Changes

[Verse 1] I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself Is life worth livin'? Should I blast myself? I'm tired of bein' poor and, even worse, I'm black My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch Cops give a damn about a negro Pull the trigger, kill a–, he's a hero "Give the crack to the kids, who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare!" First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal to brothers Give 'em guns, step back, watch 'em kill each other "It's time to fight back," that's what Huey said Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead I got love for my brother But we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other We gotta start makin' changes Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers And that's how it's supposed to be How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me? (Uh) I'd love to go back to when we played as kids But things change… and that's the way it is [Chorus] Things will never be the same [Verse 2] I see no changes, all I see is racist faces Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races We under, I wonder what it takes to make this One better place, let's erase the wasted (Yeah) Take the evil out the people, they'll be actin' right ‘Cause both black and white are smokin' crack tonight And the only time we chill is when we kill each other (Yeah) It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other And although it seems heaven-sent We ain't ready to see a black president Uh, tt ain't a secret, don't conceal the fact The penitentiary's packed and it's filled with blacks But some things will never change Try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game Now tell me, what's a mother to do? Bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you You gotta operate the easy way "I made a G today," but you made it in a sleazy way Sellin' crack to the kids "I gotta get paid!" — well hey, but that's the way it is [Chorus] Things will never be the same, oh Oh, yeah [Verse 3] And still I see no changes; can't a brother get a little peace? It's war on the streets and a war in the Middle East Instead of war on poverty They got a war on drugs so the police can bother me And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do But now I'm back with the blacks, givin' it back to you Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up Crack you up and pimp-smack you up You gotta learn to hold your own They get jealous when they see you with your mobile phone But tell the cops, "Don't touch this" I don't trust this, when they try to rush I bust this That's the sound of my tool You say it ain't cool, but mama ain't raise no fool And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped And I never get to lay back ‘Cause I always got to worry 'bout the paybacks Some buck that I roughed up way back Comin' back after all these years "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat," that's the way it is [Outro] Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh