Sisters and brothers – let’s do The Riff
Fathers and mothers – let’s do The Riff
Friends and lovers – let’s do The Riff
Significant others – let’s! do! The Riff!
Yeah say
Say that you need me and you really love me so
And shout
Shout that you want me and you’ll never let me go
And show
Show the world what you really, really know
And do
Do The Riff ‘cuz that’s the way to your soul
Brothers and sisters – let’s do The Riff
Misses and misters – let’s do The Riff
A to Z listers – let’s do The Riff
Hurricanes and twisters – let’s! do! The Riff!
Yeah jump
Jump for my love, babe, no need to ask how high
And stomp
Stomp all night, give it a try and don’t be shy
And shake
Shake that thing, sprout some wings and take to the sky
And do
Do The Riff and let your freak flag fly
This is unity
And community
And opportunity
Don’t ask what if
This is reality
Commonality
Spirituality
Individuality …
So do The Riff.
Rabbis and preachers – let’s do The Riff
Students and teachers – let’s do The Riff
You up in the bleachers – let’s do The Riff
All the world’s creatures – let’s! do! The Riff!
Artists and musicians – let’s do The Riff
Wizards and magicians – let’s do The Riff
Soldiers and politicians – let’s do The Riff
Take up your positions – and let’s! do! The Riff!
Yeah lift
Lift up your head, child, and show you have some pride
And open
Open up your heart and know that love is on your side
And free
Free your mind and soon your feet will hit their stride
And do
Do The Riff and let the groove be your guide
It’s time to celebrate
And accelerate
And exhilarate
Now don’t be late
Come participate
And perpetuate
And rededicate
And reinvigorate …
(I don’t know what happened to that song there, you guys, but it was great!)
©2024 The Hesh Inc./Reality Shock Music, Inc.
These lyrics were written, mostly by me, in March 2023, to a song that was first composed and performed by the original REALITY SHOCK band in Jerusalem some 40 years before, during the winter in which we holed up in Izzy Kieffer's storage unit in the Bayit VeGan neighborhood and banged out our original set list with some red-hot, original tunes. I say "mostly" because the original kernel of the lyric, the fifth through twelfth lines of the first verse, was written by Izzy as an adaptation of the Isley Brothers' "Shout" with the idea of adding a completed lyric to the tune, which had been rehearsed and performed as an instrumental. The music was composed by Emil Leuchter of blessed memory and Gedaliah Ben-Israel, original guitarist and saxophonist, respectively, of Reality Shock. The lyric that Izzy began was never completed and work was never continued on it until now by me; in the ensuing decades the song had actually been recorded, as an instrumental again, on the reconstituted Reality Shock's first and so far only release (There's A Voice, 2002).
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