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The Killing of George Floyd

by Sadie Jemmett

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Artist Statement

Video link: youtu.be/hcM5s5tfSiw

I have written this protest song as a response to the brutal and unlawful killing of George Floyd. I understand that as a white person I can have no real experience of what black communities have to live through.

But as a songwriter I can use my voice to stand in solidarity with communities, friends and fellow musicians all over the world.

Any future revenue made from this song will go to the naacp.org to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and wellbeing of all persons.

The track is available via my Bandcamp page with the option that people can pay whatever they want or can afford.

lyrics

The Killing of George Floyd
By Sadie Jemmett

Come stand with me friends and I’ll sing you a song
for a man who's committed no wrong
his name is George Floyd and his story is true
he was murdered in cold blood
no mercy he knew

He’d moved to the city to try to find work
to make a new start out of all that he’d learnt
arrested for buying a packet of smokes
the cops pushed him down with a knee to the throat

And he was a peaceful man
and he turned his life around
and George Floyd was killed on the ground
while the white cops all stood around
they watched him die …. without a sound

Derek Chauvin bent to kneel
he put his knee on George Floyd’s throat
and when he cried out ‘I can’t breathe’
and begged the man to let him go
he held it there 8 minutes long
even after his pulse had gone
even when he'd heard him plead for his life
no officer of the peace
this murderer out on the streets

And he was a peaceful man
and he turned his life around
and George Floyd was killed on the ground
while the white cops all stood around
they watched him die … without a sound

So where was the democracy?
where was the law?
there was no humanity there left at all
the night that the police killed George Floyd
a most brutal murder that ever was told

But for the weight of the white man upon George Floyd’s neck
draining his life as he tried to protest
arrested over a phoney dollar bill
George Floyd should be living still
Now stand up people wherever you are
From Minneapolis to Atlanta, Paris, London and Los Angeles
and bring your voices out onto the streets
For the brutal murder of another black life

We’ll no longer be silent on these racist crimes
it's time to get angry it's time to make right
for the killing of George Floyd for justice we’ll fight

And he was a peaceful man and he turned his life around
and George Floyd was killed on the ground
while the white cops all stood around
they watched him die … without a sound.

credits

released June 9, 2020
Recorded by John McBurnie @ OastHouse Studios
Written, performed and produced by Sadie Jemmett
Label: Two Up Two Down Records
UPC: 5037300890005
Cat No: TWOUPTDB1
Release Date: 26/06/2020
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Territories: World Wide

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Sadie Jemmett London, UK

London-based singer-songwriter and music composer for theatre

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