[1]
  Come on come on
  I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself
  is life worth living should I blast myself?
  I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black
  my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
  Cops give a damn about a negro
  pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero
  Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
  one less hungry mouth on the welfare
  First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers
  give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other
  It's time to fight back that's what Huey said
  2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead
  I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere
  unless we share with each other
  We gotta start makin' changes
  learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers
  and that's how it's supposed to be
  How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
  I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
  but things changed, and that's the way it is
    [Bridge w/ changing ad libs]
  Come on come on
  That's just the way it is
  Things'll never be the same
  That's just the way it is
  aww yeah
  [Repeat]
    [2]
  I see no changes all I see is racist faces
  misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
  We under I wonder what it takes to make this
  one better place, let's erase the wasted
  Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
  'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight
  and only time we chill is when we kill each other
  it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
  And although it seems heaven sent
  We ain't ready, to see a black President, uhh
  It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact
  the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks
  But some things will never change
  try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game
  Now tell me what's a mother to do
  bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you
  You gotta operate the easy way
  "I made a G today" But you made it in a sleazy way
  sellin' crack to the kid. " I gotta get paid,"
  Well hey, well that's the way it is
    [Bridge]
    [Talking:]
  We gotta make a change...
  It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.
  Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
  and let's change the way we treat each other.
  You see the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
  what we gotta do, to survive.
    [3]
  And still I see no changes can't a brother get a little peace
  It's war on the streets & the war in the Middle East
  Instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs
  so the police can bother me
  And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do
  But now I'm back with the blacks givin' it back to you
  Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up,
  crack you up and pimp slap you up
  You gotta learn to hold ya own
  they get jealous when they see ya with ya mobile phone
  But tell the cops they can't touch this
  I don't trust this when they try to rush I bust this
  That's the sound of my tool you say it ain't cool
  my mama didn't raise no fool
  And as long as I stay black I gotta stay strapped
  & I never get to lay back
  'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs
  some buck that I roughed up way back
  comin' back after all these years
  rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat that's the way it is uhh
    [Bridge 'til fade]