Pieces of a Man - Gil Scott-Heron

Mmm, nah Ever feel kinda down and out uou don't know just what to do? Livin' all of your days in darkness, let the sun shine through Ever feel that somehow, somewhere you've lost your way? And if you don't get help quick, you won't make it through the day Could you call on Lady Day? You could call on John Coltrane 'Cause they'll wash your troubles, troubles Troubles away Plastic people with plastic minds are on their way to plastic homes No beginning there ain't no ending it's just On and on and on and on and on and it's All because they're so afraid to say they're alone Until our hero rides in, rides in on his saxophone, yeah You could call on Lady Day Could you call on John Coltrane? Yeah they'll wash your troubles, troubles, troubles Troubles away Yeah Because I always feel like Let 'em wash your troubles away Lady Day, John Coltrane (wash your troubles away) Lady Day and Illa J (wash your troubles away) Mary J, John Coltrane (troubles away) (Wash your troubles away) Mary J and Illa J (wash your troubles away) (My man Dwele and Lauryn H and Illa J) Lady Day, John Coltrane (wash your) Could you call on Mary J? You can call on Illa J 'Cause they'll, they'll wash your troubles Wash your troubles Your troubles, your troubles, your troubles Troubles Wash your troubles away

I thought I saw you late last night, but it was just a flash of light An angel passing But I remember yesterday Life before you went away and we were laughing We had hope and now it's broken And I could see it clearly once when you were here with me And now somehow all that's left are pieces of a dream And now I'm lost in restless nights Just a whisper of the life that we created Shadows falling, I am calling And I could see it clearly once when you were here with me And now somehow all that's left are pieces of a- The faded photographs, the frames of broken glass The shattered memories time will soon erase All these souvenirs, salt from a thousand tears But when I wake up you are never there Oh-woah, we had hope and now it's broken And I could see it clearly once when you were here with me And now somehow all that's left are pieces of a- And I could see it clearly once when you were here with me And now somehow all that's left are pieces of a dream Pieces of a dream

All the pieces of you fit perfectly in the hole inside my heart And I'd be lying if I tried telling you That you're not everything I want Yeah, I keep a picture of you in my pocket And last night, I almost lost it I used to think I should quit you But I'm so addicted, it hurts Remember the nights That we would stare at the lights by the train tracks And you would always listen to Dashboard That was the first time that I realized All the pieces of you fit perfectly in the hole inside my heart And I'd be lying if I tried telling you That you're not everything I want 'Cause I tried running away But I came right back today Just hoping that you'd let me say I'm sorry 'Cause all the pieces of you fit perfectly in the hole inside my heart Inside my heart I wasn't ready for this, looking in hindsight It's like bringing a knife to a gunfight And sometimes, I listen to your voicemails Need something to fill the void Remember the night we almost got in a fight in your driveway And you told me that you needed space That was the last time that I realized All the pieces of you fit perfectly in the hole inside my heart And I'd be lying if I tried telling you That you're not everything I want 'Cause I tried running away But I came right back today Just hoping that you'd let me say I'm sorry 'Cause all the pieces of you fit perfectly in the hole inside my heart Inside my heart (inside my, inside my, inside my heart) Remember the nights That we would stare at the lights by the train tracks And you would always listen to Dashboard That was the first time that I realized All the pieces of you fit perfectly in the hole inside my heart

Here I am After so many years Hounded by hatred And trapped by fear I'm in a box I've got no place to go If I follow my mind I know I'll slaughter my own Help me I'm the prisoner Won't you hear my plea I need somebody Yeah, to listen to me I beg you Brothers and sisters I'm counting on you (yeah) Black babies in the womb Are shackled and bound Chained by the caveman Who keeps beauty down Smacked on the ass When they're squalling and wet Heir to a spineless man who Never forgets Never forgets that he's a prisoner Can't you hear my plea 'Cause I need somebody Lord knows, to listen to me I'm a stranger to my son who wonders Why his daddy runs, yeah... On my way to work in the morning When I don't give a damn Can't nobody, can't nobody, can't nobody Can't nobody see just who in hell I am? Hemmed in by a suit Yes, all choked up in a tie Ain't no wonder sometimes near morning I hear my woman cry She knows her man is a prisoner Won't you hear my plea Yeah, 'cause I need somebody Woah, to listen to me My woman she don't say But she hates to see her man Chained this way, yeah Help me, I'm the prisoner Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... I'm the prisoner

