Need help coming up with the right words? Share ideas for your chants and rally cries here!

Shorter Chants:Short Chants for Jan 10 event:

Gay, Straight, Black, White
Marriage is a civil right.

Truth
Justice
The American Way
All means All
Starting today!

Stop the Lying, Stop the H8 (Hate)!
Separate the church and state!

Equal Marriage, Gay or Straight!
Spread the Love, It's Not Too L8 (Late)!

equality for all (x3)

What do we want? EQUAL RIGHTS!
When do we want them? NOW

Spread the love!
End the hate!
Down with proposition 8!"

Out of the closet and into the streets! (repeat)

Together we stand.
Together we fight.
We demand our equal rights!

[Leader]: In California
[Group]: And in every state
[Leader]: The people say:
[Group]: NO to hate!
(repeat with additional states)




We want to keep this clean and have a positive impact. What are some things we can say as we march to help get our message out there?

• Gay, straight, black, white! Marriage is our equal right! (I chant this a bit differently, "...Marriage is a Civil Right!") Could work back and forth..a little togetherness never hurts!
  
• What do we Want? Equal Rights! When do we want it? NOW!
• O beautiful, for special guys,
  For Amber and her friend,
  For people mounting travesties,
  A love for truth that's plain!
  America! America! You force your will on me,
  And bound our mouth, you'll have no spouse, from you and him to she.
  O beautiful, for people we meet,
  Who wear, a patterned dress.
  A thoroughfare on Freedom Street,
  And across the wilderness!
  America! America! You force your will on me,
  And bound our mouth, you'll have no spouse, from you and him to she.
  O beautiful, how you disapprove,
  In my taking of a wife,
  More than that you stole my love,
  I've loved him all my life!
  America! America! You force your will on me,
  And bound our mouth, you'll have no spouse, from you and him to she.
  O beautiful, for all our dreams,
  To see beyond our fears,
  And let's not go to extremes,
  Just give Liberty and Freedom to the Queers!
• Hey Megan Coffey, help us out on the above! We figure you might already know the tune!
• ______________________________________________________
• 
  
• 8, What Is It Good For? (sung to the tune of Edwin Starr's "War")
• I suggest singing this a capella and with less abrasiveness than "War" and more of an R&B style.
  

8, yeah What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Uh-huh 8, yeah What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Say it again, y'all 8, good God What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Listen to me Ohhh, 8, I despise Because it's stripped away Someone's rights 8 means tears To thousands of lovers' eyes When they can't get married Because of hate I said, 8, Good God, y'all What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Say it again 8, whoa, Lord What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Listen to me

8, it ain't nothin' But a heartbreaker 8, friend only to the undertaker Ooooh, 8 It's an enemy to civil rights The point of 8 blows my mind 8 has caused unrest Within those for equality Marriage is our right Why take this right Aaaaah, 8-huh Good God y'all What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Say it, say it, say it Hate, uh huh yeah What is it good for Absolutely nothing Listen to me 8, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker 8, it's got one friend That's discrimination Ooooh, 8, has shattered Many a young man's dreams Made him disgruntled, at the very least Life is much too short and precious To spend spreading hate these days 8 can't give love It can only take rights away

Ooooh, 8 Good God y'all What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Say it again 8, whoa, Lord What is it good for Absolutely nothin' Listen to me 8, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker 8, friend only to the undertaker Peace, love and understanding Tell me, is there no place for them today They say "we must guard traditional marriage For our families are at grave stake Ooooooh, 8 Good God y'all What is it good for You tell me Say it, say it, say it, say it 8 Good God y'all What is it good for Stand up and shout it Nothin'

• L-O-V-E Words by NAT KING COLE
• 
  L is for the way you look at me
  O is for the only one I see
  V is very, very extraordinary
  E is even more than anyone that you adore can
• Love is all that I can give to you
  Love is more than just a game for two
  Two in love can make it
  Take my heart and please dont break it
  Love was made for me and you
• 
  L is for the way you look at me
  O is for the only one I see
  V is very, very extraordinary
  E is even more than anyone that you adore can
• Love is all that I can give to you
  Love is more than just a game for two
  Two in love can make it
  Take my heart and please dont break it
  Love was made for me and you
  Love was made for me and you
  Love was made for me and you
• __________________________________________________________________________________________________

Going To The Chapel Lyrics by The Crystals

Going to the chapel and we're gonna to get married.
Going to the chapel and we're gonna to get married.
Gee, I really love you and we're gonna to get married.
Going to the chapel of love.

Spring is here,
the sky is blue.
Whoa! the birds all sing as if they knew.
Today's the day, we'll say, "I do"
and we'll never be lonely anymore.

Chorus:
Because we're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married.
Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married.
Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married.
Going to the chapel of love.

Bells will ring,
the sun will shine.
Whoa, I'll be his and he'll be mine.
We'll love until the end of time
and we'll never be lonely anymore.

