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Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos Lyrics

Artist: Public Enemy
Album: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

I got a letter from the government
The other day
I opened and read it
It said they were suckers
They wanted me for their army or whatever
Picture me given' a damn I said never
Here is a land that never gave a damn
About a brother like me and myself
Because they never did
I wasn't wit' it but just that very minute...
It occured to me
The suckers had authority
Cold sweatin' as I dwell in my cell
How long has it been?
They got me sittin' in the state pen
I gotta get out - but that thought was thought before
I contemplated a plan on the cell floor
I'm not a fugitive on the run
But a brother like me begun - to be another one
Public enemy servin' time - they drew the line y'all
To criticize me some crime - never the less
They could not understand that I'm a Black man
And I could never be a veteran
On the strength, the situation's unreal
I got a raw deal, so I'm goin' for the steel

They got me rottin' in the time that I'm servin'
Tellin' you what happened the same time they're throwin'
4 of us packed in a cell like slaves - oh well
The same motherfucker got us livin' is his hell
You have to realize - what its a form of slavery
Organized under a swarm of devils
Straight up - word'em up on the level
The reasons are several, most of them federal
Here is my plan anyway and I say
I got gusto, but only some I can trust - yo
Some do a bid from 1 to 10
And I never did, and plus I never been
I'm on a tier where no tears should ever fall
Cell block and locked - I never clock it y'all
'Cause time and time again time
They got me servin' to those and to them
I'm not a citizen
But ever when I catch a C-O
Sleepin' on the job - my plan is on go-ahead
On the strength, I'ma tell you the deal
I got nothin' to lose
'Cause I'm goin' for the steel

You know I caught a C-O
Fallin' asleep on death row
I grabbed his gun - then he did what I said so
And everyman's got served
Along with the time they served
Decency was deserved
To understand my demands
I gave a warnin' - I wanted the governor, y'all
And plus the warden to know
That I was innocent -
Because I'm militant
Posing a threat, you bet it's fuckin' up the government
My plan said I had to get out and break north
Just like with Oliver's neck
I had to get off - my boys had the feds in check
They couldn't do nuthin'
We had a force to instigate a prison riot
This is what it takes for peace
So I just took the piece
Black for Black inside time to cut the leash
Freedom to get out - to the ghetto - no sell out
6 C-Os we got we ought to put their head out
But I'll give 'em a chance, cause I'm civilized
As for the rest of the world, they can't realize
A cell is hell - I'm a rebel so I rebel
Between bars, got me thinkin' like an animal
Got a woman C-O to call me a copter
She tried to get away, and I popped her
Twice, right
Now who wanna get nice?
I had 6 C-Os, now it's 5 to go
And I'm serious - call me delirious
But I'm still a captive
I gotta rap this
Time to break as time grows intense
I got the steel in my right hand
Now I'm lookin' for the fence

I ventured into the courtyard
Followed by 52 brothers
Bruised, battered, and scarred but hard
Goin' out with a bang
Ready to bang out
But power from the sky
And from the tower shots rang out
A high number of dose - yes
And some came close
Figure I trigger my steel
Stand and hold my post
This is what I mean - an anti-nigger machine
If I come out alive and then they won't - come clean
And then I threw up my steel bullets - flew up
Blew up, who shot...
What, who, the bazooka was who
And to my rescue, it was the S1Ws
Secured my getaway, so I just gotaway
The joint broke, from the black smoke
Then they saw it was rougher thatn the average bluffer
'Cause the steel was black, the attitude exact
Now the chase is on tellin' you to c'mon
53 brothers on the run, and we are gone

Comments/Interpretations

by 53rd brother on 7/9/2008 11:13pm
Good as Keats and G.S. Heron

by ChunkaLuv on 7/24/2008 7:16am
correction:

And then I threw up my steel bullets - flew up
and to my surprise the warning tower blew up, who shot ..

by Kiese Laymon on 9/15/2008 12:38pm
This shit is hot.

by Messenger of Prophecy on 10/6/2008 1:53pm
damn thats poetry man

by billy b bonds on 5/7/2009 11:04pm
uncle flava i checked out diz paper n all i culd say iz werez da raper

by taylorsunshine40 on 4/11/2010 3:35pm
this is so good!!!! right sam, sam get out of the toilet

by Jaime Lucas on 4/16/2010 12:34am
I underestimated chuck D as a kid, today he's in my top 5 of all time.

by phero_indonesia on 10/6/2010 9:13pm
I used this song as an example of protest song for my literature class.. Thank you Chuck D.

by chief_luke on 1/26/2011 6:14pm
. . .And everyman's DEMAND got served. . .

by Capn Cory on 2/19/2011 5:26pm
I love this song.

There was race violence on the north eastern coast in Rostock in ca. 1990. The natives attacked a housing project with poor, mostly asian immigrants. The reporting media showed one of the rioters sporting a Public Enemy shirt. This led to a big debate on the political and cultural Left. They never figured it out...

by roman on 9/4/2012 12:08pm
that's how you get a point across Chuck.D the master .

by your mother on 12/12/2012 6:04pm
nice

by Azizzle on 12/12/2012 9:11pm
Got a woman C-O to call me a copter
She tried to get away, and I popped her
Twice, right
NO WARNING TONIGHT

by Azizle on 12/12/2012 9:14pm
A high number of dose - yes
And some came close
I FINGER MY TRIGGER, I STILL
Stand and hold my post

by Ol dirty on 5/11/2013 1:59pm
Public Enemy schooled me

by Lil Wayne on 12/27/2013 12:12am
errr lol wut is diz shit eh fuk gay

by Vic S. on 2/3/2015 12:25pm
Good message.