Public Enemy, Paris - Hannibal Lecture lyrics

Being here in America doesn't
Make you an American
Being born here in America doesn't
Make you an American
Why if birth made you an American
You wouldn't need any legislation
You wouldn't need any amendments
To the Constitution
I don't see any American dream
I see an American nightmare
I'm one of the 42 million black people
Who are the victims of America

Aiyyo we all in together now
All in together now
Hard truth soldierin, hard truth soldier SHIT
Keep on servin 'em, cause you know we do work
Mashin in my Chevy down the
Streets of New York, they feel me
I smooth grip, and hit up the spot
Snatch Flav as my dual pipes
Burn up the block
We bumpin hardcore, heavyweight, b-boy blast
On the street they hear my beat
My 69 is fast
Smash down Lennox, head up to the 'View
Some reporter wanna holla and I
Said it was cool wanna know about the album
And the Enemy's new
How PE and Guerilla Funk is keepin it movin
Breakin bread talkin politics
You know how it go
'Bout the war and how it's shitty
That we murder for dough
Then the reporter asked a question
That I had to mash how, I would act if every
Day was maybe my last
How if every day I worried
'bout my family in this
I'd be murdered on these street
In a puddle of piss
Or if I would get some news
That my brother had died
If they ran up in my house and
Held my kids and my wife
Or if we was looted and
Somebody took all our thangs
If my sister was abducted
Never heard from again
I began to compare it, so he could observe
When I made the parallels with
How they livin abroad i can't ignore it
These pigs ride deep in the streets
Cap a nigga for his wallet
Beat another for free
And the cold part about it
Life is cheaper than that
Down there people on the bottom
Kill each other for scraps imagine that
Propoganda got the people confused
Damned by the media that keep 'em subdued
I been around the world
Seen a lot of shit in my life same sirens
Same ghetto birds swirlin at night
Same racism, profilin each of us all
Same outsiders where we live enforcin the law
Gats clappin on the streets
Gunplayin with heat
Same prisons full of brothers
Herded in like sheep
Same turncoats that'll burn folks for pay
Same conditions in communities
We die everyday
Same brutality and ignorance
Now what will it take
To break the motherfuckin cycle
Get the people away?
That's why I'm fresh out of tears for 'em
All out of tears for 'em
Even though my heart goes out
What the fuck you cryin 'bout?
Money for rebuilding but, what about home?
When the way we live is shitty
Where's the love for our own?
I can't decide it, it's real
I hit you with proof
Maybe I'll be suicided cause I
Hit you with truth
See they kill for less than what
We say on records to you
Hear the message in the music
From a rebel to you, now listen

Save my life you gotta
Save my life you gotta save us, save us