[Verse 1]
Helicopters over the house again
I got the projects two or three blocks from here
They pull the kids over Driving-While-African
And the ones that with the warrants always run in fear
So I sit here waitin' for the coast to clear
Wishing once again I had a gun around here
Turn on the news, and-a what do I hear?
Some kid shot the bank up on Gallatin Road
Ran away from the cops while he's tryin' to reload
He beat 'em up to Eastland Street on feet
Now he's probably reloaded and runnin' down my street
Better turn the alarm on and lock myself in
Helicopters over the house again
[Chorus]
Sometimes you rise above it
Sometimes you sink below
Somewhere in-between believin' in Heaven
And facin' the devil you know
[Verse 2]
Poor kid probably never had a chance to give a fuck
Wouldn't know good luck from a debutante
He's gotta find a way to be Steve McNair, young buck
Or he's tough luck lookin' for a prison to haunt
And you can fuck gettin' any kinda job you want
Unless you really wanna work in a fast-food restaurant
And who wants to do that? Do you wanna do that?
I wouldn't trade that for my crooked hat
Or my gang or my gun or my waist full of pagers
For a job deep-fryin' shit, for rich teenagers
If that's where it's at and no one's gonna help
How you gonna blame a man for helpin' himself?
There's a war goin' on that the poor can't win
Helicopters over the house again
[Chorus]
Sometimes you rise above it
Sometimes you sink below
Somewhere in-between believin' in Heaven
And facin' the devil you know
[Verse 3]
Black and white cops shinin' lights in the bushes
Can't see how this kid is gonna get very far
Unless he finds a way to make it back over to Barry Street
And he can't do that unless he steals a car
Man, the way things are, they don't seem right
All the white people talkin' 'bout the hope and light
There ain't no hope in Sam Levy, just guns and drugs
We ain't buildin' bridges we're just trainin' thugs
Then I hear a terrifying kick at my back door
Then in comes this kid, I say, "Hey, I seen this kid before"
I see him all the time at that bar on Woodland Street
And now he's bleedin' in the kitchen, trackin' mud off his feet
And he's lookin' at me like I need to help him or die
Until he sees in my eyes that I'm on his side
I hand him my keys, I say "You better move fast
"There's a J in the ashtray and plenty of gas"
He throws me the cash, he says "I'll be back for this"
I say "Yeah? Well, don't be surprised if there's a little bit of it missin'"
His gold teeth glistened with a big ol' grin
He said, "We'll talk about that when I see you again"
He shook my hand, I shook his back
I felt like I was 'bout to have a heart attack
Until he finally drove away, I thought, "Goddamn
Helicopters over my house again!"
[Chorus]
Sometimes you rise above it
Sometimes you sink below
Somewhere in-between believin' in Heaven
And facin' the devil you know
Facin' the devil, you know
