[Verse 1]
I came up on red dirt roads
With my name held high
Seen too much to fold up
Seen too much to die
They want fear on my collar
Want my head bowed low
But I learned from the hard days
I don't bend, I grow
Hands up, eyes clear
Still I stay in frame
Try to write me off once
I come back in flame
[Chorus]
I refuse to go down
I refuse to go down
No more blood on the ground
No more fear in my town
Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin
George Floyd, Breonna
We remember, we rise up
I refuse to go down (no)
[Verse 2]
They put hate in the water
Try to poison the well
But my people keep singing
Through the smoke and the shell
Grandma taught me my spine
Was a prayer and a blade
Every step I take now
Is a debt that I paid
If you look at me sideways
I look back like, "try"
I got justice in my chest
And a storm in my eye
[Chorus]
I refuse to go down
I refuse to go down
No more blood on the ground
No more fear in my town
Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin
George Floyd, Breonna
We remember, we rise up
I refuse to go down (hey)
[Verse 3]
I'm not here for the silence
I'm not here to kneel
I'm here for every family
Still learning to heal
From the porch to the courthouse
From the fields to the stage
We turn pain into power
We turn rage into change
So if they come with the darkness
I bring back the dawn
I'm still standing, still swinging
And my story goes on
[Chorus]
I refuse to go down
I refuse to go down
No more blood on the ground
No more fear in my town
Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin
George Floyd, Breonna
We remember, we rise up
I refuse to go down (still here)