How b got his groove back

Son, give me your number now. He said what's your number?
I don't answer
He said what's your number man?
I don't answer
He said what's your number now?He said what's your number now?
I said hey 54-46, that's my number
...54-46, that's my number.

---Toots and the Maytals

Hard time here and everywhere you go
Times is harder than ever been before
And the people are driftin' from door to door
Can't find no heaven, I don't care where they go
Hear me tell you people, just before I go
These hard times will kill you just dry long so

Well, you hear me singin' my lonesome song
These hard times can last us so very long
If I ever get off this killin' floor
I'll never get down this low no more
No-no, no-no,
I'll never get down this low no more

---Skip James

They says if you was white, should be all right
If you was brown, stick around
But as you's black, m-mm brother, git back git back git back.

---Big Bill Broonzy

I'm reminded of what Muhmmad Ali once said about popular 'white music': it's full of crooners, people singing about how they love their 'baby' , the candyfloss dreams where everyone lives happily ever after and so on. The black man, on the other hand, sings of pain and loss and utter dejection. This is a stereotype, of course. But there's more than a grain of truth to it methinks. So, there you are.