Song for the Unbroken

I wrote this on October 18, 2025, after returning home from the second worldwide No Kings Rally. It’s a simple reminder: our joy, our music, our dancing, and our perseverance are the fiercest weapons we have against rising hatred.

This song is a battle cry. Hope, joy, love, and the unapologetic celebration of life, the parts of us that tyrants cannot break. You only lose when you lose hope.

Hope is seeing light in the thick of darkness. And yes, some of us feel guilty for feeling happiness in a world that feels so wrong, so broken. But giving up is the only betrayal. When you find your joy, no matter what storms rage around you, that’s when you win. That’s how we all win.

This is dedicated to the Portland Frog, who brought laughter to the resistance and frustration to the ICE agents who’ve committed countless crimes. May joy always be our rebellion.

Verse
Joy is not betrayal
It’s part of the resistance
When despair begins to whisper
We might question our existence

Chorus
They can’t take it
They can’t have it
They can’t take our joy
They can’t take it
They can’t have it
It’s what they can’t destroy

Verse
The world may seem broken
But still we move ahead
For nothing will get better
If we hide away in dread

Verse
One foot in the darkness
We’re reaching towards the light
Our numbers keep on growing
We’re here to set things right

Chorus
They can’t take it
They can’t have it
They can’t take our joy
They can’t take it
They can’t have it
It’s what they can’t destroy

Verse
We will keep our joy alive
And never let hope die
Our voices rise the loudest
When refusing to comply

Outro
We are the Unbroken
We are the Unbroken
Standing together
We are the Unbroken