Gil Scott-Heron - Enough lyrics
[Gil Scott-Heron - Enough lyrics]
Had a poem here somewhere called "Enough"
That I'd like to do
Because every once in a while
A brother gets shot somewhere for no reason
A brother gets his head kicked in
For no reason
And you wonder just exactly what
In the hell is enough
And that's what this poem is about
It was not enough that we were bought en
Brought to this home of the slaves
Locked in the bowels of a floating shit-house
Watching those we loved eaten away
By plague and insanity
Flesh falling like strips of bark
From a termite-infested tree
Bones rotting, turning first
To brittle ivory, then to resin
That was not enough
It was not enough that we
Were chained by leg-irons
Black on black in black with
A pit stained wall
Forced to heed nature's call
Through and inside the tattered of
Rags that stringed our privates
And evidently
Years of slavery did not appease your
Need to be superior to something
Like a crazed lion hung up on being the
King of his corner of the cage
Backs bend under the weight of
Being everything and having nothing
Mines too
Like boomerangs curving back into themselves
Kicked and carved by the face-straining
Smiles that saved my life
That was not enough
Somehow I cannot believe that
It will be enough
For me to melt with you and integrate
Without the thoughts of rape and murder
I cannot conceive of on peace
On earth until I
Have given you a piece of lead or pipe
To end your worthless
Motherfucking existence
Imagine your nightmares of my sneaking into
A veiled or satin bedroom
And attacking your daughter, wife and mother
At once ripping open their bowels sexually
Like a wishbone
Imagine that and magnify it a million times
When you realize that the blinders have
Been stripped from my eyes
And I realize that slavery was no smiling
Happy fizzies party
Your ancestors raped my foremothers and
I will not forget
I will not forget at Yale or
Harvard or Princeton or in Hell
Because you are on my mind
I see you every time my woman walks down
The street with her ass on her shoulders
I see you every time I look in the mirror
And think of the times I used to pat
Myself for not being too black after all
I think of you morning, noon and night
And I wonder just exactly what
In hell is enough
Every time I see a rope or gun I remember
And to top it all off, you ain't through yet
Over 50 you have killed
In Mississippi since 1963
That doesn't even begin to begin
All of those you have maimed, hit and run
Over, blinded, poisoned
Starved or castrated
I hope you do not think that a vote for
John Kennedy took you off my shit list
Because in the street there will
Only be black and white
There will be no Democrats
Republicans, Liberals, Conservatives
Moderates or any of the rest of
That shit you have used
To make me forget to hate
There ain't no enough
There ain't no surrender
There is only plot and plan, move and groove
Kill there is no promised land
There is only the promise
The promise is my vow that
Until we have been nerve-gassed
Shot down and murdered or done
Some of the same ourselves
Look over your shoulder motherfucker
I am coming
That I'd like to do
Because every once in a while
A brother gets shot somewhere for no reason
A brother gets his head kicked in
For no reason
And you wonder just exactly what
In the hell is enough
And that's what this poem is about
It was not enough that we were bought en
Brought to this home of the slaves
Locked in the bowels of a floating shit-house
Watching those we loved eaten away
By plague and insanity
Flesh falling like strips of bark
From a termite-infested tree
Bones rotting, turning first
To brittle ivory, then to resin
That was not enough
It was not enough that we
Were chained by leg-irons
Black on black in black with
A pit stained wall
Forced to heed nature's call
Through and inside the tattered of
Rags that stringed our privates
And evidently
Years of slavery did not appease your
Need to be superior to something
Like a crazed lion hung up on being the
King of his corner of the cage
Backs bend under the weight of
Being everything and having nothing
Mines too
Like boomerangs curving back into themselves
Kicked and carved by the face-straining
Smiles that saved my life
That was not enough
Somehow I cannot believe that
It will be enough
For me to melt with you and integrate
Without the thoughts of rape and murder
I cannot conceive of on peace
On earth until I
Have given you a piece of lead or pipe
To end your worthless
Motherfucking existence
Imagine your nightmares of my sneaking into
A veiled or satin bedroom
And attacking your daughter, wife and mother
At once ripping open their bowels sexually
Like a wishbone
Imagine that and magnify it a million times
When you realize that the blinders have
Been stripped from my eyes
And I realize that slavery was no smiling
Happy fizzies party
Your ancestors raped my foremothers and
I will not forget
I will not forget at Yale or
Harvard or Princeton or in Hell
Because you are on my mind
I see you every time my woman walks down
The street with her ass on her shoulders
I see you every time I look in the mirror
And think of the times I used to pat
Myself for not being too black after all
I think of you morning, noon and night
And I wonder just exactly what
In hell is enough
Every time I see a rope or gun I remember
And to top it all off, you ain't through yet
Over 50 you have killed
In Mississippi since 1963
That doesn't even begin to begin
All of those you have maimed, hit and run
Over, blinded, poisoned
Starved or castrated
I hope you do not think that a vote for
John Kennedy took you off my shit list
Because in the street there will
Only be black and white
There will be no Democrats
Republicans, Liberals, Conservatives
Moderates or any of the rest of
That shit you have used
To make me forget to hate
There ain't no enough
There ain't no surrender
There is only plot and plan, move and groove
Kill there is no promised land
There is only the promise
The promise is my vow that
Until we have been nerve-gassed
Shot down and murdered or done
Some of the same ourselves
Look over your shoulder motherfucker
I am coming