Kristin Lems
December 2
On this date in 1950, folksinger and songwriter Kristin Lems was born to an acclaimed concert pianist and a Dutch immigrant father. She grew up in Evanston, Illinois. She was a National Merit Scholar, a Fulbright scholar and recently completed her Ph.D. Accompanying herself on guitar, Kristin became the troubadour at 1970s rallies for the Equal Rights Amendment and women's rights, also writing topical songs on many progressive issues, such as safe energy, peace and racial equality. She has shared the stage with two First Ladies, Maya Angelou, Jacques Cousteau, Pete Seeger, Malvina Reynolds, Holly Near and Peter Paul and Mary. Gloria Steinem called her "a one-woman argument against the notion that the women's movement doesn't have a sense of humor." She has traveled widely and also performs in Persian. Kristin's many albums include "Upbeat!" and "Oh Mama--plus!" with many of her early hits. She sings an original song on "The Best of Broadside," a CD anthology issued by the Smithsonian/Folkways label. Kristin also appeared in the Freedom From Religion Foundation's first musical album, with Dan Barker, "My Thoughts Are Free," which benefited from her broad acquaintance with freethought folksongs old and contemporary. She has been named a "Woman of Illinois Repute," Humanist Heroine of the American Humanist Association and Freethought Heroine by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Days of the Theocracy
First they fight abortion,
Birth control is next,
Then comes sex if you're not married,
Finally, out goes sex.
Put the prayers back in the schools,
Install parochiaid,
Allow for corporal punishment,
And then you've got it made!
Chorus:
We're going back, back
To the good old days,
When men were really men
And women knew their place;
Back, back a couple of centuries,
And welcome back the days
Of the theocracy!
The family is so holy
There must be no divorce.
And if a wife is not content,
She must adjust, of course.
And if he's forced to beat her
It's all for her own good;
She must know what her limits are
As any woman should!
Chorus
The next to go is daycare,
It's all a commie plot!
What could be more fulfilling
Than a child, wanted or not?
The woman's work is housework--
God wanted it that way!
A salaried job degrades her, since
She never works for pay!
Chorus
They teach us woman's lot
Is love, honor and obey,
And while their crusty notions
Seem like jokes to us today.
They're sitting in the Capitol,
They're voting on our lives;
If we don't stop them soon
Our freedom will not long survive!
No going back, back
to the bad old days,
When men were really masters
And women were their slaves;
Let's go ahead, ahead
For future centuries
And build a world that's based
On true democracy.
And build a world that's based on true equality.
(A-person)
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