The Ballad Of Ronald Timbers

He was just one more dead on a long long list of names
Fifteen-year-old Ronald Timbers was buried under dirt and blame
A mother needing help instead a trigger-happy system took aim
Took the life of her child and gave no answers
To the questions of force used with lethal intention
Could their cruel intervention
Be justified to the family or the further community?

In Philadelphia there's a mural of a fallen cop
It's making the news some local youth got their hands on some cans
Let loose with the spray paint now they got to be stopped
It's true the violent loss of a life is always such tragedy
But the city don't honor those that it's killing
So forgive our frustrations at these gross violations
Their rationalization of killing doesn't wash with me it's true
We bury our dead now

At the funerals the heads bow
Across the land a war ensues
It's on the streets
No justice or peace
We die on our knees
It's a critical need we have for restraint
And those guns aren't their right so take away their weapons

He was just one more dead on a long long list of names