Stonewall

Community Resilience

Written to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. The Stonewall Riots, also called the Stonewall Uprising, began in the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighboring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

Mood

Poignant and anthemic

Technical

SATB 3 verses, chorus link and break section.

Text Source

Alison Burns using ideas from Loud and Proud Choir, Edinburgh

Lyrics

Extract:
Stonewall. That one little word
Can still raise the hair on my neck
They wrote about the riots all those years ago
And put it in a history book
When I was growing up and wondering
I found myself because
I read that book in secret
And it told me who I was.

They bust into the Stonewall
And dragged you off the dancefloor
Skirts and shirts, boots and heels
Fury, hate and uproar
So much pent up anger
So much bitterness and rage
No tip-off from the mafia
No hiding from the raid

And we took that anger and we looked around
And we claimed, yeah we claimed that anger
For the family we found
And we climbed up on your shoulders
And with one sweet shove
We broke that anger
And we turned it into love

What’s included?

mp3 whole song – midi file of piano, mp3 separate parts – midi file of piano

£5.00

Licence type
Purchase a licence with this download. More information about licensing