"Something's Gotta Give, Something's Gotta Give, Something's Gotta Give," is the plea you hear from RZA before he spits his verse on the painfully soulful cry for social equality on "I Can't Go To Sleep."
See Also:"I can't go to sleep, I can't shut my eyes. They shot the father in his moms building seven times, they shot Malcolm in the chest in front of his little seeds, Jesse watched and they shot King on the balcony. We supported Marcus; Garvey really tried to spark us with the knowledge of ourselves and our forefathers? Oh Jacqueline you heard those rifle shots cracklin' her husband's head in her hands ? she tried to put it back in. This integrating garbage look at the science somebody, this is trick knowledge they trying to keep us as slaves and still take our dollars." The video, directed by Wu Tang Clan frontman RZA, depicts the social climate in the Black community. Making claims that the climate hasn't changed too much from then and now, the video uses footage from the civil rights era. There's a piece that shows American flags waving while John F. Kennedy travels on a motorcade in Dallas right before he is assassinated. As news clips race across the screen, it also shows Malcolm X being interviewed, civil rights marches, and footage from Martin Luther King's assassination. Isaac Hayes AKA Black Moses graces "I Can't Go To Sleep" with chords and vocals from his critically acclaimed release of "Walk On By." He also appears in the video for the song. Isaac Hayes sings "Don't kill your brother let's love each other, don't get mad cause it ain't that bad, remember who you are, you've come to far, it's in your hands just be a man." Also on the track Ghostface Killah states "Somebody raped our women, murdered our babies in the streets with crack and guns in the early 80's, for those who murdered me shall stand before God to fall at the hands of fate and out comes the rod...Fed's jumping out their jeeps ? I cant go to sleep, Babies with flies on their cheeks ? It's hard to go to sleep." Long before the party-hearty playaz ruled the rap game, presenting a portrait of life that's nothing but women and money, Wu-Tang, created beats and rhymes that held more meaning than that of an average rapper. With "I Can't Go To Sleep" their formula still holds true today. RZA explains, "The song was originally Ghostface's idea. We came to the conclusion that no one in hip hop has been giving homage to our many great fallen heroes who paved the way in this society making it possible for brothers like myself and others to become successful black men getting a fair shot at the American dream. We also made the song because of current events: because of what's happening to some of our communities prominent politicians, entertainers, and sports personalities we realize that we can't go to sleep, we can't shut our eyes or the gains made by the previous generations will be reversed and the opportunities for the next generations will be snuffed out." RZA was recently in the studio creating a version of the song to be synced up to the video.
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