My forefathers came from africa
Brought here as a slave
How can I have an englishman's name?

The white man, the chiney man
The indians and the syrians
All nations have their own names

They robbed us of our culture
They robbed us of our language
They robbed us of our women, our music taken away

Oh why, oh why, what an oppression, oh god, oh lord
Oh why, oh why, what an oppression

It's more than 400 years
We're livin' in this western hemisphere
Still we just can't reach nowhere

Babylon just have us right here, living in fear
Babylon don't even care

They robbed us of our culture
They robbed us of our language
They robbed us of our wealth, our strength taken away

Oh why, oh why, what an oppression, oh jah
Oh why, oh why, what an oppression

They robbed us of our culture
They robbed us of our language
They robbed us of our women, our music taken away
Oh why, oh why, what an oppression, jah jah
Oh why, oh why, what an oppression

It's more than 400 years
We're livin' in this western hemisphere
Still we just can't reach nowhere

Babylon just have us right here, living in fear
Babylon don't even care