Lyrics and Liner Notes

OK really what we have here are liner notes to all of my recordings. But lyrics to most songs I wrote from 1998 to 2004 can be found in my first songbook (below). And you can download my Songbook Volume II for lyrics and chords to most songs I wrote between 2005 and 2011 or so. I also have lyrics optimized for bigness to pretty much everything I wrote between 1998-2012, which are designed for me to use on stage when I'm using my iPad as a teleprompter, but you can have a copy, too, if you want... Many songs have been translated into German, Japanese, Arabic, Danish and other languages. Here is a site with some Spanish translations. Here are some German translations. And here are some Japanese translations!

Everything Can Change (Liberation Records, 2013) 17 new songs recorded in Oregon and Florida

99% (Liberation Records, 2012) 99 Songs for the 99%

Meanwhile In Afghanistan (Liberation Records, 2012) Full-on studio project plus acoustic version!

Big Red Sessions (Liberation Records, 2011) 13 original songs recorded with some of Portland's finest musicians.

Ten New Songs (2011) (Liberation Records, 2011) Solo studio recording with me singing my own harmonies.

Ten New Songs (Liberation Records, 2010) Solo studio recording, mostly songs I wrote in 2010.

Troubador: People's History in Song (Liberation Records, 2010) Songs about historical events, from various recordings, including new stuff.

Waiting for the Fall - A Retrospective (Liberation Records, 2009) A "best of" chosen by me of songs from 1998-2009.

Ten Thousand Miles Away (Liberation Records, 2009) Solo studio recording, mostly of songs and poems I wrote in 2009.

The Commons (Irregular Records, 2007) Recorded live at Club Passim with Eric Royer on banjo and Allie Rosenblatt on harmony vocals.

Halliburton Boardroom Massacre (MI5 Records/Caroline Distribution, 2006) Studio recording with Sean Staples producing and playing most of my parts, too!

Songs for Mahmud (Ever Reviled Records, 2004) Solo studio recording.

The Return (Ever Reviled Records, 2003) Studio recording with Sean Staples producing and playing, among several other stellar Boston-area musicians.

Behind the Barricades: The Best of David Rovics (AK Press/Daemon Records, 2003) A "best of" from my first several recordings, chosen by members of the AK Press collective.

Hang A Flag In The Window (Liberation Records, 2002) Mostly live recording with one guitar and two voices -- me and Allie Rosenblatt.

Living In These Times (Liberation Records, 2001) Solo recording, partly live and partly studio, recorded in late September, 2001.

Live At Club Passim (Liberation Records, 2000) Recorded live at Club Passim bluegrass-style with Sean Staples on mandolin, Eric Royer on banjo and others.

We Just Want the World (Liberation Records, 1999) My first CD of all original material.