Now and Then by Gil Scott Heron Read Free Book Online

answers beyond our sight … 

INNER CITY BLUES
    So you say you never heard of the ‘Inner City Blues’
    And what’s more you don’t understand it all
    What the ghetto folks mean about ‘living behind walls’?
    Then put on your best suit, white shirt and tie
    And come on downtown to stand in line
    For a job washing dishes but you may not qualify.
    Walking a great big hole in a new pair of shoes
    And you’ve had your first look at the ‘Inner City Blues’. 
    Go looking for a place to live but all the while
    Beware of what’s lurking behind the devil’s smile.
    Are we stupid or just naive that we continue to believe
    Money can buy us anything
    Including a slice of ‘the American Dream’?
    Answer ads in the paper about ‘houses for sale’
    And get treated like Charles Manson out on bail
    When you start to get frustrated by the tactics they use
    You can recognize that, it’s the ‘Inner City Blues’.
    It makes you wanna holler and throw up both your hands. 
    And haven’t you ever wondered about
    Why some brothers and sisters were down and out?
    Receiving their sympathy from a bottle of wine
    Or worse yet ‘old homicide’
    Living their lives in a glassine bag
    While praising the mysteries of terminal scag?
    Still other brothers are parading in drag?
    Another set of victims too whipped to choose
    You can recognize that its the ‘Inner City Blues’
    It makes you wanna holler and throw up both your hands! 

    To see sweet sisters, the blossoms of our African tree
    Profiling on the corners talking about ‘ten and three’
    Because in spite of all the money we made and taxes we paid
    The woman was looking at hungry babes
    And some decisions had to be made
    Could you tell her it’s better to go to your grave
    As a slave to the minimum wage.
    Well I hardly think so but
    It makes you wanna holler sometimes and throw up both your hands. 
    And what happens when people decide
    That they have nothing to lose?
    Did you ever hear about Mark Essex
    And the things that made him choose
    To fight the ‘Inner City Blues’?
    Yeah! Essex took to the rooftops guerrilla-style
    And watched as all the crackers went wild.
    Brought in 600 troops, I hear
    Brand new to see them crushed by fear
    Essex fought back with a thousand rounds
    And New Orleans was a changing town
    And rat-a-tat, tat-tat-tat, was the only sound.
    Bring on the stoner rifles to knock down walls!
    Bring on the god damn elephant guns!
    Bring on the helicopters to block out the sun!
    Made the devil wanna holler
    Because eight were dead and a dozen was down
    And cries for freedom were the only sounds
    New York, Chicago, ’Frisco, L.A.
    Justice was served and the unjust were afraid
    Because after all the years and all the fears
    Brothers were alive to courage found
    And spreading those god damn blues around!
    Yeah! makes you wanna holler black people
    And hold up both your hands and say ‘Liberation’
    This poem was recorded on ‘Reflections’ (1981, Arista).
    First performed as a part of a medley between the songs
    â€˜Essex’ by Bilal Sunni-Ali (recorded on the 1975 Arista LP
    South Africa to South Carolina) and ‘Inner City Blues’ by
    Marvin Gaye (recorded on the 1971, Motown LP What’s Going On. 

CANE
    Take Karintha
    Take Karintha
    (As) perfect as dusk when the sun goes down
    Take Karintha
    (As) perfect as twilight as a child
    Â Â Â Â  Able to drive both young and old wild
    (As) perfect as dusk when the sun goes down
    And remember, remember every sound
    â€™Cause often as our flowers bloom
    Men will try and cut them down
    Take Karintha
    Â Â Â  She’s as sweet as spring rain
    Â Â Â  And run from the cane
    Â Â Â  Run from the cane 
    Pray for Becky
    Pray for Becky
    Â Â Â  White woman gave
    Birth to two Black sons
    Pray for Becky
    Â Â Â  Her one room shack fell to the ground
    The