"Rebel Waltz"


I slept and I dreamed of a time long ago
I saw an army of rebels, dancing on air
I dreamed as I slept, I could see the campfires,
A song of the battle, that was born in the flames,
and the rebels were waltzing on air.

I danced with a girl to the tune of a waltz
that was written to be danced on the battlefield
I danced to the tune of a voice of a girl
A voice that called "Stand till we fall
we stand till all the boys fall."

As we danced came the news that the war was not won
5 armies were coming, with carrige and gun
Through the heart of the camp
swept the news from the front
A cloud crossed the moon, a child cried for food
We knew the war could not be won.

So we danced with a rifle, to the rhythm of the gun
in a glade through the trees i saw my only one
Then the earth seemed to rise hell hot as the sun
The soldiers were dying, there was tune to the sighing.
The song was an old rebel one.

As the smoke of our hopes rose high from the field
My eyes played tricks through the moon and the trees
I slept as I dreamed I saw the army rise
A voice began to call, stand till you fall
The tune was an old rebel one.

"Look Here"


Look here!
What d'you think you're
Gonna be doin' next year?
No lie...
How you know you're not
Gonna up and die?
No doubt...

Soon enough your friends
Will find you out
Take care...
You know you might not have
Too much time to spare
I say...

How long have you been acting
Up this way?
One knows...
When you gonna get
Your own floorshow
I'm hip...
And you could use a button
On your lip

Look here
What d'you think you're
Gonna be doing next year
I'm hip!

"The Crooked Beat"


Start the car lets make a midnight run
Across the river to South London
To dance to the latest hi-fi sound
Of bass, guitar and drum
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the pressure off
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

Take a piece of cloth, a coin for thirst
For the sweat will start to run
With a cymbal splash, a word of truth
And a rocking bass and drum
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the pressure on
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

So one by one they come on down
From the tower blocks of my home town
Stepping with the rhythm of the rockers beat
Drowning out the pressure of the crooked beat
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the tension on
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

It has crooked past this crooked street
Where cars patrol this crooked beat
Badges flsh and sirens wail
They'll be taking one and all to jail

Prance! Prance! You want a law to dance?

"Somebody Got Murdered"


Someone lights a cigarette
While riding in a car
Some ol' guy takes a swig
And passes back the jar
But where they were last night
No-one can remember
Somebody got murdered
Goodbye, for keeps, forever

Somebody got murdered
Somebody's dead forever

And you're minding your own business
Carrying spare change
You wouldn't cosh a barber
You're hungry all the same
I been very tempted
To grab it from the till
I been very hungry
But not enough to kill

Somebody got murdered
His name cannot be found
A small stain on the pavement
They'll scrub it off the ground
As the daily crown disperses
No-one says that much
Somebody got murdered
And it' left me with a touch

Somebody got murdered
Somebody's dead forever
Sounds like murder!
Those shouts!
Are they drunk down below?

It's late, and my watch stopped
Some time ago
Sounds like murder!
Those screams!
Are they drunk down below?

"One More Time"


Must I get a witness? for all this misery
There's no need to, brothers everybody can see
That its one more time in the ghetto you know
One more time if you please now
One more time to the dying man
They say one more time if you please

The old lady kicks karate
For just a little walk down the street
The little baby he knows kung fu
He tries it on those he meets
Cos its a one more time!

You don't need no silicone to calculate poverty
Watch when Watts town burns again
The bus goes to Montgomery

Cos it's a one more time in the ghetto
One more time if you please
One more time for the dying man
One more time to be free

"One More Dub"


Stop wastin' time
Right

One more breath

One more time in the ghetto
One more time if you please
One

One more time for the dying man
One more time if you please now

One more time

"Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)"


Now lightning strikes in old New York
It may be dark but I wanna talk
It might rain, it might snow
Too many things I got to know
If this is spring than it's time to sing
Never mind the l'il birdies wing
Look out, look out, old New York
New York's coming an' New York talks
Hey! Strike! Not once...
Strike! But twice!

Get out your money - peel a slab
Roll some notes an' hail a cab
Drive in church drive in back
Drive down Seventh in a tank
Take in the sights, feel the breeze
See New York's one and only tree
It can be found in Garbage park
But don't inspect it after dark
Strike! New York! Lightning!
Not once but twice.

