Word Game - Live at Berkeley 1971

Would knock a man down
If you don't like the cut of his clothes?
Would you put a man away
If you don't want to hear what he knows?
Well, it's happening right here
People dying of fear by the droves

You can feel it as it's rumblin'
Let emotions keep a-tumblin'
And then the cities start to crumblin'
Mostly empty bellies grumblin', here we go

It's incredibly sick
You can feel it as across the land, it flows
Prejudice is slick
When it's a word game, it festers and grows
Better move along quick
It furthers one to have somewhere to go

And I know most of you
Either don't believe it's true
Or else you don't know what to do
Or maybe I'm singing about you, who knows?

People see somebody different
Fear is the first reaction shown
Then they think they've got him licked
The barbaric hunt begins
And they move in slow
A human spirit is devoured
The remains left to carrion crow

But I was told that life is change
And yet history remains
Does it always stay the same?
Or do we shrug it off and say only God knows?

By and by, somebody usually goes
Down to the ghetto, try and help
But they don't know why folks treat them cold
And the rich keep getting richer
But they just keep on getting old

You see, one must have a mission
In order to be a good Christian
If you don't, you will be missing high mass
Or the evening show

And the well fed masters reap the harvests
Of the polluted seeds they've sown
Smug and self-righteous
They bitch about people they own
And you can't prove them wrong
They're so goddamn sure they know

I have seen these things
With my very own eyes
And defended my battered soul
It must be too tough to die
American propaganda, South African lies
Will not force me to take up arms
That's my enemies' pride

And I won't fight by his rules
That's foolishness besides
His ignorance is gonna do him in
And nobody's gonna cry

Because his children
They are growing up and plainly tired
Of putting up with bigots and their silver cups
They're fed up, they might throw up on you, alright