Released: December 10, 2002

Featuring: Lætitia Sadier

Songwriter: Common J Dilla ?uestlove James Poyser Lætitia Sadier

Producer: James Poyser ?uestlove J Dilla

[Intro: Common]
You! Yeah
The war is on, who you fighting for?

[Verse 1: Common]
It's like funk to rhythm and punk to rock
Loud like shot that come from a Glock
Pick up your mind, run from the spot
Revolution jumping in the parking lot
Shit is so hot, that the sun watch
Children by the window with the gun cocked
They cooking the raw to start to lump knots
Monkeys dance around for MTV spots
I lock into a- (scratches)
Rock into a rhythm of street and ancient wisdom
Experiment in stereo loud so crank the system
For the humble on the path, I paint a vision
How far will a nigga go just for attention
And to be remembered? You forgot the mission
Listen!

[Hook: Laetitia Sadier & Common]
All traces of life, in our guts we carry
That's used to dress humanity (it's a new wave, come on!)
All things I yearn for, you need per sanity
That reflex loves reality (it's the new wave, dig it!)
Clean up the choirs, tell me they shouldn't be
The times are reaching to the end (it's a new wave, come on!)
This life is precious, it's goddamn marvelous
Before it likely ever ends (come on, come on!)

[Verse 2: Common]
I lay terror in this era like Che Guevera
For the people to make or wait is better
In a room called real, I stay forever
Everyday I lose something, I gain forever
Meditate on how I can change the weather
My brainstorm for some is like planes, umbrella
Where bullets and lies both spray together
My mind scream like Al Green "Let's Stay Together"
How could a nigga be so scared of change?
That's what you hustle for, for the currency exchange
Y'all rich, we could beef curry in the game
Out your mouth, ain't nobody hurrying my name
You seen what happened when the Com go bang
Wouldn't have a shot, even at a gun range
Seen hype become fame against the grain become main
Stream, it all seems mundane in the scope of thangs

[Hook: Laetitia Sadier & Common]
All traces of life, in our guts we carry
That's used to dress humanity (it's a new wave, come on!)
All things I yearn for, you need per sanity
That reflex loves reality (it's the new wave, dig it!)
Clean up the choirs, tell me they shouldn't be
The times are reaching to the end (it's a new wave, come on!)
This life is precious, it's goddamn marvelous
Before it likely ever ends (come on, come on!)

[Verse 3: Common]
From a land of shit talk, porn stars and pitchforks
Didn't really see white until I went North
Getting bent off in backyards
Wishing in the air for a black god
Where the people fix cars and clap hard
And look to the stars for rap jobs
I walk through the black fog with reflectors on my boots
Smelling war near, I'm connected with the troops
That master anger, it ain't afraid to shoot
Through poured liquor, fallen angels they salute
(Whew! Whew!) Feel the wind blow
A new wave, people with they hair trimmed low
It's two ways living in this world of techno
This new age can't really save the ghetto
I pause for the rebels, who rock heavy metals
And tell them that they pharaoh so let go
Come on!

[Hook: Laetitia Sadier & Common]
All traces of life, in our guts we carry
That's used to dress humanity (it's a new wave, come on!)
All things I yearn for, you need per sanity
That reflex loves reality (it's the new wave, dig it!)
Clean up the choirs, tell me they shouldn't be
The times are reaching to the end (it's a new wave, come on!)
This life is precious, it's goddamn marvelous
Before it likely ever ends (it's the new wave, come on!)

[Outro: Common]
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!
Come on!

Common

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common (previously Common Sense), is a Grammy and Oscar-winning rapper and actor from Chicago, Illinois. Common’s inspired mix of poetic flow and hip-hop soul has helped him earn his status as one of the most respected rappers in the game.

After being a ball boy for his hometown Chicago Bulls as a teen and attending Florida A&M University for business administration, Common Sense kicked in and he left school to become a rapper. He gained national attention after being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine in 1991. He released his debut album Can I Borrow a Dollar? through Relativity Records in 1992, followed by his breakthrough second album Resurrection in 1994, which features his hip-hop classic single “I Used To Love H.E.R.”

As his career began to take off, he was sued by the music group Common Sense over the name, leading Common to drop the “Sense” and allude to the change in the title of his third album, One Day It’ll All Make Sense (1997). He has released several critically acclaimed albums, including Like Water For Chocolate (2000), which features his J Dilla-produced hit single “The Light”, and Be (2005), which was released under fellow Chicago musician Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint. He also joined musicians Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper to form the group August Greene, and the trio released their self-titled album in 2018.