Released: January 1, 2010
Featuring: Melanie Fiona Common
Songwriter: John Whitehead Gene McFadden Victor Carstarphen
Producer: John Legend The Roots
[Verse 1: John Legend]
Wake up everybody, no more sleeping in bed
No more backward thinking, time for thinking ahead
The world has changed so very much from what it used to be
There is so much hatred, war, and poverty
[Verse 2: Melanie Fiona]
Wake up all the teachers, time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to what you have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up, and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children, teach them the very best you can
[Hook: John Legend & Melanie Fiona]
The world won't get no better
If we just let it be
The world won't get no better
We gotta change it, yeah, just you and me
[Verse 3: John Legend]
Wake up all the doctors, make the old people well
They're the ones who suffer and who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before their Judgment Day
So won't you make them happy before they pass away
[Verse 4: Melanie Fiona]
Wake up, all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out, cause they do every time
[Hook: John Legend & Melanie Fiona]
The world won't get no better
If we just let it be
The world won't get no better
We gotta change it, yeah, just you and me
[Bridge Rap: Common]
It's the God hour, the morning I wake up
Just for the breath of life I thank my maker
My mom say I come from hustlers and shakers
My mind build-ed on skyscrapers and acres
He said take us back to where we belong
I try to write a song as sweet as the Psalms
Though I'm the type to bear arms and wear my heart on my sleeve
Even when I fell, in God I believe
Breathe the days in
Weave through the maze and the season so amazing
Feed them and raise them
Seasons are aging: earthquakes, wars, and rumors
I want us to get by but we're more then consumers
We're more than shooters, more than looters
Created in his image, so God live through us
And even in this generation living through computers
Only love, love, love can reboot us
[Outro]
Wake up, everybody
Wake up, everybody
Need a little help, y'all
Yes I do, need a little help
Need a little help, y'all ay
Wake up everybody
Wake up everybody
Wake up everybody
Wake up everybody, no more sleeping in bed
No more backward thinking, time for thinking ahead
The world has changed so very much from what it used to be
There is so much hatred, war, and poverty
[Verse 2: Melanie Fiona]
Wake up all the teachers, time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to what you have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up, and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children, teach them the very best you can
[Hook: John Legend & Melanie Fiona]
The world won't get no better
If we just let it be
The world won't get no better
We gotta change it, yeah, just you and me
[Verse 3: John Legend]
Wake up all the doctors, make the old people well
They're the ones who suffer and who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before their Judgment Day
So won't you make them happy before they pass away
[Verse 4: Melanie Fiona]
Wake up, all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out, cause they do every time
[Hook: John Legend & Melanie Fiona]
The world won't get no better
If we just let it be
The world won't get no better
We gotta change it, yeah, just you and me
[Bridge Rap: Common]
It's the God hour, the morning I wake up
Just for the breath of life I thank my maker
My mom say I come from hustlers and shakers
My mind build-ed on skyscrapers and acres
He said take us back to where we belong
I try to write a song as sweet as the Psalms
Though I'm the type to bear arms and wear my heart on my sleeve
Even when I fell, in God I believe
Breathe the days in
Weave through the maze and the season so amazing
Feed them and raise them
Seasons are aging: earthquakes, wars, and rumors
I want us to get by but we're more then consumers
We're more than shooters, more than looters
Created in his image, so God live through us
And even in this generation living through computers
Only love, love, love can reboot us
[Outro]
Wake up, everybody
Wake up, everybody
Need a little help, y'all
Yes I do, need a little help
Need a little help, y'all ay
Wake up everybody
Wake up everybody
Wake up everybody