Makana Explains Why He Sang Protest Song to APEC Leaders in Hawaii
Hawaiian guitarist says he put his fears aside and listened to his heart when he chose to repeatedly sing his protest song, “We Are the Many,” to world leaders gathered for an APEC dinner Saturday.
“At the half-way point, I just had the urge to play it,” Makana, 33, told Civil Beat Sunday morning. “I didn’t want to be rude about it, but I wanted to sing this song to these people. At first, I was very, very, very nervous — there was Secret Service everywhere.”
The had just been released Saturday on You Tube and Facebook.
The opening lyrics are:
“Ye come here, gather ’round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who’ve trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage
“I received so many comments so quickly,” he said of the release. “I mentioned to fans that I was going to play that night and the response was overwhelming to sing it. I thought, I don’t know, I don’t want to get in trouble, what if they shoot me, or, I don’t know what. I’m scared. But my friends said to just do what I feel.”
Makana, who had played at the White House in 2009, said he was asked by the White House to play background music for the exclusive world leaders dinner at the Hale Koa, hosted by President Barack Obama. Makana said he played from 6:45 until a little past 9 p.m.
He said he didn’t let his nerves get the best of him, but said “every time I’d think about playing it, I’d shake.”
He eased into the song.
“The people closest to me turned around and gave me a funny look,” he said. “But nobody really knew what to say. When I would get their attention, I’d back off a bit. It was like a cat-and-mouse game. I played another song, but then had about a half-hour left so I sang it again. I just mutated it into a symphony that just went on and on, and I kept changing the way I sang it for the remaining time.”
“I kept repeating the last line: ‘Till you do the bidding of the many, not the few. We are the many, you are the few.'” He wore a home-made white T-shirt that read “Occupy With Aloha.”
Makana posted this video about the performance on YouTube:
He also was Sunday.
The performance was featured on , a website that describes itself as “a series of brainstorms and trainings to help activist groups carry out media-getting creative actions, focused on their own campaign goals.”
Makana said he’d never worked with the group before and couldn’t recall how the partnership came about. He only learned he would be performing at the event when the White House called him two weeks ago. “I don’t know how it happened. It’s not something I normally do,” he told Civil Beat.
Here are the complete lyrics to “We Are The Many”:
We Are The Many
Lyrics & Music by Makana
Makana Music LLC © 2011
Ye come here, gather ’round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who’ve trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage
From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won’t withdraw
We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few
Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight
They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free
We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few
You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none
So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest
We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few
You can’t divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can’t buy
Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail
We’ll occupy the streets
We’ll occupy the courts
We’ll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few
We are the many
You are the few
