King Henry IV - Gil Scott-Heron

The king is alive and twenty million strong

And long before he ever ascended to his throne

He was made fun of, a source of great humor

His domination over neighborhoods was nothing but rumor

The reason I felt black kids was headed for a fall

Was the day I read this poem painted in the bathroom stall

«Fuck a man in the butt and you could get it for sure

Pass a dope needle around and there wasn’t no cure»

The kids believed if you wasn’t gay and you didn’t shoot dope

You was home free, take the day off and float

But what would always make the king seem so tough

Is that he could get in and then take five years to show back up

And you can go scream at them until you get hoarse

But they don’t understand about King Henry the Fourth

He was no more than a whisper in gay after-hours spots

If there are no bloodless revolutions, why hadn’t he fired a shot?

Sunday mornings from the pulpit, he was blamed on promiscuity

More confusing newspaper bullshit only furthered the ambiguity

Preachers became obsessed in calling him, «A message from above»

The creature’s game progressed, since nobody knew exactly who the fuck he was

Completely taking over areas that had never seen royalty

But soon millions on five continents could all pledge their loyalty

The invisible monarch was steady doing his thing

He never heard folks once saying, «Hail to the king»

But he’s got powers you can’t help but endorse

And the Africans call him, «King Henry the Fourth»