Oh!, listen up everybody, I got an idea
I think we ought to write a letter to the congress of the United States
and tell them what's on our minds
Because we're the richest country in the world
and we can take care about own people
You know I believe we ought to say something like this
Hey Mister, -You Better Listen
Oh Mister, -You better listen
Mama got to wash
the rich folk clothes
Just to keep the rich man
from throwing us out the doors
Papa look for work
with the morning sun
But tell me, how can you find a job
when there just ain't none
Hey legislation,
If you can fix the nation
Why don't you open up your heart
and listen to this part
Wait a minute
A little child ask for bread with tears in his eyes..
Mama say we ain't got none and then they both cry
Don't you hear 'em? I said Don't you hear 'em Dammit Don't you
Hear them
Listen!
The World need love
I know you admit it
What you doin' to the poor man,
Lord knows you oughta quit it
How can he love you?
Tell me how can he smile
When back at home
there's a hungry little child?
Hey Legislation why don't you try a new route
Listen to the people
and hear what they're talking 'bout
The Poor people know that they can't impeach you, -or no?
They just hoping that their cries will reach you
Don't you hear 'em, I said Don't you hear 'em
Well then I feel sorry for you if you don't
Don't you hear them
Many singers before me
Have sung this song
Trying to remind you
to right this wrong
But what I'm wondering
If you ever understand
That rich or poor a man's still a man..
Hey legislation, when you start to fix the nation
Take a real good look at the present administration -and then
Stand up, wave it goodbye
Find someone who can hear the people cry
Lord knows you ought to hear them, I ain't lying you better hear
them, you better hear them something might go wrong
Hey Mister what you gonna do
People out here are trying to talk to you
You know we need help and we ain't gonna wait
No don't talk, get to doin before it's too late
Foreign aid is well and good
But why don't you give some of that money to the neighborhood
Can't keep living down here in mud
And I know you're sick and tired of looking at blood
Oh Mister, you better listen,
Oh Mister, you better listen
Hey mister, you better listen...
I think we ought to write a letter to the congress of the United States
and tell them what's on our minds
Because we're the richest country in the world
and we can take care about own people
You know I believe we ought to say something like this
Hey Mister, -You Better Listen
Oh Mister, -You better listen
Mama got to wash
the rich folk clothes
Just to keep the rich man
from throwing us out the doors
Papa look for work
with the morning sun
But tell me, how can you find a job
when there just ain't none
Hey legislation,
If you can fix the nation
Why don't you open up your heart
and listen to this part
Wait a minute
A little child ask for bread with tears in his eyes..
Mama say we ain't got none and then they both cry
Don't you hear 'em? I said Don't you hear 'em Dammit Don't you
Hear them
Listen!
The World need love
I know you admit it
What you doin' to the poor man,
Lord knows you oughta quit it
How can he love you?
Tell me how can he smile
When back at home
there's a hungry little child?
Hey Legislation why don't you try a new route
Listen to the people
and hear what they're talking 'bout
The Poor people know that they can't impeach you, -or no?
They just hoping that their cries will reach you
Don't you hear 'em, I said Don't you hear 'em
Well then I feel sorry for you if you don't
Don't you hear them
Many singers before me
Have sung this song
Trying to remind you
to right this wrong
But what I'm wondering
If you ever understand
That rich or poor a man's still a man..
Hey legislation, when you start to fix the nation
Take a real good look at the present administration -and then
Stand up, wave it goodbye
Find someone who can hear the people cry
Lord knows you ought to hear them, I ain't lying you better hear
them, you better hear them something might go wrong
Hey Mister what you gonna do
People out here are trying to talk to you
You know we need help and we ain't gonna wait
No don't talk, get to doin before it's too late
Foreign aid is well and good
But why don't you give some of that money to the neighborhood
Can't keep living down here in mud
And I know you're sick and tired of looking at blood
Oh Mister, you better listen,
Oh Mister, you better listen
Hey mister, you better listen...
Contributed by giorgio - 2022/7/25 - 09:00
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Lyrics & music by Betty Lapcevic
Album: A Message From The People
1972 was an interesting year for Ray Charles. He was profiled in a New Musical Express article with the headlines "The Man Who Beat Drug Addiction And Blindness To Become A Legend". But also, following the lead of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, Ray got political with the funky Quincy Jones produced single “Hey Mister”. Written as a letter to a Congressman, Ray points out “we're the richest country in the world and I just can't understand why we got so many hungry people”.
Listen to the people and hear what they're talking about
You see the poor people know they can't impeach you
They just hoping that they cries will reach you”
The song peaked at #47 on the R & B charts. On shows like Dick Cavett, Carol Burnett and even Bill Cosby, Ray performed his standard hits like the five year old "Eleanor Rigby" cover. The recording of “Hey Mister” was played during a 1972 Joint Hearing Before the Special Subcommittee on Human Resources and the Subcommittee on Aging of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, where it was praised by Senator Alan Cranston (..)