"Excuse me Mr.", Ben Harper, 1995, from "Fight for your mind"

Oh excuse me Mr.
do you have the time
or are you so important
that it stands still?

Excuse me Mr.
won't you lend me your ear
or are you not only blind
but do you not hear?

Excuse me Mr.
but isn't that your oil in the sea
and the pollution in the air Mr.
whose could that be?

So excuse me Mr.
but I'm a Mr. too
and you're givin' Mr. a bad name
Mr. like you

So I'm taking the Mr.
from out in front of your name
'cause it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame
it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame

And IIIII I have seen enough,
I've seen enough to know
that I have seen too much

Excuse me Mr.
can't you see the children dying
you say that you can't help them
Mr. you're not even trying

Excuse me Mr.
just take a look around
oh, Mr. just look up
and you will, you will see it comin' down

Oh excuse me Mr.
but I'm a, I'm a Mr. too
and you're givin' Mr. a bad name
Mr. like you

So I'm taking the Mr.
from out in front of your name
'cause it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame
it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame

And I have seen enough
I've seen and I've seen
I've seen enough to know
that I've seen too much
I've seen enough
I have seen enough to know
that I have seen too much

See 'cause Mr. when you're rattling
on heaven's gate
by then it is too late
'cause Mr. when you get there
they don't ask, they don't ask what you saved
all they'll wanna know Mr.
is what you gave

So excuse me Mr.
but I'm a Mr. too
and you're givin' Mr. a bad name
Mr. like you

So I'm taking the Mr.
from out in front of your name
'cause it's a Mr. Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame
it's a Mr. like you
that puts the rest of us to shame


23 July 2001: After (more or less directly) witnessing the "incidents" at Genova's G8 Summit and listening to the related comments by (in particular) "Mr."s Bush and Berlusconi, I cannot help being radical in my opposition to "the rich few" of the world. One must be fair, though. It's clear that not only the G8, but a substantial (possibly majoritary) portion of the over-developed (with respect to the planet's capacity of sustaining this development) world is willing to defend its obscene privileges against their less fortunate brothers by any means necessary. In such a world, from which humanity and reason are banned, Ben's uttermost integrity helps me to feel less alone.

Thanks to Tommaso for his constant good advice on music... well, and for everything else, of course!


Musical Quotes