The Game

[Verse 1]
Rollin' down the highway
With a trunk full of work
I just lost my job
Didn't wanna be a mail room clerk

Besides, it didn't pay but dimes
And the boss had a disrespectful mouth
If I wasn't on parole
I would've knocked the motherfucker out

So I'm drivin'
Gotta get me some fast cash
And ain't tryna hurt nobody
Mama, maybe it's wrong
But I gotta get the money
It's a must have

If I get caught
I go back to jail
With no bail (ay, ay)
It's the risk that I'm takin'
I'm convinced, so ain't fakin' (uh)
It's the life I choose

[Chorus]
Win or lose
That's the way you play life's game
If you play it wrong
Then you're the one to blame (You're the one to blame)
If I could choose
I would make a change
But it's the same old song
That everybody shame

[Verse 2]
Now I'm my own boss
And I ain't got no friction
Cause I'm a bootleg pharmacist
You don't need no prescription

Got a clientele that's a mile long
Tryna get the dough and retire
Cause if I stay in it too long
The Feds gonna set my ass on fire

And if they come
Gotta hold court in the streets (mm, mm, mm, mm)
And one of three things will happen
I get away, get the chair or die cappin'

And if they catch me right
And I can't fight
I go back to prison (mm)
And like my mama say
"You can't always bust your gun
Chico, sometimes you gotta run"

Win or lose
That's the way you play life's game
If you play it wrong
Then you're the one to blame
If I could choose
I would make a change
But it's the same old song
That everybody shame

[Verse 3]
All the odds are against me
Cause I'm already a felon
I'd probably die this time in jail
Cause I ain't doin' no tellin'

I'll probably lose the girl that I love
She'll turn her back once the money's spent
And play it off to her friends
Like it was a heated argument

[Chorus]
Win or lose (It's the life I choose)
That's the way you play life's game (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
You can only lose
Then you're the one to blame (oooh, oh)
If I could choose (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
I would make a change (bad, bad, bad, bad, bad game, yeah)
That everybody shame (Oooh oh, bad game)

[Breakdown]
The money, money, money, money... baby (It's a bad game)
The money, money, money, money
That's all you think about, baby (It's a bad game)
The money, money, money, money... baby (It's a bad game, yeah)
Oooh, oh

To the mothers watching over
You know the game ain't fair
Sometimes you can't change their mind
So, all you got is prayer

And if you're tryna be the man
And a child you gotta raise
Don't let nobody
Put you in the grave (oooh, oh)

Cause money ain't worth losin' your life

Take a look at your friends in the pen
Doin' time
They probably got (unintelligible)
For petty drug crimes

[Chorus]
Win or lose
That's the way you play life's game

[Outro]
Listen, I ain't got that much time
Only four minutes to sing to you
But I hope and pray that you will listen
While I try to school you

Bad game, bad game
Nobody wins
That everybody shame