Katie Melua's Spider's Web: 'If a black man is racist, is it okay?'

She is ten, right? Those lyrics are from a fourth-grade English assignment?

Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord why don’t we?

Ebony, ivory living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, ooh

We all know that people are the same whereever we go
There is good and bad in everyone,
We learn to live, we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive.

Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord why don’t we?

Ebony, ivory living in perfect harmony

And all those who got a tired face
Dont wanna fight no more
And all those who are lost without a trace
Dont wanna fight no more
But there is profit in the love of hate
So we must fight some more

COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.

All he wants to know is do you love me
(Do you love me, don't you love me no more)
All he needs to know is do you love me
(Do you love me, don't you love me no more)

Why does granny have to walk the streets?
(Don't you love me, don't you love me no more)
Trying to find a sheltered place to sleep
(Don't you love me, don't you love me no more)

See the cops arrest another child
(Don't you love me, don't you love me no more)
Mother, mother crying I dont know where he is
(Don't you love me, don't you love me no more)

It's a shame, is that all we have to say
It's all the same, if we just turn and walk away
When somebody needs you, their arms trying to reach you
I'm begging please have a heart

Don't you love me, don't you love me no more
Don't you love me
Don't you love me

All he wants to know is do you love me
Don't you love me, don't you love me no more
All he wants to know is do you love me
Do you love me, don't you love me no more
All she wants to know is do you love me
Do you love me, don't you love me no more
All she wanst to know is do you love me
Do you love me, don't you love me no more

Come on come on
I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself
is life worth living should I blast myself?
I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black
my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
one less hungry mouth on the welfare
First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers
give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other
It's time to fight back that's what Huey said
2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead
I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other
We gotta start makin' changes
learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers
and that's how it's supposed to be
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
but things changed, and that's the way it is

[Bridge w/ changing ad libs]
Come on come on
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
aww yeah
[Repeat]

[2]
I see no changes all I see is racist faces
misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under I wonder what it takes to make this
one better place, let's erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight
and only time we chill is when we kill each other
it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven sent
We ain't ready, to see a black President, uhh
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact
the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks
But some things will never change
try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game
Now tell me what's a mother to do
bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you
You gotta operate the easy way
"I made a G today" But you made it in a sleazy way
sellin' crack to the kid. " I gotta get paid,"
Well hey, well that's the way it is

[Bridge]

[Talking:]
We gotta make a change...
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
and let's change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive.

[3]
And still I see no changes can't a brother get a little peace
It's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East
Instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs
so the police can bother me
And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do
But now I'm back with the blacks givin' it back to you
Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up,
crack you up and pimp slap you up
You gotta learn to hold ya own
they get jealous when they see ya with ya mobile phone
But tell the cops they can't touch this
I don't trust this when they try to rush I bust this
That's the sound of my tool you say it ain't cool
my mama didn't raise no fool
And as long as I stay black I gotta stay strapped
& I never get to lay back
'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs
some buck that I roughed up way back
comin' back after all these years
rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat that's the way it is uhh

[Bridge 'til fade]

'Twas about seven o'clock at night,
And the wind it blew with all its might,
And the rain came pouring down,
And the dark clouds seem'd to frown,
And the Demon of the air seem'd to say-
"I'll blow down the Bridge of Tay."

When the train left Edinburgh,
The passengers' hearts were light, and felt no sorrow,
But Boreas blew a terrific gale,
Which made their hearts for to quail,
And many of the passengers with fear did say-
"I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay."

But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

So the train sped on with all its might,
And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sight,
And the passengers' hearts felt light,
Thinking they would enjoy themselves on the New Year,
With their friends at home they lov'd most dear,
And wish them all a happy New Year.

So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay,
Until it was about midway,
Then the central girders with a crash gave way,
And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!
The Storm Fiend did loudly bray,
Because ninety lives had been taken away,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

As soon as the catastrophe came to be known
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,
And the cry rang out all o'er the town,
Good Heavens! The Tay Bridge is blown down,
And a passenger train from Edinburgh,
Which fill'd all the peoples hearts with sorrow,
And made them for to turn pale,
Because none of the passengers were sav'd to tell the tale,
How the disaster happen'd on the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
I must now conclude my lay,
By telling the world fearlessly, without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible man confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.

I'd post that song from the 80s about "What about me? It isn't fair, I don't have enough I want my share" but I can't remember what it's called or who sang it.

Well there's a little boy waitin' at the counter of a corner shop
He's been waitin' down there, waitin' half the day
They never ever seem to have the time
He gets pushed around, knocked to the ground
He gets to his feet and he says;
"What About me, it isn't fair
I've had enough now I want my share
Can't you see? I wanna live!
But you just take more than you give..."

Well there's a pretty girl servin' at the counter of a corner shop
She's been waitin' back there, waitin' for her dream
And dreams walk in and out, they never stop
Well she's not too proud to cry out loud
She runs to the street and she screams;
"What About me, it isn't fair
I've had enough now I want my share
Can't you see? I wanna live!
But you just take more than you give..." (More than you give)

Take a step back and see the little people
There's nothin there but the words that make the big people big
So listen, as they whisper;
"What about me? ..."

Now we're standin' on the corner of a world gone home
Nobody's changed, nobody's been saved
And I'm feelin' cold and alone
I guess I'm lucky, I smile a lot
But sometimes I wish for more than I've got...
"What About me, it isn't fair
I've had enough now I want my share
Can't you see? I wanna live!
But you just take more - What about me?!
It isn't fair!
I've had enough now I want my share!
Can't you see? I wanna live!
But you just take more,
You just take more,
You just take more than you give...

What about me?
What about me?
What about me?

Give the girl a break, she's from Georgia after all

http://www.theharbouragency.com/Artist_Downloads/Alex_Smith13a.jpg

Something really scared me, when I saw it on the news

A story 'bout a little girl beaten black and blue

Jesus, thought I'd take this right to you

Dear Mr. Jesus, I don't understand

Why they took her mom and dad away

I know that they don't mean to hit with wild and angry hands

Tell them just how big they are I pray

Please don't let them hurt your children

We need love and shelter from the storm

Please don't let them hurt your children

Won't you keep us safe and warm

Dear Mr. Jesus, they say that she may die

Oh I hope the doctors stop the pain

I know that you could save her and take her up to the sky

So she would never have to hurt again

Please don't let them hurt your children..

Dear Mr. Jesus, please tell me what to do

And please don't tell my daddy

But my mommy hits me, too.

Please don't let them hurt your children...

Frankly, yes, Ned! Because how could an honest assessment or even mere description of this song exclude mention of these lyrics? They're there. They're... interesting.

You're taking my comment far more seriously than I meant it, Marc, which amuses me more than anything else. (But if you must, serious subtext of comment: "I don't pay much attention to lyrics because 99.9% of them are useless timekilling doggerel.")

Personally, still rather not listen to music I have to ignore.

agreeance all along! thanks again for clearing this up

Hello, friends.

Poor Katie, I fear, has no chance either way.

How can I save my little boy from oppenheimer’s deadly toy
There is no monopoly in common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the president
There’s no such thing as a winnable war
It’s a lie that we don’t believe anymore
Mr. reagan says we will protect you
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the russians love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me, and you
Is that the russians love their children too

and as something of a chaser to that here's a picture of her:
http://www.heureka.clara.net/music/katie1.jpg

The spider has taken revenge

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/02/katie-melua-finds-spider-living-in-ear

http://i.imgur.com/A1gYmNM.gif

arrrgh