David Rovics: His Hands Were in the Air

[Generic Other]

RIP Michael Brown. Unarmed teen executed in broad daylight by racist cop.

Lyrics:

His Hands Were In The Air

The town is mostly black, almost all the cops are white
You can see it right away, something isn't right
There's no funding for the schools and they're being shut down
The powers that be don't give a shit about the town

They were walking in the street, it's the safest place to be
In case someone comes shooting, you got a better view to see
They were walking in the street, they weren't hurting anyone
Then came a white man with a badge and a gun

His hands were in the air (4x)

“Get the fuck on the sidewalk,” that's what the cop said
He cut them off in his car, fat face, blood red
The cop says he was attacked, and from a cursory check
It seems his fingers were assaulted by Michael Brown's neck

There were witnesses who saw it, it was recorded on a phone
But the police couldn't handle the light that would've shone
She was forced to hand it over so they could try to hide away
A racist execution in the middle of the day

He had just finished high school and was off to college next
Instead he was shot and killed with no pretext
The media joined in, called the community a mob
A cop called them animals while Michael's mother sobbed

[JimDandy]

1. I LIKE IT. K and R.

[drynberg]

2. JUST THE FACTS...

Absolutely horrible, but becoming much too commonplace in Amerikkka. This shit has to stop NOW. Start by throwing the book at this blue suited murderer, and do it quickly. Why? Justice. Prevention of the next Michael Brown. Do it now. Nice job on the song, I almost forgot to add.

[iemitsu]

3. Immortalized by music. A better memorial than any headstone could ever be.

The folk music tradition holds the real historical record. It is spontaneous and reveals the impact, physical and emotional, that events have on real, individual human beings, before the official censor machine provides prettified justification for all its misdeeds.
David Rovics has captured the events of the last few days so that we can remember what really happened after the television, the news papers, and the high school history texts provide posterity with their cleaned up version of the events, no doubt, characterizing Michael Brown's death as necessary for some supposed societal greater good.