Steemitcentral Lyrics Challenge Day 54/60 - "Changes" By Tupac ft. Talent

Lyrics

I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself:
"Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?"
I'm tired of being poor and, even worse, I'm black
My stomach hurts so I'm looking for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero
"Give the crack to the kids: who the hell cares?
One less hungry mouth on the welfare!"
First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal to brothers
Give 'em guns, step back, watch 'em kill each other
"It's time to fight back," that's what Huey said
Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead
I got love for my brother
But we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other
We gotta start making changes
Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers
And that's how it's supposed to be
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
But things change... and that's the way it is

[Talent:]
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
Aww yeah
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
Aww yeah

[2Pac:]
I see no changes, all I see is racist faces
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under, I wonder what it takes to make this
One better place, let's erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people, they'll be acting right
'Cause both Black and White are smoking crack tonight
And the only time we chill is when we kill each other
It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven-sent
We ain't ready to see a black president
It ain't a secret, don't conceal the fact:
The penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks
But some things will never change
Try to show another way, but you staying in the dope game
Now tell me, what's a mother to do?
Being real don't appeal to the brother in you
You gotta operate the easy way
"I made a G today," but you made it in a sleazy way
Selling crack to the kids
"I gotta get paid!", well hey, but that's the way it is

[Talent:]
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
Aww yeah
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
Aww yeah

[2Pac talking:]
We gotta make a change
It's time for us as a people to start making some changes
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
And let's change the way we treat each other
You see the old way wasn't working
So it's on us to do what we gotta do to survive

[2Pac:]
And still I see no changes
Can't a brother get a little peace?
It's war on the streets and a war in the Middle East
Instead of war on poverty
They got a war on drugs so the police can bother me
And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do
But now I'm back with the facts giving it back to you
Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up
Crack you up and pimp-smack you up
You gotta learn to hold your own
They get jealous when they see you with your mobile phone
But tell the cops they can't touch this
I don't trust this, when they try to rush I bust this
That's the sound of my tool
You say it ain't cool, my mama didn't raise no fool
And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped
And I never get to lay back
'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the payback
Some buck that I roughed up way back
Coming back after all these years
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!" That's the way it is

[Talent:]
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
Aww yeah
(You're my brother, you're my sister)
That's just the way it is
Things'll never be the same
That's just the way it is
Aww yeah

[2Pac:]
Some things'll never change

Lyrics source

Reflection

Tupac was an iconic American singer and rapper who was, until his untoward death, one of the most successful rappers in history.

Changes is a song that projects the common dictum that change is the only constant thing.

In this fine song, Tupac discusses what it meant to be an African American at the time and expresses strong optimism that things will change for good.

About the Steemitcentral Lyrics Challenge

Simply put, lyrics are the words of a song. Today, there are thousands of songs with great lyrics, lyrics that are powerful enough to touch and refresh the soul. This is why @steemitcentral will be running a lyrics challenge that will last for the next 60 days.

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@Steemitcentral wants to bring some of the world's most powerful lyrics to the steem blockchain. So, if you're a lover of good music, we want to hear from you. Feel free to share the lyrics of your favourites songs with us.

How to Enter the @Steemitcentral Quote Challenge

• Post the lyrics from your best song (in words or pictures) for the day and reflect on it using a few words (100 max).
• Use the "steemitcentral tag" in your blog posts.
• Make sure the source of the lyrics is cited properly to avoid plagiarism.
• Do well to number your entries. E.g Day 1/60, day 23/60, etc.
• Link your entry to this post.
• Use the hash tag #sclyrics in all your entries. This will make us find you easily.

Rewards

Everyday @steemitcentral will comb the entries and reward all the inspiring lyrics for that day. Kindly join @steemitcentral on discord for more information.