cccxxix. SIMON, Paul (1941- )
from Songs From the Capeman.
The Broadway musical was an unfortunate flop, losing $11 mil.
The album didn't sell well, either. Written with Derek Walcott, a play about injustice just didn't draw in the (mostly white) theater-going public.
**
It was the morning of October 6th, 1960
I was wearing my brown suit
Preparing to leave the House of D
Shook some hands, then adios, Brooklyn amigos
Maybe some of them had hopes of seeing me again
Some even said that my judge -- Judge Gerald Culkin --
Wouldn't play it by the book
Maybe let us off the hook
But, whoa, I knew better
Afraid to leave the projects
To cross into another neighborhood
The blancos and the nigger gangs
Well, they'd kill you if they could
Angel of Mercy, people are suffering
All over the world
Spanish children are taught on their knees to believe
Angel of Mercy, people are suffering
All over the island tonight
Mothers weep, sisters grieve
Well, I entered the courtroom
State of New York, County of New York
Just some spic
They scrubbed off the sidewalk
Guilty by my dress
Guilty in the press
"Let the Capeman burn for the murders"
Well the Spanish boys had their day in court
And now it was time for some fuckin' law and order
"The electric chair
For the greasy pair"
Said the judge to the court reporter
Afraid to leave the projects
To cross into another neighborhood
The newspapers and the TV crews
Well they'd kill you if they could
Angel of Mercy, people are suffering
All over the world
A Spanish boy could be killed every night of the week
But just let some white boy die
And the world goes crazy for blood -- Latin blood
I don't lie when I speak
Well, they shackled my hands
A heavy belt around my waist to restrain me
And they shackled my legs
Hernandez, the "Umbrella Man," chained beside me
Then we rode that Black Maria
Through the streets of Spanish Harlem
Calling old friends on the corners
Just to lay our prayers upon them
Crying "Adios, hermanos, adios"
Adios, hermanos, adios
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