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And Justice for All
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Murder in a Wal-Mart parking lot in New Mexico.
Political/personal songs since the 1960s -- killer ballads, working-class anthems, political satire. Fred's twelve-string guitar can be anything from a blues ba
Fred Stanton’s songs (along with his lumberjack voice and jumbo 12-string guitar) embody the political folk-singing tradition. Fred has been an industrial worker (a welder of oilfield equipment; an electronic assembler; and a railroad electrician, hostler and brakeperson) as well as a political organizer and union activist. This life is at the heart of his songsmoving, personal ballads, rollicking satires, and working-class anthems. Fred has been singing in concerts, union rallies and political protests since the 1960s. His union songs celebrate the struggles of strikers at Peabody Coal, poultry processing workers in North Carolina, and strawberry pickers in California. And his "Singing Cars," a Bronx salute to car alarms, has been featured on NPR’s "Car Talk" show. Newest songs include “Five-Dollar Coal,” which is the story of miners in Utah fighting for a union.
Song Info
Genre
Acoustic • Acoustic Folk
Charts
Peak #189
Peak in subgenre #37
Author
Fred Stanton
Rights
Copyright © 2006 by Fred Stanton
Uploaded
October 29, 2006
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.0 MB • 128 kbps • 3:16
Story behind the song
Based on press and police reports of an incident in Farmington, New Mexico. Clint John, a young Navajo, was gunned down by a cop, and the authorities ruled it was self-defrense.
Lyrics
And Justice for All A Navajo bites the dust In the Wal-Mart parking lot In Farmington, New Mexico, Shot by a local cop. The desert air is dry as death, An angry spirit cannot rest, Red sky over a shopping mall. Always low prices, and justice for all. He was beating on this woman, The mother of his son. ’Til the cop came up with a billy-club, A choke hold, and a gun. The kid in the Chevy covers his eyes, Four years old when his daddy dies. Remember that officer, standing tall. Always low prices, and justice for all. A one-man judge and jury, A verdict of smoke and lead. Young Clint John takes three to the chest, The fourth goes through his head. The city fathers shrug and smile, Self-defense, we saved us a trial. A drunken Indian had to fall. Always low prices, and justice for all. Bridge: It’s a very different story When a rich man beats his wife. He sleeps it off in his featherbed, He never pays with his life. A Navajo bites the dust In the Wal-Mart parking lot. In Farmington, New Mexico, Shot by a local cop. Shoppers, better watch your step, Who do you think they serve and protect, In a hot and dusty shopping mall? Always low prices, and justice for all.
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