Signaling Virtue (Quiet ver.)

Gavin Bradley(개빈 브래들리)
앨범 : Quiet Life
작사 : Gavin Bradley(개빈 브래들리)
작곡 : Gavin Bradley(개빈 브래들리)

You know Philip says he expects
to be stopped two, three times a year
I've been stopped once in 20
And I was angry
You know Al, who you met once,
with his sons
Had to have those conversations
About moves never to make suddenly
My friend Ronnie, he's sometimes
not sure what's worse
White liberals, self-congratulating,
self-flagellating, then signaling virtue
Or the overtly racist right
At least you know
where you stand, he says
Wouldn't you want to
Wouldn't you want to
Well-intentioned white folks,
when intention's irrelevant
Confused by the news, getting defensive
Your good-hearted mother
Jane sees manipulated stats
And forwards memes of platitudes
from her plush-safe habitat
Ma, coloured is an outdated term
that began a hopeful word
Picked up the grit of hate, got replaced,
discarded like tire shreds on the highway
Just pay attention
It's not difficult for you
It's something you can do
It's something you can do
Quote-unquote allies like me
Hand-wringing about complicity
"Did I mention this one hundred percent
is not about me -
Let’s get this for you"
There I am signaling virtue
"Do the thinking for me,
I'll do what you tell me to"
And all this music that I feel,
Black invention borrowed and stole
Baked into the culture uncredited
Dyed in the wool
What is it the powerful want to believe
That a handshake on a shady deal
or a sanctioned theft is a final decree?
That time will pave this over
without reconciliation, reparation
Well here's a reckoning
unspeakably overdue
Some think it’s an impossible undo
You've got 400 years of hate
continuing to mutate
But now with realtime proof
Do we dare to hope
for meaningful change
With self-examining
And talk of structures dismantling
Do we hope for change
Do we believe in change