Text: Joe Jackson. Battleground.

Black nigger white nigger standing in the dark
Listen to the rhythm of the bass boom
Black nigger takes a hit sending up a spark
In the dark heat

Swaying a little to the bass beat
White nigger takes a hit, takes money out
Says this is what it's all about

Rots your brain, who cares
Black nigger stares, white nigger sighs
I like your music, I like your style
I crack a joke, so why don't you smile?

White nigger dancing out on the floor tonight
The band's not good but the beat seems right
The band's all black and the floor's all white
Clenching fists unite and fight

Rock against racism rules tonight
But in the real world no-one rules
But fists are clenched all right
Down in the underground, out in the playground
The common ground is a battleground

Now you don't have to be black to be a nigger no more
The writing's on the wall
Say black is power, white is flower
Divided we fall and behind the wall

Behind the door, in the dark heat
In the rhythm of the bass beat
Something is wrong
And no one is taking the blame