| I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself
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| Is life worth livin'? |
| Should I blast myself?
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| I'm tired of bein' poor and, even worse, I'm black
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| My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
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| Cops give a damn about a negro
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| Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero
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| "Give the crack to the kids, who the hell cares?
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| One less hungry mouth on the welfare!"
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| First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal to brothers
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| Give 'em guns, step back, watch 'em kill each other
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| "It's time to fight back," that's what Huey said
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| Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead
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| I got love for my brother
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| But we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other
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| We gotta start makin' changes
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| Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers
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| And that's how it's supposed to be
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| How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
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| I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
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| But things change… and that's the way it is
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| That's just the way it is
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| Things'll never be the same
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| That's just the way it is, aww yeah
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| That's just the way it is
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| Things'll never be the same
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| That's just the way it is, aww yeah
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| I see no changes, all I see is racist faces
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| Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
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| We under, I wonder what it takes to make this
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| One better place, let's erase the wasted
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| Take the evil out the people, they'll be actin' right
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| ‘Cause both black and white are smokin' crack tonight
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| And the only time we chill is when we kill each other
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| It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
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| And although it seems heaven-sent
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| We ain't ready to see a black president
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| It ain't a secret, don't conceal the fact
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| The penitentiary's packed and it's filled with blacks
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| But some things will never change
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| Try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game
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| Now tell me, what's a mother to do?
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| Bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you
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| You gotta operate the easy way
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| "I made a G today," but you made it in a sleazy way
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| Sellin' crack to the kids
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| "I gotta get paid!" |
| — well hey, but that's the way it is
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| That's just the way it is
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| Things'll never be the same
|
| That's just the way it is, aww yeah
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| That's just the way it is
|
| Things'll never be the same
|
| That's just the way it is, aww yeah
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| We gotta make a change
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| It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes
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| Let's change the way we eat
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| Let's change the way we live
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| And let's change the way we treat each other
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| You see the old way wasn't workin'
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| So it's on us to do what we gotta do to survive
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| And still I see no changes; |
| can't a brother get a little peace?
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| It's war on the streets and a war in the Middle East
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| Instead of war on poverty
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| They got a war on drugs so the police can bother me
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| And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do
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| But now I'm back with the facts, givin' it back to you
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| Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up
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| Crack you up and pimp-smack you up
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| You gotta learn to hold your own
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| They get jealous when they see you with your mobile phone
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| But tell the cops they can't touch this
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| I don't trust this, when they try to rush I bust this
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| That's the sound of my tool
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| You say it ain't cool, my mama didn't raise no fool
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| And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped
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| And I never get to lay back
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| ‘Cause I always got to worry 'bout the payback
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| Some buck that I roughed up way back
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| Comin' back after all these years
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| "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat," that's the way it is
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| That's just the way it is
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| Things'll never be the same
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| That's just the way it is, aww yeah
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| (You're my brother, you're my sister)
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| That's just the way it is
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| Things'll never be the same
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| That's just the way it is, aww yeah
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| Some things'll never change |