The More Things Change (The More They Stay The Same)

[Fat Tony]
Every night I look up at the twinkling stars
In the sky asking, "where the fuck is my God?"
And I wanna scream at the top of my lungs
But I'm afraid I'll be hung or have to face they gun
How come we ain't got no fuckin place for ourself?
I'm 13 years old tryna fend for myself
In a home that ain't mine, but if I get out of line
Gotta feel that whip all against my spine, oh my
But tonight we rise, tonight we ride
Tonight we get our slice of the pie
I got my sister ready, got my daddy ready, mama ready
And my big bro got the overseer's old machete
We creep in when we know they sleepin
If they peep me or any of my kin we gon have to leave em bleedin
But soon as I spoke here they approach
The only thing on my mind… is the rope
But fuck that, I'm above that, let's go for broke!
Been here for too long, too wronged, all my folk!
"Now, mister, we ain't tryna bring no evil up in here"
"We tryna be equal with all our peers"
And I looked into his eyes, and he looked into mine
And put down his rifle, but picked up a knife
And slit my throat in front of all my people
And I hoped my story would never be a sequel but it was just a prequel

The more things change, the more they stay the same
The more things change, the more they stay the same

August 15th, 1965
L.A., Watts riots
Day 5 and I'm 15
My neighborhood's fucked up like a bad dream
Got the police closing off the whole streets
Sickin dogs to suck a nigga just like a leech
And me and my friends, at our wit's ends
Tryna figure out how to get out
Cause we don't think it's finna end soon
I rounded up my niggas and formed a platoon
Told em, each and everyone, to invite they crew
Cause we gotta do what we gotta do
Think about everything that we ever, ever been through
And everything our parents ever been through
And everything they parents ever been through too!
What would a white man do if he was you?
And with that I said, "fuck it," and picked up the tool
Cause when I think about slave boats
Both my eyes get wetter than a raincoat
Dang, hoe, think I can't take no mo
I'm bout to blow, I think I need a angel
And just then I heard a cop say, "nigga, no!"
I think he peeped the pistol by my navel
Shots rang out and it was fatal

The more things change, the more they stay the same
The more things change, the more they stay the same

As I watched Malcolm X give his last address and bullets hit his chest
I couldn't stop weepin while I was peepin Spike Lee reinterpret it
And on my mama's bed, I sat and held my head
My body filled with dread, wondering when I'd be dead
And all this as a little kid
I had to ponder in my own mind
How a man of honor can kill his own kind
And barely get convicted of his own crime
And all this in the young prophet's own prime, oh my
It's the hate that hate made, and even though my girl loves Kate Spade
I bet if they were around in '58, they probably wouldn't even serve our race
Probably couldn't show our face, they would have to separate it
We'd be sittin, bitchin, wishin we could leave the town we hated
We think we made it
But most the bullshit we still face it
And I for one am not gon be complacent
I'm taken aback, ain't takin a nap
Now don't take it wrong, we should all get along
But who got faith in that?

Cause the more things change, the more they stay the same
The more things change, the more they stay the same