See that black boy over there, runnin' scared His ol' man's in a bottle He done quit his 9 to 5 to drink full time So now he's livin' in the bottle See that Black boy over there, runnin' scared His ol' man got a problem Pawned off damn near everything, his ol' Woman's weddin' ring for a bottle And don't you think it's a crime When time after time, people in the bottle See that sista, sho wuz fine before she Started drinkin' wine From the bottle Said her ol' man committed a crime And he's doin' time So now she's in the bottle She's out there on the avenue, all by herself Sho' needs help from the bottle Preacherman tried to help her out She cussed him out and hit him in the head with a bottle And don't you think it's a crime When time after time, people in the bottle See that gent in the wrinkled suit He done damn near blown his cool To the bottle

Brother man nowadays livin' in the ghetto Where the dangers sure enough real Well when he's out late at night If he's got his head on right I lay you 9 to 5 he's walking with steel Brother man says he's 'fraid of gangsters Messing with people just for fun He said, he don't want to be next He's got a family to protect So just last week he bought himself a gun Everybody got a pistol Everybody got a .45 And the philosophy seem to be At least as near as I can see When other folks give up theirs, I'll give up mine This is a violent civilization If civilization's where I am 'Cause every channel that I stop on Got a different kind of cop on Killing them by the million for Uncle Sam But Saturday night just ain't that special Yeah, I got the constitution on the run Yeah, 'cause even though we've got the right To defend our home, to defend our life You got to understand to get it in hand about the guns 'Cause everybody's got a pistol Everybody got a .45 The philosophy seems to be At least as near as I can see When the other folks give up, give up, give up I'll give up, I'll give up, say Saturday night just ain't that special Freedom to be afraid is all you want Yes if you don't want to be next I have a family to protect Nine out of ten, you've got a friend, you've got a gun Everybody got a pistol Everybody got a .45 And the philosophy seems to be At least as near as I can see When the other folks give up theirs, I'll give up mine And everybody got a pistol This must be the NRA Yeah, 'cause when it's time to stand up You know damn where they're gonna end up Everybody, everybody Say where now dip, I want you to understand And the philosophy seem to be At least as near as I can see When the other folks give up theirs, I'll give up mine Thank you Thank you Among, among other things, uh I'm a piano player, a little bit I am a singer, a little bit I write songs a little bit Well I'm also a father, a great deal So a long time ago we did an album called pieces of a man And on pieces of a man we did songs about tomorrow And tomorrow, of course belong to our children So for my children, for your children, for the children you will have And the children they will have Here's a song called Save the children

