Burn It Down

Rodney Coronado was arrested for a speech
That he gave one evening by the San Diego beach
He stated his opinions, they sounded just like mine
And now they want to put him behind bars til 2029

The prosecutor said the problem was the speech it showed intent
I couldn’t figure out exactly what he meant
You can’t describe an action and say you thought that it was swell
So what’ll happen when we sing this, who the heck can tell

We don’t like the condo and we’re gonna burn it down
Corporate terrorists, drive them out of town
We’ll bring a lot of gasoline, pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer and run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down

Now if you just sang that chorus then you just broke the law
To be an eco-terrorist now you just gotta flap your jaw
And hey who knows by the time you have a chance to blink
Whether you’re a criminal might depend on what you think

We don’t like the bulldozers and we’re gonna burn them down
Corporate terrorists, drive them out of town
We’ll bring a lot of gasoline, pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer and run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down

First they came for Rod, maybe next they come for you
And I’ll tell you what I think all of us should do
Sing this song with me, raise your fist and caterwaul
If we fight together they can’t arrest us all

We don’t like the Wal-Mart and we’re gonna burn it down
Corporate terrorists, drive them out of town
We’ll bring a lot of gasoline, pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer and run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down

Buy/share the album:

Sheet music:
Burn It Down

“Burn It Down” originally appeared on the 2007 CD, The Commons. A more Afropop version of the song appears on the 2011 CD, Big Red Sessions.

When convicted monkeywrencher, Rod Coronado, gave a speech in San Diego, California about his political convictions, he was convicted. The charge was that he answered an audience member’s question about how he burned down a particular building. Rod allegedly briefly described the process very simply. The kind of description you can find easily online or in your local library’s copy of the Anarchist Cookbook. But under an anti-speech law, Rod was threatened with a potential 25 years in prison. Rod tried to take this to trial, but after a hung jury, he took a plea bargain, and went to prison for a year — for a speech. The law he broke is an easy one for us to break, too, which is convenient. Just sing the chorus to this song, and you theoretically are a criminal!