Gil Scott- Heron - "I Beg Your Pardon America" lyrics
The Watergate blues the SEQUEL
Hi we like to do an idea for you that¹s related to the H20 G. A.T.E. The
WaterGate Blues.
In March of 1973 we wrote the WaterGate blues and 17 months later then
President Nixon resign. But the story didn¹t end there so we didn¹t stop
there.
We beg your pardon America
We beg your pardon because the pardon you gave wasn¹t yours to give.
They call it due process. And some people are overdue.
We beg your pardon America.
Somebody said brotherman gonna break a window, gonna steal a hubcap gonna
smoke some refer. Brotherman gonna go to jail. But the man who tried to
steal America is not in jail. Get caught with a nickel bag [Five dollars
worth of weed] get caught with a nickel bag sister lady on your way to get
your hag fixed you will do big Ben [ten years in jail].And big Ben is time,
but the man who tried to fix America will not do time. They say they gonna
slap his wrist and retire him with 800,000 thousands dollars and America was
shocked. America leads the world in shocks.800,000 thousands and the people
protested so they said ok we will give him 200,000 dollars. Everybody said
ok that¹s better. I would like to retire with 200 thousands dollars some
day. Sanquentin (Prison) not San Clemente , do not pass go, go directly to
jail do not collect $ 200,000 thousand dollars.
We beg your pardon America. We beg your pardon because some how the pardon
didn¹t sit correctly. What was the cause of this pardon' They had flea
bitetest. Rats bite us and we get no pardons in the Ghetto. They brought up
National Security but do you feel secure with a man who tried to steal
America is back on the streets again.
What are the results of this pardon will be' Because remember when there are
causes there are results. And results are always deeper still. We now have
Oak meal man. (Referring to Gerald Ford, Representative from Michigan who
replaced Nixon as President. Michigan is also home of the Headquarters of
Kellogg¹s and Post who all make cereal. If this is connected to the oak meal
man I do not know) Anytime you find someone in the middle,; anytime you find
someone who is timid; anytime you find someone who is lukewarm. Anytime you
find someone who has been in congress for 25 years and no one every heard of
him you got oak meal man. Oak meal straddling uncomfortably on yards and
feet of barbed wire (meaning all the tapes of Nixon') it¹s hard to live in
the middle all of the time. Oak meal man who said he could fit all of his
black friends in the trunk of his car and still have room for the Republican
Elephant (Big time laughter). Oak meal man. ³But there was no crime
committed². Oak meal man says that. America in 1975 your president will be a
1913 Ford. Regressive! Circle up the wagons to defend yourself from nuclear
attack (Bush II Star Wars Panty shield). Oak meal man. Reminiscence of 1964
H20 Goodwater thank god he didn¹t win. But he didn¹t win. Oak meal man
didn¹t win (Bush v Gore 2000). I didn¹t vote for him but that¹s the first
Hi we like to do an idea for you that¹s related to the H20 G. A.T.E. The
WaterGate Blues.
In March of 1973 we wrote the WaterGate blues and 17 months later then
President Nixon resign. But the story didn¹t end there so we didn¹t stop
there.
We beg your pardon America
We beg your pardon because the pardon you gave wasn¹t yours to give.
They call it due process. And some people are overdue.
We beg your pardon America.
Somebody said brotherman gonna break a window, gonna steal a hubcap gonna
smoke some refer. Brotherman gonna go to jail. But the man who tried to
steal America is not in jail. Get caught with a nickel bag [Five dollars
worth of weed] get caught with a nickel bag sister lady on your way to get
your hag fixed you will do big Ben [ten years in jail].And big Ben is time,
but the man who tried to fix America will not do time. They say they gonna
slap his wrist and retire him with 800,000 thousands dollars and America was
shocked. America leads the world in shocks.800,000 thousands and the people
protested so they said ok we will give him 200,000 dollars. Everybody said
ok that¹s better. I would like to retire with 200 thousands dollars some
day. Sanquentin (Prison) not San Clemente , do not pass go, go directly to
jail do not collect $ 200,000 thousand dollars.
We beg your pardon America. We beg your pardon because some how the pardon
didn¹t sit correctly. What was the cause of this pardon' They had flea
bitetest. Rats bite us and we get no pardons in the Ghetto. They brought up
National Security but do you feel secure with a man who tried to steal
America is back on the streets again.
What are the results of this pardon will be' Because remember when there are
causes there are results. And results are always deeper still. We now have
Oak meal man. (Referring to Gerald Ford, Representative from Michigan who
replaced Nixon as President. Michigan is also home of the Headquarters of
Kellogg¹s and Post who all make cereal. If this is connected to the oak meal
man I do not know) Anytime you find someone in the middle,; anytime you find
someone who is timid; anytime you find someone who is lukewarm. Anytime you
find someone who has been in congress for 25 years and no one every heard of
him you got oak meal man. Oak meal straddling uncomfortably on yards and
feet of barbed wire (meaning all the tapes of Nixon') it¹s hard to live in
the middle all of the time. Oak meal man who said he could fit all of his
black friends in the trunk of his car and still have room for the Republican
Elephant (Big time laughter). Oak meal man. ³But there was no crime
committed². Oak meal man says that. America in 1975 your president will be a
1913 Ford. Regressive! Circle up the wagons to defend yourself from nuclear
attack (Bush II Star Wars Panty shield). Oak meal man. Reminiscence of 1964
H20 Goodwater thank god he didn¹t win. But he didn¹t win. Oak meal man
didn¹t win (Bush v Gore 2000). I didn¹t vote for him but that¹s the first
result. And the second in command would be the dreadful (Gov of NY) Nelson
Rockefeller. Obviously be promoted for what he did at Attica. 43 dead (On
death Row in Texas and 41 shots into a Blackman in NY. It would have been 43
but the cops missed twice). And once again America is in shock. (Baby face
Nelson) being protected for the job he did on the streets of New York City.
