Ringing in her 67th birthday at New York's Webster Hall Monday night, "Godmother of Punk" Patti Smith praised Edward Snowden and the members of Pussy Riot for "speak[ing] for all of us."
“All of our phone numbers, all of our personal business, the business of our government, Edward let it snow, Edward let it snow,” Smith sang before the crowd, Buzzfeed reports.
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Smith said that she was so happy that the anti-Putin group [...] would “continue to use their voice, because it’s very dangerous for them to do so.” The singer implored the audience to “not underestimate the danger those girls face by speaking their mind.”
“Edward Snowden, Pussy Riot, these people speak for us all,” she continued, “all of us who are no longer numb, all of us who are no longer dumb.”
Smith also performed the "Edward Snowden" song, which she wrote shortly after the initial leak of classified NSA surveillance information, while touring Europe this summer.
"What our world needs is you and truth. They tread so secretly. But Edward, there's no secrets between you and me," she sings. "What will happen, I don't know. Will they take you away? I don't know. But Edward, let it snow, let it snow. We want to know."
In previous appearances, Smith has also spoken passionately on behalf of the members of Pussy Riot, who earlier this month were released after being held for 9 months in Russian prisons on charges of "hooliganism" for speaking out against the Putin-led government.
"These girls have been such an inspiration," Smith said in June speaking before the premiere to the documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer. "They are our daughters, our sisters.[...] There is not a time when I don't go on stage and I don't think about them, or feel the freedom to speak out and say the things that upset or anger me about my own country."
Below is a video of Smith's July performance of the "Edward Snowden" song at Trädgårdsföreningen park in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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