WINTER IN AMERICA
Gil Scott-Heron, 1974

From the Indians welcome the pilgrims
And to the buffaloes once ruled the plains
Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds
Looking for the rain, looking for the rain

Just like the cities that stagger 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, never had a chance to grow

And now it's Winter, Winter in America
And all of the healers have been killed or sent away, but the people know, it's
Winter, Winter in America, and ain't nobody fighting, 'cause
Nobody knows what to save. Save your soul, Lord knows, from Winter in America.

The Constitution, a noble piece of paper, with free society, struggled but they died in vain
And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner, hoping for some rain, hoping for some rain
And I see the robins perched in barren treetops, watching last ditch racists marching across the floor
Just like the Peace Sign that vanished in our dreams, never had a chance to grow, never had a chance to grow

And now it's Winter, Winter in America
And all of the healers have been killed or betrayed. But the people know it's
Winter, (Lord knows it's) Winter in America, and ain't nobody fighting, 'cause
Nobody knows what to save.

Save your soul from Winter in America.