[Verse 1]
Black Lives Matter, that's the subject matter
Tell you to climb then they burn down your ladder
Sick of playing games like Snakes and Ladders
Matter of fact, I'm like Michael Jack, I'm badder
Now this yearnin' got me learnin' like Charlie Perkins
Educated black man, tired of soul searchin'
Tired of hurtin', tired of workin' and not earnin'
The same respect as my counterpart
My people in the death bed by preventable heart disease
Served through rations brought from oversees
On ships full of convicts and common thieves
Same ships, the one that brought my mother's genes
Same ships as the one that got me wearin' jeans
Same ships brought scholarships to university
So I can be a doctor and fix my people
But what's health when you're still not equal?
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
The darker the skin, the quicker police shoot
Labeled as heroes that we all salute
But lest we forget our stolen youth
Our history is a mystery
But I know it word for word, yeah, it's clear to me
So what's the way forward? What's the way forward?
They throw us straight in jail, yeah, no court
Cases, on cases labeled as alcoholics, and never racist
Grab some shoe polish and paint the blackest faces
Darker than the past, darker than our present
Darker than the future that we're surely destined
'Cause it's all good to call Mr. Goodes an ape
As long as you're thirteen and have a white face
But I ain't happy man, that shit is a disgrace
No game, no cards to play, it's more than race
[Interlude: Stan Grant]
"Australians all, let us rejoice for we are young and free"
My people die young in this country
And yet we are 25 percent, a quarter of those Australians locked up in our prisons and if you are a juvenile, it is worse, it is 50 percent
An Indigenous child is more likely to be locked up in prison than they are to finish high school
[Verse 2]
Should I be on my knees, saying thank you?
I beat a statistic, I should be thankful
Right? Wrong, I'm this writing this song
'Cause this shit has gone on for too long
I'm not over it, nor will I ever be
I refuse to use your memory
I refuse to lose our identity
Our ancestors died defendin' me
Defendin' the right to racism is time-wastin'
Open up your eyes wide, it's time to face it
Open up your hearts and it's time to embrace it
If you motherfuckers don't, I'm emptyin' loaded cases
AK-47 is not my choice of weapon
I'ma throw an invisible spear and really get you threatened
Throw my blackness in your face without a warnin' message
Enough with this shit, can we please just end it?
[Outro]
Yeah, it's time to end it
Hey, yeah, it's time to end it
Hey
