GRGR(4) black and white

[Terrance F. Flaherty]

By 1974 we get:
Whoa, are we moving too slow?
    Have you seen us, Uncle Remus?
    We look pretty sharp in these clothes
    (Yes, we do)
    Unless we get sprayed with a hose
    It ain't mad in the day
    If they squirt it your way
    'Cept in the wintah, when it's froze
    And it's hard if it hits, on your nose
    (On your nose)

    Just keep your nose
    To the grindstone they say
    Will that redeem us, Uncle Reemus?
    I can't wait til mah 'fro is full grown
    I'll just throw away my doo-rag at home

    I'll take a drive to
    Beverly Hills
    Just before dawn
    And knock the little jockeys
    Off the rich peoples lawn
    And before they get up
    I'll be gone
    (I'll be gone)
    Before they get up
    I'll be knockin' the jockeys off the lawn
    (Down in the dew)

Doug Millison wrote:

> I'd be surprised if TRP wasn't aware of this Mothers of Invention song (I
> quoted, nearly correctly from it in my previous post). The month before it
> was recorded, TRP's piece on Watts was published in the NY Times Magazine.
> Could that be Slothrop's harp there at the end?
>
> http://www.fwi.uva.nl/~heederik/zappa/albums/Freak_Out/12.html
>
> Trouble Every Day
> (from the album, Freak Out!)
>
> July 1966, 6:16 min.
> Frank Zappa
> Ray Collins (lead vocals, harmonica, tambourine, finger cymbals, bobby pin,
> tweezers)
> Jimmy Carl Black (drums)
> Roy Estrada (bass, guitarron, boy soprano)
> Elliot Ingber (lead guitar, rhythm guitar)
>
> Well I'm about to get sick
> >From watchin' my TV
> Been checkin' out the news
> Until my eyeballs fail to see
> I mean to say that every day
> Is just another rotten mess
> And when it's gonna change, my friends
> Is anybody's guess
>
> So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
> Hopin' for the best
> Even think I'll go to prayin'
> Every time I hear 'em sayin'
> That there's no way to delay
> That trouble comin' every day
> No way to delay
> That trouble comin' every day
>
> Wednesday I watched the riot...
> I seen the cops out on the street
> Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff
> And chokin' in the heat
> Listened to reports
> About the whisky passin' 'round
> Seen the smoke & fire
> And the market burnin' down
> Watched while everybody
> On his street would take a turn
> To stomp and smash and bash and crash
> And slash and bust and burn
>
> And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
> Hopin' for the best
> Even think I'll go to prayin'
> Every time I hear 'em sayin'
> That there's no way to delay
> That trouble comin' every day
> No way to delay
> That trouble comin' every day
>
> Well you can cool it,
> You can heat it...
> 'Cause, baby, I don't need it...
> Take your TV tube and eat it
> 'N all that phony stuff on sports
> 'N all the unconfirmed reports
> You know I watched that rotten box
> Until my head began to hurt
> >From checkin' out the way
> The newsmen say they get the dirt
> Before the guys on channel so-and-so
> And further they assert
> That any show they'll interrupt
> To bring you news if it comes up
> They say that if the place blows up
> They'll be the first to tell
> Because the boys they got downtown
> Are workin' hard and doin' swell,
> And if anybody gets the news
> Before it hits the street,
> They say that no one blabs it faster
> Their coverage can't be beat
>
> And if another woman driver
> Gets machine-gunned from her seat
> They'll send some joker with a brownie
> And you'll see it all complete
>
> So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
> Hopin' for the best
> Even think I'll go to prayin'
> Every time I hear 'em sayin'
> That there's no way to delay
> That trouble comin' every day
> No way to delay
> That trouble comin' every day
>
> Hey you know something people
> I'm not black
> But there's a whole lots a times
> I wish I could say I'm not white
>
> Well, I seen the fires burnin'
> And the local people turnin'
> On the merchants and the shops
> Who used to sell their brooms and mops
> And every other household item
> Watched the mob just turn and bite 'em
> And they say it served 'em right
> Because a few of them are white,
> And it's the same across the nation
> Black & white discrimination
> They're yellin' "You can't understand me!"
> And all the other crap they hand me
> In the papers and TV
> 'N all that mass stupidity
> That seems to grow more every day
> Each time you hear some nitwit say
> He wants to go and do you in
> Because the color of your skin
> Just don't appeal to him
> (No matter if it's black or white)
> Because he's out for blood tonight
> You know we gotta sit around at home
> And watch this thing begin
> But I bet there won't be many left
> To see it really end
> 'Cause the fire in the street
> Ain't like the fire in my heart
> And in the eyes of all these people
> Don't you know that this could start
> On any street in any town
> In any state if any clown
> Decides that now's the time to fight
> For some ideal he thinks is right
> And if a million more agree
> There ain't no great society
> As it applies to you and me
> Our country isn't free
> And the law refuses to see
> If all that you can ever be
> Is just a lousy janitor
> Unless your uncle owns a store
> You know they'll file in a report
> Just one amount and nothin' more
> Don't watch the rats go across the floor
> And make up songs about being poor
> Blow you harmonica son!
>
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