I got a letter from the government

The other day

I Opened and read it

It said they were suckers

They wanted me for the army or whatever

Picture me given' a damn -- I said never

Here is a land that never gave a damn

About a brother like me and myself

Because they never did

I wasn't wit' it, but just that very minute...

It occured to me

The suckers had authority

Cold sweatin' as I dwell in my cell

How long has it been?

They got me sittin' in the state pen

I gotta get out -- but that thought was thought before

I contemplated a plan on the cell floor

I'm not a fugitive on the run

But a brother like me begun -- to be another one

Public enemy servin' time -- they drew the line y'all

To criticize me some crime -- never the less

They could not understand that I'm a Black man

And I could never be a veteran

On the strength, the situation's unreal

I got a raw deal, now I'm lookin for the steel



(Tricky: Many switch in, switch on, switch off (x5))



Nevertheless they cannot understand

That I'm a black man, and I could never be a veteran.

On the strength of situations, I'm real.

I got a raw deal, so I'm lookin' for the steel

Lookin for the steel