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Oscar Brown Jr. with Boots Riley
 

Brother, where are you?
Brother, where are you?
Where oh where are you?
Brother, where are you?
Brother, where are you?
Where oh where are you?
 
A small boy walked down a city street
And hope was in his eyes
As he searched the faces of the people he'd meet
Or one he could recognize
 
Brother, where are you?
They told me that you came this way
Brother, where are you?
They said you came this way
 
Brother, where are you?
Brother, where are you?
 
The eyes of the people who passed him by
Were cold and hard as stone
The small boy whimpered and began to cry
Because he was all alone
 
Brother, where are you?
They told me that you came this way
Brother, where are you?
They said you came this way
 
Where are you?
Brother, where are you?
Don't you know I need you now
 
(Boots Rap)
I'm calling out from the top
Of a ten foot pile of knots
They call us cool
If you smile or not
And if you dial the cops
I'm gonna try to shot
See it's a violence plot
Tell the judge
'I give a f what kind of file I got'
I'm trying to calculate my damages
From a lifetime of manmade savages
Bad food canisters
Fast food managers
And school principals
Who really prison wooden chips
Dough to the mo'
Flush my load in the commo'
But it never was
Never is
You believe in lined lie images
Of front line scrimmages
Support the crime bills of the president
Now it's a sacrileges
Attack the kids
And get the older generation
Just to back the pigs
So when I whisper as I leave the line of where I was
Brother, can you join the brawl?
 
Where are you?
 
Now there are many
Who will swear it's true
That brother all we are
And yet it seems there are very few
Who will answer a brother's call
Oh brother, where are you?
They told me that you came this way
Brother, where are you?
They said you came this way
 
Where are you?
Where are you?
Brother, where are you?
Oh brother
Brother, where are you?
Where are you?
Brother, where are you?
Brother, where are you?
Where are you?

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"Senior Year" is honored and proud to present the legendary jazz singer and songwriter, Oscar Brown, Jr., updating his nearly 40 year old classic, "Brother, Where Are You?" with Boots Riley of The Coup. After a wide variety of careers (including public relations, real estate and running unsuccessfully for political office), Oscar Brown, Jr. signed with Columbia Records in 1960, where he recorded several classic albums and wrote such classic pieces as "Dat Dere," "Work Song," "Watermelon Man" and "The Entertainer." An important social commentator and playwright, he was also the MC on the legendary "Jazz Scene USA" television series. After a 20 year recording hiatus, Oscar Brown, Jr. returned to recording in 1995 with the release of "Then & Now," a collection of new material and remakes.

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Brother Where Are You?
Written by Oscar Brown, Jr.
Additional lyrics by Boots Riley
© Courtesy of Orpheum Music (BMI) adm. by Fantasy, Inc.
Performed by Oscar Brown, Jr. with Boots Riley
By arrangement with Oscar Brown, Jr.
Willy Abers appears courtesy of Almo Sounds, Inc.

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