Well I'm about to get sick from watching my TV Been checkin' out the news until my eyeballs fail to see I mean they say that every day is another rotten mess And when it's gonna change, is anybody's guess
So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin', hopin' for the best Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear them sayin' There's no way to delay that trouble coming every day No way to delay that trouble coming every day
Wednesday I watched the riot, seen the cops out on the street Watched them throwing rocks and stuff, choking in the heat Listened to reports about the whisky passin' round Seen the smoke and fire and the market burning down Watched while everybody on his street would take a turn To stomp and smash and bash and crash and slash and bust and burn
And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin', hopin' for the best Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear them sayin' There's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day No way to delay that trouble comin' every day
Well I seen the fires burnin', the local people turnin' On the merchants and the shops, who used to sell them brooms and mops And every other household item Watched the mob just turn and bite them And they say it served them right, because a few of them were white And it's the same across the nation Black and white discrimination Yellin' "You can't understand me" and all that jazz they hand me In the papers and TV, and all that mass stupidity That seems to grow more every day, each time you hear some nitwit say He wants to go and do you in, because the colour of your skin Just don't appeal to him
You know we got to sit around at home, watch this thing begin But I bet there won't be many left to see it really end Because the fire in the street ain't like the fire in the heart And in the eyes of all these people don't you know that this could start Any street, any town, any state, if any clown Decides that now's the time to fight for some ideal he thinks is right If a million more agree, there ain't no great society As it applies to you and me, you know our country isn't free And the law refuse to see, if all you'll ever be Is just a lousy janitor, unless your uncle owns a store You know that five in every four just won't amount to nothin' more Than watchin' rats go across the floor, and make up songs about the poor
And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin', hopin' for the best Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear them sayin' There's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day No way to delay that trouble comin' every day