Now that Mitt Romney – unwavering champion of corporate personhood – has won both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, we thought it appropriate to once again remind him of what seems obvious to many (including, in these past few days, the Montana Supreme Court and 67% of North Carolinians): that only people are people. But this time, we’ll do it in song, courtesy of Jan Edwards – who successfully managed to get her small town to abolish corporate personhood, as seen in This Land is Your Land – and guitarist/co-vocalist John Ause. Click “continue reading” for the lyrics and please, sing with us on this one!
The Personhood Song
– to the tune of “This Land is Your Land“
words by Jan Edwards
John Ause and Jan Edwards Vocals, John Ause Guitar
I am a person, you are a person,
With flesh and blood; with mind and conscience.
The corporation is not a person.
That word belongs to you and me.
They rape and plunder the world’s resources,
Destroying forests and killing wildlife.
The corporation must turn a profit,
They trample over you and me.
They dump big money into elections,
Buying our Congress and Legislatures.
The corporation, a legal fiction,
Now has more rights than you and me.
The Robber Barons bought off the judges
To give them rights in the constitution.
Who said the courts had the right to do that?
That job belongs to you and me.
The 1st Amendment protects our freedom
Of free expression and of religion.
The corporations have gone and stole it.
Those rights belong to you and me.
The 4th Amendment requires warrants
For search and seizure; but corporations
Evade the health codes and regulations
And environmental laws.
Whenever Walmart destroys a Main Street
And all the people rise up in protest,
The corporate cries of “Discrimination!”
Over-ride democracy.
If “We the People” are truly sovereign
And rule the country through our elections,
Then we must take back from corporations
Rights that were meant for you and me.
I am a person, you are a person,
With flesh and blood; with mind and conscience.
The corporation is not a person.
That word belongs to you and me.
That word belongs to you and me.
This Land is Your Land 