Gil Scott-Heron
Winter In America (Live 1983)
[Verse 1]
And from the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
And to the buffalo who once ruled the plane
Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds
Looking for the rain
Yes, they've been looking for the rain

Just like the cities staggered on the coastline
In a nation that just can't stand much more
Like the forest buried beneath the highway
Never had a chance to grow
Well, it never had a chance to grow

[Chorus]
And now it's winter
Feel like winter in America
A time when all of the healers done been killed
Or they've been detained
Say, even though it's something else
Everybody said it's winter

Feel like winter in America
And the truth is there ain't nobody fighting
'Cause nobody knows what to save
What to save the soul
Winter in America
[Verse 2]
The constitution a noble piece of paper
And would free society
It struggled but then died in vain
And now democracy is ragtime on the corners, unemployed
Hoping that eventually
Yes, it been hoping for some rain
It does not look like rain
And I see the Robins perched in barren treetops
They watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
And man, peace signs that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Well, they never had a chance to grow

[Chorus]
Somebody wants to know
Tell them it's winter
Nothing grows in winter in America
Yes, it's a time when all of the healers; people who can help us
Don been killed or they've been betrayed
Say even though something else
Everybody said it's winter

It feels like winter in America
Yes, well, the truth is there ain't nobody fighting
'Cause nobody knows what to save
Just to save the [?]
Winter in America
[Break]

[Chorus]
And now it’s a winter
It's cold, it's like winter in America
Yes, it's a time when all of the healers that should've helped us
Done been killed, they put em in jail
Say people doing something wrong
But everybody [?]

It seems like winter in America
Yes, well, the truth is there ain't nobody fighting
‘Cause nobody knows what to say
Yes, well, the truth is there ain't nobody fighting, nobody fighting
'Cause nobody knows what to do, what to do
Truth is there ain't nobody fighting, nobody fighting
Because nobody knows what to say
Winter in America