Erasure

They Typex'd all the black kids out of the picture So when they pictured that scene, they wouldn't be seen Baby girl in the front row with the cornrows Smiling at the band They made a cartoon of you They beat you into lead And made an object out of you They put out lit cigarettes Down your sweet throat They fed you to the alligators They tried to erase you They tried to erase you They tried to eviscerate you Hide behind the curtain Make you forget your name They tried to erase you They tried to erase you They tried to eviscerate you Hide behind the curtain Make you forget your name They took credit for your labor They took credit for your labor They tried to acid-wash you And paint you as a picture of patience And they killed you And they hid your broken bones In a public place And, oh, they wore a public face They wore a public face They wore, oh They tried to erase you They tried to erase you They tried to eviscerate you Hide behind the curtain Make you forget your name They tried to erase you They tried to erase you They tried to eviscerate you Hide behind the curtain Make you forget your name The knife was clean The knife was clean The knife was clean The knife was clean The knife was clean The knife was clean Baby, baby, uh They fed you to the alligators They fed you to the alligators They fed you to the alligators Alligators, oh, yeah