Lou Rawls "Tobacco Road"

 The Kind of Music I listen to When I'm Dealing With The Racist BS..

Lou Rawls "Tobacco Road": Songwriter: John D. Loudermilk


'Cause I was born in a dump
My mama died and my daddy got drunk
He left me here to die or grow
In the middle of Tobacco Road

I grew up in a rusty shack
All I owned was hangin' on my back
The Lord knows, how I loathe
This place called, Tobacco Road



But it's a home, yeah
The only life I'll ever know
And the Lord knows, I loathe
Tobacco Road, yeah

I'm gonna leave and get a job
With the help and the grace from above
Save my money and get rich I know
And bring it back to Tobacco Road




Bring dynamite and a crane
Blow it up and start all over again
And I'll build a town, I'll be proud to show
And keep the name, Tobacco Road

'Cause it's a home, yeah, yeah
The only life I'll ever know
And despise you called you filthy but I love it
But I love you because you're my home

Hey, Tobacco Road, Tobacco Road
Now you're dirty and you're filthy
Tobacco Road


                               
                               I'm gonna get me some 
                               dynamite
                               And I'll bring me a crane
                               And then blow it up
                               I'll tear down and start out
                               all over again

                               Tobacco Road, Tobacco Road
                               And I love you, yeah
                               Because you're my home
                               But you're dirty and you're filthy
                               Tobacco Road



                             
                               
                               I'm gonna blow you up
                               I'm gonna tear you down
                               And I'll build me a town
                               That I will be proud to show

                               But I'll keep the name
                               I'm gonna keep the name
                               I'm gonna keep the name
                               A Tobacco Road, a Tobacco
                               Road [Tobacco Road lyrics
                               © Universal Music  
                               Publishing Group, EMI Music
                               Publishing]




Sometimes when I'm going through it.. I like to sit back and listen to this kind of music. A drink would be nice while listening to this as well. Anything to get through the racism and bullshit we as black people face in this life. Racism is guaranteed. I get it. I live in the South and I am constantly reminded of that by others. However, I also understand racism is not limited to the South. 

It's a shame we as black people just can't get the fucking credentials and get the damn job based off of our credentials and not be PRE-JUDGED and CATEGORIZED and PLACED IN BOXES by those in the power elite within corporate America.  Sometimes I wonder how far would blacks in this country really have come if the playing field was truly level? If so many brilliant minds which came up against these nasty white guys in the South running these companies didn't give up and continued to fight. 

So often we listen to trivial music. The Rihannas the Lil Wayne's of our time. These guys will never know how it feels to be wheeling and dealing within Corporate America. Their music lacks substance although it sounds good. This music, by Lou Rawls, takes me back to understanding what we go through as black people in this country. It's a reminder of the pain of our forefathers and the pain of our present. I like to listen to this when I come home from dealing with a stressful day of being mistreated and abused and discriminated against. 

Damn.. We must really be God's people for him to place us in such a constant F'ing Struggle for equality.

A country divided against itself cannot stand. If every disenfranchised African American in the U.S. rose up and sided with the Taliban or the Arabs that hate this nation, we could do some major damage. The U.S. had better start working to proactively include us in its economic prosperity (and work to stop the corporate racism that is still taking place today), or it may have a major problem on its hands in the future.