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Black or white - the angry lyrics

Remington Steele

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I didn't ever quite get what Michael wanted to say with the lyrics

"I'm tired of this devil... I'm tired of this stuff..." and so on until "girl when the going gets mean".

I mean sure, I can imagine what he might mean and I love when Michael gets angry :yes: (in his songs).

But is it just metaphorical, is it just in a common sense... or does he mean something specific? Does he mean the "devil" in all of us... or does he mean racism (the following rap verse might indicate that)?

And why does he say "girl when the going gets mean". Is it just because he's talking to a girl... or does it have to do with her?
 
I've always take it as racism or the issue with skin colour in general.

"I am tired of this devil... I am tired of this stuff..." to mean, "I'm tired of people taking about my skin colour all the time".

'Girl' is just used to fill a lyric gap, like Yeah or come on might.

'I ain't scared of no sheets' is also possibly a KKK reference.
 
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He goes on to say, "I'm tired of this business" .. The music industry, Hollywood, I suspect. ... In "Scream", he's "tired of injustice, tired of the schemes", "this whole system sucks". He referred to the evil side of the world/people when he said 'devil'.
 
BTW now that you mentioned the above, there's an interesting similarity to D.S.

BoW: "I ain't scared of your brother, and I ain't scared of no sheets"
 
I think "sheets" obviously refers to the KKK, and if you think about the notorious Black Panther dance at the end of the video where he smashes up all the racist graffiti on the car etc it kind of reinforces the theory.

To be honest I think the whole song is an anti-racist message (the title in itself is one I believe). I think the "devil" and "stuff" is just metaphorical to racism - racism is an evil thing, like the devil.
 
It is obviously referencing racism, and the 'sheets' reference was regarding the Ku Klux Klan, who were historically infamous for wearing white sheets to scare African-Americans into submission (i.e. to discouraging them from using their rights such as the right to vote, go to school, etc.)

Tired of this devil/stuff/business could reference the racism even within the music industry, and racism in general. The "devil" could be the shadow of racism, which, although no longer blatantly obvious in the 90's (when Black or White was made), still loomed over like a dark cloud (and does to this day) thus like a devil, something not seen by the eye, but perceived to be an ever-present evil, such as the Biblical Devil. Sue when the going gets rough is self-explanatory.

I ain't scared of your brother, etc. when the going gets mean, I think, is just him telling us that he's prepared to be strong and that idle threats or even serious ones won't deter him from being the best he can be musically. As a breakthrough African-American artist, he undoubtedly faced much racism within the music industry, unfortunately, something barrier-breakers have to bear if they are to open the gates for those who follow after. I am sure those situations must have made him angry, and so we have this "angry rap."

Overall, the song has an anti-racism message, so the rap would have to reinforce that message. Those are my two cents on the matter.
 
Remington Steele said:
Right. BTW can you explain why "sheets" is a reference to the KKK?
Click to expand...

I said it in my previous post--"white sheets" is a term which describes their costume, as of the 20th century, which is composed of white gowns (a.k.a. "sheets" which cover the entire body so as to conceal the wearer's identity, and a white cone hat.) The purpose of those outfits was basically to conceal the wearer's identity--as the activities they took part in were for the most part illegal terrorism (i.e. threats, murders, etc.) Some claim that the idea for the uniform was that they were supposed to represent the ghosts of Confederate soldiers, but I think the more practical reason of identity concealment is a likelier case, especially given the fact that the "ghost-like" uniforms didn't become a part of the KKK until the 20th century. When they were just established, the KKK wore regular dark outfits with bags over their heads instead of the commonly associated "cone hats."

Misissippi_ku_klux.jpg

Old KKK.

338px-Ballot1.jpg

"New" KKK, as of the early 20th century (this depiction being from 1928.) I didn't want to post any actual photographs because most of them tend to be violent/ugly, and probably against board rules, or something, so this political cartoon will have to suffice. We just want to reference the outfit, after all.

Thus, in context with the rest of Michael's lyrics, "sheets" and the feeling of fear (I ain't scared of no sheets), given the history of the KKK uniforms being referenced as "white sheets" and their long history of terrorizing African-Americans, we can safely deduce that it is talking about the Ku Klux Klan.
 
I always interpreted it to be a rebellion against racism and intolerance in the world.
 
@Mikage - thanks for explaining, I missed your previous post. I knew the costumes of the KKK, I just didn't know they were called white sheets.

When hearing or reading about KKK, I always have to think about that scene from Costner's Robin Hood in which KKK members with white cone heads surround RH's father...
 
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