Bard, Poet, Rapper, Scribe I get asked all the time why'd I want to rap fools assume i'm a thug, or that I think that I'm black forget that - I ain't never been no one but me 'n writin' rhymes is the only time I really feel free it's like therapy to help me sort my thoughts out helps me keep on pushin when I want to drop out I remember Tupac & Biggie used to sing to me had me feelin like a rapper was the thing to be a way to tell my stories, express myself, let out my rage and my pain and even ask for help and now I'm in the limelight, cuz I rhyme tight 15 minutes as a star, so i'd better shine bright tryna do what's right, not just what's easy but it's hard to be righteous in a world this sleazy so I've got nothin but love for my folks in the struggle whether playin the game or caught in the hustle I'm a bard, poet, rapper, scribe, just an ordinary man, glad to be alive passionate, pushin' it, makein' moves steppin up my game and keepin it smooth if you're hustlin to live, go on and get that gouda if you need ya medicine, go on and smoke that buddha it's not my thing, but I can't hate too busy tryna organize to smash the state (ha!) and I just can't front and write rhymes about rims like I can't afford to wrap my toes in tims instead I'm kickin these rhymes in my combat boots so I feel ya when ya say that ya need that loot I drive an old beat up pickup truck the cab is cramped, the mileage sucks but at least it gets me from A to B 'sides I bought it to drive, not for ya'll to see like Ice Cube said - don't be material the fact I'm breathin' at all is a miracle mad folks in in this struggle get killed but still as long as I'm alive, I've gotta keep it real reppin for my clan & all my kinfolk, everybody comin up cuz fa'real - we've been broke far too long, so we gotta stay strong scots, irish, welsh, manx, cornish, bretons, and on for all my bards and poets, rappers and scribes no matter where you come from, it's time to thrive so let's do the damn thang, like snare, kick, swing this is beltaine's fire, check the style we bring celtic soul, hip hop beats, riot folk for my folks to get ya on your feat fusion is the future, and the future's now all I really want is freedom, the question's how head full of ideas, gotta let them out so I'll keep on rappin, and there ain't no doubt I love music, love life, love my family and friends it all comes full circle back to where it began

Liberty Abacha, Amin, Banzer, Stroesener, Christiani, Doe, Oliviera, Duvalier Martinez, Mobotu, Ozal, Bolkiah, the list goes on and on america Once upon a time it was all about the rhyme but now, somehow, it's all about crime like we're all doing time, and yet we keep building prisons and I can't understand what ya'll think we're getting for our money, ain't it funny how we set our priorities? paying pigs to oppress the poor and minorities? while the biggest criminals all get re-elected I could be naïve, but somehow I expected more from america – the 'land of the free' where life has a price and freedom has a fee some of ya'll might say that i'm unrealistic cuz I can't make peace with this system sadistic ya'll might have missed it, if you weren't paying attention the american gulags indefinite detentions bear a striking resemblance to something we've seen before: the fascists they've been fundin' since the second world war. suharto, pinochet, franco, the shah, batista, diem, musharaf, salazar, marcos, noriega, trujillo, husseain, all funded by our government, killing in our name most things are very simple, unless they're complex this world ain't black and white ya'll, it's all context take black and white: why assume we're always opposites? It's much more productive to focus on stoppin' this cycle of violence and intimidation where we define eachother by our color, nation, station in life, who we love, or by religion instead of understanding that the world that we live in is big enough for all of us - make some room! there's no excuse for the way a minority consumes most of the worlds wealth while millions are starving it's like they're tryna create jobs in headstone carvin. property is theft, we don't own this earth and governments are just gangs, fightin over turf in the mafia military, industry of war the thin red line between the rich and the poor Botha, Branco, Cedras, Cerezo, Fahd, Hassan, Papa Doc, Cordova, Papadopoulos, Pol Pot, and Chung Hee all butchers funded in the name of Liberty now you tell me, does that sound like democracy? You'd have to be a zombie not to see the hypocrisy you can't support freedom by funding tyrants and free speech ain't free if it sounds like silence why is it news that Paris Hilton's drunk driving? but it's not news that the war machine is thriving? people starving in our streets don't even make the back page cuz some celebrity sex scandal's all the rage they say dissent is terrorism, peace is unpatriotic & ya'll fall for this ish! It's so idiotic listen: 'our government' isn't our government it answers to the rich, you and I just pay the rent. They sell endless war, endless fear, endless consumption, but the end is near no matter how many crimes they commit in her name liberty will be reborn like a phoenix from the flame

