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The Ballad Of Oscar Grant

from The Wilderness by Jesse DeNatale

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    Wallet CD with 8 page booklet featuring lyrics & more

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Wilderness via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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lyrics

THE BALLAD OF OSCAR GRANT

I put my hands in my pockets
And I go uphill
All I wanna do is get my fill
Hang out with my boys
And just move on
Oh New Years night baby
New Years Eve
They held me down
So’s I just could not leave
I tell you it ain’t nothin’ new
But it’s wrong

And the cops got there
From a 911
It should have never ever
Ever have been done
It should have never ever
Ever been allowed
Oh cause right there
Near the subway track
They put a bullet
Into this young boy’s back
And the cries go up
And they do not come down

Now way down yonder
In a hollow tree
There is a whole lot of things
That were meant to be
And a whole lot of things
That just won’t do
And the cops go crazy
And they shot him down
And the camera is a witness
When he’s on the ground
Yeah the camera is a witness
Just like you

There is a line in the justice
And it’s black and white
And everyone knows the truth
Is wrong or right
Everyone except a very
Mixed up mind
And the leaves are shakin’
In a poison wind
We turn around and wonder
How to begin
And the best we can do is wish
That we were colored blind

Now take your roses
Put them on my back
I’ll be riding high up
On the subway track
I’ll be riding up high yeah
Yeah that’s me
And I climb the hills
In Oakland town
I’m gonna visit everyone
From then and now
I’m gonna visit everyone
With my arms waving free

Tell my mama and my child
And my sweetheart dear
Tell them I will always
Be waiting here
We can see each other
Even when they can’t
Oh yeah and when the world
Is really not so free
They’re gonna think about
Johannes Mehserle
And he’s gonna have to think
about Oscar Grant.

credits

from The Wilderness, released December 2, 2020
Jesse DeNatale - Vocals, Guitar,
Vibraphone
Tom Heyman - Electric Guitar
Paul Olguin - Bass
Nino Moschella - Drums, Harmonics

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Jesse DeNatale California

Jesse DeNatale has released four critically acclaimed records: Shangri-La West (2000), Soul Parade (2006), The Wilderness (2021) and The Hands of Time (2023). His music has been described as evocative & hopeful, a combination of poetry and storytelling

"A unique and original American voice"- Tom Waits

"The Bard of Tomales Bay"- Ramblin' Jack Elliott

"A dynamic tune-fountain"- Billy Collins ... more

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