Steemitcentral Lyrics Challenge Day 36/60 - "They Don't Care About Us" By Michael Jackson
Lyrics
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, aggravation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Bang bang, shot dead
Everybody's gone mad
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Beat me, hate me
You can never break me
Will me, thrill me
You can never kill me
Jew me, sue me
Everybody do me
Kick me, kike me
Don't you black or white me
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my life
I have a wife and two children who love me
I am the victim of police brutality, no
I'm tired of being the victim of hate
You're raping me of my pride
Oh, for God's sake
I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy...
Set me free
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Trepidation, speculation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Black man, blackmail
Throw the brother in jail
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my rights
Am I invisible because you ignore me?
Your proclamation promised me free liberty, no
I'm tired of being the victim of shame
They're throwing me in a class with a bad name
I can't believe this is the land from which I came
You know I really do hate to say it
The government don't wanna see
But if Roosevelt was living
He wouldn't let this be, no, no
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, speculation
Everybody litigation
Beat me, bash me
You can never trash me
Hit me, kick me
You can never get me
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Some things in life they just don't wanna see
But if Martin Luther was living
He wouldn't let this be, no, no
Skin head, dead head
Everybody's gone bad
Situation, segregation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Kick me, kike me
Don't you wrong or right me
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Lyrics sourced from azlyrics.com
Reflection
Dubbed the king of pop music, Michael Jackson is arguably the greatest entertainer of all time.
It is pertinent to note that Michael Jackson had to apologize and later alter these lyrics because of the allegations of antisemitism levied against it. In short, because of the controversial nature of the lyrics, most radio stations in the US censored it.
They Don't Care About Us is a song that calls on the constituted authorities to respect and protect human rights and help the victims of human right abuses.
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Nice entry, again!
I never knew that Michael ever wrote such lyrics, with the clear political undertones. We all knew he was a very talented musician and lyricist, but probably most people never realized that he could lyrics that were also profound and insightful.
As for the charges of anti-semitism, are these the expurgated lyrics? Or was that simply because of his use of "Jew" as a verb?
Sure, Jackson was a great talent. He also wrote several great lyrics. These are the original lyrics, not the expurgated one. Your observation is marvellous - using Jew as a verb to denote hatred and mistreatment, surely, earned the lyrics the label of anti-semitism.
I highly doubt that Jackson was being anti-semitic. In fact, nowadays, anyone who mentions anything that is critical of Israel or its lobby will most likely face charges of anti-semitism, and be subject to a severe backlash.
Reading your comment, I think you may be right. The mainstream media has always played god in this matter when in short "they" know nothing.