PBS - Senior Year

The Coup

This is for my folkers who got bills overdue
this is for my folkers, umm check 1-2
this is for my folkers never lived like a hog
me and you toe-to-toe, I got love for the underdog
This is for my folkers who got bills overdue
this is for my folkers, umm check 1-2
this is for my folkers never lived like a hog
me and you toe-to-toe, I got love for the underdog

I raise this glass for the ones who die meaningless
and the newborns who get fed intravenously
somebody's mama caught a job and a welfare fraud case
when she breath she swear it feel like plastic wrap around her face
lights turned off this is the third month the rent is late
thoughts of bein' homeless, cryin' till you hyperventilate
despair permeates the air and sets in you hair
the kids play with that one toy they learned how to share
comin' home don't ever seem to be a celebration
bills stay piled up the coffee table like they decoration
heapin' spoons o' peanut butter, big ass glass o' water
make the hunger subside, save the real food for your daughter
you feel like swingin' haymakers at a movin' truck
you feel like laughing so it seems like you don't give a f -
you feel like getting' so high, you'll smoke the whole damn crop
you feel like cryin' but you think you might never stop
homes with no heat stiffen your bones like arthritis
if this was fiction it'd be easier to write this
some folks wanna front like their so above you
and so would

This is for my folkers who got bills overdue
this is for my folkers, umm check 1-2
this is for my folkers never lived like a hog
me and you toe-to-toe, I got love for the underdog

(Repeat Chorus)

There's certain tricks of the trade to try to halt your defeat
like takin' tupperwear to an all you can eat
returnin' new for new sayin' you lost your receipt
and writin' 4 figure checks when yo accounts deplete
then all your problems pile up about a mile up
thinkin' bout a patnah you can dial up
to help you out this vile stuff
whole family sleepin' on the futon
while you clippin' coupons
eatin' salad tryin' to get full off the croutons
crosstown the situation is identical
somebody gettin' strangled by the system and it's tenticles
misconceptions raised questions to be solved
lotta D-boys is broke
lotta homeless got jobs
you can make 8 bones an hour to you pass out
and still be ass out
most pyramid schemes don't let you cash out
they say this generation made the harmony break
but crime rise consistent wit the poverty rate
you take the worker from jobs
you gon' have murders in mobs
a gang of preachers screamin' sermons
over murmurs and sobs
sayin' pray for a change from the lord above you
they'd tear this muthaf - up if they really loved you
and so would you
This is for my folkers who got bills overdue
this is for my folkers, umm check 1 - 2
this is for my folkers never lived like a hog
me and you toe-to-toe, I got love for the underdog

(Repeat Chorus)

You like this song cuz it's relatable, it's you in a rhyme
we go to stores that only let us in 2 at a time
we live in places where it cost to get your check cashed
arguments about money usually drown out the tech blasts
work 6 days a week, can't sleep Saturday though
muscles tremblin' like a pager when the batteries low
and you just don't know where the years went
although every long shift feel like a year spent
and you could write your resume but it wouldn't even mention
all the life lessons learned during six years of detention
and how you learned the police was just some handicappers
on the ground next to broken glass and candywrappers
now don't accept my collects on the phone
just hit me at the house so I know I ain't alone
and we could chop it up about this messed up system
homies that's been killed, how we always gon' miss 'em
it's almost impossible survivin' on this fraction
sip a 40 to your brain for the chemical reaction
you gatta hustle cuz they tryn' a push and shove you
I'll tear this muthaf - up since I really love youv and so would you
This is for my folkers who got bills overdue
this is for my folkers, umm check 1 - 2
this is for my folkers never lived like a hog
me and you toe-to-toe, I got love for the underdog

(Repeat Chorus)

The Coup (Boots Riley, E-Roc & DJ Pam The Funkstress), formed back in 1990, followed their critically acclaimed 1993 debut "Kill My Landlord" with "Genocide and Juice" in 1994. After a four year hiatus, the politically charged, funky, hip-hop band returned with a vengeance on the 1998 release "Steal This Album." As an active member of the Oakland based Young Comrades, Boots Riley has spent a fair amount of the past few years embroiled in urban community political battles, the inspiration for much of "Steal This Album." "Underdogs" a cut from the CD and a song in "Senior Year" continues the bands trademark no holds barred lyrical attack and the groups unique hip hop meets rap sound.

http://www.strayrecords.com/coup.html

Underdogs
Written by R. Riley
Courtesy of ©Field Negro Music (ASCAP)
Performed by The Coup
By arrangement with Dogday Records
©(p) 1998

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