Accidental hike in the transit strike
Roller skate or ride a bike
Three to a car, Brooklyn Bridge
You won't get far if you're privileged
Graffiti Jack sprays in black
An Englishman can he read it back?
Deli Joe he ought to know
He runs the gang on Pastrami Row
Strike! Lightning strike!

Because glass to glass, street to street
Buildings touch St. Peter's feet
From car to bar, prez to shah
Everything is in the jar
The 4 winds blow cos the 4 winds know
Takes a special hustle to make a roll
Honey girl on her feet
I wish everything to make her sweet
Strike! Twice! OK so roll!
From Harlem! Strike one!

Harlem slum to penthouse block
On every door I already knocked
There wasn't anybody that I didn't leave alone
Somebody lying under every stone
Everything that a man could need
In a bag down by my knee
That looks good, this ain't got seeds
Cheaper than booze down in the bowery
Lightning strike! Old New York!
Everything's light! Strike!

Hey ho such a night
I'll see y'all when the lightning strike
A polaroid caught in the act
You're married too and that's a fact
But I won't peek and I won't squeek
Down by the trucks on Christopher Street
It's Cuban Day - Oi Vey
Chinese New Year let's call it a day
Tootsie! Hey Chi man!
That melody is Puerto Rican
Hey Chi man is what he's speaking
An' there's the road down into London Town
Where many cars get broken down
It's the Westway from Ladbroke Grove
Runs down to Old Hounslow
Just thought I'd mention the new extention
That run's down the 59th street intersection
Did you hear the news y'all?
London Town on the Broadway!

"Up In Heaven (Not Only Here)"


The towers of London, these crumbling rocks
Reality estates that the hero's got
And every hour's maked by the chime of a clock
And whatcha gonna do when the darkness surrounds?
You can piss in the lifts which have broken down
You can watch from the debris the last bedroom light
We're invisible here just past midnight

The wives hate their husbands and their husbands don't care
Their children daub slogans to prove they lived there
A giant pipe organ up in the air
You can't live in a home which should not have been built
By the bourgeoise clerks who bear no guilt
When the wind hits this building this building it tilts
One day it will surely fall to the ground...

Fear is just another commodity here
They sell us peeping holes to peek when we hear
A bang on the door resoundingly clear
Who would really want to move in here?
The children play faraway, the corridors are bare
This room is a cage its like captivity
How can anyone exist in such misery?

It has been said not only here

"Allianza dollars are spent
To raise the towering buildings
For the weary bones of the workers
To go back in the morning
To be strong in the morning"

"Corner Soul"


Is the music of grove skin rock
Soaked in the diesel of was boys war?
Blood, black gold and the face of a judge
Is the music calling for a river of blood?

Beat the drums tonight, Alphonso
Spread the news all over the grove
The big meeting has decided
That total was must burn on the grove

Does it mean I should take my machete
To chop my way through the path of life?
Does it mean I should run with the dog pack
Is that the way to be the one to survive?

Never need a gun says Tai Chi
Move on up to dragon snaps his tail
Fall back on still waters
Hammer with his eye on the nail

Spread the word tonight please, Sammy
They're searching everyhouse on the grove
Don't go alone now, Sammy!
The wind has blown away the corner soul

Tell the news for me, Sammy
They're searching every place on the grove
But don't go down alone new, Sammy!
The wind has blown away the croner soul

Is the music calling for a river of blood?

"Let's Go Crazy"


Summon up the mas! Play on the pan!
Staring dreads are jerking their locks
As the white star liner sank in the docks
But on the drummers face, there is a look of dread
As he drums away 400 years of dread
The dancer man-in the power of mas
Is smoking ti the mighty sparrow's blast

But you better be careful
You still got to watch yourself

You wanna be crazy
So you wanna go crazy
Let's go crazy
So you wanna be crazy
Then let's go crazy
Let's go crazy

The lawful force are here of course
For special offenders for the special court
But the young men know when the sun has set
Darkness comes to settle the debt
Owed by a year of S.U.S. and suspect
Indiscriminate use of the power of arrest

They're waiting for the sun to set

The mighty observer who keeps his cabinets hot
A great meeting of rhythm and face
A humming of values and a children's place
But the sticks man gives the copper good excuse
To shut off the ganja and control the juice

To control the juice

So you wanna go crazy? Then let's go crazy
So take it on crazy! So they get all crazy
Bricks and bottles corrugated iron
Shields and helmets carnival time
'N moa ambassa, sledgehammer sound
Ray symbolic from jamdown town