Hmmmm. BMI says there was a song written by Clifton Nathaniel Chase and Sylvia White titled "It's Not Easy Being White." Can't tell for sure if it's the right song.

I also found a cut on an album titled Joe Williams and Friends, June 1985: I Just Want to Sing. This is indeed the correct song. It's a long one, so it will take a while to transcribe. I'll get to work.


-Joe-

---

IT'S NOT EASY BEING WHITE
(POSSIBLE Songwriters: Clifton Nathaniel Chase and Sylvia White)

Well, somehow nothing seems to be the same,
Sometimes I don't seem to be as cool as I was;
Maybe it's the nature of the biz,
Well, I think I know the trouble, and I will tell you what it is:

It's not easy being white,
It's a struggle just to get your rhythm right;
And these days when gettin' down's the thing to do,
You can sing white 'til you're blue in the face,
And wake up in the morning,
Just to find you've been replaced.
It's not easy being white,
Feels so wrong, it can't be right.

Now, I don't want you thinking I'd complain,
'Cause Lord knows nothing's ever gonna stay the same;
I can take the good things with the bad,
But I have narrowed down the problem, and I think it's kinda sad:

It's not easy being white,
You don't sound good saying words like dyn-o-mite;
And you try to be so hip, the way you dress,
First, you try to be so hip and funky,
Then you over-windup (all will wind up?) with a honky-funky mess.
It's not easy being white,
Feels so wrong, it can't be right.

Well, talkin' all this weird-ness makes me grin,
There's just so many categories that I don't fit in;
One day on my tombstone, they will scrawl,
"Why, he was too tall for a midget and too short for basketball."

It's not easy being white,
They can pick you off too easy in the night.
You can waste your summers lying in the sun,
Still, you don't look like each other,
And you're only called a brother by you mother's other son.
It's not easy being white,
Feels so wrong, it can't be right.

It's not easy being white,
Feels so wrong, it can't be right.
[Yodel]

transcribed from album titled Joe Williams and Friends, June 1985: I Just Want to Sing