B.L.M - The Specials

Lynval Golding, born 1951

Mendes, St Catherine, Jamaica

The year was 1954, you know

Sir Winston Churchill shout across the Western islands

He said, «Come, help us rebuild this country devastated by war»

And so anyway, my father set sail upon the wind rush, bound for a new life

My father was a tailor by trade

And so this could be the possibility of all possibilities

But no, there was no cloth to stitch

Instead, you know what?

He found work in a steel foundry

Pouring hot metal day and night, day and night

And even worse, you know what then?

Him tried to find a room to rent

This was becoming a nightmare for him

Him knock on door after door after door

But the sign on the window keep saying the same thing

«No dogs, no Irish, no blacks»

Welcome to England

I’m not here to teach you

I’m not here to preach to you

I just want to reach out

And say

Time move on

In 1964, my father shout across Jamaica

«Son,» him said, «Come join me»

So I set sail on a ship called the Askena

When I reached Northampton on a cold winter’s night

Boy, I was freezing

I want to tell the captain to just take me back to Jamaica

But no, I was here to stay

So my father sent me to a school

Linden Road school in Gloucester

I remember the first playtime

A boy shout across at me

«Oi, you black bastard, come 'ere»

I said, «What?»

He said, «Come 'ere, you black bastard»

I still couldn’t believe, I says, «What?

Are you talking to me?

Are you talking to me?»

Boy, welcome to England

I’m not here to teach you

I’m not here to preach to you

I just want to reach out

And say

In 1994, I move again

The land of the free, the home of the brave

The United States of America

And there I was

Just walking along in the sun, minding my own business

Such a beautiful day, man, when I remember

I had to buy a watch on my sister’s birthday

When why eventually I found this store

As I walk through the door

This woman in the store shouted at me

«What you doing here, you goddamn nigga?»

I said, «I-I'm just, I’m just trying to buy a watch for my sister»

When she heard my accent, she said

«Oh, you’re not from here, you’re not one of them»

«One of them?»

I said, «You mean me being black?

Well ma’am, let me tell you something right, I am black

Is that all you see?

The color of my skin?»

In England, them call you a black bastard

In America, they call you a goddamn nigga

Boy, welcome to my world

But I’m not here to teach you

I’m not here to preach to you

I just want to reach out and say

Black lives matter