What impact does continuing to sing have, when the legislation that people gathered by the tens of thousands to halt was voted in anyway?

"I can't tell whether music changes the world, but I know it changes people one person at a time," Berryman says.

Rick Ruecking of McFarland shows up to sing because continuing to protest is important, he says. "It helps people to understand that this battle won't be won in one day, It'll take some months to change the tenor of this state." He says he's looking forward to the successful removal of eight Republican state senators who are now the target of recall campaigns. Their success, he says, will change the way the governor treats the citizens of the state.

Ruecking, who retired early from a state job to secure his benefits, says he also comes down to the Capitol to protest because he can. "I was very offended to be locked out of the Capitol," he says of a brief period at the time of the controversial budget repair bill's passage when the public was not allowed into the Capitol. "I need to come down here to demonstrate that I have that right."

Like Ruecking, Joe and Karla Anderegg of Middleton come downtown often to protest. Karla says she is just drawn to be at the Capitol. "Something in my heart hurts to see what's happening in Wisconsin," she says.