Occupation! Occupation! Occupation!
I like to think myself open minded
I get my media from online blogs
The media is no longer about the truth
YouTube channels
Mass media thrives as scandal breeds stories
Facebook pages
Social media drive people’s misunderstanding of politics
And the occasional newspaper article
They have their own agenda
Am I no longer open minded?
Look around you
Nothing but destruction
Try to see with your heart
A world of corruption
Turn off the lights; stare at the stars
When I look around, we are all beyond grumbling
We are beyond a shred of faith in those in charge.
Occupation! Occupation! Occupation! Occupation!
I’m mad
We have no leaders to believe in
Violence against women trivialised
I’m mad
At the educated becoming apathetic
The way we’re being manipulated by big business
I’m mad
Deaths receive more coverage when white people die
At activists becoming close minded
Point scoring in the commons
Music services treated as a luxury by the ignorant
I fear for a UK without free healthcare
People so ready to blame religion for the disgusting crimes individuals commit
I’m mad
I’m mad at a demographic state that listens to those that speak at the highest volume over those whose words are most wise
Don’t tell me I don’t count
Look around you
Nothing but destruction
Try to see with your heart
A world of corruption
Turn off the lights; stare at the stars
When I look around, we are all beyond grumbling
We are beyond anger
We’re beyond a shred of faith in those in charge
Occupation! Occupation!
Occupation! Occupation!
Occupation! Occupation!
Occupation! Occupation!

Occupation! Occupation! Occupation!
I like to think myself open minded
I get my media from online blogs
The media is no longer about the truth
YouTube channels
Mass media thrives as scandal breeds stories
Facebook pages
Social media drive people’s misunderstanding of politics
And the occasional newspaper article
They have their own agenda
Am I no longer open minded?
Look around you
Nothing but destruction
Try to see with your heart
A world of corruption
Turn off the lights; stare at the stars
When I look around, we are all beyond grumbling
We are beyond a shred of faith in those in charge.
Occupation! Occupation! Occupation! Occupation!
I’m mad
We have no leaders to believe in
Violence against women trivialised
I’m mad
At the educated becoming apathetic
The way we’re being manipulated by big business
I’m mad
Deaths receive more coverage when white people die
At activists becoming close minded
Point scoring in the commons
Music services treated as a luxury by the ignorant
I fear for a UK without free healthcare
People so ready to blame religion for the disgusting crimes individuals commit
I’m mad
I’m mad at a demographic state that listens to those that speak at the highest volume over those whose words are most wise
Don’t tell me I don’t count
Look around you
Nothing but destruction
Try to see with your heart
A world of corruption
Turn off the lights; stare at the stars
When I look around, we are all beyond grumbling
We are beyond anger
We’re beyond a shred of faith in those in charge
Occupation! Occupation!
Occupation! Occupation!
Occupation! Occupation!
Occupation! Occupation!

Cast
Sian Cameron, Mezzo soprano
Ryan Ross, Barritone

WNO Musicians
Christopher Vale, Bassoon
Lucie Sprague, Oboe
Daniel Rye, Clarinett
Tina Hitchens, Flute

Composer, Dan-Wyn Jones
Lyrics submitted by the public

Film by Tim Hopkins
Produced and engineered by James Clarke at Tŷ Cerdd Studios

Directed by Ewan Jones Morris

Black Christmas

Black Friday; Black Christmas; Black Jesus; Black Witness.

Let us feast. Gorge ourselves. May we choke on it. Everybody consume and forget about those outside of your room.

There will be no more white Christmases, long as they don't listen to eye witnesses.

The nights will no longer be silent, while the days are still violent.

As the world burns, the pig on the spit turns.

Shop 'til you drop or get killed by a cop.

Black Christmas.
All is lost, all is blight.
Black Christmas.
All is lost, all is blight.

Wall Street was a slave market before it was the stock market, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Brooks Brothers, Princeton, Lloyds of London, The Bank of England, The Church of England - all profited from the trade of African slaves. Think about the presents you buy and by whom they were made.