To Condemn the Ocean The short (sung) verses are from the traditional Irish tune “Fisherman's Song”, the longer spoken-word verse is by Lynx. By the storm torn shoreline a woman was standing The spray strung like jewels in her hair And the sea tore the rocks near that desolate landing As though it had known she stood there and white were the wavecaps, and wild was their parting for such is the warring of love so she prayed to the gods, both of men and of sailors Not to cast their cruel nets o’re her love Now she has come down to condemn that wild ocean For the murderous loss of her man His boat sailed down on Wednesday morning And it’s feared she’s gone down with all hands Staring at the night sky stretching o'er the ocean my mind is flooded with inexplicable emotion I see the shadow of a woman long dead on the rocks eyes like the moon, sea spray in her locks And she’s crying for the lover that she’s lost to the sea frozen in the moment and she can’t see me It’s the ghost of my people, an echo from the past her cries in the wind and the way the waves crash and not much has changed after all these years and the seas salt spray still taste like tears and I can’t help screamin at the night sky why do so many good people have to die? But I know the reason why, and the gods ain’t listenin' Poor men die for the rich mans glistenin Gold, as we’re sold one day at time, Our poverty is violence; their wealth is a crime And I’m sick of being poor, tryna raise a commotion - But I’m feelin’ like I might as well condemn the ocean and now she has come down, to condemn that wild ocean For the murderous loss of her man His boat sailed out on Wednesday morning And it's feared she's gone down with all hands. There's a school on the hill where the sons of dead fathers Are led toward tempests and gales where their god-given wings are clipped close to their bodies And their eyes are bound round with ship's sails What force leads a man to a life filled with danger? On the seas or in mines underground It's when need is his master, and poverty's no stranger And there's no other work to be found So she has come down to condemn that wild ocean For the murderous loss of her man His boat sailed out on Wednesday morning And it's feared she's gone down with all hands.

The Enemy “I have seen the enemy, he’s right there in the spotlight and if this song were a rifle, I would have him in my sights.” It’s the voice on my radio, the face on the TV, Cameras in the streetlights, so the pigs can see me It’s the billboards, the papers, the bus stop ads Advertising anorexia, the latest fads It’s the way my little brother is scared to speak his mind And when he does he speaks softly, lookin' behind it's carnivore scanning my email for keywords the way people shrug and say “it could be worse” living in a nation where apathy reigns no one is moving, so they don’t notice chains It’s the climate of fear, the unspoken consensus That things are messed up, but there’s no way to end it It’s giving up the struggle before it’s even started And thinking that those who fight back must be retarded the enemy’s the fishbowl, we don’t know we’re in until the table shakes and the cat reaches in it’s the cloud of apathy hanging over america so when you talk about change, people stare at ya how folks work themselves to death, just to live it’s the fairy tale corporate religions that give folks hope for something better, but deny them the right to demand something better, to organize and fight it’s the way poor people get sucked into wars ‘cuz they promise us money for schools we can’t afford it’s the media, the cops, the whole prison system,’ it’s race and class and every politician, the sell outs, the fakes, the radio stations the schools and the colleges that teach domination the fundamental institutions of our society the paradigm that lets the rich choose our reality it’s the way you motherfuckers think that things changed just cuz the CIA hijacked some planes I see the enemy daily, when I look into the mirror He’s the cop in my head, couldn’t be any nearer He’s the voice that tells me to just stop fighting, that no one likes my music, so I should stop writing it’s my fear and my pain, and own self-doubt that makes me want to turn off and just drop out it’s the feeling that one man can’t change shit and that no one gives a fuck about the words I spit the way I was taught there was something wrong with me cuz I was born with a soul that demands to be free it’s the “white privilege,” I’m tryna overcome how my people got bleached, what we’ve let ourselves become It’s the “I got mines,” the “don’t give a fucks” that would sell out their neighbors, just to make a buck it’s the way everybody wants a little bit more the brass ring in the spotlight, we’re all reaching for

