A Song for the Dead

Printer-friendly version

We all love a clever, humorous song parody with a transgender twist.
I regret to inform you this isn't one of those lighthearted ditties. It's based on a tune called
People Who Died by Jim Carroll ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt5OZJ1LrbQ )
and is posted in commemoration of Transgender Day of Remembrance 2020

A SONG FOR THE DEAD
by LAIKA

.
Beth was jumped and murdered by two guys from a van
for no better reason than that they'd clocked her as trans
Down in Sao Paulo this past year was not so great
for nearly a dozen trans girls who met this same grim fate
They're the reason we've gather here, this November 20
to read this list of victims and fuck no, it isn't funny

These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
They were just like me, and they died

Cheree got murdered by her trick and set on fire
They had to use dental records to identify her
The perp did just a year with a “trans panic” defense
There's far too many folks who think this travesty made sense
And far too few came to Cheree's funeral to cry
She was a sister of mine, and she died

These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
They were just like us, and they died

Up in Nebraska a kid named Brandon tried
To set out on a new life as the man he was inside
Fell in with some low-lifes he thought were his good buds
Til they found out his little secret and killed him in cold blood
They made a film about it you might've seen called Boys Don't Cry
But trans boys don't cry... they DIE!

These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
They just wanted to live, but they died

Transphobes have murdered 53 Americans this year
and many more worldwide, the exact number's not clear
and many who have fallen these statistics tend to hide
cause there's no official count of those who were drove to suicide
In June we can all party, we can celebrate trans pride
But on this bleak November day we light candles for those who died

These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
These are people who died, died
They were human beings, and they died

We must all stand together 'gainst those dark and hateful forces
that would silence our voices and deny us any choices
Fear might be their weapon but love can cast out fear
We stand in light, we stand in truth, and we shall purservere
So though we take this one day to remember those now gone
We still hold our heads up, we still carry on

,

I apologize if reading this song bummed you out.
Writing it sure bummed me out, but it seemed necessary.
Any comments and/or hugs you can spare will be greatly appreciated.

up
38 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

Nothing to like...

Andrea Lena's picture

and all too much to sadly acknowledge. :(

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

moving

its too much to hope that next year there will be no more names, but a lot fewer would good

DogSig.png

Hope

Patrick Malloy's picture

We must all hold on to the hope that things, attitudes and beliefs will continue to change for the better. Hopefully the coming year will have far fewer lives lost to hate.
Big hugs to everyone who reads this.

Patrick Malloy

A Borrowed Song

joannebarbarella's picture

There are only ourselves to look out for us. The mainstream doesn't even care enough to write a song for us.