FERDINAND

A Protest Song

For the students protesting at colleges around the country, those watching quietly from the stands, and those violently suppressing free speech. This is for you.

They settin’ up tents out on the lawn
Things we didn’t say, they said enough to
We slept through, but Z’s pickin’ up
Right where we left off
They steppin’ up, huh
Where we fell off, they held up huh
When we sold out, they doubled down
Fuck makin’ us proud, they see through posture
Validation wielded by the imposters
Throwin’
Pitches on the mound, we struck out to
Now it’s quiet, leavin’ room for doubt
Hand signals from the Man
One step away from the stands
Your biggest fan
Wavin’ you in with one hand
The other, tied behind the back, hiding
Fingers crossed, never know where they stand
Huggin’ base lines, speakin’ online for safety
I been in the game, but really not playin’
So lately I’m

Ferdinand
Ferdinand in the grass
I’ll like a post, wear a pin if you ask
Watch a story, then I’ll put on the mask
Idolize the past, double-speak in double-standards
Elephant or ass
I’ll say how it was different, that time
Wear my privilege on tight, just like a past-time
I’ll sit on the fence with no opinion, ‘til it’s way past time
When the winners announced, I fade back in the crowd, like bring ‘em out, bring ‘em out
Now, let’s talk about judgement for past crimes
Can’t happen again, like last time
That’s what they tellin’ me

Past lies
Suit and ties actin’ funny
Let’s count the money, see who PAC’in the lunch lines
It’s Always Sunny, seein’ campaign fundin’
Connectin’ dots with the red lines
It’s public record guys

Like we been here before
Still, learnin’ lessons
Back then, from ‘64
They
Sang songs about love, peace, and War
But, what was it good for, huh?

I know some fortunate sons
Who need freedom of speech, but once they’re done, they
Jump at your neck
If they don’t like what you speak
If they don’t like who you pray to
They don’t like what they see
If they don’t like who you need
They pick and choose all the reasons
Supremacy, protecting the right to beef
And settle it now, violence out in the street
One people
Divided by riot police and left bleedin’
No this can’t be the answer that we needed
Tired of seein’ people mistreated, then
Hear lies and propaganda feed it
Tryna separate to defeat us, but
Somehow we manage to come out and meet it, at ease
Makin’ new songs together
Rightin’ old wrongs together
Ferdinand in the grass
He knew better
Deep down
Findin’ peace in flowers and bees
Little moments where we could see the same thing, at ease
At ease, soldier
At ease
At ease

---

Last Friday, a feeling washed over me: these students are actually doing it. They’re putting their lives on the line to protest a brutal genocide. They’re standing up for everything we taught them and exercising their right to free speech. And yet they’re met with aggression by police (“why are you in riot gear / there’s no riot here”), or subjected to violent attacks without protection (UCLA). How easily we idolize and yet forget the lessons from demonstrations (and music) of the 60s, fighting for civil rights and an end to the Vietnam War. How easily we’re fooled into violence by actors who benefit from a divided and scared people, pointing at one another. How easily we shy away from and forget that disruption is a necessary means to progress, but it does not necessitate open violence in the street.

I’ll end with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

We see all these themes today, when we see political leaders shun protests with “there’s a time and a place for this kind of thing” (when and where, exactly?).

When there's a Time and a Place

When we see our friends and family appeal to expertise (“oh I don’t have an opinion, it’s complicated!”) or “both sides” arguments. We can do better by acknowledging there is no more convenient time to talk about Palestine and Gaza. There are no awards for being “Right” later. We need to figure this out because our very rights are being challenged under a guise of protecting us (H.R. 6090). The song alludes to PAC money, which has infiltrated Congress and contributed to the erosion of our rights as citizens.

I don’t have the answers, and this song is full of paradox. I hope it makes you feel something uncomfortable, and that you choose to do something new with that feeling. Like the story of Ferdinand, it can be interpreted however you’d like.

🌱