Throughout the years, the police have been an oppressive organ that serves the state and the system. Some of the mottos for various police forces are “To Protect and to Serve” or, in my home country, “Safety and trust”. But to protect and serve whom? To protect and serve their fellow countrymen or those in power? Can we actually trust them? Are we safe with them? Police can surely work in an obscure, Orwellian way to repress speech, art and/or actions if it is against the system that enslaves the people. Some policemen can become arrogant by doing whatever they want just because they have a police badge. In this text, I will compare two songs, “F* The Police” by German thrash metal legends Sodom  and “F* Tha Police by the notorious rap group called N.W.A. to see how similar these two are, since they basically have the same name, and if they are “f*ing” the police for the same reason.

“F* The Police” by Sodom

I will put the lyrics of the song, part by part, and try to analyze it. Here is the first part:

“New age rebellion, anarchy

Intoxicated with injustice of law

Sneaking lifes, mental decay

Practicise subversive dirty needs

No acts of grace, stand up and fight

You are their slave but never questioned why

Born on your knees, don’t give a shit

You are remote controlled but who is to blame”

In the first part of the song, Sodom tells us about a rebellion of the people who are sick and tired of the injustice of the law. The law, in this case, probably only serves the system and those who are in power.

Then, in the next two verses, the people, who are fed up with the system, tend to do subversive actions to overthrow the people in power and destroy the system that enslaves them.
And then, in the following verses, they need to do that without grace, mercilessly and without repenting, fight against the system that had enslaved them from day one. The problem is that people do not question the system and authority. They are remote-controlled, but who is really to blame? When you start questioning it and try to break the chains, especially mentally, the repressive force of the system will put you down for being disobedient. Hence, F* THE POLICE!

Part two follows:

“Blaze of anger, deaf and blind

The enemy that overshadows us all

Out of control, disrooted minds

The final judgment and the final day will come

Too much pressure, to much power

Until the point of no return

Interwar period, martial games

To find out what they try to ignore”

The enemy is obviously the system and the people in power. Because of their potent position, they are “deaf and blind”. They use the system for their own benefit and only see people as their cattle. They are blazing out of anger because people are becoming disobedient.
“Out of control, disrooted minds”, whether it is about the people in power or “the cattle” starting to disobediently riot, the final battle between the two will take place no matter what. There will be no return when s*it starts to hit the fan because of the imbalance within the system.
“Interwar period, martial games”, one can see peace as a period between two wars, but as Sodom says, there are martial games fought between the two sides. Between those who control everything and those who are controlled but should set themselves free. Peace, by these standards, is only an illusion. Ignoring the people for their own benefit.

The final part of the song:

“Eternal lies, visions of change

When the dreams of freedom awake

Methods of greed, bleeding hearts

An easy target for the one with the gun

Empty promises, better left unsaid

Illusions shattered by mendacity and hate

Supremacy, hungry to kill

No more effectual fervent supplication”

Visions of change have two forms. The lies which the authority serves the people and the dreams, the true solutions that could lead people to their freedom. How to stop people from reaching their freedom from the system? By using the repressive force, the police force, that will physically stop them.
Their lies, their promises, and their illusions are no more because they are nothing more than words, whispers in the wind, which creates hate towards them. And so the battle begins. The authority, hungry to submit the rioting side and “the cattle” who will not beg anymore but fight for their freedom.

“F* Tha Police” by N.W.A.
I will now analyze this song by N.W.A., part by part. The intro follows:

“Right about now, N.W.A. court is in full effect

Judge Dre presiding

In the case of N.W.A. vs. the Police Department

Prosecuting attorneys are: MC Ren, Ice Cube

And Eazy motherfuckin’ E”

“Order, order, order

Ice Cube, take the motherfuckin’ stand

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth

And nothin’ but the truth so help your black ass?”

“You god damn right!”

“Well, won’t you tell everybody what the fuck you gotta say?”

As you can see in the intro, the rappers are portraying themselves as prosecuting attorneys and the judge. The “attorneys” are announcing that they will testify their case against the Police Department in their particular fashion. Their testament follows:

“Fuck the police comin’ straight from the underground

A young nigga got it bad ’cause I’m brown

And not the other color so police think

They have the authority to kill a minority

Fuck that shit, ’cause I ain’t the one

For a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun

To be beatin’ on, and thrown in jail

We can go toe to toe in the middle of a cell

Fuckin’ with me ’cause I’m a teenager

With a little bit of gold and a pager

Searchin’ my car, lookin’ for the product

Thinkin’ every nigga is sellin’ narcotics

You’d rather see, me in the pen

Than me and Lorenzo rollin’ in a Benz-o

Beat a police out of shape

And when I’m finished, bring the yellow tape

To tape off the scene of the slaughter

Still gettin’ swoll off bread and water

I don’t know if they fags or what

Search a nigga down, and grabbin’ his nuts

And on the other hand, without a gun they can’t get none

But don’t let it be a black and a white one

‘Cause they’ll slam ya down to the street top

Black police showin’ out for the white cop

Ice Cube will swarm

On any motherfucker in a blue uniform

Just ’cause I’m from the CPT

Punk police are afraid of me!

Huh, a young nigga on the warpath

And when I’m finished, it’s gonna be a bloodbath

Of cops, dyin’ in L.A.

Yo Dre, I got somethin’ to say

Fuck the police

Fuck the police

Fuck the police

Fuck the Police”

What Ice Cube is basically saying, is that if you are a young guy of African American descent, you are going to have trouble with the police just because of your racial background. He will not put up with any bullying from policemen so they can beat him up and throw him in jail. He will rather go one on one.
He states that the police are searching for narcotics just because he is an African American teenager with a little bit of jewelry and a pager. And as he angrily gets to the end, he says that he will beat them up and it will be a bloodbath when he is finished with them.

