You pay premiums,
Meet deductibles
Then you find out you’re
Not eligible
For that operation, you need.

BRIDGE

Well, Michael Moore, he said it
Hit the nail right on the head
Take the profit out of healthcare
Or dry we’ll all be bled

In Europe, Japan,
And Canada, too,
In Cuba, Thailand
And Sri Lanka, YOU [point to audience]
Will see universal healthcare.

BRIDGE

In lots of other places
That’s just what they have done
Told insurance and drug companies
To stop having so much fun.

Call us socialists,
We really don’t mind.
Just look at the facts.
We know you will find
Everybody must have healthcare.

We’re the Raging Grannies and we want you all to know
That war is not the way to peace and we must all say NO!
We’ve seen it time and time again – war’s not the way to go!
We rage to end all war!

Chorus:   
         Happy Mother’s Day to all you Grannies,
         Here’s hoping that you’ll get up off your fannies,
         And join us on this day as we proclaim with all our might:
         It’s time to end all war!

We put away our knitting, tuck the grandkids into bed,
Throw on our shawls and aprons, put our hats upon our heads.
Inspired by the suffragists, we do not lightly tread,
We rage to end all war!

Chorus

They took our sons and daughters and they sent them off to die;
Said we had to kill Osama ’though those weapons were a lie.
Now some other mother bids her child a tearful last good-bye.
We rage to end all war!

Chorus

 They want to take our Medicare, our schools and parks and more,
So they’ll have the money that they need to keep on makin’ war.
We’re here to say on Mother’s Day that really makes us sore!
We rage to end all war!

Chorus

The Uterus Song
(Tune: “Bye-Bye Blackbird”)
Lyrics © by Vicki Ryder

If you’re a Republican, it’s okay to screw everyone,
Just don’t say “uterus!”
You can send our kids to war while watching your investments soar,
But don’t say “uterus!”
Taking bribes used to be thought just awful;
Now fat cats pay for your campaigns, that’s lawful…
You can take our rights away and torture folks, that’s still okay.
Just don’t say… that word.

You take funds from Planned Parenthood; you’d take all our rights if ya could,
But don’t say “uterus!”
You think abortion is a sin, but what’s that fetus growin’ in?
Shh! Don’t say uterus!
You can get away with bloody torture,
Just don’t say where you were when the stork brought ya.
We’re glad you’re lookin’ out for us, so stamp your feet and make a fuss
When you hear… that word!

Since when is it a dirty word to say the “u” word? That’s absurd!
We’ll say “uterus.”
We’ll sing it strong and sing it loud; it’s a part of us that makes us proud
So we’ll say “uterus.”
We’re not ashamed to call our parts their right names,
We’re just ashamed of men who play these mind games.
So end the wars and feed the poor; do what you were elected for,
And shout out loud… that word!

Uterus and uterus,and uterus and uterus, uterus, uterus!
Uterus and uterus,and uterus and uterus, uterus, uterus!
Uterus and uterus…..

Were you mad when all our taxes
Went to fund a senseless war?
Were you mad when they didn’t catch bin Laden?
Were you mad when they used torture?
Or our jobs went overseas?
No, you’re just mad ‘cause a sick kid might get health care.

Were you mad when folks who voted
Couldn’t get their votes to count?
Were you mad when they gave the rich those tax breaks?
When our government used wiretaps
Or let New Orleans drown?
No, you’re just mad ‘cause a sick kid might get health care.

Were you mad when our surplus
Turned into a deficit?
When we spent eight-hundred billion on the war?
When our schools were going bankrupt
While the fat cats got bailed out?
No, you’re just mad ‘cause a sick kid might get health care.

Were you mad when banks and businesses
Kept piling up the dough
While we lost our jobs, our health care, and our pensions?
When deregulation meant that
People’s houses got foreclosed?
No, you’re just mad ‘cause a sick kid might get health care.

Well, call us socialists
Or call us any name you like,
But we Grannies know the truth and that’s for sure,
We could pay our nation’s debts
And get everyone’s needs met
If we weren’t spending trillions on the war.
(When the people’s needs are met,
Then you can surely bet,
That we won’t be mad when sick kids get free health care.)

So: Make it single payer!
Hey, Congress, try again!
Give health care to all people
In the year two thousand ten.

We’ve been used, abused, ignored,
The profit’s at the top.
So many with no insurance,
This scam has got to stop!

