Haiku Laobiyu: A Series of Haiku Squeezed Out from Popular Rock & Roll Songs

Listed in order according to the name of the band/group/singer

ANTI-FLAG: Hymn for the Dead

The voice of the age:
Please sing a hymn for the dead;
In death we are one

BAD RELIGION: Voice of God Is Government

Neighbours, he loves you
Voice of god is government;
‘The’ might be missing!

BOB DYLAN: Ballad of a Thin Man

Something’s happening
Mr Jones, do you know it?
Are you all alone?

BOB MARLEY: So Much Trouble in the World

The people strugglin’
The ego trips sailin’ too!
Still so much trouble

CHUMBAWAMBA: Give the Anarchist a Cigarette

Nothing burns itself
Give the anarchist a puff
The fire needs a flame

CLASH, THE: Lost in the Supermarket

A special offer:
Assured personality;
Now here I’m all lost

CRANBERRIES, THE: Zombie

It’s not you or me,
They have tanks and bombs and guns,
Since 1916





DEAD KENNEDYS: At My Job

Your name might be Joe
We call you 6-3-0
Just follow the rules

GIL SCOTT-HERON: Home Is Where the Hatred Is

Home is where I live
Home is where the hatred is,
You don’t convince me

JOHN LENNON: Give Peace a Chance

Craps and maps and kings
Though all of us are busy,
Please give peace a chance 

KREATOR: Violent Revolution

Society has failed
Save violent revolution
This rage has a cause

MOLOTOV SOLUTION: Injustice for All

Our lives are in stake
Justice, liberty, all dead
Authority rules





NWA*: Fuck the Police

Authority kills
They got a badge and a gun
Justice! A fuck bit!

(*It’z no Tupac Shakur but hip hop duz da rock & roll thin’ too)

OPPRESSED, THE: Anti Fascist Action  

We carry nothing
We carry only hatchets
—Let’s go, A-F-A

PAUL ROBESON: The Four Insurgent Generals

Rivers onto seas;
John, Mao, Tommy and Ivan,
Work out together!

PETE SEEGER: Which Side Are You On?

Amidst lies and scabs
Are you a union person?
Which side are you on? 

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: Take the Power Back

Take the power back
It’s mass militant poetry
Just hear no more lies

SAM COOKE: A Change Is Gonna Come

Life’s been always hard
But a change is gonna come
It’s been a long time

SEPULTURA: Refuse/Resist

There’s fire on the street
The foe, the army in siege
I refuse/resist

SINEAD O’CONNOR: This Is a Rebel Song

My hard Englishman
You never say you love me
Crazies kill our sons

SYSTEM OF A DOWN: B.Y.O.B.

Worry for the oil
But why do they send the poor?
Pray tell, fucking why

WOODY GUTHRIE: This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land,
Is this land for you and me?
—It was made for us.

 

 

Read: 

★ Poetry Remake: Poems Squeezed Out from Five Popular Novels

A collection of poems remade from five popular novel

 

★ Rock n’ Roll, Summarised

A collection of poems from Paranoid (Black Sabbath),  Rockin’ All Over the World (Status Quo), White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane), Masters of War (Bob Dylan), and Killing in the Name of (Rage Against the Machine)

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