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Respiration
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Talib Kweli
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1
"What'd you do last night?"
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"We did umm, two whole cars
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It was me, Dez, and Main Three right?
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And on the first car in small letters it said
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'All you see is..' and then you know
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big, big, you know some block silver letters
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that said '..crime in the city' right?"
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"It just took up the whole car?"
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"Yeah yeah, it was a whole car and shit..."
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[spanish speaking woman] Escuchela.. la ciudad respirando
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(translation of spanish: Listen to it.. the city breathing)
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* woman repeats 3X *
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[spanish speaking woman] Escuchela..
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[Mos Def]
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The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis
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Shinin, like who on top of this?
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People was tusslin, arguin and bustlin
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Gangstaz of Gotham hardcore hustlin
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I'm wrestlin with words and ideas
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My ears is picky, seekin what will transmit
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the scribes can apply to transcript, yo
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This ain't no time where the usual is suitable
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Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable
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The indisputable, we New York the narcotic
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Strength in metal and fiber optics
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where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips
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for profits, thirsty criminals take pockets
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Hard knuckles on the second hands of workin class watches
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Skyscrapers is collosus, the cost of living
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is preposterous, stay alive, you play or die, no options
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No Batman and Robin, can't tell between
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the cops and the robbers, they both partners, they all heartless
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With no conscience, back streets stay darkened
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Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened
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My eagle talons STAY sharpened, like city lights stay throbbin
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You either make a way or stay sobbin, the Shiny Apple
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is bruised but sweet and if you choose to eat
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You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat
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Nightly news repeat, who got shot down and locked down
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Spotlight to savages, NASDAQ averages
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My narrative, rose to explain this existance
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Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance
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So much on my mind that I can't recline
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Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine
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Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
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Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
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Heard the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
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I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathin
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Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
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Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
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[Talib Kweli]
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Breathin in deep city breaths, sittin on shitty steps
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we stoop to new lows, hell froze the night the city slept
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The beast crept through concrete jungles
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communicatin with one another
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And ghetto birds where waters fall
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from the hydrants to the gutters
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The beast walk the beats, but the beats we be makin
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You on the wrong side of the track, lookin visibly shaken
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Taken them plungers, plungin to death that's painted by the numbers
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with crime unapplied pressure, cats is playin God
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but havin children by a lesser baby mother but fuck it
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we played against each other like puppets, swearin you got pull
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when the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes
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Gettin knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise
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Look in the skies for God, what you see besides the smog
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is broken dreams flying away on the wings of the obscene
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Thoughts that people put in the air
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Places where you could get murdered over a glare
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But everything is fair
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It's a paradox we call reality
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So keepin it real will make you casualty of abnormal normality
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Killers Born Naturally like, Mickey and Mallory
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Not knowing the ways'll get you capped like an NBA salary
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Some cats be emceeing to illustrate what we be seeing
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Hard to be a spiritual being when shit is shakin what you believe in
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For trees to grow in Brooklyn, seeds need to be planted
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I'm asking if y'all feel me AND THE CROWD LEFT ME STRANDED
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My blood pressure boiled and rose, cause New York niggaz
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actin spoiled at shows, to the winners the spoils go
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I take the L, transfer to the 2, head to the gates
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New York life type trife the Roman Empire state
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[Mos Def and crew]
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So much on my mind I just can't recline
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Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine
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Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
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Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
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Yo don't the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
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I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathin
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Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
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Sigh before we die like the last train leaving
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[spanish speaking woman] Escuchela.. respirando ??
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[Common]
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Yo...on The Amen, Corner I stood lookin at my former hood
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Felt the spirit in the wind, knew my friend was gone for good
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Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt, I couldn't mask it
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Mixin down emotions, struggle I hadn't mastered
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I coreograph seven steps to heaven
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And hell, waiting to exhale and make the bread leavened
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Veteran of a cold war It's Chica-I-go for
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What I know or, what's known
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So some days I take the bus home, just to touch home
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From the crib I spend months gone
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Sat by the window with a clutched dome listenin to shorties cuss long
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Young girls with weak minds, but they butt strong
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Tried to call, or at least beep the Lord, but didn't have a touch-tone
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It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on
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Some of this land I must own
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Outta the city, they want us gone
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Tearin down the 'jects creatin plush homes
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My circumstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones
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Surrounded by hate, yet I love home
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Ask my God how he thought travellin the world sound
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Found it hard to imagine he hadn't been past downtown
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It's deep, I heard the city breathe in its sleep
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Of reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep
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Deep, I heard my man breathe in his sleep
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Of reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep
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[Mos Def and crew]
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So much on my mind I just can't recline
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Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine
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Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
123
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
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Yo how the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
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I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathing
126
Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
127
Kiss the Ide's goodbye, I'm on the last train leaving
Black Star - Respiration ft. Common
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