Released: December 7, 1993

Songwriter: Ice Cube

Producer: QDIII

[Verse 1]
Why, oh why must you swoop through the hood like everybody from the hood? Is up to no good
You think all the girls around here are trickin'
Up there lookin' like Superchicken
At night I see your light through my bedroom window
But I ain't got shit but the pad and pencil
I can't wait till I hear you say
"I'm going down, mayday, mayday." I'm gonna clown
Cause everytime that the pigs have got me
Y'all rub it in with the flying Nazi
Military force, but we don't want ya
Standin' on my roof with the rocket launcher
"So fly like an eagle."
But don't follow us wherever we go
The shit that I'm saying, make sure it's heard
Motherfuck you and your punk-ass ghetto bird

[Hook]
"Run, run, run, from the ghetto bird"
"Run, run, run, from the ghetto bird"

[Verse 2]
Now, my homey's here to lick on a trick for a Rolex
And let me try the fo' next
Now the fo' I was driving was hotter than july
Looked up and didn't see a ribbon in the sky
Saw a chopper with numbers on the bottom
"Calling all cars, I think we've got em."
I hit the gas and I mashed past Inglewood
I think I drove through every single hood
South Central, Compton and Watts
Long Beach, bust a U, here come the cops
Wish I had a genie with about three wishes
Metal flake green on D's I look suspicious
You know that I'm running
Shit, I hear it humming
Fuck, I see it coming
Is it a bird? Yup
Is it a plane? No
I hit me a right on El Segundo
Wanted to holla, had to ditch the Impala
Let's see if they would folla
Me, hit a fence, hit a fence, and another
Met me a baby pitbull and his mother
Ran up in some peoples house and looked out of the window
I wish it was my kinfolk
Had to pull a strap on a fool named Louis the Third
'Cause I'm getting chased by the ghetto bird

[Bridge]
"Just put his hat, ehrrr, he combed his hair and then put his hat back
On. Errr, he's acting nonchalant up there in that cockpit, going 115
Miles an hour, with the police chasing him. Ehm, they're not gonna be
Real happy when they catch up with him, no matter what, the eh
Ehrr, they hate, they hate a bigmouth even worse."

[Verse 3]
Officer Bird's on his way, and I don't wanna see him
Could you please give me the keys to the B.M.?
See, I didn't want to gank you
But don't make me bank you, thank you
Tried to get to the hood, and you might guess
That a fool like me done shot Cyrus
Incognito, Ghetto Eagle
Saying, "Fuck, where did he go?"
I bust me a left on Ruthelen. Park
The 735 and I'm bailin
Went to my homegirl's house and got a hug man
She helped me run like Harriet Tubman
Looked out the window by the black bed
I saw the pigs and the fo' on a flatbed
Then the light from the bird hit me in the face
I closed the blinds cause I didn't wanna catch a case
All that night, I heard the bird circle
While I was eating fish and watching Urkel
She said I could sleep on the couch
By two A.M. I was digging her out
Fuck the ghetto bird

[Pre-Outro]
"Which way is he going now?"
"Ok, now..now he's..he's actually southbound..on a service street
And, uh...Gee whiz, uh, I'm gonna get my maps out here and figure
Out which service street he suddelny turned off on. Uh, the sherriffs
Are..are...well I know that...Sherriffs ground units got thrown off"

[Outro]
Motherfuck you and your punk-ass ghetto bird

Ice Cube

Straight outta South Central Los Angeles, Ice Cube became one of the most respected rappers in hip-hop, helping to usher in the era of gangsta rap with N.W.A and as a solo artist. He has gone on to become a mogul in Hollywood but still remains true to the game that brought him his success.

Born O'Shea Jackson on June 15, 1969, Ice Cube got his name from his older brother, who threatened to put him in a freezer and pull him out when he was an ice cube. He began rapping in high school and started his rap career as a member of Stereo Crew, which released the single “She’s a Skag” through Epic Records in 1986, and C.I.A. with the 1987 track “My Posse.” Both groups featured producer Sir Jinx, the cousin of DJ/producer Dr. Dre.

Ice Cube’s big break came when he wrote the song “Boyz n the Hood” for Eazy-E, which led to the formation of N.W.A. as a group. After the release of the 1987 compilation N.W.A. and the Posse, the group released their classic debut Straight Outta Compton in 1988. A financial dispute caused Cube to leave the group in 1989 and start his successful solo career, starting with his 1990 platinum debut Amerikkka’s Most Wanted.