Common, Black Star - Respiration lyrics

"What'd you do last night?"
"We did, umm, two whole cars
It was me, Dez, and Mean Three, right?
And on the first car, in small letters
It said 'All you see is'
And then, you know, big, big, you know
Some block silver letters
That said 'crime in the city', right?"
"It just took up the whole car?"
"yeah, yeah, it was a whole car and shit"
Escúchela, la ciudad respirando
Escúchela, la ciudad respirando
Escúchela, la ciudad respirando escúchela

The new moon rode high in
The crown of the metropolis
Shinin', like "Who on top of this?"
People was tusslin', arguin' and bustlin'
Gangstas of Gotham hardcore hustlin'
I'm wrestlin' with words and ideas
My ears is pricked


Seekin' what will transmit
The scribes can apply the transcript
Yo! This ain't no time where
The usual is suitable
Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable
The indisputable we New York, the narcotics
Draped in metal and fiber optics
Where mercenaries is paid to trade
Hot stock tips for profit's
Thirsty criminals sic pockets
Hard knuckles on the second
Hands of working-class watches
Skyscrapers is colossus
The cost of livin' is preposterous
Stay alive? You pay or die, no options
No Batman and Robin
Can't tell between the cops and the robbers
They both partners, they all heartless
With no conscience
Back streets stay darkened
While unbeliever hearts stay hardened
My eagle talons stay sharpened
Like city lights stay throbbin'
You either make your way or stay sobbin'
The shiny Apple is bruised, but sweet
And if you choose to eat
You could lose your teeth many crews retreat
Nightly news repeat who got shot
Down and locked down
Spotlight the savages, NASDAQ averages
My narrative rose to explain this existence
Amidst the harbor lights which
Remain in the distance

So much on my mind that I can't recline
Blastin' holes in the night
'til she bled sunshine breathe in
Inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Heard the bass ride out like
An ancient mating call i can't take it
Y'all! I can feel the city breathin'
Chest heavin'
Against the flesh of the evenin'
The sigh before we die like
The last train leavin'

Breathin' in deep city breaths
Sittin' on shitty steps
We stoop to new lows
Hell froze the night the city slept
The Beast crept through concrete jungles
Communicatin' with one another
And ghetto birds where waters fall from the
Hydrants to the gutters
The Beast walk the beats
But the beats we be makin'
You on the wrong side of the track
Lookin' visibly shaken takin' them plungers
Plungin' to death that's painted
By the numbers with Krylon applied pressure
Cats is playin' God
But havin' children by a lesser baby mother
But fuck it! We played against
Each other like puppets
Swearin' you got pull
When the only pull you got is
The wool over your eyes
Gettin' knowledge in jail like
A blessin' in disguise
Look in the skies for God
What you see besides the smog
Is broken dreams flyin' away on
The wings of the obscene
Thoughts that people put in the air
Places where you could get
Murdered over a glare but everythin' is fair
It's a paradox we call reality
So keepin' it real will make you
A casualty of abnormal normality
Killers Born Naturally like
Mickey and Mallory
Not knowin' the ways'll get you
Capped like an NBA salary
Some cats be emceein' to illustrate
What we be seein'
Hard to be a spiritual being when shit
Is shakin' what you believe in
For trees to grow in Brooklyn
Seeds need to be planted
I'm askin' if y'all feel me
And the crowd left me stranded
My blood pressure boiled and rose
'Cause New York niggas actin'
Spoiled at shows
To the winners, the spoils go
I take the L, transfer to the 2
Head to the gates new York life type trife
The Roman Empire state

So much on my mind, I just can't recline
Blastin' holes in the night
Till she bled sunshine breathe in
Inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Yo, don't the bass ride out
Like an ancient mating call?
I can't take it
Y'all! I can feel the city breathin'
Chest heavin'
Against the flesh of the evenin'
The sigh before we die like
The last train leavin'

¡Escuchela respirando como yo
Ojos sinceros, escondiendo pena y temor
El silencio de mentira
Tocando al hogar escapando sentimientos
Entre ella y yo

Yo, on The Amen
Corner I stood lookin' at my former hood
Felt the spirit in the wind
Knew my friend was gone for good
Threw dirt on the casket
The hurt, I couldn't mask it
Mixin' down emotions
Struggle I hadn't mastered
I choreograph seven steps to Heaven in Hell
Waitin' to exhale and make the bread leaven
Veteran of a cold war it's Chica-Igo for
What I know or what's known
So some days I take the bus home
Just to touch home
From the crib, I spend months gone
Sat by the window with a clutched dome
Listenin' to shorties cuss long
Young girls with weak minds
But they butt strong tried to call
Or at least beep the Lord
But didn't have a touch-tone
It's a dog-eat dog world, you gotta mush on
Some of this land I must own
Outta the city, they want us gone
Tearin' down the 'jects, creatin' plush homes
My circumstance is between Cabrini
And Love Jones
Surrounded by hate, yet I love home
Asked my guy how he thought
Travelin' the world sound
Found it hard to imagine he
Hadn't been past Downtown it's deep
I heard the city breathe in it's sleep
Of reality I touch
But for me it's hard to keep
Deep, I heard my man breathe in his sleep
Of reality I touch
But for me it's hard to keep

So much on my mind, I just can't recline
Blastin' holes in the night
Till she bled sunshine breathe in
Inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Yo, how the bass ride out
Like an ancient mating call?
I can't take it
Y'all! I can feel the city breathin'
Chest heavin'
Against the flesh of the evenin'
Kiss the odds goodbye
I'm on the last train leavin'