[feat. Talib Kweli & Ali]
Life, what is it for real, I don't know
It's like hate taking over the whole world, what is it over?
Suicide, man, that's the devil trying to control us, they told us
, but we didn't notice the pain was sitting on they shoulders

The world was just a polar, the rather live in the solar,

System got us hopeless, and focused on forclosures

Wake up and smell the folgers... oh momma and bring home the soldiers

Osama, you owe us, the 9 11 was bogus, now we right back at him

Say the war is our motive



Wake up early in the streets of the block, streets of the block

He posted up on the corner like a soldier in the drill but he wouldn't stop

Living life in the battlefield, battlefield, trying to survive every day and every night

It's the same deal

Lifes strange lifes strange, times change times change, but karma always finds the way

Stay strong, stay strong, hold on, hold on

Don't let all your dreams fade away



Yeah life can beat you down, what goes it comes around

It's not how you hit the ground, it's how fast you get back up

And go, keep going, till it feels like I'm giving my life away

Gets hard, and harder, happiness is worth the wait

Cause on my own is a better way

Cause on my own is a better way



A lot of mothers they just don't understand, they just don't understand

They think we're hard on our sons but we gotta teach our boys how to be a man

They only know when they walk out the door, when they walk out the door

See we can show em how to fire but they gotta teach themselves how to reload

Cause unenployment is harder than it's ever been, sometimes it feels like I can't win

And even through all the rules keep changing, I'm stronger now than I was when I came in



Yeah life can beat you down, what goes it comes around

It's not how you hit the ground, it's how fast you get back up

And go, keep going, to feel like I'm giving my life away

Gets hard, and harder, happiness is worth the wait

Cause on my own is a better way

Cause on my own is a better way



Hey, hey, going through the back streets like I got beef

Carnival for carnivores with the sharp teeth

Animalistic it's why we call the cops beast

We're on the hunt, cause they're hungry for the dark meat

I'm rapping through my heart beat, brain is the base, my heart is the drum

Give the drum some, promis of a better life is all I got to give

I ain't just trying to survive, I'm trying to live



Cause all I want is a better way,

Hey, if you're not prepared the world can be so cold

All that you can do is your best and just hope

In time the truth will show, just stick to what you know

Get a grip on something real and never let it go



And go, keep going, to feel like I'm giving my life away

Gets harder, and harder, happiness is worth the wait

Cause on my own is a better way

Cause on my own is a better way