The Ballad of Sylvia and Marsha P. Lyrics

Some say they both were there the night that it went down

Marsha P, she threw the shot glass that was heard around

The world; then Sylvie hurled a brick

Said, it’s the revolution-- I’m not missing this

Admittedly, there are conflicting accounts

Cuz Sylvia Rivera, she wrote her own history

Born in the Bronx but raised on 42nd St

She was turning tricks at 10 years old

So no wonder that she wants it how she wants it told

Cuz every night she’d scrub herself clean

Thinking, is this how it’s s’posed to be

And they were there-- oh

But we didn’t take care of our Queens

They were there-- oh

Sylvia and Marsha P

Pay it no mind-- now, that’s what Marsha P stood for

She said that to a judge and he threw her case out of court

And she was in court quite a bit

Cuz every day babygirl was hustling

And most of what she made, she gave away

Cuz more than beauty, more than sparkling personality

She’d give the shirt right off her back for anyone in need

And Sylvia lived on the docks

Why should they be out here when I am not?

The down-and-out mayors of Gay Pier and Christopher Street

And they were there-- oh

But we didn’t take care of our Queens

They were there-- oh

Sylvia and Marsha

There was one thing, Sylvia, she never could believe

Why would Marsha take her own life-- why would she leave

With so much work yet to be done

They were supposed to go together if they crossed Jordan

And Marsha made her promise: stay and fight

But Sylvia was so distressed

And liked to drink, to be honest

And she was sick of living ‘neath the sky

Cups, cups full of beer and gin

She went down to the river they found Marsha in

And stepped into the Hudson’s sluggish tide

But she didn’t die

I can feel her spirit on the river, she said

I can see her beautiful smile

Whispering like cattails, You’re not done, girl

We’ve miles and miles to go before we sleep

Now you know the truth: Sylvia spent much of her life

More depressed than activist, too weak to tend the light

I’m saying this lest we forget

That nobody in history is a monolith

Each soul has brightest days and darkest nights

And one day

Sylvia, she fell in love

And love gave her the impetus

Get sober for her Julia

Address the inequalities

At work in our society

She fed the homeless, tirelessly

In her death throes she was winning seats

She crossed the river Jordan in a hospital bed

Liver cancer is what finally did her in

Well, it’s been 18 years now, 2020

And a trans person of color’s murdered once a week

It’s plain to see that nothing much has changed

What would Sylvie say

I can hear them calling from the river

I can see their beautiful smiles

Singing from the cattails, You’re not done, girl

We’ve miles and miles to go before we sleep

Miles and miles to go before we sleep

No one’s free 'til everyone is free

And they we were there-- oh

But we didn't take care of our Queens

They were there-- oh

They were there-- oh

But why didn't we take care of our Queens

They were there-- oh

And we've still miles and miles to go before we sleep