Текст песни
They asked us for last words
We gave ’em a whole verse
Metal bunk, thin sheet, cold floor, thick air
Mama wrote “keep faith”
but this place don’t care
Came up on a block
where our names meant “suspect”
Cop saw my skin
made the whole scene “test”
Public pretender
met me five minutes flat
Heard my life story
turned it into “all black”
Jury took one look
like the verdict been known
Didn’t weigh my soul
They just weighed my tone
We the fourth chair in the shadow
Four hearts on a countdown
They chained our hands
tried to chain our tomorrow
Still we talk from the dead-end ground
If they cut our breath
we gon’ live in the sound
We gon’ live in the sound (yeah)
We gon’ live in the sound
Call me number on the door
but my grandma named me “light”
Said I’d break every cycle
now I’m breaking every night
Fluorescent ceiling buzzing
like the questions in my head
How a wallet turned to weapon
how a warning turned to lead
Prosecutor shook hands
with the cop on the stand
Same smile, same tie
same plan in advance
They drew a little circle
called it “dangerous crowd”
Every face in that circle
look like mine somehow
We the fourth chair in the shadow
Four hearts on a countdown
They chained our hands
tried to chain our tomorrow
Still we talk from the dead-end ground
If they cut our breath
we gon’ live in the sound
We gon’ live in the sound (oh)
We gon’ live in the sound
Pop died in a cell
I was ten, still small
Teacher said calm down
when I cried in the hall
Said “your people always angry”
like pain ain’t real
Like a badge and a bench
should decide how we feel
Got a letter from my nephew
said he learning my case
Asked “unc, if I walk straight
will they still hate my face?”
I ain’t know what to answer
so I wrote him a song
Told him “live so loud
that they know this was wrong”
Last meal on the tray
taste metal, taste dust
Guard reading scripture
but the system ain’t just
Chaplain say “forgive”
I say “I’ma forgive me”
For every time I thought
I was only what they see
To the kid on the block
with the spotlight glare
With the hands in the air
still feeling that stare
If they ever call you monster
’fore you open your mouth
Know four brothers from the row
already spoke for you now
We the fourth chair in the shadow
Four hearts on a countdown
They chained our hands
tried to chain our tomorrow
Still we talk from the dead-end ground
If they cut our breath
we gon’ live in the sound
We gon’ live in the sound (yeah, yeah)
We gon’ live in the sound
They turned skin into sentence
They turned fear into law
They turned lies into evidence
but they can’t touch what we saw
We saw crowns in the cotton
We saw wings in the yard
We saw futures in the ashes
We still praying through these bars (uh)
We the fourth chair in the shadow
Four hearts on a countdown
They chained our hands
tried to chain our tomorrow
Still we talk from the dead-end ground
If they cut our breath
we gon’ live in the sound
We gon’ live in the sound (one time)
We gon’ live in the sound
They asked us for last words
We gave ’em a whole world