Chorus:
Because we're going to the chapel and we're gonna get married.
Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married.
Gee, I really love you and we're goinna get married.
Going to the chapel of love.
(yeah yeah yeah yeah)
Going to the chapel of love.
(yeah yeah yeah yeah)
Going to the chapel of love...(fade out)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
L-o-v-e Lyrics by Nat King Cole

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very very extra-ordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore can

Love- its all that i could give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

yeah....
L is for the way you look-you lookin at me
O is for the only one i see
V is very very extra-ordinary, now
E is even more than any anyone that you adore can

Love is all that i can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you















The next songs/chants are courtesy of Marriage Equality USA and the fabulously gifted lyricist, Megan Coffey. Please Share!

• Love is Great! No on 8!
• With Liberty and Justice for All (say what)
  With Liberty and Justice for All (say what)
• Constitution under attack
  What do we do?
  Stand Up Fight Back
  Civil Rights Under Attack
  What do we do?
  Stand Up Fight Back
  Progressive Values under attack
  What do we do?
  Stand Up Fight Back
• I WILL BE MARRIED (sung to the tune of “I Will Survive”)
  
  First I was afraid, I was petrified
  Kept thinking I could never live without my civil rights
  But then you got down on one knee and pressed my fingers to your lips
  And you asked if I would join you in domestic partnership
  
  Oh no not me, I will be married!
  Oh as long as I’m American I want equality
  Okay they gave us civil unions and domestic partnerships
  Don’t they know that those won’t help us when we go away on trips?
  
  All right let’s go, walk down the aisle
  There’s nothing short of equal marriage gonna make me smile
  They finally throw us a few rights and just expect us to be pleased
  Well, we’re savin’ celebration till we get equality
  
  Oh no not me, I will be married!
  Oh as long as I’m American, I want equality
  They shouldn’t make up stupid names, they shouldn’t treat us like we’re less
  When all we want is equal justice, equal rights, equal respect
  And that’s with marriage
  
  At first I was afraid, I was petrified
  Just thinking I could never live without my civil rights
  But then you got down on one knee and pressed my fingers to your lips
  And you asked if I would join you in domestic partnership
  
  Oh no not me, I will be married!
  Oh as long as I’m American, I want equality
  I won’t be domesticated, won’t be civil-unionized
  We’re supposed to all be equal in the Constitution’s eyes
  
  All right let’s go, walk down the aisle
  There’s nothing short of equal marriage gonna make me smile
  They finally throw us a few rights and just expect us to be pleased
  Well, we’re savin’ celebration till we get equality
  
  Oh no not me, I will be married!
  Oh as long as I’m American, I want equality
  They shouldn’t make up stupid names, they shouldn’t treat us like we’re less
  When all we want is equal justice, equal rights, equal respect
  
  Let’s go, walk down the aisle
  There’s nothing short of equal marriage gonna make me smile
  They finally throw us a few rights and just expect us to be pleased
  Well, we’re savin’ celebration till we get equality
  I will be married!
• RESPECT
  
  What we want
  (we’re gonna get it)
  Are equal rights
  (so don’t forget it)
  All we’re askin’
  Is for a little respect (just a little bit)
  Uh huh (just a little bit)
  
  We got kids
  And we got houses
  We just want
  To marry our spouses
  All we’re askin’
  Is for a little respect (just a little bit)
  Uh huh (just a little bit)
  
  Awww…every year we pay
  All our taxes
  So all we’re askin’
  Is equal access
  To civil marriage licenses
  From City Hall
  
  Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-respect (just a little bit)
  Uh huh (just a little bit)
  
  R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me
  R-E-S-P-E-C-T, marriage equality
  
  Sock it to me, sock it to me….
• HOMOPHOBE
  (sung to the tune of “Hound Dog”)
  
  You ain’t nothin’ but a homophobe
  Takin’ all my rights
  You ain’t nothin’ but a homophobe
  Takin’ all my rights
  You can’t claim to value fam’lies
  ‘Cause you sure don’t value mine.
  
  When you said you love families
  That was just a lie
  When you said you love families
  That was just a lie
  You can’t claim to value fam’lies
  ‘Cause you sure don’t value mine
  
  (repeat to heart’s content)
  
  
• Get Together (sung to tune by Youngbloods)
  
  Love is but a song to sing
  Fear's the way we die
  You can make the mountains ring
  Or make the angels cry
  Though the bird is on the wing
  And you may not know why
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  Some may come and some may go
  We shall surely pass
  When the one that left us here
  Returns for us at last
  We are but a moment's sunlight
  Fading in the grass
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  If you hear the song I sing
  You will understand (listen!)
  You hold the key to love and fear
  All in your trembling hand
  Just one key unlocks them both
  It's there at you command
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
  
  Come on people now
  Smile on your brother
  Everybody get together
  Try to love one another
  Right now
• Celebration – Cool and the Gang
  
  Wahoo! Ending discrimination!
  Wahoo! Talking about liberation!
  Celebrate No on 8, come on! (Let's celebrate)
  Educate gay and straight, come on! (Let's educate)
  There's a protest goin' on right here
  A fight for freedom, to last throughout the years
  So bring your loved ones, and your neighborhood too
  We gonna make equality for me and you
  Come on now
  Celebration
  Let's all celebrate and have a good time
  Education, We gonna educate and change hearts and minds
  It's time to come together
  It's up to us, to keep this law forever
  Everyone around the world
  Come on!
  
