By the Time I Get to Arizona Songtext
von Public Enemy

This is Sister Souljah. Public Enemy, Security of the First World
And all allied forces are traveling west to head off a white supremacy scheming to destroy
The national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King′s birthday
Public Enemy believes that the powers that be in the states of New Hampshire and Arizona
Have found psychological discomfort in paying tribute to a black man
Who tried to teach white people the meaning of civilization
Good luck brothers, show 'em what you got


I′m countin' down to the day deservin', fittin′ for a king
I′m waitin' for the time when I can get to Arizona
′Cause my money is spent for the goddamn rent
Neither party is mine, not the jackass or the elephant
Twenty-thousand niggy-niggy brothers in the corner
Of the cell block, but they come from California
Population is none in the desert and sun
With a gun cracker runnin' things under his thumb
Starin′ hard at the postcards, isn't it odd and unique
Seein′ people smile wild in the heat?
A hundred-twenty degree, 'cause I want to be free
What's a smilin′ face when the whole state′s racist?
Why I want a holiday? Damn it, 'cause I wanna
So what if I celebrate it standin′ on a corner?
I ain't drinkin′ no forty, thinkin' time with a nine
′Til we get some land, call me the trigger man
Lookin' for the governor, huh? He ain't lovin′ ya, ha?
But here to trouble ya, he′s rubbin' ya wrong
Get the point and come along, he can get to the joint
I urinated on the state while I was kickin′ this song
Yeah, he appear to be fair
The sucker over there, he try to keep it yesteryear
The good ol' days, the same ol′ ways that kept us dyin'
Yes - you, me, myself, and I, indeed
What he need is a nosebleed
Read between the lines, and then you see the lie
Politically planned, but understand, that′s all she wrote
When we see the real side that hide behind the vote
And they can't understand why he the man, I'm singin′ about a king
They don′t like it when I decide to mic it
Wait, I'm waitin′ for the date
For the man, who demands respect 'cause he was great, c′mon
I'm on a one mission to get a politician to honor
Or he′s a goner by the time I get to Arizona

Well, I got twenty-five days to do it
If a wall in the way, just watch me go through it
'Cause I gotta do what I gotta do
PE number one, gets the job done
When it's done and over, was because I drove ′er
Through all the static, not stick but automatic
That′s the way it is, he gotta get his, talkin' MLK
Gonna find a way
Make the state pay, I′m lookin' for the day
Hard as it seems, this ain′t no damn dream
Gotta know what I mean, it's team against team
Catch the light beam


So I pray, I pray every day, I do and praise Jah the maker
Lookin′ for culture I got, but not here from Jamaica
Pushin' and shakin' the structure, bringin′ down the Babylon
Hearin′ the sucker that make it hard for the Brown
The hard boulevard, I need it now more than ever now
Who's sittin′ on my freedom, oppressor, people beater
A piece of the pick, we picked a piece of land that we're deserving now
Reparation, a piece of the nation, and damn, he got the nerve
Another nigga they say and classify we want too much
My people plus the whole nine is mine, don′t think I even double dutch
Here's a brother, my attitude is hit ′em, hang 'em high
I'm blowing up the nineties, started tickin′ in eighty-six
When the blind get a mind, better start fearin′ while we sing it now
There will be the day we know those down and who will go
Go, go, go, go

By the time I get to Arizona (zona, zona, zona)
By the time I get to Arizona (zona, zona, zona)
By the time I get to Arizona (zona, zona, zona)