I took a stroll on a Saturday nightnIt was the first spring of a new millenniumnThe city was feverishnFlush with Cold War successes nAnd stock market excessesnAnd I could feel it in the airnI was at the very center nOf a new civilizationnSo I walked a little taller and I walked proudnBecause I'm an AmericannnSuddenly swept by a crowdnThey were chanting with one voicenIn protest of what they saw was wrongnThat's when the cops moved innAnd the hammer came downnAnd I heard the thudnOf nightsticks meeting skullsnAnd I saw the blood in pools on the asphaltnAnd I felt the outrage nThat swelled through the crowdnBut I stood my crowdnBecause I'm an AmericannnWhat would you donWould you hide behind your white skinnWhile the men in bluenShoot innocents at random