6:30 AM on that fateful day
Two white men totin' guns,
One 's name was Shea,
Were cruising in their unmarked car
fightin' crime in their prime
They got a line on their radio
That if two big black men should show
They could be suspects in a robbery.
Now Clifford Glover who was only ten years old
His stepfather Armsted and him, we 're told
Were tryin' to get to work on time that day
But on their way, they met Shea
Who pulled his gun on them
He hollered "halt",
They turned and ran
While Clifford died the neighbors
Heard the other white man say:
"Die nigger die.
If somebody wants to question why
We will tell them that you had a gun.
Too bad you were so young
But after all it's just another lousy
Nigger dead."
Now Clifford's father ran to find a cop.
He didn't know his son
had just been shot.
He didn't know the man who shot at him
Served the law, what he saw
Was a drawn gun nothing else in sight.
No badge or warning in their flight,
Just centuries of stories of black people being lynched.
In the neighborhood
where Clifford died.
People demanded that Shea be tried
They said for murder in the first degree
They could see
Through his plea of innocence
But the jury came to his defense
When he said "All black people look alike to me "
Now there are some who think
it justice done.
That it was Clifford's crime
to turn and run
Shea testified the boy had turned in an attack.
Shea shot him in the back
Which is a fact the court ignored
Whose justice so few can afford
And Shea is free to kill again
and serve the rich man's law.
Now if you hear a cop
got shot today.
Don't be surprised
if his name is Shea
'Cause when the people feel
they've had enough,
Things get rough,
And it may be tough at first to understand
That to drive the devil from this land
There's gonna be a lot of us
determined when we say:
Die devil. die!
If somebody wants to question why.
You can tell them that I had a gun
Your killin' days are done
I ain't gonna be just another lousy
nigger dead
Every time I see a cop.
I think of Clifford Gover.
Every time I see a cop
I think of Thomas Shea.
Every time I see a cop
I have to think it over.
Who you gonna shoot.
Who you gonna shoot
Who you gonna shoot today?
Two white men totin' guns,
One 's name was Shea,
Were cruising in their unmarked car
fightin' crime in their prime
They got a line on their radio
That if two big black men should show
They could be suspects in a robbery.
Now Clifford Glover who was only ten years old
His stepfather Armsted and him, we 're told
Were tryin' to get to work on time that day
But on their way, they met Shea
Who pulled his gun on them
He hollered "halt",
They turned and ran
While Clifford died the neighbors
Heard the other white man say:
"Die nigger die.
If somebody wants to question why
We will tell them that you had a gun.
Too bad you were so young
But after all it's just another lousy
Nigger dead."
Now Clifford's father ran to find a cop.
He didn't know his son
had just been shot.
He didn't know the man who shot at him
Served the law, what he saw
Was a drawn gun nothing else in sight.
No badge or warning in their flight,
Just centuries of stories of black people being lynched.
In the neighborhood
where Clifford died.
People demanded that Shea be tried
They said for murder in the first degree
They could see
Through his plea of innocence
But the jury came to his defense
When he said "All black people look alike to me "
Now there are some who think
it justice done.
That it was Clifford's crime
to turn and run
Shea testified the boy had turned in an attack.
Shea shot him in the back
Which is a fact the court ignored
Whose justice so few can afford
And Shea is free to kill again
and serve the rich man's law.
Now if you hear a cop
got shot today.
Don't be surprised
if his name is Shea
'Cause when the people feel
they've had enough,
Things get rough,
And it may be tough at first to understand
That to drive the devil from this land
There's gonna be a lot of us
determined when we say:
Die devil. die!
If somebody wants to question why.
You can tell them that I had a gun
Your killin' days are done
I ain't gonna be just another lousy
nigger dead
Every time I see a cop.
I think of Clifford Gover.
Every time I see a cop
I think of Thomas Shea.
Every time I see a cop
I have to think it over.
Who you gonna shoot.
Who you gonna shoot
Who you gonna shoot today?
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