Written by jay kay and toby smith
four hundred years or more
since you came to crucify
they were taken far away from home
there were promises of paradise
but if they had been told that day
they would be told that this way
to satisfy the souls of chosen man
see i had to look carefully
at the shame of my ancestry
to redefine the storyline again
if i was taken for a day
and shown another day
every child can learn a different thing
see i tried a million times
but i had to change my mind
sadness was the best thing i could bring
on the inside he was dead and this is what he said
as he took away the blue above the clouds
oh, superiority was clearly meant to be
so destiny will manifest in time
so where has all the love gone?
a troubled trail of tears will tell the tale
of how i was put down where i don't belong
woman, child and man for sale
for ethical slavery is just an absurdity
how can you be alive when you are dead
with these chains of hipocrisy
the shame of my ancestry
forever strained in blood in which you tread
(repeat chorus)