Intro — Spoken (soft, intimate)
Su — I can’t have my neighbor crying, I can’t breathe.
Now I’m in a struggle and I can’t leave.
Verse 1 — Lead (steady, raw)
Wake before the sunrise, footsteps in the hall,
Baby’s lullaby is drowned by another call.
Paper plates and empty pockets, dreams in overflow,
They point a camera at our lives but never see us grow.
Neighbors crying in the stairwell, no one lends a hand,
Names vanish in the headlines, still we try to stand.
I’m breathing in the smoke of the lies they feed,
They keep takin’ what we need but we keep plantin’ seeds.
Pre-Hook — Group (building)
We hold the lines, we hold the pain,
We sing the truth through the pouring rain.
Counting breaths that shouldn’t be counted,
Tonight, the silence will be mounted.
Hook / Chorus — Choir + All (anthemic, chantable)
I can’t breathe, my neighbor crying (no more silence),
I can’t breathe, but we keep trying.
Calling out the balance of the racist police,
We ain’t gonna stop until people are free.
(Repeat — call & response)
Leader: “Until people are free.”
Crowd: “Until people are free.”
Verse 2 — Rap (sharp, two rappers trading lines)
Rapper A:
Sirens like a metronome of fear in the street,
A badge don’t mean you practice justice — it’s deceit.
They write the rules with blind eyes and iron hands,
But truth is a gun-free sermon in the people’s stands.
Rapper B (answer):
Mama taught me to protect the truth, not run,
To stitch up wounds with work until the morning sun.
You can try to silence names, bury grief with file,
But memory’s a wildfire that can’t be reconciled.
Pre-Hook — Group (same as before, louder)
Hook / Chorus — Choir + All (bigger)
I can’t breathe, my neighbor crying (stand up, stand up),
I can’t breathe, but we keep trying (raise your voice).
Calling out the balance of the racist police,
We ain’t gonna stop until people are free.
(Repeat; build with claps/hands, add ad-libs)
Bridge — Solo (emotionally raw; vocal runs) + Background chant
Just one breath more, just one hand to hold,
We’ll rearrange the story that they sold.
When hearts keep beating, and feet keep moving,
Justice is the song we keep improving.
(Background whisper chant:) “No more lies — no more lines — no more cries.”
Breakdown — Spoken / Rap (soft, intimate)
Su: You see the crying, you hear the pleading —
We are not a case file, we are breathing.
Rapper (soft): Don’t wait for heaven to come down, build it in the streets — brick by brick, voice by voice.
Final Hook — Full band / choir (big, triumphant)
I can’t breathe, my neighbor crying ( I can't hear
my neighbor crying I can't breathe MikeWhite Cloudwalker said we are not going to stop we just keep coming oh yeah walk with me let me lead you in the right direction you will learn to stand
RhythmHarmonic495
