"I Can't Breathe" lyrics
(GQ Beats)
Yeah
Think I'm tired of bein' silent
Tired of people not tired to see us dyin' (Tired)
Tired of prayin', think it's time to pick up iron (What?)
What else is left? They ain't tired of bein' violent?
Look at how they killin' us, they show us how the feelin' us
Lynchin' us in broad day, look, that ain't real enough?
Take it in our own hands (What?)
'Cause it's so hard to be a Black male, a Black man
We don't have a Black chance (Yeah)
Visions of these Black boys hangin' (Yeah)
But down in my hood, you see these Black boys bangin' (Look)
At a traffic stop, they really got your ass aimin' (Yeah)
I could really die, I ain't paranoid, baby (I'm not)
Starin' at my son, I really know that this affects him
They violate my rights, so how I'm gon' protect him? (How?)
Caught up in a rage and I'm tired of protestin' (Tired)
Got us so stuck, our development arrested
And I don't have the answer (Nah)
No, I'm not the answer (Nah)
We don't have the cure, and we probably not the cancer
What we 'posed to do when our enemy attacks us?
Slidin' on my gloves, gettin' ready to get masked up (Yeah), dear Lord (Woo)
Dear Mama, hate to see you cry (Yeah)
All you wanted from your son was to see him fly (Yeah)
But now they got him on a slab and I know you feel bad (It do)
'Cause it's killin' you to see him die
And all I heard him say was
Please, I can't breathe
He got his steel on my neck, I can't breathe
They puttin' pressure on my chest and I'm cuffed to the back
Dear Mama, think they killin' me, I can't breathe
I think they chokin' me to death, I can't breathe
I guess I'm the one next, I can't breathe
How many shots do it take? How many officers to hate?
Dear Lord, I need a break 'cause I can't breathe
Now tell me what to do, do I try harder? (Do I?)
Do I give in to the cause? Do I die of murder? (What I do?)
All this footage that we've seen, it's a viral horror (Damn)
We still livin' Sean Bell and Eric Garner (Uh-huh)
'Cause they so diabolical (What?), forty-one, I'ma do (Yeah)
Niggas in the hood now askin' me what I'ma do (What?)
Sayin' if I move, then, homie, we gon' ride with you (Yeah)
I been chasin' money, now I'm thinkin' what if that was you?
Let me think (Hmm)
Cops shot eighty, killed my aunt
White men still livin', they killed Trayvon (Damn)
We saw those racists chase down Ahmaud (We saw it)
Look how they do George, that broke my heart (Livid)
Fuck it, Jesus ain't comin' (Woo)
See if they like us with these sticks with the drummin' (Let's go)
Enough enough, man, we already runnin' (Yeah)
What can we lose? Shit is already crumblin' (Yeah)
Dear Mama, hate to see you cry
'Cause all you wanted from your son was to see him fly
But now they got him on a slab and I know you feel bad
'Cause I know it's really killin' you to see him die
And all I heard him say was
Please, I can't breathe
He got his steel on my neck, I can't breathe
They puttin' pressure on my chest and I'm cuffed to the back
Dear Mama, think they killin' me, I can't breathe
I think they chokin' me to death, I can't breathe
I guess I'm the one next, I can't breathe
How many shots do it take? How many officers to hate?
Dear Lord, I need a break 'cause I can't breathe
Yeah
Think I'm tired of bein' silent
Tired of people not tired to see us dyin' (Tired)
Tired of prayin', think it's time to pick up iron (What?)
What else is left? They ain't tired of bein' violent?
Look at how they killin' us, they show us how the feelin' us
Lynchin' us in broad day, look, that ain't real enough?
Take it in our own hands (What?)
'Cause it's so hard to be a Black male, a Black man
We don't have a Black chance (Yeah)
Visions of these Black boys hangin' (Yeah)
But down in my hood, you see these Black boys bangin' (Look)
At a traffic stop, they really got your ass aimin' (Yeah)
I could really die, I ain't paranoid, baby (I'm not)
Starin' at my son, I really know that this affects him
They violate my rights, so how I'm gon' protect him? (How?)
Caught up in a rage and I'm tired of protestin' (Tired)
Got us so stuck, our development arrested
And I don't have the answer (Nah)
No, I'm not the answer (Nah)
We don't have the cure, and we probably not the cancer
What we 'posed to do when our enemy attacks us?
Slidin' on my gloves, gettin' ready to get masked up (Yeah), dear Lord (Woo)
Dear Mama, hate to see you cry (Yeah)
All you wanted from your son was to see him fly (Yeah)
But now they got him on a slab and I know you feel bad (It do)
'Cause it's killin' you to see him die
And all I heard him say was
Please, I can't breathe
He got his steel on my neck, I can't breathe
They puttin' pressure on my chest and I'm cuffed to the back
Dear Mama, think they killin' me, I can't breathe
I think they chokin' me to death, I can't breathe
I guess I'm the one next, I can't breathe
How many shots do it take? How many officers to hate?
Dear Lord, I need a break 'cause I can't breathe
Now tell me what to do, do I try harder? (Do I?)
Do I give in to the cause? Do I die of murder? (What I do?)
All this footage that we've seen, it's a viral horror (Damn)
We still livin' Sean Bell and Eric Garner (Uh-huh)
'Cause they so diabolical (What?), forty-one, I'ma do (Yeah)
Niggas in the hood now askin' me what I'ma do (What?)
Sayin' if I move, then, homie, we gon' ride with you (Yeah)
I been chasin' money, now I'm thinkin' what if that was you?
Let me think (Hmm)
Cops shot eighty, killed my aunt
White men still livin', they killed Trayvon (Damn)
We saw those racists chase down Ahmaud (We saw it)
Look how they do George, that broke my heart (Livid)
Fuck it, Jesus ain't comin' (Woo)
See if they like us with these sticks with the drummin' (Let's go)
Enough enough, man, we already runnin' (Yeah)
What can we lose? Shit is already crumblin' (Yeah)
Dear Mama, hate to see you cry
'Cause all you wanted from your son was to see him fly
But now they got him on a slab and I know you feel bad
'Cause I know it's really killin' you to see him die
And all I heard him say was
Please, I can't breathe
He got his steel on my neck, I can't breathe
They puttin' pressure on my chest and I'm cuffed to the back
Dear Mama, think they killin' me, I can't breathe
I think they chokin' me to death, I can't breathe
I guess I'm the one next, I can't breathe
How many shots do it take? How many officers to hate?
Dear Lord, I need a break 'cause I can't breathe
