The Devil You Know

[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