Where the pushers sell the drugs that the government allows in the country.
And then they (black people) do the time. They do life and death or life and
death behind bars while William says he is going to discontinue the furlough
program. Bro Richard X of buffalo New York faces 1,365 that¹s one thousand
three hundred sixty five years for participating in Attica. And Rockefeller
faces being the vice president of this country. And all this time they are
easing upon the sands of San Clemente. (Attica prison riot erupted in
September 1971 over horrible prison conditions like the lack of proper food,
inadequate recreation and gross overcrowding. At the time of the riot there
wasn¹t not one African-American Guard employed while more than half of the
prison population was Black. The State police stormed the prison shooting
and killing inmates including 10 hostages who were correctional officers.
Put to top it all off the state of New York had the nerve to charge some of
the inmates for killing the C/O¹s when their own fellow officers shot them.
In 2001 Hollywood produced a movie on this American tragedy. Now back to
Gill¹s poetic speech.
We beg your pardon America. We beg your pardon once again. We find out that
7 out of ten black men in jail. And most of the men behind bars are black. 7
out of every ten black men never went to the ninth grade. They didn¹t have
fifty dollars and never had a hundred for a month when they went to jail. So
the poor and ignorant go to jail while the rich go to San Clemente.
We beg your pardon America because we understand much more deeper than what
we understood before. We don¹t want to take the pardon back. We want you to
issue some more pardons. Pardon brother Frank Willis the (Black) Watergate
security guard. He was only doing his job. (Frank Willis died recently a
poor man with hardly any money) pardon H. Rap brown it was only burglary
(Recently Rap was charged with murdering two black Atlanta police officers.
And I thought he was for Black Power') . Pardon Charles Manson it was only
mass murder. And pardon us while we get sick.
As unemployment rockets up to 7 percent and it seems like 70 % in my
neighborhood. As unemployment rises we watch cattlemen shoot cows in their
heads and kick them in the grave. Millions are starving across the world and
maybe even next door (Correct) .we understand all the more deeply as Boston
became Birmingham became little rock became Selma became Philadelphia became
Mississippi becomes yesterday all over again.
We understand as we beg your pardon. We beg your pardon America cause we
have an understanding of trauma. What goes around comes around. And we beg
your pardon for all of the lies. All of the people who have been ruined and
who look forward to the next year. Being we can¹t stand to look at this one
(Amen). We beg your pardon America being the pardon you gave this time
wasn¹t yours to give.
Thank you very much
Rockefeller. Obviously be promoted for what he did at Attica. 43 dead (On
death Row in Texas and 41 shots into a Blackman in NY. It would have been 43
but the cops missed twice). And once again America is in shock. (Baby face
Nelson) being protected for the job he did on the streets of New York City.
Where the pushers sell the drugs that the government allows in the country.
And then they (black people) do the time. They do life and death or life and
death behind bars while William says he is going to discontinue the furlough
program. Bro Richard X of buffalo New York faces 1,365 that¹s one thousand
three hundred sixty five years for participating in Attica. And Rockefeller
faces being the vice president of this country. And all this time they are
easing upon the sands of San Clemente. (Attica prison riot erupted in
September 1971 over horrible prison conditions like the lack of proper food,
inadequate recreation and gross overcrowding. At the time of the riot there
wasn¹t not one African-American Guard employed while more than half of the
prison population was Black. The State police stormed the prison shooting
and killing inmates including 10 hostages who were correctional officers.
Put to top it all off the state of New York had the nerve to charge some of
the inmates for killing the C/O¹s when their own fellow officers shot them.
In 2001 Hollywood produced a movie on this American tragedy. Now back to
Gill¹s poetic speech.
We beg your pardon America. We beg your pardon once again. We find out that
7 out of ten black men in jail. And most of the men behind bars are black. 7
out of every ten black men never went to the ninth grade. They didn¹t have
fifty dollars and never had a hundred for a month when they went to jail. So
the poor and ignorant go to jail while the rich go to San Clemente.
We beg your pardon America because we understand much more deeper than what
we understood before. We don¹t want to take the pardon back. We want you to
issue some more pardons. Pardon brother Frank Willis the (Black) Watergate
security guard. He was only doing his job. (Frank Willis died recently a
poor man with hardly any money) pardon H. Rap brown it was only burglary
(Recently Rap was charged with murdering two black Atlanta police officers.
And I thought he was for Black Power') . Pardon Charles Manson it was only
mass murder. And pardon us while we get sick.
As unemployment rockets up to 7 percent and it seems like 70 % in my
neighborhood. As unemployment rises we watch cattlemen shoot cows in their
heads and kick them in the grave. Millions are starving across the world and
maybe even next door (Correct) .we understand all the more deeply as Boston
became Birmingham became little rock became Selma became Philadelphia became
Mississippi becomes yesterday all over again.
We understand as we beg your pardon. We beg your pardon America cause we
have an understanding of trauma. What goes around comes around. And we beg
your pardon for all of the lies. All of the people who have been ruined and
who look forward to the next year. Being we can¹t stand to look at this one
(Amen). We beg your pardon America being the pardon you gave this time
wasn¹t yours to give.
Thank you very much
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