The Prisoner - Gil Scott-Heron

Here I am after so many years

Hounded by hatred and trapped by fear

I’m in a box, I’ve got no place to go

If I follow my mind, I know I’ll slaughter my own

Help me, I’m the prisoner won’t you hear my plea?

I need somebody, yeah, to listen to me

I beg you, brothers and sisters

I’m counting on you, yeah

Black babies in the womb are shackled and bound

Chained by the caveman who keeps beauty down

Smacked on the ass when they’re squalling and wet

Heir to a spineless man who never forgets

Never forgets that he’s a prisoner, can’t you hear my plea?

'Cause I need somebody, Lord knows, to listen to me

I’m a stranger to my son

Who wonders why his daddy runs, yeah

On my way to work in the morning

When I don’t give a damn

Can’t nobody, can’t nobody

Can’t nobody, can’t nobody see just who in hell I am?

Hemmed in by a suit, yes, all choked up in a tie

Ain’t no wonder some times near morning I hear my woman cry

She knows her man is a prisoner, won’t you hear my plea?

Yeah, 'cause I need somebody to listen to me

My woman, she don’t say but she hates

To see her man chained this way, yeah

Help me, I’m the prisoner

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m the prisoner