"Animal In Man" as written by Clayton Gavin and Lavonne Alford....
Help me
You want me to help you?
Man is evil, capable of nothing but destruction
Once upon a time
There was a very serious situation growing
There was a farmer and a farmyard filled with animals
And this is the story of their times
Old man Sammy had a farm
Walked the land with the rifle
Most of the time shit was calm
His whole life was maintained off the everyday labor
From the mules in the field to the cattle in the stable
This is how we kept food on this table
(Maxing)
You would have he was disabled by the way he be relaxing
Acting like Mr. Magnificent
But the animals were thinking something different
The sentiment was tension in the barnyard
Throughout the years they had been through mad drama
With the farmer, word is bond
And they all came to one conclusion
They argued there was no way they'd ever be free
If it was up to humans
Therefore the only course left was revolution
Which was understandable
And since the pigs promised to lead in the interest of all the animals
They planned a full attack under the leadership of Hannibal
The fattest pig in the pack
The next morning on the farm, everything was calm
Just before dawn but before long
The sun got so hot it made the farm seem electric
Now check it this is when that shit got hectic
Directed by Hannibal, the animals attacked
Old Sam was in a state of shock and fell up on his back
And dropped his rifle reaching in vain
Each and every creature from the field at his throat
Screaming, "Kill, feel the pain"
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
After they ran the farmer off the farm
The pigs went around and called a meeting in the barn
Hannibal spoke for several hours
But when talks about his plans for power
That's when the conversation turned sour
He issued an official ordinance to set
If not a pig from this day forth then you insubordinate
That's when the horses went buck wild
One of them shouted out
"You fraudulent pigs, we know your fucking style"
Hannibal's face was flushed and pale
All the animals eyes full of disgust and betrayal
He felt the same way Sam felt
They took his tongue out of his mouth
And cut his body up for sale, for real
You better listen while you can
It's a very thin line between animal and man
When Hannibal crossed the line they all took a stand
What would have done? Shook his hand?
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
Remember
You want me to help you?
Man is evil, capable of nothing but destruction
Once upon a time
There was a very serious situation growing
There was a farmer and a farmyard filled with animals
And this is the story of their times
Old man Sammy had a farm
Walked the land with the rifle
Most of the time shit was calm
His whole life was maintained off the everyday labor
From the mules in the field to the cattle in the stable
This is how we kept food on this table
(Maxing)
You would have he was disabled by the way he be relaxing
Acting like Mr. Magnificent
But the animals were thinking something different
The sentiment was tension in the barnyard
Throughout the years they had been through mad drama
With the farmer, word is bond
And they all came to one conclusion
They argued there was no way they'd ever be free
If it was up to humans
Therefore the only course left was revolution
Which was understandable
And since the pigs promised to lead in the interest of all the animals
They planned a full attack under the leadership of Hannibal
The fattest pig in the pack
The next morning on the farm, everything was calm
Just before dawn but before long
The sun got so hot it made the farm seem electric
Now check it this is when that shit got hectic
Directed by Hannibal, the animals attacked
Old Sam was in a state of shock and fell up on his back
And dropped his rifle reaching in vain
Each and every creature from the field at his throat
Screaming, "Kill, feel the pain"
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
After they ran the farmer off the farm
The pigs went around and called a meeting in the barn
Hannibal spoke for several hours
But when talks about his plans for power
That's when the conversation turned sour
He issued an official ordinance to set
If not a pig from this day forth then you insubordinate
That's when the horses went buck wild
One of them shouted out
"You fraudulent pigs, we know your fucking style"
Hannibal's face was flushed and pale
All the animals eyes full of disgust and betrayal
He felt the same way Sam felt
They took his tongue out of his mouth
And cut his body up for sale, for real
You better listen while you can
It's a very thin line between animal and man
When Hannibal crossed the line they all took a stand
What would have done? Shook his hand?
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
This is the animal in man
This is the animal in you
This is the animal in man
Coming true
Remember
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Animal Farm is a thinly veiled critique and satire of Soviet totalitarianism. Lots of events in the book are based on events from the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. Orwell, a leftist — for many years a member of the Independent Labour Party — was a critic of Stalin and suspicious of Moscow-directed communism after his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.
I don't think this has anything to with American slavery. The oppressed (animals) eventually become the oppressors, the same as their previous masters. I don't think Dead Prez would want to liken themselves to slave owners.
I'm pretty sure it's just about revolution. dead prez's main concern has always been revolution and this song is a way of exploring the dangers of revolution through allegorical comparision to the Russian revolution.
In this song they have added the animals rising up against the pigs after they take control. With the last four lines of verse two and the narrator saying "Remember" in the end I believe that they wish to point out the problems that would come with a revolution and their stance on what to do if this would happen (again)
They re-interpret the farmer as the European colonial powers and the pigs as the continental revolutionaries who defeated the imperial powers. America started out with some humanistic ideals, but really fell short and ended up being just as imperious, so says Dead Prez.
Dead Prez are asserting that they are the animals that are now trying to exact violence on the those whom they perceive as the pigs (read: people who wear suits, police men and women, anyone who is not vegan, people of faith, etc.).
Interestingly enough that plot twist (the animals rising up against the pigs) never happened in Animal Farm. So what I'm guessing is that Dead Prez is saying that that's what needs to happen within the context of American society today.
Funny though, the whole point of animal farm is that peace cannot come about through a bloody insurrection (that's where the pigs in Animal Farm went wrong, so said George Orwell). Yet, Dead Prez seems to think that a just and peaceful society can be brought about by militantism and violence. This is a classic example of a skewed and naïve reading of history that most serious Marxists and leftists abandoned a long ago.