Blackberries

(album: Thelma Houston - 1972)

Fresh from the bush
The good ship Jesus carried them over the sea
Tender and ripe
And so good for business
Blackberries

An old saying has long been in use
'The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice'
But the berry's grown bitter from too much abuse
And the new berries are strange

Sold in the southern marketplaces
Planted in white cotton fields
Taught with the lash
To stay in their places
Blackberries

Oh, women were raped
And rapists were paid
$25 per child
This is the way the heathens were saved
It kept them from growing up wild

And then came a war and promises of
40 acres and a mule
But sharecropping was a general rule for
Blackberries

High distance honey hot house ghettos
Ready, ready to burst into flame
Handle with gloves
To make them more mellow
Blackberries

And shipped off to war
They don't expect more
Than they have gotten before
Used a the tools of those who would rule
Others on far away shores

But a long time ago
A constitution was written to make all people free
Well, it's time for beginning revolution
Blackberries

[Fade Out]
An old saying has long been in use
'The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice'
But the berry's grown bitter from too much abuse
And the new berries are strange