Roy Harper
I Hate The White Man
Far across the ocean
In the land of look-and-see
There once was a time
For you and me
Where the winds blow sweetly
And the easy seas flow still
And where the barefoot dream of life
Can laugh and cry its fill
Where slot machine confusion
And the plastic universe
Are objects of amusement
In the fiction of their curse
And where the crazy whiteman
And his teargas happiness
Lies dead and long since buried
By his own fantastic mess
For I hate the whiteman
And his plastic excuse
For I hate the whiteman
And the man who turned him loose...
And the reins of coloured thunder
Of the stallion of the dawn
Ride the coalfire morning
On the beach where all is born
Where the emperor of meaning
Is burning up his fort
And sits to warm his toes around
A fire made up of useless thoughts
And when the children tempt him
With the riddles of their trance
He flings the flames of solstice
Casting laughs into their dance
And where the crazy whiteman
In the desert of his bones
Lies as bleached as the paradise
He likes to think he owns
And I hate the whiteman
In his ever-green excuse
Oh I hate the whiteman
And the man who turned him loose...
And far across the reaches
Of the drifting yellow sands
The living carpet wilderness
Forever joins its hands
With heaven's hell's attainment
In a surging crest of fire
Where more than all is thrown upon
The ever lasting pyre
And through the countless canticles
Of Jason's charcoal fleece
Are sung the songs of nothing
In the timeless masterpiece
And there stood in the middle
Guess who?
It's the everlasting bust
Built by god's very own whiteman
As he tries to rule the dust
And I hate the whiteman
In his doctrinaire refuse
Oh I hate the whiteman
And the man who turned you all loose...
And the bowels of his city
Have been locked into a safe
Where the spew stains on the sidewalks
Are defenders of his faith
While back inside his kitchen
The bowler-hatted, long-haired saint
Cleans with soap and water
But it's really just white paint
While his Gorgon-headed scandal sheet
Presents its daily bite
To give their righteous news-believers
Drugs to keep them white
While outside in the whitewash
Where the guns are always, always right
A shooting star has summoned
Death's dark angel from his night
And I hate the whiteman
And his ever-green excuse
Oh I hate the whiteman
And the man who turned you all loose
And the man who turned him loose...