Attica State Lyrics
What a waste of human lives
Shoot the prisoners in the towers
Forty-three poor widowed wives
But the prisoners did not kill
"Rockefeller pulled the trigger"
That is what the people feel
Free all prisoners everywhere
All they want is truth and justice
All they need is love and care
Let's not watch them die in sorrow
Now's the time for revolution
Give them all a chance to grow
Take a stand for human rights
Fear and hatred clouds our judgement
Free us all from endless night
I think it's about Attica State.
There's no need to assume what this is about. At the time, even mentioning this event could cause verbal wars. Perspectives were very polarized with the 'establishment' fully supporting the eventual assault on these prisoners. John took a public popularity beating for producing songs like this. In fact, the album, "Some Tome In New York City", was roundly lambasted and John's popularity sank quickly considering that his previous production 'Imagine' was 'so commercial' and easy to palate. Nixon hated John and did all he could to give him a hard time in the States. Time has shown that John's (and Yoko's) sentiments on this album have proven to have been a bit more right on than the establishment wanted the sheep to think. Revelations have revealed that our government labeled John as 'undesirable' because of his perceived ability to incite the youth into action. People called John paranoid and an egomaniac when, in fact, he was correct with his observations and complaints. As to the song - a great rocker in the vein of 'Gimme Some Truth". However, though they make a valid point on this event, I agree that the lyrics are not quite up to par.