Paul Stein uses his accordion, melodica, claviola, voice, & original songs to support peace, justice, & the environment. Co-founder of The Occuponics, who were active throughout Occupy Wall Street, he can be heard at marches, demonstrations, rallies, & vigils all around the New York City area, often with the Filthy Rotten System band.
The Occuponics, with Occupy Sax Man and Guitarmy plus OWS Pulse drummers, rocked the 2nd annual National Animal Rights Day gathering in Union Square North on Sunday, June 3, 2012.
In the video below, the band performs a special version of the Occuponics’ “I Don’t Know But I’ve Been Told,” which includes the lyrics: “I don’t know but I can see all God’s creatures want to be free,” and “I don’t know but I think it’s time to protect the planet from corporate crime.”
Thanks to videographer rrrina for getting this performance down on tape!
The Occuponics – along with The OWS Sax Man, Guitarmy and the OWS Pulse Drum Circle – provided musical support to the second annual Animal Rights Day ceremony in Union Square Park this past Sunday, June 3rd. Toward the end of our concert, it began to rain, but folks kept right on dancing, and this short video captures of the magic of dancing in the rain!
The Occuponics had the honor of marching with Pete when he marched from 92nd Street to Columbus Circle back in October 2011 to express his support of Occupy Wall Street. We learned a lot about what it takes to keep the music happening on a long march, actively appliy these lessons to our work with Guitarmy, a project loosely affiliated with the OWS Music Group.
Thanks to the wonderful friend and folksinger Steve Suffet for turning us onto this great video taken of Pete Seeger in Melburne, Australia, back in 1963. As Steve points out, this video captures Pete doing what he does best: getting a lot of people to sing great solidarity-building songs together.
“If you haven’t seen Occuponics yet, you should. This is music OWS style. They sing and play the accordion and the guitar and invite all other musicians to play and everyone to sing. They have a large repertoire of Occupy Wall Street related songs, both original and traditional in folk/protest and pop style. To see them in action, please go to: www.occuponics.com
Spring Awakening 2012 is happening at 1 PM, Central Park South on the West Side of Wollman Rink. How to get there? Read this page.
The Occuponics’ Stephen Carl Baldwin wrote this song after witnessing the ordeals suffered by various brave young women at Occupy Wall Street. Some were arrested, others beaten up, or bruised — physically or psycholocially — by these travails. The song is entitled “Never Stop The Spring;” lyrics are below the Soundcloud embed area.
Lauren is free, free as can be
She was arrested for dancing for democracy
I never knew that dance was such a dangerous thing
They can crush the flowers, but they can never stop the Spring
Lana is free, free as the air
She was arrested for drumming in the square
I never knew that music was such a dangerous thing
They can crush the flowers, but they can never stop the Spring
Mosiah is free, free as can be
They say she was jaywalking so they dragged her down the street
I never knew that walking’s such a dangerous thing
They can crush the flowers, but they will never crush the spring
Allegra is free, they busted her up
They threw down her camera but she picked it up
I never knew that truth is such a dangerous thing
They can crush the flowers, but they can never stop the Spring
They can crush the flowers, but they can never stop the Spring
Our friend and fellow musician Carlos Mandelbaum expounds on Occupy Wall Street in this video, recorded by Allegra Culpepper, at Union Square on Saturday, March 24. You can avail yourself of more of Carlos’ thought-provoking views at his site, http://www.carnivalofideas.com.
The Occuponics greatly enjoyed providing musical entertainment for Occupy Town Square’s “pop up” Occupation, which occurred on Sunday, March 25th, 2012. Although it rained a bit, the inclement weather could not damp the spirit of the peaceful demonstrators, and a fine time was had by all.
The band performed many songs at Occupy Fort Greene, both original, parodies, and traditional folk songs. Other musicians were also on hand, including Dave Lippman, and the irrepressible Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
The Occuponics jam with the renowned Carlos Mandelbaum at Union Square Park, NY, playing “This Park Is Your Mark,” a slightly modified version of Woody Guthrie’s classic “This Land Is Your Land.”
One of the great joys of playing folk music is that this kind of music, by definition, is subject to modification as times change. Like the United States Constitution, folk songs are “living documents” which belong to the people and can be modified to their current needs.