Stepping out the barracks the desert sunrise Illuminates the city but sand gets in my eyes, Wearin body armor tryna believe that I’m bulletproof This world is insane, I know son, I’m livin proof life moves in mysterious ways runnin through this city like I’m lost in a maze I don’t speak the language and everyone is hostile Gotta keep my eyes peeled for projectiles Death happens daily when you least expect it My buddy got abducted and got beheaded This shit is fuckin crazy, war is hell ain’t nothing like the war stories old folks tell Cuz there ain’t no honor in occupying This is not why I joined, but if I show defiance I’ll get locked up, for insubordination Meanwhile this army’s tryna rape a whole nation I joined up to protect my own country, defend it it to the death it to the death if you try to take it from me and that’s the same reason the Iraqi’s fight so who am I to say they’re wrong and we’re right? now I lay awake at night arguing with myself I’d give almost anything to be somewhere else But the fact is, as I lay here on my mattress, I know if I had been born in this spot on the map it’s Damn sure which side I’d be on - fightin against the occupation saying ‘bring it’ And it tears me apart inside, all my pain, trapped in my brain and I might go insane on the streets I find it drives me to distraction Something I can’t afford, I let up a fraction I’ll be in traction nursing my wounds Maybe missin limbs ripped apart by the boom Of an implemented roadside bomb or worse I could finally get home in the back of a hearse And I can see my mothers face as she hears the news it’s that kind of thing that pulls me though But the stop loss measures have got me trapped I just wanna escape but they keep callin me back And the ending? Well it’s no good pretending This war is everlasting, who knows where they’re sending Me next, I’m looking for some context And if I die out here then my last request Would be to see the liars who put me here Charged with war crimes, let them taste my fear I got 8 years from September 11 When I talked to the recruiter & told him that heaven And hell couldn’t stop me from fightin back Against the murdering bastards behind that attack it’ all so simple, yet so complex I got baited and switched, and that fact reflects Everything that I know, everything that I say got a picture from my kid sister just the other day It was her at a rally in San Francisco Glitter on her cheeks like she was going to a disco And a homemade sign that ripped my heart right out It said “support our troops, bring my brother home now!” And I know somebody loves me, and prays at night For the god she believes in to make things right And I’m tired of war, wasn’t our mission accomplished? So why are we still here? And when can we stop this? cuz the people of iraq don’t want us here, I can see it in their eyes, it’s hate and fear And more then that, something cold and hard A nation traumatized, I can see the scars Of a brutal regime, a brutal opposition, a brutal invasion, and brutal impositions, from all sides getting caught in this red tide, my homies at home think of me when they ghostride but I’m not a ghost yet, and I’m not tryna be and I’m just tryna get home to my own family and still…. Every day the war rages on And still Every night the war rages on

Darkness Breathe the night air, inhale the darkness Step through the shadows, no fear, regardless building unseen, but building no less in the heart of the darkness, I build my fortress I rock a black flag, no device, no stars or stripes negation of borders boundaries, my life Is dedicated, first to the love that we share second to the fight to breathe the free air Of liberty, my memory in this vicinity Is fi’ina be more then just another casualty The class war rages all around me systematic violence on all sides astounds me & I am profoundly disenchanted With the empty slogans that ya’ll keep chantin But I’m still defiant, unbowed and unbroken, Sick of the smell of the brain-rot you’re smoking So you won’t see me tokin, refuse to be a token, More like Frodo in books by J. Tolkein fuck seizing power, cuz power corrupts I’d rather destroy it, change it on up So I Breathe the night air, inhale the darkness Step through the shadows, no fear, regardless building unseen, but building no less in the heart of the darkness, I build my fortress I move one step at time, it ain’t fast in this for the long haul I’ve got to last Past all the people who seem to doubt me but I know in the end it ain’t even about me I’m just one man, do what I can and so I gotta take time to aim when I spit the flow So, I try to focus, maximize My efficiency because my demise Won’t help anyone, don’t need no more martyrs So I move like currents in the oceans waters Deep and slow, cyclical, the earth keeps spinnin, the winds still blow nature is ancient, she will prevail it’s the moon on the water, the songs of the whales and my life pales in comparison so I drink in the music like it’s medicine bridge: 2x nice and slow, natural, the sun will rise and the trees will grow before us and after us, still the same we’re just passing through on a 1-way train Earth and sun, wind and rain Love and hate, joy and pain The things I feel, the world all around me The beauty of this life every day – it astounds me Still I find myself cynical, bitter, depressed Somewhere between dedicated and obsessed with ideas and dreams, plans and schemes To rip the cage the we live in apart at the seems But I can’t bend steel, I just bruise my hands Bangin’ on the bars, meanwhile my demands Go unheeded, ignored, I should take the hint My whole life I’ve been poor, meanwhile they’ve made a mint Selling things they never owned in the first place “capital accumulation” – more like  pillage and rape clearcuts and stripmines, crimes against earth so I walk in the shadows till the worlds rebirth and just breathe the night air, inhale the darkness Step through the shadows, no fear, regardless building unseen, but building no less in the heart of the darkness, I build my fortress breathe.... just breathe.... breathe.