  Woo-hoo! Time for separation
  Woo-hoo! Time for separation
  Separate church ‘n’ state, come on! (Let’s separate)
  Separate church ‘n’ state, come on! (Let’s separate)
  
  Now there’s a problem going on right here
  A separation that hasn’t been too clear
  Between religion and the government
  It’s all laid down in the First Amendment
  
  Come on, now Separation
  Let’s steer clear of religious waters
  Separation It was the will of our Founding Fathers
  It's time to come together
  It's up to us, to keep the law forever
  Everyone around the world
  Come on!
  
  Wahoo! We Passed theLegislation
  Wahoo! We won that Litigation
  
  Celebrate good times, come on! (End Discrimination)
  Celebrate good times, come on! (Time for Liberation)
  
  We’re gonna have a Good Time Tonight
  Vote No on 8 It’s Alright, Baby
  We’re gonna have a Good Time Tonight
• Heartbreak Hotel
  
  Well, since I came out as a gay (man/girl)
  They want me now to dwell,.
  Just down at the end of lonely street
  At heartbreak hotel.
  
  Vote No on Prop 8, baby,
  Vote No on Prop 8,
  Vote No on Prop 8, it’s a lie.
  
  And though they claim they’re righteous
  Walk a mile in my shoes
  Causing broken-hearted lovers
  to just cry away their blues
  
  Vote No on Prop 8, baby,
  Vote No on Prop 8,
  Vote No on Prop 8, it’s a lie.
  
  Well, the preacher calls it sinnin’
  Man is that a lie
  It’s judgin’ other people,
  with a stick in their own eye.
  
  Vote No on Prop 8, baby,
  Vote No on Prop 8,
  Vote No on Prop 8, it’s a lie.
  
  Well, the Good Lord said it justly
  Do to others as you’d to do to you
  And voting Yes on Prop 8 ain’t the right thing to do
  
  Vote No on Prop 8, baby,
  Vote No on Prop 8,
  Vote No on Prop 8, it’s a lie.
  
  (short musical break)
  
  A better way to do it
  Let us all be treated the same
  And celebrate each other on our equal wedding days
  
  Vote No on Prop 8, baby,
  Vote No on Prop 8,
  Vote No on Prop 8, it’s a lie.
• I FEEL GOOD
  (sung to the tune of James Brown’s “I Got You”)
  
  I feel good
  like equal rights should
  I' feel good
  like equal rights should now
  so good, so good
  marriage equality
  
  I feel nice
  Now that I have my rights
  I feel nice
  Now that I have my rights
  so nice, so nice
  marriage equality
  
  Now I have my rights at last
  I’m no longer second class
  Now I can marry just whom I choose
  I’ve stopped singin' the blues
  
  I' feel good
  like equal rights should
  I' feel good
  like equal rights should now
  so good, so good
  marriage equality
• JOY TO THE WORLD
  (sung to the tune of the Three Dog Night song)
  
  Martin Luther was a preacher, he said whether black or white,
  Everyone deserves a little dignity, and segregation just ain’t right
  (You know that segregation just ain’t right)
  Singin’…
  
  (chorus:)
  Joy to the world, all the boys and girls now
  Joy to American equality, joy to you and me
  
  The law said a white can’t marry a black, a yellow, red or brown
  They said it was for God, but it really was for hate,
  So we tore that hatred down
  Singin’…
  
  (chorus)
  
  Today it’s decades later, the battle’s still not won
  Prop 8 would segregate the gay and straight
  And justice wouldn’t be done
  Singin’…
  
  (chorus)
  
  If I was the king of the world, I’ll tell you what I’d do
  I’d throw away the prejudice, the –isms and the hate
  And then I’d marry you!
• MARRIAGE COUNTER BLUES
  
  I've been cheated
  Been mistreated
  When will I be married
  
  I've been put down
  I've been pushed 'round
  When will I be married
  
  When I bring my woman
  That I want for mine
  They always breaks my heart in two
  It happens every time
  
  I've been made blue
  I've been lied to
  When will I be married
  
  When I bring my woman
  That I want for mine
  They always breaks my heart in two
  It happens every time
  
  Oh, I've been cheated
  Been mistreated
  When will I be married
  When will I be married
  Tell me, when will I be married (end)
  
  I'd like to see some modern takes on this theme, anyone want to try a modern song?