17th Street

[Intro: Gil Scott-Heron]
This song says, “Brothers from 17th Street love to get down,” and if you do, come on and join us. Doctor done brought rhythm to the hub man, hands-on rhythm. Some brother man got stick rhythm, 180 B, 360 degrees. Gonna add a few more ingredients, gonna get a little bass, little flute, drums, and if we can get you, we got everybody. A chance to work on Cha-Cha here

[Verse 1: Gil Scott-Heron]
I’ve done a lot of traveling, I’ve seen a
Lot of pretty faces
I sung my way-out blues songs in ex-
-traordinary places
I come from 17th Street, and that’s on the
Other side of town, but if you
See me with my brothers, don’t you dare go no further
You know we’re gonna get down, down, down, yeah
Down, down, down, yeah

[Verse 2: Gil Scott-Heron]
Some people think I’m crazy, they say, “Man
It must be in your mind.” They tell me, “There
Just ain’t no sane reason the way y’all
Get down every time.” I try to tell ‘em that I
Come from 17th Street and that’s where the
Brothers don’t mess around, and if you are
Thinking ‘bout the music and we find out you can use it
You know we’re gonna get down, down, down, yeah
Down, down, down, yeah

[Verse 3: Gil Scott-Heron]
You’re looking for excitement, you may need
Only to look next door because the
Brothers from 17th Street, they don’t all
Live there anymore. It seem like
Some done moved to Harlem
And some moved way uptown, but if you
Are looking for The Spirit and you want to get near it
Come on, come on and get down, down, down, down, down, down
Down, down, down, yeah

[Bridge: Instrumental Break]

[Interlude: Gil Scott-Heron]
We used to have a thing around my way in the evenings about sundown, where the brothers would bring out the bells and the drums and the, the instruments because we had to do something to get right for the evening that was getting ready to come on us—got it right here

[Verse 4: Gil Scott-Heron]
Some people think I’m crazy, they say, “Gil
It must be in your mind.” They tell me, “There
Just ain’t no sane reason the way y’all
Get down every time.” I try to tell ‘em that I
Come from 17th Street and that’s where the
Brothers who don’t mess around, and if you are
Thinking ‘bout the music and we find out you can use it
You know we’re gonna get down. If
You see me with my brothers, don’t you dare go no further
Come on, come on and get down. If
You’re thinking ‘bout The Spirit and you want to get near it
Come on, come on and get down. If
You’re thinking ‘bout the music and we find out you can use it
You know we’re gonna get down, down, down

[Outro: Gil Scott-Heron]
The 17th Street is where we be coming from and where some of the rhythms are coming from and stuff