Song taken from the album "Walk In The Rain" - Cd: (7/1/2015)
Vocal performance by Anthony Leonard Pierre
Music by Obeah Akkompong band
"Raphael Is Dead (69)" - Song lyrics (translator):
He learned to talk
the ‘whiteman’s’ talk
Madison Area Technical College at daytime
an’ worked the dog-shift
in the back of some State Street kitchen
between classes
His apartment was a sanctuary
for those who took the ‘trip’, with Him
an associate of Mine
got in Rafael’s way
best friend of Rafael
this scavenger was
but he let greed
get in his crazy head
the “ruption” between them
grew to the point -- that
where State Street
runs into the Capitol Square - on the right hand side
was where the showdown occurred
at high noon
Brethren defended Himself
from a childhood schoolmate
who had now become an attacker
KNIVES DRANK HOT BLOOD
and the Victim ran
from shock of what He had done
Rafael killed His attacker
His best friend … DEAD:
all witnesses knew
that -- Rafael never meant.
One victim
hardhearted - out cold
tagged by the big-toe
with only his friend - Rafael
to say a prayer for him
the Other
hot blooded - petrified and running scared
His signature imprinted
on a ‘weapon’
Rafael ... You have made
the headline news
You’ve made
de’headline editorials - Brotherman
six-o-clock front-page - too.
How do You plead?
a day in court - a jury of Your peers
this was only a formality
just going through the motions
for the system had already ‘SET’ its verdict:
these People are a menace to ‘our’ society
very unwanted, by the ‘masses’
so in one community voice, they screamed
“He only turned himself in, to gain our sympathy!”
“No one is safe, with those kind around!”
“There’s no place in society, for him!” --
as Rafael, was one of Castro’s trying refugees
wyan’a Fidel Castro’s tryin’ refugees
with the circumstances within hand
the judicial shit~stem set out
to make an example - out of Him
so the prosecutor asked
for Rafael’s LIFE to evidence Its duration
in Waupan State Penitentiary
in Wisconsin’s Waupan State Pen.
Oh Rafael
You tried so hard
and for no fault of Your Own
You were LOCKED behind perpetual bars
the story have told - so many ears
what is now telling … is a mystical lie
and the tragedy an’ mystery
as to why You came into My karma
is like dust in the wind
I now play My Boney M. Lp. record
with much regret
knowing - it was YOU … who brought the message
to disc jockey Me - that
‘Reggae’ had Its audience
in Cuba, Caribbean - makin’ I an’I
truly neighbouring blood Brothers - too.
Rafael - an exile’s challenge You met
as Dreams You had
to make Life better
Your way
society took Your Life
their way
but I won’t let You die
and Your Dreams go away
to stray
I felt for You
on that summer day
when the headlines proclaimed
a Cuban - Rafael
killed another one dead
and I died with You
when it again said
there’s a riot at Waupan
‘cause a Cuban - Rafael
while in isolation lock-down
is found hung - DEAD
in Waupan’s seclusion - none left a trace
of their dirty hands.
Rafael - a model prisoner
You had become
a treat to babylon’s shit~stem
You had began to translate
the ‘language’ of this system
an’ Waupan is ‘rich’
with ‘Spanish’ ears
dem Spanish speaking
Caribbean ears - too
and in FEAR of this - awakening
some promote their political agenda
by sacrificing You
NOW the entangled Victim.
Where were
the watching guards
and the documenting cameras
over prisoners in
solitary-isolation
lock-down ..?
and where did You get
and who MADE the noose
to hang You ... from WHAT
in the time span of - WHEN --
the camera of
protection and law an’ order
coincidentally - at the stroke of the mid-west sun
shut down - break down - malfunctioned
oh, the explanations commencing split-lips
comin’ from babylon’s tongues
are ridiculous to the tune of cover-up - too
dey coverin’-up de’murder of Rafael
they’re coverin’-up the execution of Rafael.
Check out:
Anthony Leonard Pierre's Song lyrics, Profile & Discography on Reggaediscography
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