The song sits in a genre we normally leave for the more knowledgeable. But we do understand and applaud passion, particularly within music. James Corden ran the video of “Black” on his late night show this week. It is the performance by Dave during The BRIT awards in London on February 18, 2020.
At The BRIT Awards, Dave got off the piano bench and added verses that reference events far more familiar to residents of Great Britain than to those of us in the United States. Dave is based in London. All of the verses are included below the video.
Lyrics of “Black” by Dave
Look. Black is beautiful, black is excellent
Black is pain, black is joy, black is evident
It's workin' twice as hard as the people you know you're better than
'Cause you need to do double what they do so you can level them
Black is so much deeper than just African-American
Our heritage been severed, you never got to experiment
With family trees, 'cause they teach you 'bout famine and greed
Show you pictures of our fam on their knees
Tell us we used to be barbaric, we had actual queens
Black is watchin' child soldiers gettin' killed by other children
Feelin' sick, "Oh quick, this could have happened to me"
Your mummy watchin' tellin' stories 'bout your dad and your niece
Listen. The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice
Kid dies, the blacker the killer, the sweeter the news
And if he's white you give him a chance, he's ill and confused
If he's black he's probably armed, you see him and shoot
Look. Black is growin' up around the barbershop
Mummy sayin', "Stay away from trouble, you’re in yard a lot"
Studying for ages, appreciatin' the chance you got
'Cause black is in your blood, and you ain't even got the heart to stop
Black is steppin' in for your bothers because your father's gone
Standin' by your children when you haven't proven karma wrong
Black is doin' all of the above then goin' corner shoppin'
Tryna help a lady cross the road to have her walkin' off
Black is growin' up around your family and makin' it
Being forced to leave the place you love because there's hate in it
People say you’re fakin’ it, never stay for changing it
But black is bein' jealous, you'd be dead if you had stayed in it
Black is strugglin' to find your history or tracing it
You don't know the truth about your race 'cause they erasin' it
Black has got a really sour flavour, here's a taste of it
But black is all I know, there ain't a thing that I would change in it
Look. Black ain't just a single color. Man, there's shades to it
Her hair's straight and thick but mine's got waves in it
Black is not divisive, they been lyin' and I’m hating it
Black has never been a competition, we’re all making it
Black is deadly
Black is when you're freezin' in your home and you can't get sleep but never feelin' empty
'Cause you got 20 cousins in your country living stress-free
Walkin' for their water, daughter wrapped inside a bed sheet
Black is distant, it's representin' countries that never even existed while your grandmother was livin'
Black is my Ghanaian brother readin' into scriptures
Doin' research on his lineage, findin' out that he's Egyptian
Black is people namin' your countries on what they trade most
Coast of Ivory, Gold Coast, and the Grain Coast
But most importantly to show how deep all this pain goes
West Africa, Benin, they called it slave coast
Black is so confusin', 'cause the culture? They're in love with it
They take our features when they want and have their fun with it
Never seem to help with all the things we know would come with it
Loud in our laughter, silent in our sufferin'
Black is bein' strong inside and facing defeat
Poverty made me a beast, I battled the law in the streets
Well you struggle, but your struggle ain't a struggle like me
Well how could it be when your people gave us the odds that we beat?
I mean, blooody hell, what about our brothers that are stuck in jail?
That couldn't bust a bell, they held a bird and gotta live with it
Black is bein' guilty until proven that you're innocent
Black is sayin', "Free all my people stuck inside in prison cells"
They think it's funny, we ain't got nothin' to say to them
Unconditional love is strange to them; it's amazin' 'em
Black is like the sweetest flavor, here's a taste of it
But black is all I know, there ain't a thing that I would change in it
[Leaves the piano]
It is racist, whether or not it feels racist
The truth is our Prime Minister’s a real racist
They say: “you should be grateful we’re the least racist”
I say: “the least racist is still racist”
And if somebody hasn’t said it
Equality is a right, it doesn’t deserve credit
Now if you don’t wanna get it then you’re never gonna get it
How the news treats Kate versus how they treated Meghan
Rest in peace Jack Merritt, you’re my brother in arms
There’s tears in our eyes and love in our hearts
We never had the same background, culture, colour or past
But you devoted your life to giving others a chance
And for that, I’m so taken aback
Because you gave us all a voice, I have to say it for Jack
As a young black man seeing paper and crack
Given tougher sentences, it’s just papering cracks
All we need is unity, funding for communities, equal opportunities,
People under scrutiny, no more immunity, way less hatred
More conservation, less deforestation
We want rehabilitation - now that would be amazing
But Grenfell victims still need accommodation
And we still need support for the Windrush generation
Reparations for the time our people spent on plantations
I’m out
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