Please purchase the single “Dam That River” below –
all profits will be donated to Survival International and Rainforest Action Network
“Dam That River” is about the displacement of various tribes of the Amazon by the Brazilian government for the Belo Monte hydro-dam project begun under former president Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff was impeached and removed from the presidency in 2016 and there were signs in early 2018 that Brazil would abandon new plans for hyro dam development, but in November of 2018 Brazil’s newly elected president, Michel Temer has shown renewed contempt for the regions’ indigenous, pledging to sell off protected lands in the Amazon and stating that “Minorities have to adapt to the majority, or simply disappear.” In 2017 he pledged “If I get there [become president], there will not be a single square centimetre demarcated as indigenous land.” Temer has vowed to continue completion of the Belo Monte project despite concerns for environmental sustainability and the rights of indigenous inhabitants.
Proud citizens, a nation on the rise
The World Cup and Olympics in two years’ time
A few more deaths may be the price to pay
For the stadiums to be ready for the games to play
After banning beer in arenas after deaths at soccer games
We vote for a reversal so our sponsor can proclaim
That cerveja would be flowing in the stadiums again
‘Cause the king of beers it is quite clear has come to take his reign
Oh, here in the Amazon we’ve got some pesky laws
To protect the rainforest but don’t take any pause
Got to build lots of dams for the energy we need
So move the tribes aside and forge ahead with speed
Just use the power bestowed to you and wield the mighty pen
And inconvenient laws are gone ’til we want ‘em back again
Don’t worry about the residents we force to relocate
‘Cause 25,000 Indian votes a president does not make
Oh, dam that river, and dam what they might say
About the Kayapo and anybody standing in our way
Can’t let outdated livelihoods obstruct ambitious plans
Creating two years worth of jobs re-purposing the lands
So get yourselves out of the way and stop blocking the roads
We kindly have provided you with new concrete abodes
The fish have left the Xingu, so take a job among the crew
And help construct the very dam that’s planned to displace you
Oh, what do wind and solar power have to do
With our consortium of hydro plants and fossil fuels?
If you think that we need your blessing, well then please
Ask the U.S., Canada and the Spanish and the Portuguese
You think we must consult you, get permission from your tribe?
Well honorable Cardoso she has ruled quite otherwise
And a re-imagined forest code from Madame President
Makes it quite clear that we can clear you from your residents
So dam that river and damn what they might say
‘bout the Juruna tribe and anybody standing in our way
Can’t let outdated livelihoods obstruct ambitious plans
Creating two years worth of jobs re-purposing the lands
So get yourselves out of the way and stop blocking the roads
We kindly have provided you with new concrete abodes
The fish have left the Xingu, take a job among the crew
And help construct the very dam that’s planned to displace you
Yes – dam that river, and dam what they might say
‘bout the Arara tribe and anyone that’s standing in our way
Got aluminum to smelt and rivers to divert
Might cost more than it saves but it’ll be someone else’s term
The fish have left the Xingu, take a job among the crew
And help construct the very dam that’s planned to displace you