Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
(self-explaining)
Everybody talking about racial equality
Cause everybody's equal in the good Lord's eyes
(speaking of our highest ideals)
But if I told you that God was black
What would you think of that
I bet you wouldn't believe it
(we don't really believe in our highest ideals)
There's a self made prophet living right next to me
He said the Black Messiah's gonna come and set the whole world free
He looked at me with his evil eye and prophesied
And he really believed it
(self-explaining)
He said a Black Messiah is gonna set the world on fire
And he's no liar, 'cause he has truly heard the word
(mocking this prophet persona)
Everybody talking about racial equality
But I'm the only honky living on an all black street
They knock me down 'cause they brown and I white
(mocking the primitive thoughts of these racist personas, showing they want "equality" but they don't care to give it to others solely because of their own racism)
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
Everybody talking about racial equality
You hear everybody talking about equal rights
But white's white, black's black and that's that
And that's the way you should leave it
(NOT: Whites are white, blacks are black. BUT: [Color] white is [Color] white, just as black, and that's all there is to it - it's just a color, visual appearance of a minor physical attribute that plays a small part in the big process of what makes a person a person)
Don't want no Black Messiah to come and set the world on fire
(Ray Davies doesn't want a radical violent change escalated by a "messiah", even though some have been, and are oppressed)
A Black Messiah is gonna come and rule the world
(Retro to prophet)
Everybody got to show a little give and take
Everybody got to live with a little less hate
Everybody gotta work it out, we gotta sort it out
(Ray Davies solution to the racial "issue", or maybe our social "issues" in general)
Everybody got the right to speak their mind
So don't shoot me for saying mine
Basically it is a satire like many of his songs, it is about "showing the other cheek", not "eye for an eye for an eye for an...), very Tolstoian. Not surprising, they have (or had) some similar "political" beliefs.
Everybody got the right to speak their mind So don't shoot me for saying mine
(self-explaining)
Everybody talking about racial equality Cause everybody's equal in the good Lord's eyes
(speaking of our highest ideals)
But if I told you that God was black What would you think of that I bet you wouldn't believe it
(we don't really believe in our highest ideals)
There's a self made prophet living right next to me He said the Black Messiah's gonna come and set the whole world free He looked at me with his evil eye and prophesied And he really believed it
(self-explaining)
He said a Black Messiah is gonna set the world on fire And he's no liar, 'cause he has truly heard the word
(mocking this prophet persona)
Everybody talking about racial equality But I'm the only honky living on an all black street They knock me down 'cause they brown and I white
(mocking the primitive thoughts of these racist personas, showing they want "equality" but they don't care to give it to others solely because of their own racism)
Everybody got the right to speak their mind So don't shoot me for saying mine
Everybody talking about racial equality You hear everybody talking about equal rights
But white's white, black's black and that's that And that's the way you should leave it
(NOT: Whites are white, blacks are black. BUT: [Color] white is [Color] white, just as black, and that's all there is to it - it's just a color, visual appearance of a minor physical attribute that plays a small part in the big process of what makes a person a person)
Don't want no Black Messiah to come and set the world on fire
(Ray Davies doesn't want a radical violent change escalated by a "messiah", even though some have been, and are oppressed)
A Black Messiah is gonna come and rule the world
(Retro to prophet)
Everybody got to show a little give and take Everybody got to live with a little less hate Everybody gotta work it out, we gotta sort it out
(Ray Davies solution to the racial "issue", or maybe our social "issues" in general)
Everybody got the right to speak their mind So don't shoot me for saying mine
Basically it is a satire like many of his songs, it is about "showing the other cheek", not "eye for an eye for an eye for an...), very Tolstoian. Not surprising, they have (or had) some similar "political" beliefs.