1. The Starbucks Song.
Overwhelmed with the pseudo-choice of Starbucks and the rest, frustrated trying to get a simple cup of coffee, remembering friends weeping in the mountains of Nicaragua. They produce some of the world´s finest coffees, but because the transnationals and their customers will not pay them a just price, they can´t feed their children properly, let alone send them to school.
Looking for some way to upload mp3 version for toon.
Meantime, here´s the text:
1. Just blew in from Nicaragua, rather grimy and really tired
Saw that cute little Starbucks sign, to heaven it was wired
Staggered on in, parked my guitar, cried out to the barista guy:
"Oh man, you are my saviour, gimme coffee before I die!"
(Brackets signifies sort of spoken)
(But, looking rather puzzled he said: 'Whaddya want?!)
Chorus
Frappucino? Cappucino? Grande? Or Short? Or Tall?
Creamer? Lo-fat? Non-dairy? - and that's not remotely all
Do you want Hi-foam? Lo-foam? No-foam? Triple Latte? Or Mocha Bliss?
And if you won't answer my questions, Sir, you're just gonna get me pissed (Off! See below for explanation)
2. Somewhat startled by his reaction, I gulped down my surprise
While that corporate-induced vision, it swam before my eyes:
People of every nation, slogging over their Starbucks grades
Got to get those multiple choices right, before that Mocha's made!
3. I said, "Hang on there, Mr. Starbucks, Sir!", I'm not asking for the moon
Just need a shot of java, man, to help me stay in toon
Sorry I don't talk your Starbucks-speak, all your questions have got me in a spin
But please just give me an hour or three, and I'll try to get my order in!
4. Then, suddenly it hit me: I was falling in his Starbucks trap
All his pseudo-sophistcated bullshit, was just a load of crap.
For as they peddle their greedy little potions, for which we have to pay an arm and a leg
In Nicaragua, the coffee pickers' children, they're forced to go out and beg.
Last Chorus:
So, Mr Starbucks, Sir, just stuff your Frappucino, CRAPPucino, mutated milk and all!
And, Hey! Whatever happened to that fairly-traded coffee you promised?
And, parenthetically, what's wrong with words like 'Large' and 'Small'?
Don't you want to re-invest some mega-profits, so no child's meal shall be missed?
And if YOU won't answer OUR questions, Sir,
you're sure gonna get us
PISSED RIGHT OFF!
(What's with the 'OFF', then?
Sister Christine is a self-confessed pedant. 'Thought this song was about coffee, she said. `'So why is everybody getting pissed? (Brit-speak: drunk). That really pisses me off (Brit-speak: makes me mad)!' So, thanks to her, this becomes the world's greatest singalong song: all you have to do is whisper, very quietly and pretty much whenever you feel like it, one tinsy three-letter word.)
2. CDs, Tapes and Books
a) Hasta el aroma de la flor - Canciones de Victor Jara en español e ingles. To the Very Fragrance of the Flower - Songs of, and about, Victor Jara in Spanish and English. CD.
b) I Thought I Heared Sweet Victor, Singing ... - Songs of Beauty and Revolution. Mostly English with some Spanish. Tape cassette.
c) Song In High Summer - A Journal: Death squads in LA, Life as a revolutionary Trappist monk, Sharing the struggle through the music of Victor Jara and other poets/singers for peace, justice and beauty. Book.
All available via nicared@ibw.com.ni
CD: US$13; tape cassette: US$10; Book: US$10.
Or what you can afford. All income goes into Echoes projects, with 15% of CD sales to the Victor Jara Foundation set up by Victor's widow, Joan, in Chile. FVJ supports up-and-coming Victor(ia)s from impoverished backgrounds like his own.