Sept 15th 1983

[Verse 1]

Long dinner with some friends

Way out way out in Portmore

Servants of the pharaoh

Slip in through the open door

All business

Bearing knives and zip-guns

So get on the floor now

Every last one, every last one

[Chorus]

The heat drifts

Across the land

If I forget you, Israel

Let me forget my right hand

[Verse 2]

And on the floor, Michael James Williams

Feels his fingers start to freeze

And the whole scene's like a movie

Paramedics on their knees

Try, try your whole life

To be righteous and be good

Wind up on your own floor

Choking on blood

[Chorus]

The heat drifts

Across the land

If I forget you, Israel

Let me forget my right hand

[Verse 3]

And the house still smells like onions

When the ambulance arrives

Gabriel in postal blue

Loads up the car and drives

To Spanish Town

About three miles away

Where will the wicked run to

On that last day, on that last day?

[Chorus]

The heat drifts

Across the land

If I forget you, Israel

Let me forget my right hand