Key: F minor
Verse 1
Em
May you live as long as you want,
But never want as long
as you live... babay
G
While living in a world of freedom,
Verse 2
A
Em
G
Because intelligence... is, uh... is so ex
A
pensive...
Verse 3
(Expensive, expensive, expensive)
Em
G
While building a smarter planet,
A
is legal,
Em
G
Em
Yeah... One crime at a time... someone
A
just mugged the Eagle...
Em
(the eagle, the eagle, the eagle...)
G
We got to be careful
Verse 4
A
what
Am
C
Em
the words that we use...
G
Am
If we choose to be wounded healers,
Em
G
Rather than wounded hurters,
A
Am
We need words of encouragement,
Em
Words of gentleness...
G
Em
Words of kindness...
D
Em
Words of ennoblement...
C
Em
Yeah, we want these sisters
Verse 5
A
and brothers of all colors
Em
To broaden their horizons...
Connect the three dimensions of time,
G
Your past, your present an
C
G
d your fu ture...
Em
Verse 6
G
A
Am
Em
You got to respect yourself,
Have confidence in yourself...
Bm
Em
Who told you to doubt yourself!
C
Em
Who told you,
A
you can't soar like an Eagle...
Em
C
Em
Who told you that you are
A
to demean yourselves...
Em
Straighten your back up,
C
When you straighten your back up
Em
, you're going somewhere,
A
'Cause folks can't ride your back
Em
unless it's bent!...
Verse 7
Em
A
STAND the way Sly Stone
said... stand...
Em
(If you want to be free...)
G
You say you got a smart phone
Am
C
Em
(then you can't be
dumb...)
G
But you're still making
dumb decisions...
Am
Em
(If you want to be free...)
G
A
Your acting like your full grown,
Am
Em
(then you got to get on the one)
When you still need your Mama's
G
Em
Am
Em
permission.
G
Always have a deep
Verse 8
Em
Am
sense of connection to the past,
Em
A subversive memory that constitutes
wind at your back...
Verse 9
Em
You are who you are because
G
somebody loved you,
Em
Somebody cared for you... somebody
A
Am
attended to you,
Em
Make sure that love flows through you,
G
That's what it means to keep
Em
love on the one...
Am
Young soul,
Verse 10
Em
G
We love you...
Em
A
Am
We know you can be
Em
grander than you are...
And we know that the funk means
A
It's not just about the funk,
But the "K",
Em
and the "K" is about knowledge,
G
Em
And knowledge is about courage,
A
And the courage is about service,
Em
And the service is about
G
Em
Bm
sacrifice...
A
Em
(If you want to be free...)
G
A
You know yesterday's trash,
Am
Em
(then you can't be dumb...)
G
A
Could very well be tomorrows fuel...
Am
Em
(If you want to be free...)
G
A
And yesterday's prisons...
Am
Em
(Then you got to get on the one)
Ah, could very well be tomorrow's
schools...
Am
Em
(I gotta get a witness...)
C
Em
Let us never forget the words of the great
Verse 11
G
Martin Luther King Jr.
Am
Em
C
Who said that "Love is the key that unlocks
Em
A
the door to ultimate reality"
Em
Let us understand the words of James Baldwin,
G
when he said,
Am
Em
"Love forces us to take off the mask
we know we cannot live within,
B
Em
But fear we can not live without".
G
That's the kind of love
Verse 12
Em
"on
Am
the one" we talking about,
Em
G
We want to firm one another. We want to
Em
Am
encourage one another...
Em
G
We want to uplift one another...
Em
That's why James Brown,
Am
George Clinton,
Em
That's why Aretha Franklin,
G
that's why Theodore Pendergrass,
A
Am
Em
That's why basic colors is only ONE...
Verse 13
G
(If you want to be free...)
Whooaah yeah bub...
Am
Em
(You can't be dumb)
Verse 14
A
And if you're on a ship of fools,
Am
Em
(If you want to be free...)
G
A
Let it be said that you are not the captain,
Em
Am
babay...
Em
(then you got to get on the One...)
Am
Keep on pushing... (If you want
Verse 15
Em
G
to be free...)
Verse 16
A
Then who's right,
Am
Em
(then you can't be dumb...)
Outro 1
When there's no one left...
A
Am
What hap pens when love is a
Em
threat...
G
A
Em
Ahhhohhh, circus, circus...
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TunerE A D G B E
ChordsEm G A Am C...
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