You see, your principal responsibility since we are on the subject Is to enjoy yourself People always say, "Enjoy yourself" Enjoy yourself, hope you enjoy yourself Did you enjoy yourself? I hope you... I want you to enjoy yourself Well, that's what I want you to do Remember, I want you to understand, that it is your only responsibility You may not enjoy nobody else in this motherfucker, but enjoy yourselves You need to enjoy yourself, I mean how else could you? How else could you enjoy someone else, who is not enjoying themselves? They have to first enjoy themselves People don't say, "Go out this evening and enjoy everybody" They say, "Enjoy yourself" Because they know that's all you can really do You cannot enjoy anyone else You can hope that they enjoy themselves But you cannot really enjoy them You can enjoy yourself Do what you can Set goals that you can reach Make sure that you can reach what you are goaling for Or make sure that you can goal what you are reaching for "Enjoy yourself", is what I'm trying to say It is your only responsibility For The Rob is in charge of the Vibe-mo-sphere And the Vibe-mo-sphere is here to help you enjoy yourself Y'understand, when the brothers 'n' I, we used to give parties then From Maines on to Miami I mean, all over and down the East Coast We went on when these parties end It became so well known That every time I'd see somebody on the street, they'd say Hey Gil, there it is, I know... I got to be there Well, I know, 'cause I heard, what you did I got to be there Havin' fun, number one, we've just begun to talk about how-ow-ow I got to be there Yes, I know on time, one time, my time, your time, feels like I got to be there And sure enough, when things get good, everybody starts to attend So, we had to help brother Rob make up these special invitations And the invitations were sent out I'm glad that each and every one of you got yours In case there are some of you Who just knew you were invited and did not receive your invitation, because of the mail We'd like to tell you what it said Say... Brother Rob G is the man to see about the RSVP We wanna party Say it, well, come on Say... Brother Rob G is the man to see about the RSVP We wanna party We'll say it, say it, say it and see... Now, I always thought personally This is just a personal opinion That the reason everybody had so much fun, was because it was a BYOT-affair This meant, Bring Your Own Thing This meant to bring, whatever you like to bring You like to drink? Bring a drink You like to smoke? Bring a smoke You like ladies? Bring two or three Whatever your thing is We want you to enjoy yourself There was only one thing that was not allowed at the party It was known as AD AD was 'verboten' And there was a special note on the bottom hands on the right-hand side of the invitation Which read a little something like Say... Brother Rob G is the man to see about the RSVP We wanna party With no AD No AD, no AD, no AD Brother Rob G is the man to see about the RSVP We wanna party With no AD 'Cause AD was like eh, eh AD was like eh, eh, ehm- haha, ehm A-, AD, AD was like, eh- ahah, aha-ha Eh, A-, AD, AD was like, eh, ehm AD, AD, AD was like, eh, eh, eh, ehm, aha-ha, ahah You know, how y-, y- you- AD was like, eh- AD was like eh- AD w- A- A- A- Aha-ha-ha Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha Ha-ha-ha-ha Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha, aha, oh Aha-ha-ha Aha-ha AD was like that You could not remember what wanted to forget that you should have to remember AD was like, eh, tryin' to remember what you're supposed to not forget But you couldn't remember what that was So, you could- remember what it was you shouldn't forget You could not remember what you should never forget If you could just remember that Then you would know what it was you were trying not to forget I used to know Ten of you, I used to know I used to know I used to know, no, no No-no-no, no-no-no No, no-no, no, no, no, no, no-no No-no, no-no, no-no, no-no No, no I couldn't have known That it'd be so crazy That on a some time, every time I could tell you I could tell you how to tie the thing I used to know I used to know Yeah I used to know I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to I used to know Cracks in the sidewalk seem to expand I can't get over It must be Dust Hey, yeah I was on the one beat but changed in size and color Oh brother It must be Dust My back against the wall I know there's no one there at-a all But I'm a-lookin' Lookin' Lookin' Lookin' Conversations between me And me And me And me And me And me Whazzup, just what's that thing there? Hey Yes? Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Brother Robert Gordon is going to introduce you to the melody of this song That we'd like to have you help us with. It's is called 'Angel Dust' Fooled ya, didn't I? Robert Gordon Just let me tell you, I'm gonna tame this with the Vibe-mo-sphere, you see Song goes... Angel Dust I'd like everybody to join in and help us sing this song there and there Take your time with it too, brother One... Two... One, two Angel Dust Come on, we know got some singin' inhere, now come on, take it ahead Angel Dust It's not hard. Here's it goin' for ya Do the harmonies then Angel Dust One more time, come on here (Angel Dust) There you go, we're gonna be alright 'Cause he was groovin' And that was when he could've sworn The world was movin' Hey, but that was only in his mind And he was sailin' He'd never really seem to notice Vision's failin', man Hey, but that was all part of the high Sweat was pourin' And he couldn't take it The room was exploding He might not make it, sing... Angel Dust Yes... Somebody say, that's just Angel Dust It don't mean nobody no good, yeah They call it Dust It might seem like I just need one more good time But down some dead-end street There ain't no turnin' back Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh Yes