Released: February 26, 2008
Songwriter: Erykah Badu Shafiq Husayn Om’Mas Keith Taz Arnold
Producer: Mike Chavaria Taz Arnold Shafiq Husayn Erykah Badu
[Refrain]
They don't know their language
They don't know they're God
They take what they're given
Even when it feels odd
They say their grandfathers and grandmothers work hard for nothing
And we still in this ghetto
So they end up in prisons
They end up in blood
[Chorus]
They keep us uneducated
Sick and depressed
(They end up in blood)
Doctor I'm addicted now
I'm under arrest
(They end up in blood)
We making mo' money than a motherfucker
(They end up in blood)
With no choices there's no hope for us
(They end up in blood)
[Hook: x4]
Started with a rhyme from old ancient times
Descendants of warlocks
Witches with ill glitches
Children of the matrix be hitting them car switches
Seen some Virgin Virgos hanging out with Venus Bitches
[Refrain]
They don't know their language
They don't know they're God
They take what they're given
Even when it feels odd
They say their grandfathers and grandmothers work hard for nothing
And we still in this ghetto
So they end up in prisons
They end up in blood
[Chorus] x4
They keep us uneducated
Sick and depressed
(They end up in blood)
Doctor I'm addicted now
I'm under arrest
(They end up in blood)
We making mo' money than a motherfucker
(They end up in blood)
With no choices there's no hope for us
(They end up in blood)
[Chant Part 1] x3
Aun Au Khu Mes Tahamu Khemu
Mesu Ntrrr Mut Tef Maatu
Apuat
Khu
Apuat
Smet Apu
Mtu Ntrrr
Anuk Kherrru
[Chant Part 2]
Nuk Khumiu Khu Khu
Neb Heru
Djeddjedu
Sekhet Maat
Anru em
Smai Tawiu
[Monologue]
I don't have to tell you things aren't good. Everybody knows things aren't good. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. Young punks are running the street. No one knows just what to do and there's no end to it. The dollar buys a penny's worth, banks are going under, cobblers keeping a gun under the counter. We sit watching our idiot boxes while some local anchorman tells us that today we've had eighteen murders and eighty violent crimes, as if that were the way things are supposed to be. We know times are bad—worse than bad. People are crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going utterly mad, so we never leave our homes. We sit in our comfy abodes while the world is getting smaller and we say, "C'mon, at least leave us alone in our family rooms. Let me have my microwave and flat screen and my 20-inch wheels and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone." Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get angry! I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to write to your senator because I won't know what to tell you to tell him. I don't know what to do about the recession and the inflation and the crime in the street. All I know is that you've got to get mad. You've got to say, "I'm a human being, damn it! My life has value!"
They don't know their language
They don't know they're God
They take what they're given
Even when it feels odd
They say their grandfathers and grandmothers work hard for nothing
And we still in this ghetto
So they end up in prisons
They end up in blood
[Chorus]
They keep us uneducated
Sick and depressed
(They end up in blood)
Doctor I'm addicted now
I'm under arrest
(They end up in blood)
We making mo' money than a motherfucker
(They end up in blood)
With no choices there's no hope for us
(They end up in blood)
[Hook: x4]
Started with a rhyme from old ancient times
Descendants of warlocks
Witches with ill glitches
Children of the matrix be hitting them car switches
Seen some Virgin Virgos hanging out with Venus Bitches
[Refrain]
They don't know their language
They don't know they're God
They take what they're given
Even when it feels odd
They say their grandfathers and grandmothers work hard for nothing
And we still in this ghetto
So they end up in prisons
They end up in blood
[Chorus] x4
They keep us uneducated
Sick and depressed
(They end up in blood)
Doctor I'm addicted now
I'm under arrest
(They end up in blood)
We making mo' money than a motherfucker
(They end up in blood)
With no choices there's no hope for us
(They end up in blood)
[Chant Part 1] x3
Aun Au Khu Mes Tahamu Khemu
Mesu Ntrrr Mut Tef Maatu
Apuat
Khu
Apuat
Smet Apu
Mtu Ntrrr
Anuk Kherrru
[Chant Part 2]
Nuk Khumiu Khu Khu
Neb Heru
Djeddjedu
Sekhet Maat
Anru em
Smai Tawiu
[Monologue]
I don't have to tell you things aren't good. Everybody knows things aren't good. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. Young punks are running the street. No one knows just what to do and there's no end to it. The dollar buys a penny's worth, banks are going under, cobblers keeping a gun under the counter. We sit watching our idiot boxes while some local anchorman tells us that today we've had eighteen murders and eighty violent crimes, as if that were the way things are supposed to be. We know times are bad—worse than bad. People are crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going utterly mad, so we never leave our homes. We sit in our comfy abodes while the world is getting smaller and we say, "C'mon, at least leave us alone in our family rooms. Let me have my microwave and flat screen and my 20-inch wheels and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone." Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get angry! I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to write to your senator because I won't know what to tell you to tell him. I don't know what to do about the recession and the inflation and the crime in the street. All I know is that you've got to get mad. You've got to say, "I'm a human being, damn it! My life has value!"
more tracks from the album
From the album
Erykah Badu popular songs
- On & On
- Hello
- Tyrone
- Bag Lady
- Next Lifetime
- Love of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop)
- Didn’t Cha Know
- Appletree
- Window Seat
- Otherside of the Game
- Green Eyes
- The Healer
- Phone Down
- Out My Mind, Just in Time
- ...& On
- Cel U Lar Device
- What’s Yo Phone Number / Telephone
- In Love with You
- Certainly
- Rimshot (Intro)
- Orange Moon
- I Been Goin’ Thru It All
- Soldier
- 4 Leaf Clover