Talib Kweli - Ballad Of The Black Gold lyrics

This is the ballad of the black gold, they call it Texas tea But it's bigger than a cowboy with a la**o It's deeper than a black hole, create monopolies Except they collect a fee when you pa** go crisis' international The government de facto we got no control in this fiasco Darker than the back roads, bubble hotter than Tabasco More than what you bargained for or asked for You never see happy hungry people that ain't rational They blasting through the gates and they attack you at the capital Run up in your palace, find the head of the states and crack a few Get a taste of power then they become fascists too The fiscal conservatives, don't know what they purpose is Money on the war then they cut the goods and services Murderous, corporate monsters is breaking records Exxon is at 40 billion a year, they raking in record profits, stop it How they banking while the auto industry is tanking? Leadership is sinking, oil pollution in the water stanking Loyalty to petroleum, royalty spoiled the economy We won't get it poppin' till we're oil-free If you're oil rich then we invade it They call it occupation but we're losing jobs across the nation Drill, baby, drill, while they make our soldiers k** Baby, still, the desert where the blood and oil spill This is the ballad of the black gold, they call it Texas tea But it's bigger than a cowboy with a la**o It's deeper than a black hole, create monopolies Except they collect a fee when you pa** go crisis' international The government de facto we got no control in this fiasco Darker than the back roads, bubble hotter than Tabasco More than what you bargained for or asked for Nigeria is celebrating 50 years of independence They still feel the colonial effects of Great Britain's presence Dictators quick to imitate the West Got in bed with oil companies and now the place is a mess Take a guess, which ones came and violated They oiled up the soil, the Ogoni people was almost annihilated But still they never stayed silent They was activists and poets using non-violent tactics That was catalyst for soldiers to break into they crib And make examples of the leaders, executed Saro-Wiwa Threw Fela's mom out the window right after they beat her In an effort to defeat hope, now the people's feet soaked in oil So the youth is doing drive-bys through speed boats They kidnap the workers, they blowing up the pipelines You see the fires glowing in the nighttime This is the ballad of the black gold, they call it Texas tea But it's bigger than a cowboy with a la**o It's deeper than a black hole, create monopolies Except they collect a fee when you pa** go crisis' international The government de facto we got no control in this fiasco Darker than the back roads, bubble hotter than Tabasco More than what you bargained for or asked for History, a slippery creature It's full of plot twists and surprise endings like a mystery feature This oil sh** is slicker than preachers It make the problems in the region amplify like victory speeches Poison the water and lead the boys to the slaughter Go in somebody country and rearrange the order And destroy the borders You see them dancing through the fields of fire World domination, their real desire, the devil is still a liar This is the ballad of the black gold, they call it Texas tea But it's bigger than a cowboy with a la**o It's deeper than a black hole, create monopolies Except they collect a fee when you pa** go crisis' international The government de facto we got no control in this fiasco Darker than the back roads, bubble hotter than Tabasco More than what you bargained for or asked for This is the ballad of the black gold, they call it Texas tea But it's bigger than a cowboy with a la**o It's deeper than a black hole, create monopolies Except they collect a fee when you pa** go crisis' international The government de facto we got no control in this fiasco Darker than the back roads, bubble hotter than Tabasco More than what you bargained for or asked for