[Verse]

Apparently I'm second generation black Caribbean

And half white Scottish whatever that means

See lately I feel confused with the boxes

'Cause to me all they do is breed conflict

It's not that I've lost touch with the reality

Of racism, sexism and nationality

Just to me it all seems like insanity

Why must I rob you of your humanity

To feel good about mine?

It's all about crime

Dehumanizing's how I justify 'em

So I must keep lying about the history of Africa

So I can live the with massacres

And repeat my mantra, Muslim terrorist

So I can sleep at night as bombs take flight

Eyes open wide but I'm blind to the sight

Too busy chasing the perfect life

And the working class keep 'em uneducated

Truly educated men could never be a racist

To educate is to draw out what is within

Are we not all the same under the skin?

I got a heart like yours that pumps blood and oxygen

And insecurities, a whole lot of them I'm scared like you deep down

I really do care that world's not fair like you

But I don't even believe my own prayers like you

Chasing career going nowhere like you

Lost in a fog of my own insecurity

I hold myself up as an image of purity

And I judge everybody else

By the color of their skin or the size of their wealth

But it's not good for my health

As the only one I ever really judge is myself

The oppressor must suffer like the oppressed

Though I pretend I'm in control of this mess

By inflating my ego, puffing my chest

See our weakness and our need to show strength

For what we think strong is 'cause if we're honest

True strength is the strength to be honest

And if I'm honest I am just tired

If I'm honest I am just tired

Tired of everyday filling up my car

And knowing that I'm paying for the bombs in Iraq

Tired of pretending it don't hurt my heart

Of wanting change, not knowing where to start

Tired of listening to all the conditioning

And all the forms that they got me filling in

Next time you see what is a thug and despise him

Please know I was just like him

'Cause I was like 8 first time I saw crack

Same time I first smoked weed, choking on blowbacks

First time I saw knives penetrate flesh

It was meat cleavers to the back of the head

As I grew and teenage years passed

Many more knives pierced and the shots blast

And I not saying I had the worst upbringing

But there's a million young men just like me in prison

We complain about racism, elevate clowns

With their trousers down, swinging their dick round

Maybe that is not quite literal

But everything they do is just as stereotypical

To my real fans, I feel your pain

And I get the messages, but don't complain

That we ain't got more fame for paying our part

They can keep the charts, all I want is your hearts

They can keep the charts, all I want is your hearts

They can keep the charts, all I want is your hearts

Calling it black radio, don't make laugh

So is black music all about tits and arse?

You don't represent nothing, you're just pretending

When was the last time you ever played Hendrix?

Or Miles Davis or John Coltrane?

Or Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday?

We can call it urban to me that's cool

If urban means street, that includes jazz too

And rock for that matter

Go ask Mick Jagger or Jimmy Page what they were listening to - the blues

Not discrediting, love Zeppelin too

Just giving credit where credit is due

That blood soaked word rappers still use

All it really show is that we still self abuse

That was the word that was used to kill

Kelso Cochrane and Emmett Till

That was the word that the conscience eased

And made people pleased to hung youths from trees

That was the word that let the whips crack

No matter what you say, you can't take it back

And I can say their black so I feel their pain easier

But 1915 look at Armenia

Is the whole world this human stupidity?

Though we choke ourselves to death quite literally

And I can talk with my comfortable mouth

With my comfortable clothes and my comfortable house

The tables will turn, we can but stall 'em

Every empire on this Earth has fallen

So unless we can find another way

Maybe not today, but it'll come one day

And it may sound like I'm bitter

But in fact truth be told I am quite the opposite

I wake everyday and am overwhelmed

Just to be alive and be like no one else

And the sheer weight of the thought of space

Is enough to keep my little ego in place

All that we chase and try to replace

All along it was right in our face

The only way we can ever change anything

Is to look in the mirror and find no enemy

The only way we can ever change anything

Look in the mirror and to find no enemy