Is It Because I'm Black

[00:16.30] The dark brown shades of my skin
[00:24.02] Only add color to my tears
[00:28.33] Oh, oh
[00:31.23] That splash against my hollow bones
[00:36.46] That rocks my soul
[00:45.60] Looking back over my false dreams that I once knew
[00:52.75] Wondering why my dreams never came true
[00:59.70] Is it because I'm black? (Uh huh)
[01:05.00] Somebody tell me, what can I do?
[01:10.01] Oh Lord, oh
[01:14.06] Something is holding me back (uh, huh)
[01:19.98] Is it because I'm black? (Yeah)
[01:28.21] In this world of no pity
[01:30.88] I was raised in the ghetto of the city
[01:34.38] Yeah, oh Lord (uh)
[01:42.19] Momma, she works so hard
[01:46.78] To earn every penny (yeah, oh lord)
[01:56.51] Something is holding me back (uh huh)
[02:03.50] Is it because I'm black? (Ahh)
[02:39.60] Like a child stealing candy for the first time, and got caught
[02:46.20] Peeping around life's corner somewhere, I got lost (oh)
[02:53.26] Something is holding me back (uh huh)
[02:59.36] I wonder, is it because I'm black?
[03:07.24] Somebody tell me what can I do?
[03:12.31] Will I survive, or will I die?
[03:18.68] Oh, oh
[03:20.10] You keep on holding me back
[03:24.00] Keep on holding on
[03:27.61] Keep on picking on me
[03:30.24] Oh, you keep on holding me back
[03:34.72] Keep on holding on, keep on holding on (uh)
[03:41.40] You're holding me back
[03:44.50] I wonder why, you do me like that
[03:48.92] But you keep on holding me back
[03:52.48] Keep on putting your foot on me
[03:55.25] But I, I, I, I've got to break away
[04:00.65] Somehow and someday
[04:02.90] 'Cause I wanna be somebody so bad, so bad
[04:07.90] I wanna be somebody, I wanna be somebody so bad
[04:13.63] You see, I want diamond rings and things, like you do
[04:21.87] And I wanna drive Cadillac cars (uh huh)
[04:25.80] Oh, I wanna be somebody so bad
[04:30.25] But you keep on putting your foot on me
[04:33.47] And I, I believe, I believe I can break away
[04:39.47] And be somebody, somehow, and someway
[04:45.10] Ya see
[04:47.25] I heard somebody say one time
[04:50.46] You can make it, if you try
[04:55.80] Oh, and some of us, we tried so hard, we tried so hard
[05:02.64] I want you to know that I don't speak for myself
[05:06.03] But I speak for y'all too right now
[05:09.31] Uh huh, ya see
[05:11.00] If you half white, light-brown skinned, or high yellow
[05:14.18] You're still black
[05:15.27] So we all got to stick together right now
[05:19.09] Mhm
[05:22.71] This I wanna say to you my sisters and my brothers
[05:27.76] Right on sister, mhm
[05:33.01] Right on brother
[05:34.91] Dig this
[05:36.00] If we keep on pushing, y'all
[05:38.53] Oh, we've got to make it a little bit further
[05:43.08] We've got to make it a little further
[05:45.59] All we got to do is try, try, try
[05:50.00] And some of us, we've tried so hard
[05:56.49] We've tried so hard, we've tried so hard (uh huh)
[06:02.49] We've tried so hard , so hard to be somebody (um)
[06:08.90] We've tried so hard, although, they're holding us back
[06:19.44] And it stands to reason
[06:22.78] That they're doin' us like that
[06:26.12] You know what? It is
[06:31.34] I believe, it is because we are black (uh huh)
[06:36.06] But hey, we can't stop now, we can't stop now
[06:43.23] Got to keep on, keep on, keep on, keepin' on
[06:48.20] We've got to keep on, keeping on
[06:53.20] I know and I know and I know that you know, that I know, it ain't right
[06:59.62] Oh, it ain't right, it ain't right, it ain't right
[07:05.18] That they hold us, hold us, hold us back
[07:08.70] They're holding us back, they're holding us back
[07:14.41] I wonder, sometimes I sit down, sit down and I wonder
[07:20.80] I sit down and I think about it
[07:24.04] Sometimes it makes me so mad
[07:28.01] It makes me so mad