This song is essentially about police brutality and those in authority abusing their power.
It mentions that the song writer knows someone who this happened to ("writing on behalf of a brother twice burned").
The police beat up those that try to avoid arrest ("let loose on a runnin man You send him crashing to the edge of the pavement") and treat them like they are less than human ("making like he's a lesser man").
then go off to write their reports (Off to the commisioner as fast as you can With your smoking gun in hand").
One verse speaks about men caught by the cops and their reaction to the situation ("asks not to be shot...")
Another verse speaks of homeless people who are simply begging for their food ("he wasn't begging, he was just keeping time...") and abused by the police
After they are arrested, they know they have the legal system owned and so the wrong people are convicted (you aint guilty, but you did get caught, so for lack of a better suspect we nominate you...")
The rest of the song is pretty self explanatory once you get the right interpretation (or at least from my point of view).
This song is essentially about police brutality and those in authority abusing their power.
It mentions that the song writer knows someone who this happened to ("writing on behalf of a brother twice burned").
The police beat up those that try to avoid arrest ("let loose on a runnin man You send him crashing to the edge of the pavement") and treat them like they are less than human ("making like he's a lesser man"). then go off to write their reports (Off to the commisioner as fast as you can With your smoking gun in hand").
One verse speaks about men caught by the cops and their reaction to the situation ("asks not to be shot...") Another verse speaks of homeless people who are simply begging for their food ("he wasn't begging, he was just keeping time...") and abused by the police
After they are arrested, they know they have the legal system owned and so the wrong people are convicted (you aint guilty, but you did get caught, so for lack of a better suspect we nominate you...")
The rest of the song is pretty self explanatory once you get the right interpretation (or at least from my point of view).