And it begins like... This, yo [Verse 1] Uh, and it begins where we left A brother chased after by d**h until he catches his breath We embarked upon a long march too weary to rest Now tell me who would ever have guessed that at the top of the west A party rocker and a poet might collectively have written another chapter In this fight against this self-described right, but not righteous It's highly unlikely we'll take it lightly when 1000 of my compatriots are evacuatin' nightly From one ave to another, University to Beacon The body was never meant neither to last to be beaten But Buddhas in the streets teachin' a lesson to kids in the cold And if I tell all of mine there's other stories to be told Had a lot of good brothers either my age or younger Who copped the 1st album when it dropped now gone under And they say progress but the fact is Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy is lookin' like the street we named after him Permanently under construction, the people hustlin' Despite the pain and sufferin' the energy we've mustered in South side Seattle there's a whole lot happenin' Where so called soul mates are stabbin' each other's scapulas Melancholy hopeful I capture the present moment we consummated the marriage of beats, rhymes, and atonement In each mind resides a potential so potent they make us think that we ain't got it If we did then we'd control sh** Organizin' and prioritizin' what's important I'm just tryin' to raise the scene while the homies have abortions No distortion to the static I hold the mic and pa** it to the future schools in session but there won't be any cla**es Happy to see family back, from ten months in Iraq For fallen comrades rockin' a black wrist band It's just a glimpse of what you missed when you gone We held you down and kept chanting now "bring 'em back home" [Hook] We say bring 'em back home For my brothers and my sisters who've been gone too long We say bring 'em back home, and I don't wanna have to keep on singin' this song We say bring 'em back home, for my brothers and my sisters who've been gone too long we say Bring 'em back home, and I don't wanna have to keep on singin' this song [Verse 2] And somewhere a soldier kissed his family goodbye And he was walking like a warrior the water in his eyes He left in late September said he'll be back in July Now the child is asking mommy "Why did daddy have to die?" She says he fought for freedom, but she knows it's just a lie Cause her father was a veteran with benefits denied Now the fire in her eyes burn brighter with the pa**in' of the minutes into hours and the hours into days and Days turned to night, nights turned to face the other way One sister strong holding down the whole family It's just one in over three thousand casualties and back home we battle with the apathy We chantin' now [Hook] [Verse 3] So next time you see recruiters in your school or your crib Tell 'em thank you for the offer but you'd rather you lived We got more than just our bodies to offer So f** a coffin wrapped in red, white, and blue, withdraw pa**ed due We disgusted with the fact we pay taxes to build tanks Still dropping one twomp and a half to fill tanks Got a china-mans chance to fill banks like Phil Banks For soldiers in the future givin' thanks in advance we say [Hook]