Скачать или смотреть Eyes Like Birds - Hands Up | Couch by Couchwest 2015

On the night “Hands Up” was born, the intention was only to write a song. That it became a political thing, well, that just happened. We were incredibly moved by the events in Ferguson and the national conversation that followed and continues. In our writing session, Emily brought up Tyler Reinhard’s post-Ferguson article, “Hey, Step Back With the Riot Shaming,” which inspired the chorus of our tune.

We found ourselves stepping back after writing this song saying, "is it our place?" But maybe that's the problem. Empathy is everyone's place. It's a human gift that is underused and misconstrued as weakness; so we are doing our best to employ it with strength. We are sharing this world and any blow to a single part of our culture can be felt through the ripples by the many humans still lucky enough to be breathing on this earth. Thank you for listening, reading, thinking and feeling.

Tyler Reinhard’s (@abolishme on Twitter) article: http://www.maskmagazine.com/the-subst...

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Hands up, white flags in the air
My heart is beating me
Waiting for you to meet my glare
my mind is losing me

Criminals long before
Climbing through broken windows.
Convicted long before
“Refusing to disperse”
Criminals long before
Burning down a city block
Convicted long before
Stepping off of the sidewalk
And they'd handpicked the jury
And paid for a judge
Said, "make a deal," with fury
And who are the criminals?

Calm on the sea of "progress"
But on the inside of the wave
The undertow pulls the oppressed
Back against the wall of the cave
Bodies tossed with disrespect
Trying to shed our fears
Nothing's balanced no one's checked
Throwing canisters of tears

Criminals long before
Climbing through broken windows
Convicted long before
“Refusing to disperse”
Criminals long before
Burning down a city block
Convicted long before
Stepping off of the sidewalk
And they'd handpicked the jury
And paid for a judge
Said, "make a deal," with fury
And who are the criminals?

Can’t breathe, can’t shed this skin
The street’s the safest place I know
No wrong place wrong time situation
Best case, wrongs are exposed

Criminals long before
Climbing through broken windows.
Convicted long before
“Refusing to disperse”
Criminals long before
Burning down a city block
Convicted long before
Stepping off of the sidewalk
And they'd handpicked the jury
And paid for a judge
Said, "make a deal," with fury
And who are the criminals?

Yes I know I should back up
But my heart is beating me
My heart is beating me