Goodbye Godfather

The Godfather of Soul James Brown passed away on December 25, 2006. The August, Georgia native was the self proclaimed Hardest Working Man in Show Business. Brown was in the music business – writing, singing, performing, producing, and leading bands since the 1950’s. He’s credited with being the originator of funk music and he’s the world’s most sampled recording artist, and his song “Funky Drummer” is the most sampled individual piece of music. Brown is known worldwide for his electric dance moves, unique voice, and thought provoking lyrics. My favorite James Brown song is his 1968 socio-political commentary on Black people’s position in society – “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud.” This was and still is an anthem for Black America and represents an artist using his influence to motivate and empower people.

Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud

[VERSE 1]
Look a'here, some people say we got a lot of malice,
Some sy it's a lotta nerve,
I say we won't quit moving,
Til we get what we deserve,
We've been buked and we've been scourned,
We've been treated bad, talked about,
As just as sure as it take,
Two eyes to make a pair,
Brother we can't quit until we get our share,

[CHORUS]
Say it loud,
I'm Black and I'm proud,
Say it loud,
I'm Black and I'm proud, one more time,
Say it loud,
I'm Black and I'm proud,

[VERSE 2]
I've worked on jobs with my feet and my hands,
But all the work I did was for the other man,
And now we demands a chance,
To do things for ourselves,
We tired of beating our heads against the wall,
And working for someone else,

[CHORUS]

[VERSE 3]
Ooowee, ou're killing me,
Alright uh, you're out of sight,
Alright, so tough, you're tough enough,
Ooowee uh, you're killing me, oow

[CHORUS]

[VERSE 4]
Now we demand a chance to do things for ourself,
We're tired of beatin' our head against the wall,
And workin' for someone else,
We're people, we're just like the birds and the bees,
We'd rather die on our feet,
Than be livin' on our knees,

[CHORUS]

[VERSE 5]
Uh, alright now, good Lord,
You know we can do the boog-a-loo,
Now we can say we do the Funky Broadway!
NOw we can do, hu
Sometimes we dance, we sing and we talk,
You know I do like to do the camel walk,
Alright now, hu alright
Alright now, ha