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Abner Louima v. Gov. Pete Wilson Lyrics
Get down, turn around,
Skinny Boy is on his knees;
and I can't figure out
what I need to do to please you.
There's a man in Brooklyn
who police are messing up 'til dawn,
while The Man in California gives them semi-automatic guns.
And we can't even function
when we're not in a band.
I'm not eating well (as if I didn't have the time),
and I don't do pharmaceuticals, so I got no excuse for the crime,
But they're eating them in Brooklyn
and the hot California sun,
when police in California get their semi-automatic guns.
And how many rounds will they get off
before you get up your hands?
Oh, we can't even function
When we're not in a band.
Skinny Boy is on his knees;
and I can't figure out
what I need to do to please you.
who police are messing up 'til dawn,
while The Man in California gives them semi-automatic guns.
when we're not in a band.
and I don't do pharmaceuticals, so I got no excuse for the crime,
and the hot California sun,
when police in California get their semi-automatic guns.
before you get up your hands?
When we're not in a band.
Song Info
Submitted by
a Scar In The Sky On Nov 23, 2004
More Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Me and Mia
Little Dawn
Counting Down The Hours
Timorous Me
The Ballad Of The Sin Eater
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fun fact: this song was actually written for one of ted leo's former bands, the "Sin Eaters". good luck trying to find much about them online tho
"Get down, turn around, Skinny Boy is on his knees; and I can't figure out what I need to do to please you. There's a man in Brooklyn who police are messing up 'til dawn, while The Man in California gives them semi-automatic guns"
Abner Louima was a Haitian immigrant that was sodomized with a toilet plunger by an NYPD officer after already being beaten up in the patrol car.
"And we can't even function when we're not in a band. "
This is commentary on how humans are innately cruel and will do horrible things if left unattended.
"I'm not eating well (as if I didn't have the time), and I don't do pharmaceuticals, so I got no excuse for the crime, But they're eating them in Brooklyn and the hot California sun when police in California get their semi-automatic guns. And how many rounds will they get off before you get up your hands? "
In an other police case earlier that year a man was shot 19 times to death before he could show he had no weapon. The song is commenting on the police injustices that are being done in the United States.
"Oh, we can't even function When we're not in a band."
Exactly... oh and Johnynie Cochran was the lawyer in this case, since it involved race, and that brother knows whats up, he got O.J. and M.J. off and he drives a Rolls-Royce.
Echoes of the Stanford Prison Experiment.
I think the whole song is about how Leo and people like him have to use music and lyrics to deal with the horrible things they see people doing to each other every day.
"We can't even function, when we're not in a band."