I was a paperboy I was 10 years old
It was a bright cold day and a heavy load
With a rusty wagon I made my rounds
Loved to get the work done before the sun went down
I'd never seen a headline that size before
So I laid it out at each neighbour's door
So when they'd look down, they would see
Three-inch letters "Cross is free"
My counterpart out in Joliette
Was walking streets that were cold and wet
There were good times coming but they weren't there yet
The phrase he was raised on "Don't Forget"
Past barricades and APC's
He made his evening rounds like me
And any fool with eyes could see
Just who was bound to make Cross free
I was cruising the stacks I was seventeen
When some words on the spine of a book caught me
White letters said Negres Blancs d'Amerique
Took the book from the shelf and let it speak
That guy in Joliette never read the book
He saw it everywhere he looked
Il etait negre blanc and they let him know
When they filled the jails in October seven-O
I was a western kid what did I know
About second cla** citizens and slamming doors
I saw it one way then, I see another now
The villains have changed their roles somehow
I'd never seen a headline that size before
So I laid it out at each neighbour's door
So when they'd look down that they would know,
Just who was free October seven-O