Amplify (Megaphone remix)
"Somebody pass me a pen, pad and a megaphone..."
In February, a group of lovely humans gathered at Emmanuel United Church in Waterloo to listen to the conversation of five Black men discussing their contribution to my song “Amplify (Megaphone remix).”
These humans found out what I had observed while making the song, that each artist — writing on the theme of navigating the world while Black — carried a specific perspective that only enhanced their understanding of how to support Black lives.
We discussed many aspects of the song in an hour long conversation (captured in the latest episode of The Jon Corbin Podcast). Then, we grabbed microphones. Here is the live version of Amplify from a night purposefully created for Black men to speak.
The lyrics to this song are below. Take your time with each verse. Observe your reactions. Write down your responses, and how you would like to pursue your learning going forward.
After the loving energy that filled the room during that show, I think our next song is going to be about Black Joy.
Amplify (Megaphone remix)
Jon Corbin
Envisioning a street named after Mr. Arbery
After Ms. Taylor they’re finally changing the policy
Will a Mr. Floyd face on the wall possibly
Convince you that he was God's Property
Man, your clap back is a backtrack
We standing as humans you say we half that
Now dignity is dignity, humanity humanity
And I am indignant that you think dignity is insanity
Man, the statement you fight, the way it ignites
Our division, you’re insisting I’m the one that incites
But I’m the one with the Christ who stands with the ostracized
Weeping for the people who feel fear every night
God hears their prayers like 5G telephone
Charged His hands to ensure they ain’t left alone
Feet on the street, unrest is the stepping stone
Somebody pass me a pen, pad and a megaphone
Orijin
We shout "our lives matter", even though that's a bare minimum
It’s for the black child whose parents are scared sending him to second grade Knowing that if he acts up
Teacher might just call the cops and claim she needs back up
To get this young thug under control
Teach ‘em early that compliance is the ultimate goal
Never question the function of his behaviour, what it’s like to be labeled
Or the damage that it does to his soul
Now that’s the world that he knows
All reprimand and no representation
No justice, we just hear justifications
So he adapts, makes 'em clap when he raps and he jumps high
But that love disappears under gunfire
Tongues tied when they see us kneeling for anthems
We're tearing down the structures taking freedom for ransom
Yo it’s way bigger -- different day, the same triggers
We fighting for our lives, y'all fighting to say n***
Es
In the streets they amplify like a soundwave
Mobilized the message with voices as they pound the pave-
Meant to demoralize the ones filling the crowd with rage
Frustrated they got the nerve to tell me how to behave
The pain that's felt is not supposed to be convenient
Forgive me if seeking justice is seen as disobedience
Humans demeaning others in the name of colours
We supposed to be sisters and brothers just from different mothers
Sick of picket signs protesting treatment that don't fit the crime
Systemically designed for brown people to get in lin
Supremacists threatened by the ever changing landscape
Face of the nation changes by equity mandates
All lives would matter if they actually mattered
All lives can't possibly matter if you exclude the black ones
….Or the brown ones, we need to find ways
To amplify our voices louder in the streets than with a sign wave
Anthony Sawyers
When I’m going shopping they think I’m a bad kid
That’s why Momma always told me go pick up a basket
So now I’m innocent and less suspiciousI ain’t a menace, they want me to take these plea deals and this lesser sentence
Like my crime is young black from Britain
They fear for they life cuz he raps with conviction
I’ma sit inside this sit-in
Cuz my grandma couldn’t sit in the front
My family tree only go back a couple of gens
And they asking, where I was and when
Where I got the whip and how I know my friends
Here we go again, defending my blackness
To be treated like an human is all that I’m asking
Walking home hoodie down so I don’t fit the description
But they still pull me over cuz I’m fitting their vision
One false move I’ll be daily departed
And this is my life before the video started
Creo
Maybe i’m too black or maybe I’m too loud
Maybe they just mad at the fact I’m too proud
They want me pulling it back a little to pipe down
I promise I ain’t made that way so find out (Yo, look…)
I feel Hampton in my pen, I been pacing once again – wait
How’s it rehabilitating slavin’ all the inmates?
Fighting forest fires 100 plus degrees
Can’t vote when they get out so tell me how is they free
Think that light in the tunnel might be a train or a bus
Full of coppers who ready to spend they government funds
Tell me this and really really make it clear
How’s all people equal when laws are from overseers… overseers
Yo officer officer officer officer wait
Can I make it home safe or you having a bad day?
I got nothin in the fit, all my papers legit
No my chain ain’t from bricks, bro i’m just tryna live