D’Angelo and the Vanguard
1000 Deaths
[Intro: Khalid Abdul Muhammad,] [Fred Hampton]
When Jesus, when I say Jesus, I’m not talking about some blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned, buttermilk complexion cracker Christ
I’m talking about the Jesus of the Bible, with hair like lamb’s wool
I'm talking about that good hair
I'm talking about that nappy hair
That his body would be like beryl
Another scripture said his body would be like jasper
Another scripture said his body would be like fine brass, as though it had been burned in an oven
Jesus: the Lord, the Savior, the Master, the Redeemer
Jesus, the Black revolutionary Messiah
Taken up on the hill, up on the mountain by Satan, by the Devil
And the Devil talked about a New World Order
The Devil talked about giving Jesus all of this world out there, if Jesus would just seek an alliance with him
If he would just bow down to him
And I say to you here tonight, Devil: get thee behind me, Satan get thee behind me, Satan
Black people need some peace, white people need some peace
And we are going to have to fight, we're going to have to struggle
We're going to have to struggle relentlessly to bring about some peace because the people that we're asking for peace
They're a bunch of megalomaniac war-mongers
And they don't even understand what peace means
We've got to fight them
We've got to struggle with them to make them understand what peace means

[Verse 1]
I can't believe I can't get over my fear, oh-oh
They're gonna send me over the hill
Ah, the moment of truth is near, oh
They're gonna send me over the hill, oh no
[Verse 2]
I can't believe I'm so caught up in the thrill, oh
And nothing's gonna change my will, oh
Locked and loaded up, and I know the drill
(Say know what I'm saying)
They're gonna send me over the hill, oh god, yeah
I know the drill, they're gonna send me over the hill, oh-oh

[Pre-Chorus]
I been a witness to this game for ages
And if I stare death in face, no time to waste
But oh

[Chorus]
And if I charge it to the game before
Every time I slip into the unknown
Well, that's only when the spot gets blown
It's war— that is the Lord
I won't nut up when we up thick in the crunch
Because a coward dies a thousand times
But a soldier only dies just once
Once, once

[Interlude]
Oh-ah
Oh, yeah
Yeah
Yeah
[Verse 3]
Yahweh, Yehushua, uh
He don't want no coward soldier
Ah, sinking in the golden sand, oh
Musta didna hearda ma prayer, oh-oh
I receive everything that it means, uh
And wield it victoriously
Aha, and cast out all the wickedness, oh-woah, yeah-yeah
(When they) Send me over the hill, oh-oh
I was born to kill, oh-oh
Send me over the hill, oh-oh

[Pre-Chorus]
I been a witness to this game for ages
And if I stare death in face, no time to waste
But oh

[Chorus]
And if I charge it to the game before
Every time I slip into the unknown
Well that's only when the spot gets blown
It's war— that is the Lord
I won't nut up when we up thick in the crunch
Because a coward dies a thousand times
But a soldier only dies just once
Once, once
[Outro]
Yeah