Now and Then by Gil Scott Heron Read Free Book Online Page B

Suggestion Box )
    You explained it to me John I must admit,
    but just for the record you was talkin’ shit!
    Long raps about No Knock being legislated
    for the people you’ve always hated
    in this hell-hole that you/we all call ‘home’.
    â€˜No Knock!’ The Man will say, ‘to keep that man
    Â Â Â  from beatin’ his wife!’
    â€˜No Knock!’ The Man will say, ‘to keep people
    Â Â Â  from hurtin’ themselves!’
    No-Knockin’, head rockin’, enter shockin’,
    Â Â  shootin’, cussin’,
    killin’, cryin’, lyin’ and bein’ white!
    No Knocked on my brother, Fred Hampton,
    bullet holes all over the place!
    No knocked on my brother, Michael Harris
    and jammed a shotgun against his skull!
    For my protection?
    Who’s gonna protect me from you?
    The likes of you? The nerve of you!
    To talk that shit face-to-face
    your tomato face dead pan
    your dead pan deadening another freedom plan!
    No Knockin’, head rockin’, enter shockin’,
    Â Â  shootin’, cussin’,
    killin’, cryin’, lyin’ and bein’ white!
    But if you’re wise, No Knocker,
    you’ll tell your No-Knockin’ lackies
    to No Knock on my brother’s heads
    and No Knock on my sister’s heads
    and double lock your door
    because soon someone may be No Knocking …
    Â Â  for you!

BILLY GREEN IS DEAD
    â€˜The economy’s in an uproar,
    the whole damn country’s in the red,
    taxi fares is goin’ up … What?
    You say Billy Green is dead?’
    â€˜The government can’t decide on busin’
    Or at least that’s what they said.
    Yeah, I heard when you tol’ me,
    You said Billy Green is dead.’
    â€˜But let me tell you ’bout these hotpants
    that this big-legged sista wore
    when I partied with the frat boys.
    You say Billy took an overdose?’
    â€˜Well now, junkies will be junkies,
    But did you see Gunsmoke las’ night?
    Man they had themselves a shootout
    an’ folks wuz dyin’ left and right!
    At the end when Matt was cornered
    I had damn near give up hope …
    Why you keep on interruptin’ me?
    You say my son is takin’ dope?
    Call a lawyer! Call a doctor!
    What you mean I shouldn’t scream?
    My only son is on narcotics,
    should I stand here like I’m pleased?’
    Is that familiar anybody?
    Check out what’s inside your head,
    because it never seems to matter
    when it’s Billy Green who’s dead.

WINTER IN AMERICA
    From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
    to the buffalo who once ruled the plains;
    like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds
    looking for the rain, looking for the rain.
    From the cities that stagger on the coast lines
    in a nation that just can’t take much more
    like the forest buried beneath the highways
    never had a chance to grow, never had a chance
    Â Â Â  to grow.
    It’s winter; winter in america
    and all of the healers have been killed or forced
    Â Â Â  away.
    It’s winter; winter in america
    and ain’t nobody fighting ’cause nobody knows
    Â Â Â  what to save.
    The con-stitution was a noble piece of paper;
    with Free Society they struggled but they died in
    Â Â  vain
    and now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
    hoping that it rains, hoping that it rains.
    And I’ve seen the robins perched in barren
    Â Â  treetops
    watching last ditch racists marching across the
    Â Â Â  floor
    and like the peace signs that melted in our
    Â Â Â  dreams
    never had a chance to grow, never had a
    Â Â Â Â  chance to grow.
    It’s winter; winter in america
    and all of the healers done been killed or put in
    Â Â Â  jail

    it’s winter, winter in america
    and ain’t nobody fighting ’cause nobody knows
    Â Â Â Â  what to save.
    Winter is a metaphor – a term used not only to describe the season of ice, but this