Gil Scott-Heron from 1994. all rights remain with his estate.
[couldn’t find lyrics anywhere, so transcribed here; not very neatly formatted — sorry]
you don’t have to believe me
all you need to do is ask yourself:
How in the world do they know?
yea, I hear it on the radio
You don’t have to believe
all you need to do is ask yourself
how in the world do they know
they don’t know nothing about my brother
this don’t look nothing like my brother
they don’t know nothing about my brother
they didn’t say he was a soldier
they didn’t say there’s a war going on
how could they not notice there’s a war going on
yeah, they don’t know nothing about our brother
they trying to turn us against our brother
yeah, trying to turn you against your brother
they don’t even know that there’s a war going on
please put your hands together and welcome King of Sunshine Larry McDonald on percussion
yeah, brother and a soldier
yeah, brother and a soldier
yeah there’s a war going on, war going on, war going on
out on the street
people at your feet
they don’t smile anymore
they run and slam the door
hey what’s the deal
out on the avenue
people look so strange at you
you just out for a little fun
you start to wonder what you done,
hey what’s the deal
you hear it on the radio
talking about your brother
trying to catch your brother
say something about your brother
they don’t know nothing about your brother, see?
they ain’t really talking about your brother
they don’t know nothing about your brother, see?
they don’t know that he’s a soldier
they don’t know that he’s a soldier
they don’t know that there’s a war going on
out on the street, don’t you know
Got two soldiers from Washington DC: Put your hands together for the Robert Gordon on bass — “Secretary of Entertainment.” Put some darkness on love for the Rodney Young [unsure of exact words. Scott-Heron did refer to musicians he worked with as a kind of alternative “Cabinet,” thus the title of “Secretary.]
Screaming ’bout the war
talking about the war in Angola
talking about the war in Rwanda
talking about the war in Babylon
talking about the war in Nicaragua
Outside the door, there’s a war going on
…trying to turn you against your brother
don’t you know that’s what they do in war
they wanna photograph your trouble
they want to interview your trouble
they like to talk to you about your trouble
"A Song Every Day" 