[Intro: Choir, Chuck D]
Hey Poppi, yay ho
Hey Poppi, yay ho
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Lay low, proud Poppi (Come on)
Lay low, proud Poppi
Shout it out
[Verse 1: John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D]
He's from the deep south (Shout it out)
Pass Christian Mississippi
Where the cane breaks are burnin' every night
Lay low, proud Poppi (Shout it out)
Shout it out
[Chorus: Choir, Chuck D]
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Hey Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Alright)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Verse 2: John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D, John Mellencamp & Choir]
Poppi had a wife (Huh)
And she was black and Poppi was white (Shout it out)
Everything was rollin' great (Shout it out)
'Til some man called her race a disgrace
Oh no
[Chorus: Choir, John Mellencamp & Choir, Chuck D]
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Huh)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Verse 2: John Mellencamp, Choir & Chuck D]
Well, Poppi went down to the river (Hey)
To defend the honor of his wife (Somebody's killin' somebody)
Gonna drown the man in the water (No, no, no) (Shout it out)
And the water was shiny like a new knife
[Verse 3: John Mellencamp & Choir, John Mellencamp, Chuck D]
But Poppi stopped at the banks of the Delta
He said it sure ain't worth this man's life (Come on)
Someday the wind of change is gonna blow on through
And put all of these jokers right
Come on and sing now
[Chorus: Choir, John Mellencamp & Choir]
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Instrumental Break]
[Chorus: Choir]
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Verse 4: Chuck D]
Papa got a brand new bag, dag
Delta blues got 'em dazed and confused
Came a long way crazy
Seems the abuse is racism's baby
And it's wild
'Cause I connect the word with pain
Now some smile when they scream the name?
Funny how times have changed
And the rhymes have changed
But some of these cat's frame remains the same
Agitating adjective, what gives?
Die, n-word, die
But I wanna live
Knowin' all this where the word came from
I must be three times stupid and stuck on dumb
If I use it and confuse it with a term of love
Now, popular culture can't stop 'til it gets enough
Underlined in marketing campaigns
I feel undermined
Heard the n-word promotes that bottom line
Down by the river there's a great divide
Let's ride
[Bridge: Choir & Chuck D]
Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that
Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that
Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that
That's right
Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't (No, no, no)
Like it like that
[Pre-Chorus: John Mellencamp & Choir, John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D]
Shout it out (Shout it out)
Yeah, shout it out
Oh, shout it out
Tell the world
Shout it out (No, no, no, no)
I said
[Chorus: Choir, Chuck D & John Mellencamp]
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Down by the river there's a great divide)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Heard the n-word promotes that bottom line)
Hey-oh, hey-oh (I feel undermined)
Oh Poppi (Underlined in marketing campaigns)
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Tell the world)
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Tell the world)
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh (That it ain't right)
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh
Oh Poppi (Don't send us back)
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Oh Poppi)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Don't send us)
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Back now, Poppi)
Oh Poppi
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Delta blues got 'em dazed and confused)
Oh Poppi (Tell the world)
Hey-oh, hey-oh (Papa got a brand new bag)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Came a long way crazy)
Hey-oh (Seems the abuse is racism's baby)
[Outro: Chuck D]
And it's wild
Die, n-word, die
But I wanna live
Let's ride
