Lyrics Only Life I Know - Brother Ali

Only Life I Know

Yeah, the only one that I’ll ever know
Feeling extra low
Please let me go
Oh Lord, no
(It's my life)
Yeah, the only that I’ll ever know
And it stressed me so
Oh God, bless me soul
Oh Lord
Whether it’s the projects or a trailer park mess
Raggedy the apartment complex
With a stressed out single mom sitting on the steps
Waiting on the mailman, looking for a check
Boys on the corner, pushing out the chest
Questing for anything that resembles respect
Young girls swinging their hair with every step
Looking for affection, settling for sex
Bodies decorated with tattoos and chains
Trying to put armor between you and pain
Wood grain steering wheel, the bass bang
But not enough to drown out the hatred in your brain
The only out is smoking out
Get lean, get wet, get meth, get tore down
Cause who the hell would want to stick around?
Put me in a haze, I ain’t never coming out
They just wanna get you in the system, stick you into prison
List you in the military ship you to the desert
Gigs don’t exist for you to make a decent living
But we got three illegal wars that you can pick from
Keep stressing morals and personal decisions
Tell me what’s moral about these conditions
Who decided you don’t got enough to teach children?
State spending billions, on stadiums and prisons
How many routes can folks really choose?
When you’re oppressed only three lead to you
First one is follow the rules and stay in school
Be the square dude, that society approves
Get a little job or a shitty appartment
Sub-prime mortgage in a failing house market
The after your life dedication and hardship
You died just as poor as you was when you started
Fuck that, what’s up with the second option?
You could always hit the corner and try to get it popping
Get fast guap when you’re out dropping and clocking
But, chances are that you’ll probably die violent
The best hope that you got is getting locked
And end up with a job in a prison metal shop
They ain’t paying nothing but three hots and a cot -- shit
Don’t you know that’s the biggest hustle they got?
Or door three you can get on that welfare
But they ain’t trying to help, they’ll put you in hell there
Give you just enough so you’re not gonna starve
And constantly harass you while you’re looking for a job
Do luck up and someone that got you to punch a clock
And they found about it and your check is getting docked
Can’t win for losing, dehumanizing
You’ll never get caught up, you caught up in a cycle