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American Skin (41 Shots) Lyrics
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots, and we'll take that ride
Across this bloody river to the other side
41 shots, they cut through the night
You're kneeling over his body in the vestibule
Praying for his life
Is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
Ain't no secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots, Lena gets her son ready for school
She says now on these streets Charles
You got to understand the rules
Promise me if an officer stops you'll always be polite
Never ever run away and promise mama you'll keep your hands in sight
Cause is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
Is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
41 shots and we'll take that ride
Across this bloody river to the other side
41 shots my boots caked in mud
We're baptized in these waters and in each other's blood
Is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in
You can get killed just for living in
You can get killed just for living in
Your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
Across this bloody river to the other side
41 shots, they cut through the night
You're kneeling over his body in the vestibule
Praying for his life
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
Ain't no secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
She says now on these streets Charles
You got to understand the rules
Promise me if an officer stops you'll always be polite
Never ever run away and promise mama you'll keep your hands in sight
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
Across this bloody river to the other side
41 shots my boots caked in mud
We're baptized in these waters and in each other's blood
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret)
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in
You can get killed just for living in
You can get killed just for living in
Your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
Song Info
Submitted by
oofus On May 23, 2001
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This song is a tribute to Amadou Diallo, who reached for his wallet when stopped by the police (possibly to show identification) and they shot him...41 times. They were acquitted, saying they thought the wallet was a gun. It was considered by many to be a case of racial profiling.
More information here.
worst part about this? the police officers served no jail time for this.
[Link was filtered. The address I meant to link to is http://greasylake.org/talktome/pardini_2000.htm]
I disagree with it being irritating.
Top song, the repetition just adds to the atmosphere.
Pdm's interpretation is ridiculous to a point that makes me feel a little bad for him. This song has nothing to do with America exporting a violent pop culture. In fact, that isn't even remotely implied by the lyrics.
Beyond the sorely lacking ability to understand art, PDM's idea that America somehow forces this violent culture on the rest of the world and needed to be put in check by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, of all people, borders on insane.
cprompt apears to have some intelligence. kudos
I cant beleive no-1 has commented on this.
It's about a black guy who got shot 41 times by 6 white policement in the Bronx when he was reaching for a wallet.
All policement were cleared of murder.
LA riots anyone?
I cant beleive no-1 has commented on this.
It's about a black guy who got shot 41 times by 6 white policement in the Bronx when he was reaching for a wallet.
All policement were cleared of murder.
LA riots anyone?
http://rwor.org/a/v22/1060-69/1060/springsteen.htm has a lot about this... Amadou Diallo was a Guinean immigrant who got killed by 4 police officers- he reached for his wallet to show ID i guess, they thought he was reaching for a gun and shot him 41 times. can you even imagine? thats like 10 times each...
Diallo was shot by police officers while reaching for his wallet. They thought he had a gun. While firing many of the officers' shots hit the wall and ricoched back at the officers so they believed they were being fired upon. Its worth noting that many of the shots entered Diallo's body from the bottom (ie his feet) meaning he was laying on the ground and was still being fired upon. also worth noting that the number of rounds fired was more than the number in the officers' magazines. (they reloaded)