[Intro]
Sweet home?
Sweet for who?
They smile in court
But they aim at you (yeah)
[Verse 1]
Blue lights
Red clay
Young man pressed on the hood that day
Hands up
Still shook
Cop thumb heavy on the safety hook
He said, "License"
You said, "Yes sir"
Still got slammed face-first on the curb
Wrist bones
Cold steel
Boot print stamped on your Sunday heel
Mama on the porch in a work shirt crying
"Daddy ain't here, boy, the mill stopped hiring"
Body cam off, they gon' say you were wildin'
Whole damn city know the sheriff been lying
[Chorus]
Alabama vs the machine
They write the rules, then wipe 'em clean
Lock our babies, call it routine
Who gon' read him his rights? (not them)
Who gon' treat him as human? (amen)
Alabama vs the machine
Brown skin branded as obscene
Land of prayers and gasoline
We screaming, "Let that boy breathe"
"Let that boy breathe" (yeah)
[Verse 2]
County line
Speed trap
Pulled for a plate and a ball cap
Search the car
"Smell that?"
All in your trunk where your tools at
No lawyer
No call
Told you "sign here, it’s a little small"
Plea deals stacked like a church bake sale
"They’ll go easy" while they pack that jail
Judge got a Bible on the oakwood bench
Reads one verse, then he swings that wrench
Cash bail higher than your whole damn town
Grandma put the deed on the table, just to get you out
Probation
Curfew
Miss one check-in, they come get you
Voter card gone for a teenage charge
They erase your voice, then they call it "law"
[Chorus]
Alabama vs the machine
They write the rules, then wipe 'em clean
Lock our babies, call it routine
Who gon' read him his rights? (not them)
Who gon' treat him as human? (amen)
Alabama vs the machine
Brown skin branded as obscene
Land of prayers and gasoline
We screaming, "Let that boy breathe"
"Let that boy breathe" (yeah)
[Bridge]
Right to be silent, they twist that
Right to an attorney, they skip that
Right to be safe in your own skin
Right to be more than a case file number again
They cuff first, then they ask names
They break lives, then they pass blame
But every girl in the back row praying
Every boy in the cellblock saying
[Chorus]
Alabama vs the machine
They write the rules, then wipe 'em clean
Lock our babies, call it routine
Who gon' read him his rights? (not them)
Who gon' treat him as human? (amen)
Alabama vs the machine
Brown skin branded as obscene
Land of prayers and gasoline
We screaming, "Let that boy breathe"
"Let that boy breathe" (let him breathe)