King Heroin
James Brown
There It Is, 1972
This is another James Brown nugget that I forgot about until I heard D’Nell’s 1st Magic album recently (”Different Day” samples it). This is “James Brown does anti-drug spoken word” and it is hilarious. The whole song is about a, um…”vivid” dream that he had. The dream is far enough out there that you might have cause to wonder the dream was “influenced” itself.
Obviously the delivery is half the humor but I’ll list a few choice lyrics so you can get an idea.
Ladies and Gentleman…Fellow Americans…Lady Americans…this James Brown.
I want to talk to you about one of most deadly killers in the country today.
I had a dream the other night and I was sitting in my living room
Just doze off to sleep so I start to dreaming.
I dream I walked in a place and I saw a real strange weird object standing up talking to the people and I found it was heroin, that deadly drug that go in your vein, he said:
I came to this country without a passport
Ever since then I’ve been hunted and sought
My little white grains are nothing but waste, soft and deadly and bitter to taste
But I’m a world of power and all know it’s true
Use me once and you’ll know it too
I can make a mere school boy forget his books
I can make a world famous beauty neglect her looks
I can make a good man forsake his wife
Send a greedy man to prison, for the rest of his life
I can make a man forsake his country and flag
Make a girl sell her body for a $5 bagI’m financed in china, ran in japan
I’m respected in turkey and I’m legal in Sian (spelling?)
I take my addicts and make them steal, borrow, beg
Then they search for a vein in their arm or their leg
So be you Italian, Jewish, Black or Mex
I can make the virile of men forget their sex
Can anyone else think of songs that sample this? I heard another one this week but forgot it already.
>> songs are available for two weeks [5.5 MB]
February 2nd, 2007 at 12:21 am
Jo,
That Is my favorite JB song. Too bad my brain is too slow to think of who sampled this. Of course I’ll remember once i write this comment. Lisa Bowman told me she checked you out at Madame X twice with Dave Smith. I’m mad I wasn’t there to here you play rolling with Kid and Play!.