Syl Johnson: Is It Because I'm Black?

Negro y orgulloso de serlo, repleto de soul, sentimiento y mucha alma. Asi es como Syl Johnson -impregnado de la esencia del Chicago más emocional- nos presentaba a finales de los 60 uno de esos temas que marcan y dejan huella, "Is It Because I'm Black?". Es toda una bomba reivindicativa racial de soul profundo. Una lucha directa contra la política racial en los EE.UU de aquella época, por medio de su poderosa voz de talante predicadora, y su letra punzante. La escribió como respuesta al asesinato de Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, y de forma lastimera, nos relata su sentimiento de rechazo por una sociedad racista. ¿Esto es porque soy negro? -se preguntaba-, pero atesoraba la suficiente fortaleza para no callarse y manifestarlo de forma estremecedora.

Is It Because I'm Black?. Lleno de orgullo y clase -y acompañado en los teclados y arreglos por otro monstruo del soul, Donny Hathaway- mantiene alta la cabeza y nos deja una de esas canciones que conquista tu alma a la primera escucha, avivando la llama del soul manteniéndola eterna a pesar de las arenas movedizas del olvido.

Letra

The dark brown shades of my skin
Only add color to my tears
That splash against my hollow bones
that rocks my soul, oohhhhh...
locking back over my false dreams that i once knew
When a why my dreams never came true
Is it beacuse i'm black, somebody tell me what can i do, oooooohhh, ohh lord
Something is holding me back
Is it beacuse i'm black, yeahh
In this world of no pity
I was raised in the ghettos of the city, yeah... ohh lord
Mama, she worked so hard, to earn never penny, yeah, yeeeah, ohh lord
Something is holding me back
Is it beacuse i'm black
Like a child stealing his first piece of candy and got caught
People arround life's corner somewhere i got lost, oooohh
Something is holding me back
I wonder, is it beacuse i'm black
somebody tell me what can i do
Will i survive or will i die,
ohh, ohhhhh
Keep on holding me back, keep on holding on
Keep on pick on me
Keep on holding me back, keep on holding on, keep on holding on
Holding me back
I wonder why??
Did you do like that
But you keep on holding me back
Keep on puttin your foot on me
But i iiiiii, i've got to break away, somehow and some day
'cause i wanna be somebody, so bad
I wanna be somebody
I wanna be somebody so bad
You see
I want diamond rings and things
Like you do
And i wanna drive Cadillac cars, ooohhhhh
I wanna be somebody, so bad
but you Keep on putting your foot on me
And i believe, i believe i can break away
Be somebody, somehow and some way
You see, i heard somebody say one time, You can make it, if you try
And some of us, we're trying so hard, we're trying so hard
I want you to know, that i don't speak for myself
But i speak for ya'lls right now, ahh haa
You see, if you have white, light brown skin and a high yellow you still black
So we all got to stick together right now
This i wanna say to you my sisters and my brothers
Right on sisters,
right on brothers
Dig this, if we keep on pushing on, oohhh
We've got to make it a little bit further
We've got to make a little further
All we got to do is try, try, try
And some of us, we're trying so hard, we're trying so hard, we're trying so hard
so hard to be somebody ummmm
we're trying so hard....
Although, they holding us back
And it stands to reason
That they're doing us like that
You know what? It is, i believe it's beacuse we're black, uhhh
Or heyyyy, we can't stop now, we can't stop now
You have to keep on, keep on, keep on, keeping on
We have to keep on, keeping on
i know, and i know, and i know, that you know, that i know it ain't right
oohhh it ain't right, it ain't right, it ain't right
That they hold us, hold us, hold us back
They holding us back, uuhhhh
They holding us back, i wonder
Sometimes i sit down, i sit down and i wonder