down on the Front Linedown on the Front Line
all was quiet
the calm before the storm
of the Brixton Riot
the atmosphere was tense
but life carried on
seemed like business as usual
in Babylon
a cop car pulled up
like a thousand times before
& out popped
the long strong arm of the Law
what happened next
is anybody's guess
you won't learn the truth
from the right wing press
imagine being young
unemployed & black
hassled by police
you'd soon fight back
everyone's born equal
with a right to be free
try telling that
to the S.P.G.
they'll ignore your words
but may listen to sticks
Molotov cocktails
stones & bricks
don't blame the Rasta
he's not a brute
the British Empire taught him
how to burn & loot
he's been treated like a slave
would you put up with that
from the cradle to the grave
so come to the Front Line
show which side you're on
remaining undecided
you're as good as dead & gone
brothers & sisters
they can't arrest us all
there's only one way forward
if your back's against the wall
(Was living in Brixton & left literally the day before the notorious Riot. Could see it coming a mile away - so many unemployed, disaffected Blacks standing on street corners, one spark & the lot would blow...)
If you hang around on this page a while, man, with them speakers of yours turned way up high, then E-V-E-N-T-U-A-L-L-Y (527KB) you'll hear me, the man, singing this hear song to a reggae backbeat track specially composed by my good friend of old Mark Farrar...
