I took a stroll on a Saturday night
It was the first spring of a new millennium
The city was feverish
Flush with Cold War successes
And stock market excesses
And I could feel it in the air
I was at the very center
Of a new civilization
So I walked a little taller and I walked proud
Because I'm an American
Suddenly swept by a crowd
They were chanting with one voice
In protest of what they saw was wrong
That's when the cops moved in
And the hammer came down
And I heard the thud
Of nightsticks meeting skulls
And I saw the blood in pools on the asphalt
And I felt the outrage
That swelled through the crowd
But I stood my crowd
Because I'm an American
What would you do
Would you hide behind your white skin
While the men in blue
Shoot innocents at random