If I gotta burn in fire
   Feel the flames
   For my loved ones to evcel in this game
   Then let it burn
   Let it burn
  
   As I lay me down to sleep
   I pray to the Lord that my soul he keeps
   Nobody weeps when a G dies
   But like Maya Angelou still we rise
   Mama tried to keep me home at night
   But despite her attempts
   I hung with the macks and the pimps
   Sidin' with the Rip's
   Not cuz I like blue if you like red
   I did it cuz I never did like you
   And it said the good die young
   I don't recognize myself what have I become?
   Can you tell me why am I headed for a dead end?
   Why I got another dead friend?
   Why they surround me- dead men?
   Everywhere I look right and left
   Flip another page in the book of life and death
   It's comin'- I feel it breathin' down my back
   It got me runnin' Grim Reap ain't cuttin' no slack
   What can I do where can I go
   Lord forgive me for all I did cuz I didn't know
   And when my heart beats it's last tick
   Somebody sat these three words in my casket:
   Lord have mercy
  
   [chorus]
   Lord forgive me for all the wrong that I did
   All of the pain that I inflicted as a kid
   On Judgement Day consider this before you curse me
   I was only a child so Lord have mercy
   Forgive me for all the wrong that I've done
   All of the pain I inflicted when I was young
   On Judgement Day consider this before you curse me
   I was only a child so Lord have mercy
  
   Should I die before I wake
   Don't shed a tear Mama cuz I finally escaped
   No more drama no more blood sweat and tears
   No more pressure from my peers
   and no more fears
   I rest in peace- how long will it last
   Fore I have to answer for what I did in the past
   Illin''- willin' and dealin' cops always after me
   I call it survival and you call it ???
   But let the record reflect circumstances were suspect
   But you couldn't care less- mann
   While I struggle to survive
   You turned your eyes- plugged your up ears
   Ignored my cries
   Now Ms. America sayin' we scarin' her
   But she can give me Liberty or Death- I'm darin' her
   Either one'll set me free- that's all I wanna be
   But that aint what y'all wanna see
   You'd rather see me killin' up my own in the ghetto
   Or sellin' blow to anybody Black, Brown, or Yellow
   But forget that- I'm tryin' to get my head right
   Even if it mean I gotta get dead tonight
   Lord have mercy forgive me
  
   [chorus]
  
   ??? all the blood that his body bled
   And all the tears that his Mommy shed
   Book says 'Thou Shalt Not Kill'
   But I done seen more blood spilled
   Than the vets on Hamburger Hill- it's real
   Post War Syndrome- went to see my homie
   But his Mama told me that the homie been gone
   Everytime I turn around it be another body on the ground
   With fresh gunshot wounds but he didn't hear a sound
   When he came out the room
   Nobody told him he would be dead so soon
   But the gauge went boom Ms. America,
   I know you got a cure for AIDS
   But we need a cure for Raid who on a rampage
   Can you feel it- the tensions in the air thick
   Hate got me so high I'm gettin' airsick
   Got my people broke but the ??? the ball
   Doin' it one day at a time up your solve
   Uh-uh-all want revenge
   I got a Beretta named Vendetta
   Time to answer for your sin- man
   When you meet your creator- tell him I apologize
   But I gotta ride Lord have mercy forgive me...
  
   [chorus]