the whole reason to cross allen street is gone by letson williams

back then

back when there was still a reason to cross allen street.

back before berlin

back when she was red bone,

 from buffalo

when she was high yellow

when it was "if you're not a staylow, then you gotta go home.

 and that means you too jared leto"

back then

one night

one little night

i heard a man

one man

a book man

the man from the book store

he was stammering and stomping like he was coming straight outta compton

spitting and bloodletting

relentless

the first word came first

it came right on the first stomp

it exploded

he said participatory

yeah, he said participatory

and then he said it again

and again and again

until it rocked with an uneven, white boy rhythm that took it's cue from when the stomp came down

and that alone

he said it again and again

"participatory participatory participatory

"participatory" "participatory" "participatory"

"democracy" "democracy"  "democracy"

yeah, yeah, yeah

he said

"participatory" "participatory"

"democracy" "democracy"

"participatory" "participatory"

"democracy" "democracy"

then some of us started saying it

then more of us started saying it

then it was back and forth,

participatory

democracy

participatory

democracy

the man said

participatory