Standing on the Bridge
1. Something’s going on, better check it out
Cars going by all beep and shout
Must be the peace vigil ’cause I saw friends
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.
2. With the river below, we gather here on top
Every week working for the war to stop
And till it does we’ll be back again
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.
4. Got a few too many things to do
I’m all played out when the day is through
But I don’t rue the time I spend
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.
Bridge:
I saw Larry there, Mary there, Kim and Pat
A gray-haired vet with a “Dump Bush” hat
A couple of kids from Buffalo Ridge
And the McDonald sisters at the Lake Street Bridge
4. Here’s a big fact that’ll break your heart
When this wars done another starts
Yup, we know it’s a long haul we’re in
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.
5. When people get together to do what’s right
You never have seen such a lovely sight
The meeting’s set, and I’ll attend
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.
Bridge:
One guy never stopped crossing the road and back
With a sign saying “US OUT OF IRAQ”
A bus driver waved, and I thought “Wow,
We’re not the fringe we’re in the mainstream now.”
6. When I die scatter my ashes high
Over the river in the city sky
So I’ll be there when you feel the wind
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war
Extra:
There’s one thing none of us here can stand
An Oval Office with a macho man.
There’s work to do that’s why we’ve been
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.
Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2007 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.
What: weekly peace vigil, since 1999. Still running in 2024.
When: every Wednesday at 5 pm
Where: the Lake Street Bridge spanning the Mississippi river between Minneapolis and St. Paul.
It started in 1999, when a bunch of Minnesota peace organizations got together to protest the war in Yugoslavia. When that war ended, they kept going, shifting their focus to the inhumane sanctions against Iraq. Ten years later, it was about the Iraq occupation and the war in Afghanistan. The crimes against humanity keep recurring, in new forms. The vigil continues. Recorded with Linda Breitag.