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Tear the System Down

by Cat Clyde

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about

All proceeds of this will be donated between NCCT and ACLU.

When I was about 14 I heard the song "Mr. Hitler” by Lead Belly for the first time. I thought it was the most incredible protest song and even then always wanted to rewrite it so other people could feel inspired and connect to it the way that I did. With everything that was going on in the world, with the Black Lives Matter movement, I decided to bring it back out to see what happens and ended up rewriting the whole thing into “Tear the System Down". As the song is a rework, I wanted to donate all proceeds to two different charities and be able to support some causes that I really love. I am Métis, and the racism and discrimination of Indigenous people in Canada has always disheartened and devastated me. I wanted to contribute to something that helped Indigenous people connect with their culture that was destroyed and taken away from them. I also felt that because the current movement is rooted in the African American racism and discrimination and the song that I rewrote and inspired me so much was written by an African American, I also wanted to contribute to justice for that community. Much of the music I adore is rooted in Indigenous and African roots and quite frankly all the music that we listen to today and yesterday was formed because of these roots. I am grateful that Lead Belly wrote this song, and grateful I get to bring new meaning and relevance to it today.

lyrics

The man don't give me clean water
The man don't give me clean air
The man don't give me clean water
The man don't give me clean air

The man don't grow good food
And the man don't fight fair

The man don't care about you
The man don't care about me
The man don't care about you
The man don't care about me

The man don't care about the first nations
The black, brown, locked up, or the free

We gotta tear the system down
We gotta tear the system down
We gotta tear the system down someday

We gotta bring it to the ground
We gotta bring it to the ground
We gotta bring it to the ground someday

All the man cares about is
Cold hard cash
All the man cares about is
Cold hard cash
He'll shoot you down in the street
And while you're bleeding out he'll walk on past

The man don't care about music
The man don't care about art
The man don't care about music
The man don't care about art

All he cares about is brainwashing people
To fill their cart

We gotta tear the system down
We gotta tear the system down
We gotta tear the system down someday

We gotta bring it to the ground
We gotta bring it to the ground
We gotta bring it to the ground someday

The man don't care about your family
And he don't give you no home
The man don't care about your family
And he don't give you no home

He only want to collect your rent
Your electricity and telephone

Man don't give nothing back to this poor earth
The man don't give nothing back to this here poor old earth
He just cuts, and kills, and takes to fill his purse

We gotta tear the system down
We gotta tear the system down
We gotta tear the system down someday

We gotta bring it to the ground
We gotta bring it to the ground
We gotta bring it to the ground today

credits

released August 7, 2020
original song by Leadbelly
performed by: Cat Clyde
produced by: Strummer Jasson & Cat Clyde
Mixed by: Strummer Jasson
Mastered by: Robert Nation

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Cat Clyde London, Ontario

Cat Clyde, a brand new artist out of Stratford, Ontario. A fresh take on the classic sounds of yesteryear; breathing new life into the velvety vocal, tack-piano, slide-guitar-style that can instantly walk you through the swinging doors of a packed saloon. ... more

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