Published Mar 18, 2026MonthsCovers: 2026-03-17Flashpoint
About This Track
This defiant rock anthem takes on Greenpeace hit with a $345 million verdict for Standing Rock protests — the criminalization of.
Inspired By
Greenpeace hit with a $345 million verdict for Standing Rock protests — the criminalization of dissent, Energy Transfer's lawsuit, the chilling effect on activism worldwide, and the question of wha...
Written in direct response to Greenpeace hit with a $345 million verdict for Standing Rock protests — the criminalization of dissent, Energy Transfer's lawsuit, the chilling effect on activism worldwide, and the question of what protest costs in America. The lyrics weave in verified details — North Dakota judge finalized $345M judgment against Greenpeace on February 27 2026; Reduced from $667M jury verdict issued March 2025; 11 percent interest accruing from jury verdict date. Majik delivers the report through rock, letting the data hit as hard as the beat. Lines like "But this was never just about a North Dakota case" anchor the track in specifics that generic coverage misses. The mood — defiant, angry, urgent — reflects the emotional reality behind the numbers. Every Majik's Studio news track exists to make you feel the story, not just read it.
[verse 1]
They stood at Standing Rock in the freezing rain
Water protectors chanting, sacred ground, no pipeline, no pain
Rubber bullets in December, dogs on chains
The whole world watched it streaming but the power remained
Now a judge in North Dakota stamps the bill
Says dissent is defamation if it hurts the corporate till
Energy Transfer filed the papers, called it conspiracy
Trespass, nuisance, anything to make the activists flee
Six-sixty-seven million was the jury's say
But the judge was feeling generous, cut it down halfway
Still enough to kill an institution overnight
Still enough to tell the world that protest has a price
And the interest clock is ticking, eleven percent a year
Compounding on the courage, compounding on the fear
Every day they don't pay up the number grows
That's the math of making sure that nobody else goes
[chorus]
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
That's the price they put on keeping hope alive
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
Tell me how does dissent survive?
[verse 2]
Greenpeace sailed against the whalers, faced the nuclear test
Rainforest blockades and Arctic ice protests
Fifty years of standing where the powerful won't
Fifty years of doing what the comfortable don't
Now one verdict in one courtroom could erase the name
One pipeline company playing the litigation game
Defamation means you told the truth too loud
Conspiracy means you organized a crowd
They want you isolated, want you silent, want you small
Want you scrolling past the headlines, never making calls
State by state the legislations multiply
Critical infrastructure bills that criminalize the cry
Of anyone who'd dare to stand between
The profit and the pipeline and the places still green
Block a road, that's a felony in Tennessee
Boost a protest, that's a RICO charge, you see
[chorus]
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
That's the price they put on keeping hope alive
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
Tell me how does dissent survive?
[verse 3]
The appeal goes to the state supreme, the briefs are filed
Lawyers parsing precedent while the land is defiled
But this was never just about a North Dakota case
This is about the chill that settles into every space
Where someone thinks of marching, thinks of holding signs
Then remembers what happened at the pipeline lines
Three hundred forty-five million reasons not to speak
Three hundred forty-five million reasons to be meek
But the water protectors knew the cost before the court
Knew that sacred land was worth more than any tort
The Sioux were here before the pipelines, before the drills
Before the corporations bought the legislatures and the hills
So when they tell you protest is a luxury
Remember who's been paying for your liberty
Every right you take for granted somebody bled
Somebody sat in jail, somebody wound up dead
[chorus]
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
That's the price they put on keeping hope alive
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
Tell me how does dissent survive?
[bridge]
They can fine the organizations, padlock every door
But they can't fine the feeling that we're worth fighting for
You can bankrupt Greenpeace, send the message loud
But you'll never bankrupt courage in a desperate crowd
The interest keeps on running but so do we
Eleven percent compounding on the will to be free
[chorus]
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
That's the price they put on keeping hope alive
Three-forty-five, three-forty-five
Tell me how does dissent survive?
[outro]
Three-forty-five
Three-forty-five
And the meter's still running
And the meter's still running