Here’s a pastoral ballad from the great American poet Eric B. ( not the one who used to drop lyrics with Rakim – I mean the one from Colorado who ran for mayor of San Francisco once) and a prophetic tribute to the noble warriors for Social Justice such as now swarm in the streets of many U.S. cities. Not sure what brought the professional agitators out  – someone got shot somewhere, or something like that.

Riot: the unbeatable high / Adrenalin shoots your nerves to the sky
Everyone knows this town is gonna blow / And it’s all gonna blow right now

Now you can smash all the windows that you want
All you really need are some friends and a rock
Throwing a brick never felt so damn good
Smash more glass / Scream with a laugh
And wallow with the crowds / Watch them kicking peoples’ ass

But you get to the place / where the real slavedrivers live
It’s walled off by the riot squad / Aiming guns right at your head
So you turn right around / And play right into their hands
And set your own neighborhood / Burning to the ground instead

Riot: the unbeatable high / Riot: shoots your nerves to the sky
Riot: playing into their hands
Tomorrow you’re homeless / Tonight it’s a blast!

Get your kicks in quick / They’re callin’ the national guard
Now could be your only chance / To torch a police car
Climb the roof, kick the siren in / And jump and yelp for joy
Quickly – dive back in the crowd / Slip away, now don’t get caught

Let’s loot the spiffy hi-fi store / Grab as much as you can hold
Pray your full arms don’t fall off / Here comes the owner with a gun

Riot: the unbeatable high / Riot: shoots your nerves to the sky
Riot: playing into their hands
Tomorrow you’re homeless / Tonight it’s a blast!

[♪♫♪ BREAK ♫♫]

The barricades spring up from nowhere / Cops in helmets line the lines
Shotguns prod into your bellies / The trigger fingers want an excuse… NOW !

The raging mob has lost its nerve / There’s more of us but who goes first
No one dares to cross the line / The cops know that they’ve won
It’s all over but not quite / The pigs have just begun to fight
They club your heads, kick your teeth / Police can riot all that they please

Riot: the unbeatable high / Riot: shoots your nerves to the sky
Riot: playing into their hands
Tomorrow you’re homeless / Tonight it’s a blast!

Tomorrow you’re homeless…  tonight it’s a blast…

“Riot” by Dead Kennedys [1982]