[Verse 1]
They taught us be quiet
Taught us be small
Taught us accept
When they break the law
Blue badge, black glove
Same script, same shove
Say "comply or die"
Then write it off as love
Mama on the front steps
Blood on her shoes
Officer smiling
On the six o'clock news
You wonder why the city
Set fire to the sky?
They been choking us for ages
Now we breathing to survive
[Chorus]
System fight back, we don’t stay scared
Hands in the air, but our mind prepared
You can load that gun, we gon’ load this truth
You can cage these bodies, can’t contain this proof
System fight back, we don’t die quiet
Turn our pain loud, turn a tear to riot
You can steal my brother, can’t erase his name
Write it on the pavement, make you feel that flame (hey!)
[Verse 2]
Judge got a golf club
Prosecutor got a grin
Paperwork thicker
Than the evidence within
Same face, same race
On every little bench
Talk about "justice"
From a gold-plated fence
We march, they mock
Say "return to your block"
But that block got chalk
Outline round the clock
If the rules rigged rotten
We rewrite the page
Turn trauma into thunder
Let it shake that cage (woah)
[Chorus]
System fight back, we don’t stay scared
Hands in the air, but our mind prepared
You can load that gun, we gon’ load this truth
You can cage these bodies, can’t contain this proof
System fight back, we don’t die quiet
Turn our pain loud, turn a tear to riot
You can steal my brother, can’t erase his name
Write it on the pavement, make you feel that flame