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.
“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
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 had the rare pleasure of jamming with the polymath Carlos Mandelbaum (AKA David Intrator) on Wednesday, March 21, the fourth day of the Occupation of Union Square. Here the band performs “I Don’t Know But I’ve Been Told (Occupy People Are Mighty Bold),” an original composition by the Occuponics’ Stephen Carl Baldwin. This song has proven to be popular among the demonstrators, and is often requested when the Occuponics are on the scene.
The Occuponics’ Stephen Carl Baldwin and Paul Stein perform at Liberty Square (AKA Zuccotti Park) on March 16, 2012, participating in COOLS (the Cultural Occupation of Liberty Square), a winter series of lunchtime performances and concerts whose purpose is to demonstrate that Zuccotti Park has not been abandoned and that Occupy Wall Street has not collapsed. Thanks to Robert K. Chin for making this recording. We are always glad to see Robert recording OWS, because he really know what he is doing!
The Occuponics Perform in a worldwide streamcast of The People Staged "Father$ of Lies." Photo credit: Stacy Lanyon.
The Occuponics performed with The People Staged this past Saturday night, providing music for an original play entitled “FATHER$ OF LIES.” The performance was streamed live to the world as part of the international broadcast ‘Low Lives: Occupy!’ on March 3, 2012. The music performed was “I Don’t Know But I’ve Been Told,” an original composition by the Occuponics’ Stephen Carl Baldwin.
This past Sunday, February 26th, Tompkins Square Park was reoccupied by Occupy Town Square, a series of “pop-up” occupations of public spaces that’s done a number of interesting “mobile occupations,” including actions at Washington Square Park and the West Park Presbyterian Church. The event included plenty of music, art, poetry, drama, crafts, and teach-ins, and The Occuponics were there. Here, Stephen C. Baldwin performs two Occuponics favorites, “I Don’t Know But I’ve Been Told/Occupy People Are Mighty Bold” and “Wall Street, Your Kingdom Must Come Down,” a song derived from an old gospel tune taught to us by Painless Parker (AKA Noam Berg). The accompanying female voice belongs to the polymath Allegra Culpepper, who has both performed at and documented the Occupy Wall Street movement for many months.