The nativity scene in Bethlehem, today the site of dead Palestinians.

Saying there's no room at the inn and closing borders is the same damn thing.

Black Christmas.
Terror on earth, good kill to all men.
Black Christmas.
Terror on earth, good kill to all men.

Hugo Boss, Kodak, VW, IBM, Nestle, Siemens, Bayer, Standard Oil, Ford Motors, Chase Bank, Coca-Cola, all did business with Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler.

Merry Christmas.

The views expressed here are those of the artist and do not necessarily reflect those of the Welsh National Opera and The Space.

I Can't Breathe

Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen
Nobody knows the sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen
No Glory hallelujah

Sometimes up, sometimes down
Oh, Lord
Sometimes dragged down to the ground
My sweet Lord

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows the sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
And the world turns round.

Arranged & Produced by Cerys Matthews
Engineered & Mixed by James Clarke
Musicians Cerys Matthews & Mason Neely

Recorded at Tŷ Cerdd Studios

Film by Cyrus Mirza'shafa

Joins us on twitter - twitter.com/_fivesongs
Amplify the protest - occupation.org.uk

The Sleeping-Mat Ballad

I made a friend, he wove this mat
this yellow mat I sleep on.
I think he would give his life
to shelter me, to protect me.
His heart is strong, stronger than his head.

We all lie down, a gentle breeze,
a gentle breeze refreshes our breathing,
a siren sound, our eyes lock,
more troubling than before when we were many.
‘it's now or never to be heard.’

Now it’s daybreak, we never pass a peaceful night,
I sometimes can't believe we've kept it going,
I tell myself as I compose a post:
‘Day 51 and waiting for some answers.’

I hear an unfamiliar sound and stop:
It's my friend running across the fast lane.
‘They ask why we're still here:
now they will see, now they will see.’

Walking towards the flashing lights,
he stops and turns and looks and smiles.

Do you think; if we stay;
we will win; don't pass by;
we're still here; help us win;
I am here; this is home;
help has come; help has gone;
people come; people go.

Director: Margaret Constantas
Composer: Judith Weir
Singer: Rebecca Afonwy-Jones
Pianist: Dan Perkin
Words: Tim Hopkins
Cinematography: Philip Cowan
Camera Assistants: Josh Greenway and Jon Smallox
Art Direction: Sarah Millward and Holly Woolveridge
Recorded by James Clarke at Tŷ Cerdd Studios

Joins us on twitter - twitter.com/_fivesongs
Amplify the protest - occupation.org.uk

Song 1 - Grains of Dust by Carleen Anderson

Verse 1
(You, me, are we
All for one or fall) Far from any worries of Third World Problems
(Far from Third World Problems) Entitled Paved Streets
(Paved Opportunity) Curbsides bordering the lawns for the chance of
(Golden Chances) Opportunity
(Or just plain lucky)

Chorus 1
Marching to the chorus singing Them or US
Vocalising We Not Them are Worthy of Love
Labelled as Superior or Less to the Gods
Blinded by the Separations Between Grains of Dust

Verse 2
(Fire) The fire blasting through the flesh of her loved one (His lifeless body falls) His lifeless body falls
Face down pressed against the ground
Cold, cruel payment
Breath and blood – Last Sounds

Chorus 2
Marching to the choir singing Them or Us
(The build up from repression The ongoing oppression - Long standing debts) Vocalising We Not Them are Worthy of Love
(The systematic weapons
Repeating unlearned lessons – over again) Labeling Superior or Less to the Gods
(The weary testifying
The worn out justifying – all sides will lose) Blinded by the Separations (The cycle of violence
Will only end when respect
Is for everyone
(Between Grains of Dust)
Parted by the pull of Power and Glory Blinded by the Separations Between Grains of Dust

Composed and performed by Carleen Anderson

Percussion Crispin Robinson

Music recorded and produced by Ty Cerdd studios.

Film by Tim Hopkins

Joins us on twitter - twitter.com/_fivesongs

Amplify the protest - occupation.org.uk