Kilted I got my first kilt back in 2004 I remember my first time walkin out the door not sure what to expect from folks on the street being so surprised that everybody I'd meet was down, it was like being a movie star people shoutin compliments from passing cars I was like, damn, I don't know how to react i'd expected static, but in point of fact it was the opposite of that, so unexpected I even rock it at protests when things get hectic even the cops respect a man in a kilt (...maybe 'cuz they play bagpipes when cops get killed?) Regardless, I'm bringin back McSexy rollin on the scene so ya'll can check me Strollin super stylish and sweatshop free like i'm the man that ya'll haters really want to be. I got my kilt on - swingin free in the breeze I got my kilt on - and ya'll can check my steeze I got my kilt on - and my style is the nicest I got my kilt on homie, cuz freedom is priceless Kickin in oakland, lovin the sunshine hangin in the park, just writin these dope rhymes another perfect cali day, as I set out walkin my people's on the corner shoutin 'what's up scotland?!' holla back, and wave, I'm always amazed how cool this city is, I could go on for days life is just better when you've got the kilt on seems to kill the divisions that this country's built on take the brother at the stoplight light, hollerin at me in his chromed out caddy, lookin hella flashy askin me where he can get a kilt at I gave him some names, and he said “I feel that” suggested that he come to the scottish games he said “hell yeah, but yo - I gotta change lanes” I said “I'll see you around,” and he gave me a pound rolled off bass pumpin with that hip hop sound yeah, it costs a bit more then pants but you can't mess with it when I do my dance we get jiggy like Big Will – I mean William Wallace Give the lasses a big thrill – from the tallest to the smallest I can't walk 50 feet without compliments cuz women love a man with confidence besides the kilt looks good, it's just common sense 'long as you don't mind getting asked about your condiments fa' real – people always askin what's under that's for my lady to know, ya'll can go on and wonder I ain't tryna steal your thunder, go on - do your thing cuz I'ma keep doin' mine, and just let it swing cuz the styles we bring are all about fusion say let me lay it out to avoid confusion we got celtic soul, rhymes for days, hat cocked, kilt swingin, check the trail I blaze.

Tearin up the mic in this fight to survive shinin like a light so tonight lets thrive if you ride a bike or drive, walk, skip, run all of that energy comes from the sun photosynthesis, so you can get with this life is a web, flow and ebb, we exist on the edge of a razor, balance ain't easy can't afford to fall so we'd better take it easy sleazy politicians, lyin' ceos, I've said it all before, and ya know how it goes 's why I bring them flows, tryna do what's right 'n take a second to focus on connections (tight.) reclaim the night, dominate the stage the future isn't written – let's turn the page a lyrical druid, kickin tradition and rippin from the Bay to the Falls of Richmond i've seen a few things, been a few places been dealt some bad hands, and a few aces don't have many friends, never really have really not a 'people person' – not that that's bad got a couple close friends, my bandmates, my lady no time to waste on folks who act shady keep things simple, keep my mind clear goals I gotta get, no time for fear tryna make it happen here, like Spain in '36 except this time we'll crush the fascists clean up the planet, liberate humanity make a better world for my folks and my family anything is possible, sometimes I gotta be reminded there's always hope, it's just hard to find it an optimistic pessimist, spittin' cynicism but this game is for keeps so I'm plannin' on winnin' ya'll I roll wit' warriors, ancestor spirits maintainin' tradition with these beats and lyrics I'm jus' the latest in a long line of rebel bards mad unpredictable like wild cards so when the clock strikes, let's storm the bastile let the pigs and the politicians taste the steel feel the pain and the rage and the breaking tide no matter how far they run or where they hide smash the system, take it all let Rome burn when it finally falls you don't wanna mess wit my Celts, don't test my Gauls cuz we'll stop ya heart like cholesterol skulls on my belt when I go head-huntin sick to death of politicians, lyin ', frontin' it's time to get out I the streets ya'll, move somethin' carve our names into myth like my man Cuchulain

