Make a Little Ruckus

I got a little time left on this earth, gonna use it well

Jun 24, 2025

Welcome to new subscribers and regular readers! Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Make a Little Ruckus” by Betsy Rose (2025). If you’d like to hear the song before you read about it, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article.
Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics which are written in italics. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. TOEIC (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1.

From the Black Lives Matter protests at the Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn on Juneteenth (Photo: spurekar, Wikimedia Commons)

(714 words)
Betsy Rose has been a singer and activist for the past 60 years, beginning with the folk movement of the 1960s. In this song, she sings about being an activist at the other end of the age spectrum, still going strong.

To “make a ruckus” means to cause a loud disturbance or interrupt a peaceful condition. To “raise a lot of hell” means the same thing.

In the first verse, Betsy Rose is saying that even though she is an older woman and her skin is sagging in places, she’s going to fight for what she believes in.
I got a few wrinkles, I got a little sag
But my eyes still twinkle, and my feet don’t drag
I got a little time left on this earth, gonna use it well
Gonna make a little ruckus, raise a lot of hell

She has energy and courage to make the world a better place.
Gonna make a little ruckus while I got the time
I got the fire in my belly, freedom on my mind
If I give it everything I got, the world may turn out well
If I make a little ruckus, raise a lot of hell

In the next few lines, she remembers back (probably to the 1960s) when she participated in other demonstrations.
Well, I made a little ruckus back when I was a girl
We were full of faith and love and hope
We were changing the world
Now young folks everywhere are rising in a mighty swell
Busy making lots of ruckus, raising lots of hell

To put your body and heart on the line means to take a stand and march with others for a cause. A citadel is a castle or a fortress. It is a symbol for the status quo, or how society is at the moment.
You’re busy making lots of ruckus, raising lots of hell
Putting bodies and hearts on the line, shaking the citadel
You make a party out of protest, you’re singing all the way to jail
You’re busy making lots of ruckus, raising lots of hell

Veterans for Peace Chapter 101 joined the Peninsula **Raging Grannies** in protest of these military recruiting videos at Wal-Mart in Mountain View, CA on Memorial Day weekend 2005. (Photo: Brave New Films, Wikimedia Commons)

Betsy then talks to the audience, and she tells them about a movement in the U.S. that supports young people.

(So, I’ve got to say one thing which is that elder women are finding a terrific way to support young people in the “1,000 Grandmothers Movement” which is nation-wide, and it’s women like a lot of us who are getting out there in the streets and they are protesting and getting arrested and doing all the right thing, but I have a friend, Nikki, who’s real active in it. I called her up one day and said, “Hey, do you have time to do lunch? And she said, “Aw, no, I don’t have any time. The Grandmas are making 500 sandwiches for the kids. They’re occupying the Statehouse, and we gotta go bring them lunch.” And I thought, “That’s what grandmothers can do!” There’s a place for us elders here. So, look up The 1,000 Grandmothers. They’re really cool.)

To “weave a spell” means to say certain words that will do something magical so that you can influence or control people. Maybe here she’s saying that the police won’t expect grandmothers to participate. These older women distract the police so that they won’t attack the young people.

Watch out for those grandmas out in the street
Making a line of protection between the young folks and the police
We’re keeping them distracted, weaving our grandma’s spell
They’re making lots of ruckus (right behind us), raising lots of hell

Well, I got a few wrinkles, I got a few aches
I’ve got a rebel spirit made of something that just don’t break
I hear a call from the future, ringing like a mighty bell
Saying, “Make more ruckus, raise more hell!”

So, let’s make more ruckus, raise more hell
Let’s make good trouble while the system fails
If we give it everything we got, the world may turn out well
If we make a little ruckus, raise a lot of hell
Let’s make a little ruckus, raise a lot of hell!

There are many older people who have joined protests around the world because they, too, believe we can create a more fair and just society.

Make a Little Ruckus

I got a little time left on this earth, gonna use it well

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