I take the needle off the record
|
And shove it in my arm
|
Whenever I feel life is
|
Comin' on too strong
|
They left me in a clinic fulla
|
Cynical motha fuckin' bureaucrats
|
And other kinda ding bats
|
|
Livin on the tracks
|
The tracks in my arm said
|
It all depends which side the tracks your on.
|
Tellin' me what to wear
|
Tellin me cut my hair
|
And tryin to convince me that they
|
Really really care
|
All about my health and about my wealth
|
But still they built the Stealth
|
'cause everybody's
|
Just lookin out for they self
|
|
So then I ask 'em
|
Can I have a clean needle
|
"Hell no that's illegal!"
|
|
[Chorus]
|
'Cause it's a crime to be broke in America!
|
And it's a crime to smoke dank in America!
|
[repeat]
|
|
"Yeah hit those drums now"
|
They lockin' brother's in the poorhouse
|
Who can't afford Moorhouse
|
Politicians nervous
|
It's the only free service they provide
|
You wanna go inside
|
There's a hot meal waitin' for ya
|
A deal we can score ya
|
On a bed for a night or two
|
Or three or four months.
|
|
They say they lockin' us up in cells
|
To protect us from ourselves
|
It smells like they got anotha
|
Plan in store house
|
Or should I say warehouse
|
Fulla niggas and other misfits
|
That couldn't turn tricks in the courthouse
|
It's a justice whorehouse
|
|
[Chorus]
|
It's a crime to be broke in America!
|
And it's a crime to be Black in America!
|
|
But there's a mutiny on the bounty
|
In ever single county
|
We remember Attica
|
But don't forget to pat a few
|
Other on the back as a matter of fact
|
Sister Asatta Shakur and Geronimo Pratt
|
'cause Amnesty international
|
Is fightin' for political
|
But if your analytical
|
You know it's much more critical than that
|
Percentages black is really, really whack
|
Can I kick a few facts yes?
|
|
Sx percent in college
|
From livin on the block
|
Twenty five percent in prison
|
The school of hard knocks
|
Fifty percent in poverty
|
Is livin on the rocks
|
Five hundred brothas on a death row box
|
|
The punishment is capital
|
For those who lack in capital
|
Because a public defender
|
Can't remember the last time
|
That a brother wasn't treated like an animal.
|
|
They say they blame it on a song
|
When someone kills a cop
|
What music did they listen to
|
When they bombed Iraq?
|
Give me one example so I can take a sample
|
No need to play it backwards
|
If you wanna hear the devil
|
Cause music's not the problem
|
It didn't cause the bombin'
|
But maybe they should listen
|
To the songs of people starving..
|
|
[Chorus]
|
'Cause it's a Crime to be broke in America!
|
It's a crime to smoke dank in America!
|
It's a crime to be black in America!
|
It's a crime to be black in America!
|
It's a crime to be Puerto Rican
|
African
|
Native American
|
Asian Hatian
|
A Woman
|
|
-----------------
|
Crime To Be Broke In America
|
Michael Franti & Spearhead |