We seek it daily while reaching and teaching the younger
that when it rains it pours, but you can’t let it take you under
No longer stuck in a trap
looking back at the world with open eyes that were once blind,  in fact
we lost years for that
We’ve packed prisons for that
We’ve lost children or we raised them just the same
And that is nothing nice or sane
through these nights of pain
we pray that the morning ends the mourning
but it's feeling the same
How can we change?
And make it for better instead of the worse this time and rise up out of the hurt?
Can we get it straight and break every constraint on our brains
because we're in modern day chains
It becomes simple and plain when we're tempted to blame
another race for the things we've got to change
inside of our own minds
acknowledge our own times
and promise we die in vain
Time gets harder and shorter the longer you live, that's how it is
we've got to survive for all the kids
in fact, parents outliving their children is really an ill
and it's really for real in my city
we stand still and watch with pity
too busy to feel that we've all got a problem
"they shot him and he's probably killed"
We see the news and read the papers about all the hatred
we're living the blues like Billie Holiday sang it
And she sang them too well
so if we're singing them similar
we are not living well.