But sometimes it comes sneakin' up on us To seek, Dust They were standin' Well, everybody in a circle The whole family Yes And listenin' to the preacher's words Sis was cryin' And she alone knew the secret about his dyin' You see her tears falling to earth It may be her fault As he was so trusting God only knew why They were dustin' it Hey, it's Dust Yes Somebody's smokin' Angel Dust It don't mean nobody no good, nowhere They call it Dust It might seem like I just need one more good time But now, on some dead-end street There ain't no turnin' back To back, to back, away... Hey Away-hey Away-hey, away-hey, away-hey Band, take it away-hey Put 'em down now Put 'em down now Pa-da-dub-a-dum down Pa-da-dub-a-dum down Pa-da-dum da-dum Pa-da-dum da-dum Pa-da-dum da-da-dum Pa-da-dum da-da-dum Pa-da-dum, da-da-dum Pa-da-dum-ba-dum-dum Pa-da-dum-ba-dum-dum Pa-da-dum-ba-dum-dum Pa-da-dum-ba-dum-dum Pa-da-dum-ba-dum-dum Pa-da-dum-ba-dum-dum Pa-da-dum-ba-dum-dum Say... Pa-da-dum da-dum-dum Pa-da-du-dum-dum And pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-dum down Pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-dum down Puttin' that stuff down Puttin' it down, puttin' it down, puttin' it down Puttin' it down, puttin' it down, puttin' it down Puttin' it down, puttin' it down Puttin' it down, but it feels good Puttin' it down, pa-da-du-dum-dum Puttin' it down, puttin' it down Puttin' it down Hey-ey, yeah, yeah yeah Pa-da-du dum-dum Pa-da-dum down Down, down, down Pa-da-du-dum-dum Pa-da-du down Doo-doo-dup down, doo-doo-dup down, doo-doo-dup down Pa-da-doop dum-dum Ta-da-doop down, to-doop down, to-doop down, to-doop down, to-doop down, now Ta-da-do dum-dum Ta-da-doop down, to-doop down, to-doop down, to-doop down, to-doop down, now Ta-da-do dum-dum, da-da-do down Doop down Ta-do-doop down, ta-da-doop down Ta-do-doop down, ta-da-doop down Ta-da-doop down Yeay, yeay, yaah So crowd in Yeay- So crowd in Yeay- So crowd in Yeay- So crowd in Yeah, I can be there I used to know, I can be there I used to know, I can be there Pa-da-dum da-dum I used to know I used to know I used to know I used to know I used to I used to know Yeay, yeay, yeay, yeay, yeay Say it, say it, say it, say... I used to know and I've got to say... I, I, I, I... I used to I used to I used to know I used to know I used to, I used to I used to know, know, know, know, know, know No-no-no, no-no-no No-no-no, no-no-no No-no-no, no-no-no, no-no-no No-no no-no no-no, no-no no-no no-no Yeay I used to know I used to know I, I, I, I, I... Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright Everybody's gonna go try that feelin' Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright Come on down Come on down Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna fucking be alright Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright Everything Everything Everything Everything Everything Everything Everything's gonna be alright, everything's gonna be alright All right, all right, all right, all right, all right Everything's gonna be alright, everything's gonna be alright, all right, all right Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright Be alright, be alright, be alright Yeah, somebody say Everything, everything's gonna be alright Everything, everything- be alright John Holloway, on the tenor saxophone Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright Everything's gonna be alright, I wanna hear somebody say Everything's gonna be alright It's alright It's alright It's alright It's alright It's alright It's alright Everything's gonna be alright Say... He was groovin' And that was when he could have sworn The room was a-moo-du-du-du was a-movin' Ooh, he was sailin' Yeah, 'cause that was all part of the high And sweat was pouring And he couldn't take it The room was exploding Might not make it, sing... Yeah, that's Dust Yes, somebody's been smokin', smokin' Dust It don't mean nobody no good, nowhere They call it Dust It might seem like I just need one more good time But down some dead-end street There ain't no turnin' back, to back, to back away... Dust It might seem like I just need one more good time But down some dead-end street There ain't no turnin' back Thank you Since we have been here And on several occasions that we have been here We have been approached by younger groups By groups of commune- community people and com- concerned citizens About nuclear power and nuclear weapons For a long time now, we have done songs like South Carolina, like We Almost Lost Detroit Indicating our fear and our concern for everyone's safety as related to nuclear power We would like to do a song for you from the album 1980 About nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons The song is called Shut 'm Down

Because I always feel like running Not away, because there is no such place Because, if there was I would have found it by now Because it's easier to run Easier than staying and finding out you're the only one Who didn't run Because running will be the way your life and mine Will be described As in "the long run" Or as in having given someone "A run for his money" Or as in "running out of time" (Time, time, time, time, time) Because running makes me look like everyone else Though I hope there will ever because for that Because I will be running in the other direction Not running for cover Because if I knew where cover was I would stay there and never have to run for it Because the thing I fear cannot be escaped Eluded, avoided, hidden from, protected from, gotten away from Not without showing the fear as I see it now Because closer, clearer, no sir, nearer Because of you and because of that nice That you quietly, quickly be causing (Because I always feel like running) And because you're going to see me run soon And because you're going to know why I'm running then You'll know then Because I'm not going to tell you now (Because I always feel like running)