Thursday, April 30, 2015

Blow Your Harmonica, Son....

Then is Now.

“Well I'm about to get upset
From watchin my t.v.
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 friend
Is anybody's guess
So I'm watching and I'm waiting
Hopin' for the best
Even think I go to praying
Every time I hear them 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
Watch them throwing rocks and stuff and choking in the heat
Listen to reports
About the whiskey passin' round
Seen the smoke and fire
And the market burnin' down
Watched while everybody on this street would take a turn
They stomp and smash and bash and crash and slash and bust 'n burn
And I'm watching and I'm waitin hopin' for the best
Even think I 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.


You can cool it
You can heat it
Cause baby I don't need it
Take your t.v. tube and eat it
And all that phony stuff on sports
And all those unconfirmed reports
You know I watch that rotten box
Until my head begin 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 interrupt
To bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up
They’ll be the first to tell
Cause the boys they got downtown
Are working hard and doin swell
And if anybody gets the news
Before it hits the streets
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 watching and I'm waiting
Hopin for the best
Even think I go to praying
Every time I hear them saying
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day.


Well I've seen the fires burnin'
And the local people turnin'
On the merchants and the shops
Who use to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watch the mob just turn and bite ‘em
And they say it served them right
Because a few of them were white
And it's the same across the nation
Black and white discrimination
Yelling ‘you can’t understand me’
And all that other crap they hand me
In the papers and t.v.
And all that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more everyday
Each time I hear some nitwit
He wants to go and do you in
Cause the color of your skin
Just don't appeal to him
No matter if it's black or white


(Frank Zappa, 1966)

-bill kenny

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