No Knock (Alt) Songtext
von Gil Scott‐Heron

We′d like to, uhm, dedicate a poem to uhm, unfavorite people, um
One of our uhm, unfavorite people
Uhm, he was recently the Attorney General of The United States
And now he has, uh, taken over as the head of President Nixon campaign
His name is John Mitchell

And uhm, while he was Attorney General we had a custom
We had a occasion to meet him in DC
And talk about a piece of legislation called No-Knock
The No-Knock law, which means that
Authorities no longer have to knock on your door before entering
They can now knock your door down
This is called, no knock

You explained it to me I must admit
But just for the record you were talkin' shit
Long rapped about it bein′ legislated
For the people you've always hated
In this hell hole you all call home


No knock, the man will say
To keep that man from beating his wife
No knock, the man will say
To protect people from themselves

No knockin', head-rockin′, inter-shockin′
Shootin', cussin′, killin', cryin′, lyin'
And bein′ white
No knocked my brother Fred Hampton
Bullet holes all over the place
No knocked my brother Michael Harris
Jammed a shotgun against his head

For my protection?
Who's gonna protect me from you?
The likes of you?
The nerve of you?
To talk that shit face to face
Your tomato face deadpan
Your deadpan denting another freedom plan
No knock, ha

No knockin', head rockin′, inter-shockin′
Shootin', cussin′, killin', cryin′, lyin'
And bein′ white


But if you're wise, no knocker
You'll learn, no knock on my brothers′ heads
No knock on my sisters′ heads
No knock on my brothers' heads
No knock on my sisters′ heads

And double lock your door
Because soon someone may be no-knockin'
Ha, ha
For you