Released: August 15, 2014
Songwriter: J. Cole
Producer: J. Cole
[Verse 1]
And I'm in denial, uh
And it don't take no x-ray to see right through my smile
I know
I be on the go, uh
And there ain't no drink out there that can numb my soul
Oh no
Uh
[Chorus]
And all we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
[Verse 2]
Can you tell me why
Every time I step outside I see my niggas die?
Oh, I
I'm lettin' you know
That there ain't no gun they make that can kill my soul
Oh no
[Chorus]
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is take the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
[Interlude 1: Dorian Johnson:]
So now it was like the officer is pulling him inside the car and he's trying to pull away. And at no time the officer said that he was going to do anything until he pulled out his weapon. His weapon was drawn and he said, "I'll shoot you" or, "I'm going to shoot" and in the same moment, the first shot went off. And we looked at him and he was shot and there was blood coming from him, and we took off running—
[Bridge]
Are we all alone
Fighting on our own?
Please give me a chance
I don't wanna dance
Something's got me down
I will stand my ground
Don't just stand around
Don't just stand around
[Interlude 2: Dorian Johnson:]
As we took off running I ducked and hid for my life, 'cause I was fearing for my life, and I hid by the first car I saw. My friend, he kept running, and he told me to keep running 'cause he feared for me, too. So as he was running the officer was trying to get out of the car, and once he got out the car he pursued my friend—his weapon was drawn. Now he didn't see any weapon drawn at him or anything like that, us going for no weapon. His weapon was already drawn when he got out the car. He shot again, and once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air, and started to get down, but the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and he fired seven more shots and my friend died
[Chorus]
And all we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
And I'm in denial, uh
And it don't take no x-ray to see right through my smile
I know
I be on the go, uh
And there ain't no drink out there that can numb my soul
Oh no
Uh
[Chorus]
And all we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
[Verse 2]
Can you tell me why
Every time I step outside I see my niggas die?
Oh, I
I'm lettin' you know
That there ain't no gun they make that can kill my soul
Oh no
[Chorus]
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is take the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
[Interlude 1: Dorian Johnson:]
So now it was like the officer is pulling him inside the car and he's trying to pull away. And at no time the officer said that he was going to do anything until he pulled out his weapon. His weapon was drawn and he said, "I'll shoot you" or, "I'm going to shoot" and in the same moment, the first shot went off. And we looked at him and he was shot and there was blood coming from him, and we took off running—
[Bridge]
Are we all alone
Fighting on our own?
Please give me a chance
I don't wanna dance
Something's got me down
I will stand my ground
Don't just stand around
Don't just stand around
[Interlude 2: Dorian Johnson:]
As we took off running I ducked and hid for my life, 'cause I was fearing for my life, and I hid by the first car I saw. My friend, he kept running, and he told me to keep running 'cause he feared for me, too. So as he was running the officer was trying to get out of the car, and once he got out the car he pursued my friend—his weapon was drawn. Now he didn't see any weapon drawn at him or anything like that, us going for no weapon. His weapon was already drawn when he got out the car. He shot again, and once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air, and started to get down, but the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and he fired seven more shots and my friend died
[Chorus]
And all we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is take the chains off
All we wan' do is break the chains off and
All we wan' do is be free
All we wan' do is be free
more tracks from the album
1000 Days, 1000 Songs
- Changes
- Army Dreamers
- You Haven’t Done Nothing
- Lyin’ Eyes
- World Wide Suicide
- Be Free
- Glory
- This Is Not America
- 2 + 2 = ?
- Living for the City
- Trump Is on Your Side
- Little Failure
- Fat Fingers
- World Leader Pretend (Live)
- We the People....
- The Ghost of Tom Joad
- Black and Blue
- Idioteque
- Self Destruction
- Respect
- Tennessee
- Where Is the Love?
- Masters of War
- Imagine
- Holiday
- Born in the U.S.A.
- It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
- Zombie
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Revolution
- Street Fighting Man
- What’s Going On (Diddy’s Bad Boy Remix)
From the album
- 1000 Days, 1000 Songs (2016)