Fort Defiance is near where I live in Brooklyn and I always loved the name. It wasn’t till one early morning in November, that the name finally found a home in a song. It was 4:30am and I just couldn’t sleep. So much was and is happening in the world, I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. And I felt powerless. But in that moment of despair, I felt something stirring in me. “I don’t want to live by the rules of the powerful. I don’t want to give more power to the powerful. I don’t want to believe that we have no choice but to follow the path that’s paved by the powerful while they try to wring everything out of us and Mother Nature.” Is it possible to bring the change I want? Stop the humans from destroying the earth and each other? I’m not sure. But I have to start somewhere.
Fort of Defiance
Written by Miwa Nishio
Performed by Miwa Gemini (Miwa - guitar & vocal, Rebekah - vocal)
And you won, so you claim but what of your victory?
Just a tale of ignorance, the old story
And you laugh at my tears and broken heart
But you won’t realize we all just lost
And you can scream, you can yell, you can even spit at me
I stand on the Fort of Defiance choosing peace and love
In my body runs the blood of ancient goddess
The strength of witches who sank in the river
The pain of burning forest and fading coral
The gene of childless mother who still loves you
And you can scream, you can yell, you can even spit at me
I stand on the Fort of Defiance choosing peace and love
Shackle my hands, fill my pockets with stones, blind fold me and you will see
I stand, and I sing on the Fort of Defiance
Call me ugly with your vanity
I rather die a fool than lose my humanity
Twist you logic and bend the facts
In the end you prove yourself wrong
And the truth will ring louder when I sing my song
And you can scream, you can yell, you can even spit at me
I stand on the Fort of Defiance choosing peace and love
Shackle my hands, fill my pockets with stones, blind fold me and you will see
I stand, and I sing on the Fort of Defiance
On the Fort of Defiance, I stand tall
I stand and I sing on the Fort of Defiance
I stand and I sing on the Fort of Defiance
I choose peace and love