[Verse One: Black Thought] Listen, I got you phobic off of this like arachnids Drastic, it ain't plastic it's Pro-Blackness Grown man tactics, no pediatrics the kind of track that make the comeback miraculous the catalyst, Thought with the knack for splashin' I'm dashin' I mastered the craft of mashin' The level-headed throughbred, the female's passion Mag-netic attraction be keepin' them askin' The crews in the Cadillacs with the Pendergrassin' Swerve half-naked, won't come near crashin' But if I go to heaven, would y'all know my name or would it be the same for you like I was Eric Clapton, huh? Clap for you freedom dog, that's what's happening My spit take critical political action The hustle is a puzzle each piece is a fraction And every word that's understood is a transaction I'm an S.P. soldier, microphone holder Rep Philly set from Bolivia to Boulder Paris, France to Tip and Tioga How we gonna make it through the dark, I show ya
[Chorus: Black Thought & Nelly Furtado] I tell you one lesson I learned If you want to be something in life You ain't gonna get it unless You give a little bit of sacrifice Ooohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry You need a heart that's filled with music If you use it you can fly If you want to be high
[Verse Two: Black Thought] Listen, yo kick off your shoes, jump off the jock I fly higher than them dudes, from off your block My name Black, the style is unorthodox It tap chins in your mens 'til you thought could box A couple of people wanted Thought to stop, but guess what? My man grab the missile, plug for the gut Now next time beatty stop being such a glut I'm precise with it like Faheim with haircuts We up close on 'em with toast but no crust It's fructose on 'em they froze and won't bust Choke on your face you jewels is lacklust Got to put it to you straight, y'all fools is jacked up Came close to the upmost but no cigar Nose to the grindstone, head to the stars The number one runner with the number one drummer Grammy award winnin' it's the world's eighth wonder Come on
[Chorus] I tell you one lesson I learned If you want to be something in life You ain't gonna get it unless You give a little bit of sacrifice Ooohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry You need a heart that's filled with music If you use it you can fly If you want to be high
[Verse Three: Black Thought] Your first impression might be I'm a asshole Or say I'm sometimey and give people a hassle Or try to suntouch and put the heat in the capsule Dog I'm far deeper than that though; I get in the zone Recognize I'm a rolling stone No time to lollygag or lounge with scaliwags Give me the disc or I put it where your body at Old school spit flow laid over Trotter tracks With no apology fraud or trick-knowledgy Just trust, what I see and I say and follow me my way I read an open booklet inside me The star of the story that groove teller got me Through all the dark times part of the business The light be contingent on small forensics My microphone'll make a man a newborn infant It's true so the crew gon' sense it I get in the zone
[Chorus x3] I tell you one lesson I learned If you want to be something in life You ain't gonna get it unless You give a little bit of sacrifice Ooohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry You need a heart that's filled with music If you use it you can fly If you want to be high