The second part featuring MC Ren follows:

“Example of scene one”

“Pull your god damn ass over right now”

“Aww shit, now what the fuck you pullin’ me over for?”

“‘Cause I feel like it!

Just sit your ass on the curb and shut the fuck up”

“Man, fuck this shit”

“Aight, smart ass, I’m takin’ your black ass to jail!”

“MC Ren, will you please give your testimony

To the jury about this fucked up incident?”

Fuck the police and Ren said it with authority

Because the niggas on the street is a majority

A gang, is with whoever I’m steppin’

And the motherfuckin’ weapon is kept in

A stash box, for the so-called law

Wishin’ Ren was a nigga that they never saw

Lights start flashin’ behind me

But they’re scared of a nigga so they mace me to blind me

But that shit don’t work, I just laugh

Because it gives ’em a hint, not to step in my path

For police, I’m sayin, “Fuck you, punk!”

Readin’ my rights and shit, it’s all junk

Pullin’ out a silly club, so you stand

With a fake-ass badge and a gun in your hand

But take off the gun so you can see what’s up

And we’ll go at it, punk, and I’ma fuck you up!

Make you think I’ma kick your ass

But drop your gat, and Ren’s gonna blast

I’m sneaky as fuck when it comes to crime

But I’m a smoke ’em now and not next time

Smoke any motherfucker that sweats me

Or any asshole that threatens me

I’m a sniper with a hell of a scope

Takin’ out a cop or two, they can’t cope with me

The motherfuckin’ villain that’s mad

With potential to get bad as fuck

So I’ma turn it around

Put in my clip, yo, and this is the sound

Yeah, somethin’ like that

But it all depends on the size of the gat

Takin’ out a police would make my day

But a nigga like Ren don’t give a fuck to say

Fuck the police

Fuck the police

Fuck the police

Fuck the Police”

At the beginning of the second part, you can see that the policeman wants to restrain and imprison MC Ren for no valid reason whatsoever and afterwords, Ren´s “testimony” follows. His message to them represents his people from the streets and their opinion about the police force. The police are afraid of him and because of that, they attack him from behind and blind him. They are nothing without their badge and gun. He knows that the rights they are reading to him will not be of any value since it will not benefit him anyway. He also says that he will ragefully “smoke them all”.

The final part, Eazy-E´s part commences:

“Yeah man, what you need?”

“Police, open now”

“Aww shit”

“We have a warrant for Eazy-E’s arrest

Get down and put your hands up where I can see ’em”

“What the fuck did I do, man, what did I do?”

“Just shut the fuck up

And get your motherfuckin’ ass on the floor”

“But I didn’t do shit”

“Man, just shut the fuck up!”

“Eazy-E, won’t you step up to the stand

And tell the jury how you feel about this bullshit?”

I’m tired of the motherfuckin’ jackin’

Sweatin’ my gang, while I’m chillin’ in the shack, and

Shinin’ the light in my face, and for what?

Maybe it’s because I kick so much butt

I kick ass, or maybe ’cause I blast

On a stupid-assed nigga when I’m playin’ with the trigger

Of an Uzi or an AK

‘Cause the police always got somethin’ stupid to say

They put out my picture with silence

‘Cause my identity by itself causes violence

The E with the criminal behavior

Yeah, I’m a gangsta, but still I got flavor

Without a gun and a badge, what do ya got?

A sucker in a uniform waitin’ to get shot

By me or another nigga

And with a gat it don’t matter if he’s smaller or bigger

(Size ain’t shit, he’s from the old school, fool)

And as you all know, E’s here to rule

Whenever I’m rollin’, keep lookin’ in the mirror

And ears on cue, yo, so I can hear a

Dumb motherfucker with a gun

And if I’m rollin’ off the 8, he’ll be the one

That I take out, and then get away

While I’m drivin’ off laughin’, this is what I’ll say

Fuck the police

Fuck the police

Fuck the police

Fuck the Police

His part also begins with how the police came into his house with the arrest warrant, but he states that he did not do anything. He says that he is fed up with lying and “lawful” robbery from the police force, meaning he is done with police doing anything to him for no reason.
“Cause my identity by itself causes violence, The E with the criminal behavior”, this verse can be interpreted in two ways. The first one is the reason from the beginning. His identity itself causes violence just because he has an African American background. The second one is because of the previous verses, meaning he is a notorious criminal and, because of that, his face and appearance are instantly connected to crime. He finishes his part like everybody else, by saying that he will be doing a drive-by on the police and passing by laughingly while doing it.

Summary

As you can see, the two songs are not just different in genres, but also a little bit thematically, even though they are basically named the same. Sodom´s song is more of a rebellion against the system that is controlling the people like cattle while the police are the repressive instrument of the system and the people in power. A battle between the people and the system that enslaves them in every way.
N.W.A.´s song is more of a reflection of the rappers what happens on the streets of Compton and what happens just because you are just of African American descent. The relationship between the police force and the young African Americans is a delicate one.
But there is definitely a meeting point between these two songs, and that is injustice. Firstly, injustice of the system and the brutal use of the police as a repressive instrument to restrain people from rebellion against it, and, secondly, the injustice that policemen think they can do anything to anybody just because they have the authority (the badge and a gun) WITH NO VALID REASON WHATSOEVER! This situation could be extremely dangerous for anybody.

                                                                                                                                The Mage

SOURCE: LyricFind