Tricky - Black Steel Lyrics

(C. Ridenhour/W. Drayton/E. Sadler/H. Shocklee)
I got a letter from the government
The other day
I Opened and read it
It said they were suckers
They wanted me for the army or whatever
Picture me given' a damn -- I said never
Here is a land that never gave a damn
About a brother like me and myself
Because they never did
I wasn't wit' it, but just that very minute...
It occured to me
The suckers had authority
Cold sweatin' as I dwell in my cell
How long has it been?
They got me sittin' in the state pen
I gotta get out -- but that thought was thought before
I contemplated a plan on the cell floor
I'm not a fugitive on the run
But a brother like me begun -- to be another one
Public enemy servin' time -- they drew the line y'all
To criticize me some crime -- never the less
They could not understand that I'm a Black man
And I could never be a veteran