Well I'm about to get sick from watching my TV
Been checkin' out the news until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean they say that every day is another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, is anybody's guess
So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin', hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear them sayin'
There's no way to delay that trouble coming every day
No way to delay that trouble coming every day
Wednesday I watched the riot, seen the cops out on the street
Watched them throwing rocks and stuff, choking in the heat
Listened to reports about the whisky passin' round
Seen the smoke and fire and the market burning down
Watched while everybody on his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash and slash and bust and burn
And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin', hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear them sayin'
There's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day
No way to delay that trouble comin' every day
Well I seen the fires burnin', the local people turnin'
On the merchants and the shops, who used to sell them brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watched the mob just turn and bite them
And they say it served them right, because a few of them were white
And it's the same across the nation
Black and white discrimination
Yellin' "You can't understand me" and all that jazz they hand me
In the papers and TV, and all that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more every day, each time you hear some nitwit say
He wants to go and do you in, because the colour of your skin
Just don't appeal to him
You know we got to sit around at home, watch this thing begin
But I bet there won't be many left to see it really end
Because the fire in the street ain't like the fire in the heart
And in the eyes of all these people don't you know that this could start
Any street, any town, any state, if any clown
Decides that now's the time to fight for some ideal he thinks is right
If a million more agree, there ain't no great society
As it applies to you and me, you know our country isn't free
And the law refuse to see, if all you'll ever be
Is just a lousy janitor, unless your uncle owns a store
You know that five in every four just won't amount to nothin' more
Than watchin' rats go across the floor, and make up songs about the poor
And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin', hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear them sayin'
There's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day
No way to delay that trouble comin' every day