Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
Thank you, Mr Blair and Mrs Queen, but I cannot accept an OBE because it has the name Empire in it, and I would be a hypocrite to accept that when I have fought against Empire all my life.
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[News] Benjamin Zephaniah RIP
- Thread starter Titanic
- Start date
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Big Villa fan.
A real shock my absolute favourite poet (sorry Attila) I loved listening to Benjamin his delivery was smooth as silk while his words were anything but, we have lost such a huge talent and at 65 is far to young RIP thoughts and prayers go out to friends and family
Ooh it’s a corner
Well-known member
Tragic news - a really good guy and rooted in Birmingham - I recall when I first watched Peaky Blinders and discovering another string to his bow. A very popular, talented and principled man. RIP Jeremiah aka Benjamin
“A wise woman once said: “I don’t eat anything with a face on it,” and a Jamaican friend of mine recently said: “I don’t eat anything with an arse.”
Nope but RIP still
Normal Rob
Well-known member
As had been said. A great poet, story teller and man. A sad day.
Perfidious Albion
Well-known member
I was sad to read this. But I am warmed by the fact so many of us appreciated him. He was a true poet and right minded man . I am very sorry that he has gone.
Cheshire Cat
The most curious thing..
Talking Turkeys
Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmasCos’ turkeys just wanna hav fun
Turkeys are cool, turkeys are wicked
An every turkey has a Mum.
Be nice to yu turkeys dis christmas,
Don’t eat it, keep it alive,
It could be yu mate, an not on your plate
Say, Yo! Turkey I’m on your side.
I got lots of friends who are turkeys
An all of dem fear christmas time,
Dey wanna enjoy it, dey say humans destroyed it
An humans are out of dere mind,
Yeah, I got lots of friends who are turkeys
Dey all hav a right to a life,
Not to be caged up an genetically made up
By any farmer an his wife.
Turkeys just wanna play reggae
Turkeys just wanna hip-hop
Can yu imagine a nice young turkey saying,
‘I cannot wait for de chop’,
Turkeys like getting presents, dey wanna watch christmas TV,
Turkeys hav brains an turkeys feel pain
In many ways like yu an me.
I once knew a turkey called…Turkey
He said “Benji explain to me please,
Who put de turkey in christmas
An what happens to christmas trees?”,
I said “I am not too sure turkey
But itÕs nothing to do wid Christ Mass
Humans get greedy an waste more dan need be
An business men mek loadsa cash’.
Be nice to yu turkey dis christmas
Invite dem indoors fe sum greens
Let dem eat cake an let dem partake
In a plate of organic grown beans,
Be nice to yu turkey dis christmas
An spare dem de cut of de knife,
Join Turkeys United an dey’ll be delighted
An yu will mek new friends ‘FOR LIFE’.
- Jul 10, 2003
- 27,747
A truly Great Briton. RIP
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Very sad indeed. He was a huge force for good.
kemptown kid
Well-known member
- Apr 17, 2011
- 362
Top man and force for good.
Comrade Sam
Comrade Sam
Terrible news. A man who had a massive and positive impact on the cultural development of Britain. An inspiration to many, including my daughter who when ten, chose him and Hope Powell as she said 'not just my black British role models, but my British role models'.
Rong Radio Station, 2006
My ears are battered and burned and
I have just learned that i have been
Listening to the wrong radio station
My mind has been brutalised now the pain can't be disguised
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I was beginning to believe that all black men were bad men
And white men would reign again
I was beginning to believe that i was a mindless drugs freak that
Couldn't control my sanity or my sexuality
I was beginning to believe that I could not believe in nothing except nothing
And all i ever wanted to do was to get you and to do you
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
My future has been blighted i am so short sighted
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I was beginning to not trust me, in fact, i wanted to arrest me
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been dancing to music that i can't stand
I've been reciting commercials to my girlfriends
I've been trying to convince myself that what i really need is a sunbed
And a mortgage and some hairspray, the kind of hairspray that will wash my grey blues away
I been trying to convince myself that i could ease my conscience
If I gave a few pence or a few cents to a starving baby in Africa
Because African babies need my favours
Because Africa is full of dictators
And oh yeah globalisation will bring salvation!
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I thought my neighbours formed an axis of evil
I wanna go kill people
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I am sure I didn't inhale so why is my mind going stale
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I was beginning to believe that all muslims are terrorists
And christian terrorists think they existed
I really did believe that terrorism couldn't be done by governments
Not our government, not white government
I just could not see what was wrong with me
I gave hungry people hamburgers you see
I was beginning to believe that our children were better than their children
Their children would die from terrorism but I couldn't hear their children call
And a child from Palastine simply didn't count at all
What despair? No children, I was not aware
I'd been listening to the wrong radio station
For years I've been sedated, and now i think I'm educated
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
And every time i got ill, i took the same little white pill
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
When it started I was curious but then it got so serious
It was cool when it began but now I really hate Iran
And look at me now i wanna make friend with Pakistan
I wanna bomb Afghanistan, and i need someone to tell me
Where the hell is Kurdistan?
