Your words were boots Joe, boots in Lewisham <br />When black and white and yellow riot put down the Nazi scum, <br />And in Trafalgar Square in ninety-one <br />When the fury of our rainbow class put Thatcher on the run <br />Your words were firing like a gun Joe, firing like a gun. <br /> <br />I heard your booming words echo <br />Through the streets of Prague- <br />when we shut the World Bank down <br />And you were roaring vengeance in Genoa <br />when we had to fight through gas <br />and bullets just to hold our ground <br />And when the many-headed future met in Florence <br />Everyone knew your name Joe <br />Your songs were all around.- <br /> <br />And when the threw me in a cell Joe <br />I sang straight to hell Joe <br />And when they stood me up in court Joe <br />I hummed the Brixton guns Joe <br /> <br />Oh Joe! when you got up to sing <br />It was a fist in a copper's face <br />It was a pitchfork in a landlord's neck <br />It was a bullet in a contra's gut <br />It was an arrow in the eye of a general <br />It was a kick in the balls for the rich. <br />It was everything good Joe <br />It was everything good <br /> <br />And when us Zombies and us Rastas <br />and us Punks and Workers win <br />You will be singing in our blood Joe <br />You will be dancing like speed in our veins<br /><br />Dave Lordan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tribute-to-joe-strummer/
