Song of the Law Abiding Citizen
by June Jordan
so hot so hot so hot so hot
so hot so what so hot so hot
They made a mistake
I got more than I usually take
I got food stamps food stamps I got
so many stamps in the mail
I thought maybe I should put them on sale
How lucky I am
I got food stamps: Hot damn!
I made up my mind
to be decent and kind
to let my upright character shine
I sent 10,000 food stamps
back to the President (and his beautiful wife)
and I can't pay the rent
but I sent 10,000 food stamps
back to the President (and his beautiful wife)
how lucky I am
hot damn
They made a mistake
for Chrissake
And I gave it away to the President
I thought that was legal I thought that was kind
and I can't pay the rent
but I sent 10,000 food stamps
back back back to the President
so hot so hot so hot so what
so hot so what so hot so hot
Trucks cruisin’ down the avenue
carrying nuclear garbage right next to you
and it's legal
it's radioaction ridin' like a regal
load of jewels
past the bars the cruel
school house and the church and if
the trucks wipeout or crash
or even lurch too hard around a corner
we will just be goners
and it's legal
it’s radioaction ridin’ regal
through the skittery city street
and don't be jittery
because it’s legal
radioaction ridin’ the road
Avenue A Avenue B Avenue C Avenue D
Avenue of the Americas
so hot so hot so hot so what
so hot so what so hot so hot
so hot so hot so hot so what
Comments:
Please listen to June Jordan perform her “Song of the Law Abiding Citizen.”
Click here.
so good so good so good so good... why? Jordan begins with an iambic drumbeat, singing to herself (writing), before she turns and sings to the public. She sings about obeying the law, and the law’s mistakes. Well, the law made a mistake with “10,000 food stamps,” so why wouldn’t the law make a mistake with “nuclear garbage”? How secure are we really? How careful are governments really? On one hand, we get food stamps; on the other hand, “we will just be goners.” Listen to Jordan’s tone change from reasonable to semi-hysterical on the word “legal.”
With the defensive tone of “I thought that was legal I thought that was kind,” I wonder if the law-abiding citizen has been penalized for trying to obey the law. What kind of citizen gets penalized for obeying the law? A person who “can’t pay the rent” in the East Village, who says cruisin’ and ridin’? In any case, one senses that the law has made a shmuck out of this law-abiding citizen, whose persistent “so hot” is punctuated by the loser’s “so what.”
Jordan’s rhymes - mistake/take/Chrissake, mail/sale, am/damn, mind/kind/shine, President/rent/sent, avenue/you, legal/regal, jewels/cruel, skittery/jittery - so good so good so good so hot. “Song of the Law Abiding Citizen” is a natural, lively political protest song, but also a well-crafted, subtle, inventive poem.
In an interview with Alternative Radio before her death, Jordan was asked about the role of the poet in society. Jordan replied: “The role of the poet, beginning with my own childhood experience, is to deserve the trust of people who know that what you do is work with words.” She continued: “Always to be as honest as possible and to be as careful about the trust invested in you as you possibly can. Then the task of a poet of color, a black poet, as a people hated and despised, is to rally the spirit of your folks…I have to get myself together and figure out an angle, a perspective, that is an offering, that other folks can use to pick themselves up, to rally and to continue or, even better, to jump higher, to reach more extensively in solidarity with even more varieties of people to accomplish something. I feel that it's a spirit task.”
Submitted by Mary Meriam