Listen all you punks who think you can get away with murder
Making us easy targets for your hate
Taking full advantage of our respect for law and order
Well there’s just so much that decent folks can take
We exercised restraint while you threw your rocks at us
All this time we stopped short of declaring war
We sat still while you firebombed every car and bus
Well now we won’t sit quiet anymore
We played the patsy for so long we paid too high a cost
Now we’ll show you who’s boss
Backlash! No more complacence
Backlash! We’ve lost our patience
Backlash! We’ll give the commands now
Backlash! The law is in our hands now
Listen all you bleeding hearts soaked in your self pity
You’re destroying us with your guilty conscience rap
It’s all too easy to pass your judgment while locked up in the city
We’ve had enough of listening to your crap
Listen all you journalists and agents of the press
Your twisted news has made us all sick
We’ve had enough of your calling us the creators of this mess
So take your cameras and get yourselves lost quick
We’ve had it up to here with your causing us to play the fools
Now we’ll play by our own rules
Backlash! You can only go so far
Backlash! Who do you think you are?!?
Backlash! It’s time to put you in your place
Backlash! Throw all your mud back in your face
Listen all you bigwigs and potbellied brass
The way you handle this trouble is a joke
The road to our home is lined with burnt cars and broken glass
Where are you when our whole lives go up in smoke
You worry too much about how you’ll look on TV
And the whole world’s opinion is your fear
Well throw your ego out for once before we’re pushed into the sea
And start doing something for those of us out here
If you’re not gonna protect us we’re gonna protect ourselves
Throw your crazy orders to hell
Backlash! No more complacence
Backlash! We’ve lost our patience
Backlash! We’ll give the commands now
Backlash! The law is in our hands now
©2023 The Hesh Inc.
This was written during the worst times of the first intifada in 1988, when I and most of my fellow Jews in Israel were angry and frustrated with the rioters, the press, and the government—the rioters for their hatred and violence, the press (foreign and domestic) for its intentional distortion and misrepresentation of the facts, and the government for its timidity and ineptitude at handling the whole situation. The chorus was, in fact, a call for those directly impacted by all these to take matters into their own hands. Being that I was in the army at the time, I could have landed in a whole lot of trouble had this been published or released.
These lyrics can apply equally to the war and violence in Israel today as I write this. Since I am not subject to military discipline at this point, I'm putting it out there, and let everyone take it as they will.
Musically, the biggest influence here would have to be Van Halen's "Atomic Punk." As implied above, this song was never released, recorded, or performed.