[Verse 1]
Mama said the pot stay hot
When the rent due late and the block still watch
I saw white bags move like ghosts
Seen boys get proud, then lose their hopes
Sirens cut through the laundromat steam
One life sold for a pocket of dreams
I learned real quick what the sirens mean
Red and blue lights on the cracked windshield
Cousin got locked for a driveway deal
Auntie cried hard, couldn't eat that meal
I kept my head low, kept my words tight
Every porch had a story, every stoop had a fight
[Pre-Chorus]
Too many hands in the same black dirt
Too many moms with a church-shirt hurt
One side talks, one side bleeds
And everybody got a price on needs
[Chorus]
War on drugs, war on us
War on drugs, who can you trust?
Cold hands counting, cold nights long
War on drugs, we been held too long
War on drugs, war on us
(Paper trail prayer) I don't feel safe
[Verse 2]
I seen the rookies try to play it slick
Big talk, small brain, then the case got thick
Backseat searches, boots on stairs
Whole block tense when the badge car stares
Judge talk clean with a cold black robe
Same old pain in a brand-new coat
One man rich while the whole hood starved
One pill moved and the whole thing scarred
I know the trap got teeth and hunger
I know the weight make old boys younger
I kept my son from the front porch talk
Told him, "Stay sharp when the shadow walk"
[Pre-Chorus]
Too many hands in the same black dirt
Too many moms with a church-shirt hurt
One side talks, one side bleeds
And everybody got a price on needs
[Chorus]
War on drugs, war on us
War on drugs, who can you trust?
Cold hands counting, cold nights long
War on drugs, we been held too long
War on drugs, war on us
(Paper trail prayer) I don't feel safe
[Bridge]
Now the chain-link leans by the vacant lot
Kids still laugh where the corner got shot
I seen men break, I seen men pray
I seen one bad law take a life away
If you ask me why my eyes stay hard
It's the same old grief in a brand-new card
They call it order, call it law
I call it pain with a badge on raw
[Chorus]
War on drugs, war on us
War on drugs, who can you trust?
Cold hands counting, cold nights long
War on drugs, we been held too long
War on drugs, war on us
(Paper trail prayer) I don't feel safe