None of the Above Sick of the election dominatin the news a dozen different candidates, all with the same views every single one wants more free trade not a single one 'll just call a spade a spade and once they get elected all the promises fade cuz what they really want is a chance to get paid government is a business, no doubt about it so I'm climb to the rooftops, scream and shout it sick of fake debates with all the questions screened all it does is reinforce the same machine the same platitudes and promises we've heard for years the same war without end playin on our fears we've got everything in common so let's build together instead of fightin they wars and getting killed together They don't care about us! They ain't showin us love! so if you vote, check “other”, write “none of the above” neo-cons / neo-liberals, like flippin a dime democrats & republicans - partners in crime so quit playin the game, it always ends the same instead flip the script and rip the campaigns no candidate can bring change, that's not how it happens change is the product of struggle, action for everyone screamin out “america's the greatest” you're ass is the reason most of the world hates us we're number 1 in surveillance, privacy violations, number one in the size of our prison population number one in corporate power, lack of democracy, the biggest funder of terrorism and hypocrisy the biggest polluter, the worst on human rights the biggest bully on the planet, always looking for a fight it's 1 party with 2 heads, when push comes to shove so if you vote, check “other”, write “none of the above” we've been told so long that we need these bastards that most of us just sit back and believe it but the nation state is a recent invention and if we asked our ancestors, they couldn't even conceive it imagine governing ourselves in our local communities with real and direct democracy in a world order based on mutual aid, real freedom and equality, Nobody on the ballot, nobody in the white house nobody in the senate, just turn the lights out if ya wanna have democracy it's gotta be local where at least we the people can be more vocal no more special interests, or lobbying firms no more pork barrel spending to burn no more paying for these lyin pigs to oppress us ordering cops to harass and arrest us nobody running up the national debt nobody waging war, and before I forget nobody in the board rooms, no more executives no more ceo's who make themselves rich by cutting our pay, benefits and healthcare no more taxing us for corporate welfare no more good cop bad cop hawks and doves so when I vote, I check “other” & write “none of the above”

1-2-3-4 Wind blowin, watchin traffic, sittin at the bus stop Hoodie up, flowin, and listenin to hip hop takin root and growin is a feelin that won’t stop wanna be blowin up we better make this pop Soon, so we got to make moves like now Stepping to the stage make the people say “wow” blowin up the mic, so ya feelin my style I know I’m gonna make it ya’ll, the question is how the answer is easy, the method is methodical shit is so simple that’s it’s almost comical Break it down to steps to overcome obstacles one at a time, it’s only logical the barriers we face are our own creations but like chariots racin we can get around ‘em stepping up the game with real innovation the keepers of the flame and we came to get some 1, 2, 3, 4…. walk the block, check the scene drop off my rent check and the it's obscene ya’ll know what I mean - this earth is our birth right take power back, you could call this a turf fight my words might stun, surprise, confuse or they might entertain, enlighten, amuse I don’ really know, I just speak my mind Looking for the truth but it’s hard to find Writin’ rhymes is my curse and salvation It’s love and rage, birth and devastation And I just can’t stop, my mind’s aflame Looking for a way out this no-win game and it ain’t difficult once ya comprehend it anything is possible, we are not descended from cowards - we can do it if we try freedom is the one thing money can’t buy 1 - break it down into steps, ya’ll it’s easy 2 – work the plan, it’s the only way to be free 3 - each victory builds on the last and 4 – stay focused and grow with passion call me wolfe tone 2008 – upgraded like Connolly, callin the shots, stay updated on the enemies movements, troop distribution this right here is Rebel Music - the soul of revolution The new celtic sound, we carry the flame They call us Beltaine’s Fire, recognize the name This is anti-colonial, anti-imperial antidote to a culture that produces serial Killers, and puts them in office antithesis of a world run by bosses so if you love the police, then just shut your mouth And everybody else – c’mon ’n make some noise It’s the end of the road for fake gangster pop So if you’re sick of the silliness it’s time to rejoice ‘swhy we’re bringin the realness, to take ya’ll higher Burnin through the lies with Beltaine’s fire