Yeah, you can be my ally for a while until i come to bomb your child
And I'm sure there's a continent called the middle east
And i think i can bomb my way to peace
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to the wrong jams, I've been listening to the wrong beat
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to the wrong tones of the wrong zones
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to the wrong voices
I made such mad choices
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to spies I've been listening to lies
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I needed to know what some pop star somewhere was having for breakfast
I needed to know that I was no longer working class
I needed to know if the stock market rose 1 percent
I needed to know that I had a ruler to give me confidence
I needed to know that my life would improve loads
If I had an operation on my nose
I needed to hear that DJ say
"Good morning, good morning!"
I thought he was there just for me
I loved the way that he would say, "This show was sponsored by..."
"Oh my oh my", he made me cry
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
Can you dig this? I put my self on a hit-list
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I'm laughing and I'm crying and I'm watching myself dying
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
Listen to him, can you hear?
Listen to her, can you hear?
Listen to it, can you hear?
Listen to me, keep this frequency clear!
Tune in, Drop out
RIP
My ears are battered and burned and
I have just learned that i have been
Listening to the wrong radio station
My mind has been brutalised now the pain can't be disguised
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I was beginning to believe that all black men were bad men
And white men would reign again
I was beginning to believe that i was a mindless drugs freak that
Couldn't control my sanity or my sexuality
I was beginning to believe that I could not believe in nothing except nothing
And all i ever wanted to do was to get you and to do you
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
My future has been blighted i am so short sighted
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I was beginning to not trust me, in fact, i wanted to arrest me
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been dancing to music that i can't stand
I've been reciting commercials to my girlfriends
I've been trying to convince myself that what i really need is a sunbed
And a mortgage and some hairspray, the kind of hairspray that will wash my grey blues away
I been trying to convince myself that i could ease my conscience
If I gave a few pence or a few cents to a starving baby in Africa
Because African babies need my favours
Because Africa is full of dictators
And oh yeah globalisation will bring salvation!
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I thought my neighbours formed an axis of evil
I wanna go kill people
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I am sure I didn't inhale so why is my mind going stale
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I was beginning to believe that all muslims are terrorists
And christian terrorists think they existed
I really did believe that terrorism couldn't be done by governments
Not our government, not white government
I just could not see what was wrong with me
I gave hungry people hamburgers you see
I was beginning to believe that our children were better than their children
Their children would die from terrorism but I couldn't hear their children call
And a child from Palastine simply didn't count at all
What despair? No children, I was not aware
I'd been listening to the wrong radio station
For years I've been sedated, and now i think I'm educated
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
And every time i got ill, i took the same little white pill
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
When it started I was curious but then it got so serious
It was cool when it began but now I really hate Iran
And look at me now i wanna make friend with Pakistan
I wanna bomb Afghanistan, and i need someone to tell me
Where the hell is Kurdistan?
Yeah, you can be my ally for a while until i come to bomb your child
And I'm sure there's a continent called the middle east
And i think i can bomb my way to peace
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to the wrong jams, I've been listening to the wrong beat
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to the wrong tones of the wrong zones
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to the wrong voices
I made such mad choices
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I've been listening to spies I've been listening to lies
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I needed to know what some pop star somewhere was having for breakfast
I needed to know that I was no longer working class
I needed to know if the stock market rose 1 percent
I needed to know that I had a ruler to give me confidence
I needed to know that my life would improve loads
If I had an operation on my nose
I needed to hear that DJ say
"Good morning, good morning!"
I thought he was there just for me
I loved the way that he would say, "This show was sponsored by..."
"Oh my oh my", he made me cry
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
Can you dig this? I put my self on a hit-list
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
I'm laughing and I'm crying and I'm watching myself dying
I've been listening to the wrong radio station
Listen to him, can you hear?
Listen to her, can you hear?
Listen to it, can you hear?
Listen to me, keep this frequency clear!
Tune in, Drop out
RIP
Just watching him (on a TV tribute/documentary) relating how he knocked out a disabled boy by kung foo kicking him in the head for no reason while in approved school. Not a lot of remorse expressed. A tad entitled, I thought. But there was redemption I suppose. Unlike Joey Barton he never demeaned female football pundits, so I guess that means (something, something, something).
Anyway. @attila was a mate (I think). Eulogy incoming? I await with interest.
I can't be the only one that went to see him perform as part of GCSE coursework. Even as irritating teenagers we all appreciated his greatness. RIP.
attila
1997 Club
My friend Ben Zephaniah has died. Known him since 1982, shared a stage countless times. Put him on at the Barn in Southwick. One of the greatest poets of my generation - inspirational, intuitive, warm, friendly, a lovely bloke. Big Villa fan. Astonished: I was only in touch with him recently. Embrace life, folks. Live it to the full. You never know.
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