So: Make it single payer!
Hey, Congress, try again!
Give health care to all people
In the year two thousand ten.

We want single-payer; it’’s what we deserve.
But Obama and Congress have both lost their nerve.
Adequate health care is a human right,
But who can afford it? The cost’’s out of sight!

We want single-payer; it’’s what we deserve.
But Obama and Congress have both lost their nerve.
Now we must buy coverage from insurance crooks,
Which just adds more profit to their bloated books!

We want single-payer; it’’s what we deserve.
But Obama and Congress have both lost their nerve.
We don’’t get health coverage ‘‘til we’’re sixty-five –
By then it’’s a wonder that we’’re still alive!

We want single-payer; it’’s what we deserve.
But Obama and Congress have both lost their nerve.
They have great health coverage paid for by the state.
Our kids deserve care, too, but they have to wait!

We want single-payer; it’’s what we deserve.
But Obama and Congress have both lost their nerve.
What they’’ve given us is not reform we’re due –
What they’’ve given us is a massive ‘“f- you’”!

CHORUS:
Don’t cut, don’t cut!
Don’t cut the budget we need, we need!
Don’t take, don’t take!
Don’t take home health care away!

We a-all are differently abled,
the safety net could be for you
So Arnie, please think before cutting,
some day you could need some help too!

CHORUS

We Aa-ll are in this together,
who knows what the future will bring?
We know that we must stand together,
so join with the Grannies and sing!

CHORUS

Note: Arnie refers to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was California governor when we sang this in front of the Federal Building in San Francisco in ’09.

There was an old lady who swallowed some forms
That annoyed and choked and stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to cover the fly.
I don’t know why she swallowed the fly.
I guess she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed her clock.
How absurd to swallow a clock!
She swallowed her clock to gain some time
To fill out the forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to cover her care
For the swallowed fly – why did she swallow the fly?
I guess she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a hammer.
Imagine that, she swallowed a hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out health forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to cover the fly.
I don’t know why, she swallowed the fly.
I guess she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a pol.
My what desperation, to swallow a pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out the forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to get the care
For the swallowed fly; why did she swallow the fly?
I guess she’ll die.

I know an old lady who wouldn’t swallow the line
That health care won’t help her, at least not this time.
She rebelled and threw up the name of the pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out the health forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to get the care
For the swallowed fly; why did she swallow the fly?
I guess she’ll die.

I know an old lady who demanded health care reform.
“By 2009 we’ve waited too long.”
She demanded health care reform with the great big hope
Never to hear again, “can’t help you this time.”
She rebelled and threw up the name of the pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out the health forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to get the care
For the swallowed fly (accidental, I hear).
Let’s not let her die.

There was an old lady who swallowed some forms
That annoyed and choked and stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to cover the fly.
I don’t know why she swallowed the fly.
I guess she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed her clock.
How absurd to swallow a clock!
She swallowed her clock to gain some time
To fill out the forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to cover her care
For the swallowed fly – why did she swallow the fly?
I guess she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a hammer.
Imagine that, she swallowed a hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out health forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to cover the fly.
I don’t know why, she swallowed the fly.
I guess she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a pol.
My what desperation, to swallow a pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out the forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to get the care
For the swallowed fly; why did she swallow the fly?
I guess she’ll die.

I know an old lady who wouldn’t swallow the line
That health care won’t help her, at least not this time.
She rebelled and threw up the name of the pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out health forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to cover the fly.
I don’t know why, she swallowed the fly.
I guess she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a pol.
My what desperation, to swallow a pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out the forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to get the care
For the swallowed fly; why did she swallow the fly?
I guess she’ll die.

I know an old lady who wouldn’t swallow the line
That health care won’t help her, at least not this time.
She rebelled and threw up the name of the pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out the health forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to get the care
For the swallowed fly; why did she swallow the fly?
I guess she’ll die.

I know an old lady who demanded health care reform.
“By 2009 we’ve waited too long.”
She demanded health care reform with the great big hope
Never to hear again, “can’t help you this time.”
She rebelled and threw up the name of the pol.
She swallowed the pol to grab up the hammer.
She swallowed the hammer to break the clock.
She swallowed the clock to gain some time
To fill out the health forms that stuck inside her.
She swallowed the forms to get the care
For the swallowed fly (accidental, I hear).

Let’s not let her die.