Palace - Black Thoughts lyrics

[Produced by JCAL and Palace] [Verse 1] Black Lives Matter, that's the subject matter Tell you to climb then they burn down your ladder Sick of playing games like Snakes and Ladders Matter of fact, I'm like Michael Jack, I'm badder Now this yearnin' got me learnin' like Charlie Perkins Educated black man, tired of soul searchin' Tired of hurtin', tired of workin' and not earnin' The same respect as my counterpart My people in the d**h bed by preventable heart disease Served through rations brought from oversees On ships full of convicts and common thieves Same ships, the one that brought my mother's genes Same ships as the one that got me wearin' jeans Same ships brought scholarships to university So I can be a doctor and fix my people But what's health when you're still not equal? The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice The darker the skin, the quicker police shoot Labeled as heroes that we all salute But lest we forget our stolen youth Our history is a mystery But I know it word for word, yeah, it's clear to me So what's the way forward? What's the way forward? They throw us straight in jail, yeah, no court Cases, on cases labeled as alcoholics, and never racist Grab some shoe polish and paint the blackest faces Darker than the past, darker than our present Darker than the future that we're surely destined Cause it's all good to call Mr. Goodes an ape As long as you're thirteen and have a white face But I ain't happy man, that sh** is a disgrace No game, no cards to play, it's more than race [Sampled Interlude: Stan Grant] "Australians all, let us rejoice for we are young and free." My people die young in this country. And yet we are 25 percent, a quarter of those Australians locked up in our prisons and if you are a juvenile, it is worse, it is 50 percent. An Indigenous child is more likely to be locked up in prison than they are to finish high school... [Verse 2] Should I be on my knees, saying thank you? I beat a statistic, I should be thankful Right? Wrong, I'm this writing this song Cause this sh** has gone on for too long I'm not over it, nor will I ever be I refuse to use your memory I refuse to lose our identity Our ancestors died defendin' me Defendin' the right to racism is time-wastin' Open up your eyes wide, it's time to face it Open up your hearts and its time to embrace it If you motherf**ers don't, I'm emptyin' loaded cases AK-47 is not my choice of weapon I'ma throw an invisible spear and really get you threatened Throw my blackness in your face without a warnin' message Enough with this sh**, can we please just end it? [Outro] Yeah, it's time to end it Hey, yeah, it's time to end it Hey