Story Behind the Song
It's based on a story I read in the New York Times several years ago.
Lyrics
on a dark street a black man walks to work,
his name is Nathan, he’s wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt,
and for the record, he looks a little like the object of the search
in the land of the free, hail to the chief home of a hateful curse..
when policemen order Nathan not to move,
he obeys them, he’s done nothing, has nothing to prove,
and they beat him, though he begs them, "check my pockets for ID"
in the land of the free, hail to the chief, oh liberty..
the commission holds a hearing on the case,
voice their sadness and regret, what a terrible mistake,
was the outcome ever in question? they find no one was to blame,
in the land of the same old, same old, same old game..
and the klansman in his snowsuit doesn’t frighten me by half
as the blindness of a notion, & the smugness of a laugh,
brother Nathan, what reaction if the colors were reversed?
in the land of the free, hail to the chief,
home of the how much better than it used to be,
in the land of the free, God shed His grace on thee,
home of a hateful curse, home of a hateful curse..
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brad yoder
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