was walking all alone in a crowd
They tore her cover from her beautiful head
And said, “You can’t wear that damned thing now.”
I sat with my Mexican brother
A soldier who answered the call
I never saw a man more American
But they said, “There’s gonna be a wall!”
I lived with my strong black mother
She caught her sunshine laughter in a bowl
She is the future and the present
And there is no audacity of hope
CHORUS
And you try, and you try to turn back time
But you and I are here and now
I’m not going down fighting
Because I am not going down
No, I’m not going down fighting
Because I am not going down
I took a look in the mirror
I said, “Sweet Baby Jesus I am gay!”
And Jesus said, “Baby I love you-
I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
So I walked out into the thunder
And the storm and the lightning and the rain
With a history book and a backward look
And I’m not going back there again
CHORUS
Video produced and directed by Debby Claus
Filmed by Debby Claus and Shannon Furtak in WNY