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For Those Lost, For Those Taken (dedicated to Sandra Bland)

by Samora Pinderhughes

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about

For Those Lost,
For Those Taken.

Dedicated to Sandra Bland
and to all those
murdered by the state by police
or in prison or in the system.

I started writing this song in 2015
after Sandra Bland’s murder
in a Texas jailhouse.

When jailhouse officials and media
tried to cover up and lie about what happened,
people online started writing answers
to the prompt:
‘If I Die in police custody…’

This year is the 5th anniversary
of Sandra’s murder.
Let us never stop fighting
for justice,
for an end to the carceral state,
for an end to police terror
and police violence and surveillance.

You cannot kill us
just because
we are black or brown or poor
and expect us to say nothing.

We will always live lives of consequence.
We will always tell the truth about you.
And we will always remember.

-Samora

All proceeds from this song will go to Covid Bailout NYC. They post bail for medically vulnerable people held in New York City jails and provide comprehensive post-release support, such as shelter and food.

lyrics

lyrics
Promise me I'll be alive, when I leave my home Promise me I'll be alive, when I drive, alone
Stoplights could be murder
Movements could be murder
Conversations be murder
Promise me I'll be alive, when I leave my home Promise me I'll be alive, when I drive, alone
Stoplights could be murder
Movements could be murder
Steel bars, and they put a charge on my name
Now I think they got me back in chains…

If I die before you wake

I need you to know that

I was looking forward,
To my new job tomorrow

But these lights my life they take
When I'm on the road back

I can't stand the sirens,

I hear them and I know what follows

I told myself I won't break
They shouted a warning
They made up a story
They say I resisted, and I might go missing

All my momma does is pray

She'll wake in the morning

And not be in mourning...

That's why I just need you to listen! -

Promise me I'll be alive, when I leave my home Promise me I'll be alive, when I drive, alone
Stoplights could be murder
Movements could be murder
Conversations be murder
Promise me I'll be alive, when I leave my home Promise me I'll be alive, when I drive, alone
Stoplights could be murder
Movements could be murder
Conversations lead to confrontations,
Can’t take it no further

**

lyrics by Samora Pinderhughes

credits

released April 21, 2020
Music and Lyrics by Samora Pinderhughes
Produced by Jack DeBoe
Mixed by Jack DeBoe
Engineered by Jack DeBoe at Figure 8 Recording

Samora Pinderhughes - Vocals, Piano

cover image by Titus Kaphar

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all rights reserved

tags

about

Samora Pinderhughes New York, New York

Samora Pinderhughes is a composer, filmmaker, and interdisciplinary artist known for striking intimacy and carefully crafted, radically honest lyrics alongside high-level musicianship and cutting visuals. He works in the tradition of the black surrealists, those who bend word, sound, and image towards the causes of revolution. ... more

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