DESCRIPTION:
Strike Anywhere - Sunset On 32nd of the album Change is a Sound. (Released 2001 - Jade Tree Records)

Lyrics:

When they broke down the door
and put their guns in the face of your wife and child
and as they pinned you to the floor
did you say "officer, i am not resisting you. " ?


American Justice american dream
is this what ' the other half ' means
half of our lives dissolved in fear
half of our rights they disappear
is our apathy so corrosive
where does the cycle start
hear the sirens screaming out in the distance
hold your family close to your heart


American Justice American Lies
a war of words that I despise
I wish the good cops If they exist
the very best
and a bullet for all the


complications injustice deliberations what's the deal
they fake it, we break it, and take back what they steal
we could rise black and white unbound and make them pay
for every tear, for every fear, defend our yesterdays


when they dropped the bomb on the building to kill a MOVEment
did they care where the rights of the murdered went
police terror in the eyes of the children
police terror in the streets of every town
where's our freedom when the sun goes down
and will the houses that the landlords built keep out the bullet sound


American Justice American Lies
a racist prison
anaesthetized
I wish the good cops If they exist
the very best
and a bullet for all the . . .


so we try
to defend
together


defend our yesterdays , defend our tomorrows
together

_______________

From Strike Anywhere's FAQ:

"Sunset on 32nd Street" paints a very honest picture of the justice system. Was this song based on an actual event in your life or just an observation?


That is a true story which occured across the street from my house in Richmond Virginia in 2001. Our neighbors were terrorized by a poice ' sting ' which hit the wrong house. The cops put firearms in the face of Chante and her infant daughter Naiasia, while chasing Harold through their house, dragging him out on the street, and beating him until we came out on our porch to see what the hell was going on. They then stopped, and tried to recover their 'procedure' from their beating, and took him to be cleaned up, we later learned, at the hospital before holding him in prison on charges of assaulting a police officer.
The six cops who perpetrated this were led by a brazenly racist police captain who was known for making public remarks ( at the local bar ) about the precinct's true intention to the black community in North Church Hill ( our neighborhood ) . The incident was quieted down by the police involved, and I was down to testify against them, describing what me and my wife saw of this atrocious miscarriage of police 'work'. Instead, it was never brought to trial, but the collateral damage to our neighbor's family was all the prison the cops could've ever wanted for him. The unwarranted entry by the half dozen officers broke the front door down on their apartment, giving the landlord his excuse to evict them, forcing the family into the projects north of the city. For missing work the night and day spent in jail, Harold was fired. We tried to help them out financially and stay in touch, but after a few months, we stopped hearing from them , as they moved to various cinderblock housing within the projects. The last thing we heard about them was that their marriage dissolved, and their two young daughters were turned over to foster care . The thing that makes me feel the most tragedy in this, is the gnawing idea that this is happening to scores of families in every city in the U.S. , every month.
The words are a pretty direct expression of how fucked up and powerless I felt the day after. Its hard not to see the whole racist justice system unfold before your eyes in a moment like that. I wrote the lyrics the next day while I was at work, still shaken and sleepless with anger