Common - A Song For Assata Lyrics
F/ cee-lo(common)In the spirit of god.In the spirit of the ancestors.In the spirit of the black panthers.In the spirit of assata shakur.We make this movement towards freedomFor all those who have been oppressed, and all those in the struggle.Yeah. yo, check it-There were lights and sirens, gunshots firinCover your eyes as I describe a scene so violentSeemed like a bad dream, she laid in a blood puddleBlood bubbled in her chest, cold air brushed against open fleshNo room to rest, pain consumed each breathShot twice wit her hands upPolice questioned but shot before she answeredOne panther lost his life, the other ran for hisScandalous the police were as they kicked and beat herComprehension she was beyond, tryna hold onTo life. she thought shed live with no armThats what it felt like, got to the hospital, eyes held tightThey moved her room to room-she could tell by the lightHandcuffed tight to the bed, through her skin it bitPut guns to her head, every word she got hitwho shot the trooper? they asked herPut mace in her eyes, threatened to blast herHer mind raced till things got stillOpened her eyes, realized shes next to her best friend who got killedShe got chills, they told her: thats where she would be nextHurt mixed wit anger-survival was a reflexThey lied and denied visits from her lawyerBut she was buildin as they tried to destroy herIf it wasnt for this german nurse they woulda served her worseI read this sisters story, knew that it deserved a verseI wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?All this shit so we could be free, so dig it, yall.(cee-lo vocals)Im thinkin of assata, yes.Listen to my love, assata, yes.Your power and pride is beautiful.May God bless your soul.(common)It seemed like the middle of the night when the law awakened herWalkie-talkies cracklin, I see em when they takin herThough she kinda knew,What made the ride peaceful was the trees and the sky was blueArrived to middlesex prison about six inna morningUneasy as they pushed her to the second floor inA cell, one cot, no window, facing hell.Put in the basement of a prison wit all malesAnd the smell of misery, seatless toilets and centipedesShed exercise, (paint? ,) and begin to readTwo years inna hole. her soul grew weakAway from people so long she forgot how to speakShe discovered frredom is a unspoken soundAnd a wall is a wall and can be broken downFound peace in the panthers she went on trial withOne of the brothers she had a child withThe foulness they would feed her, hopin shes lose her seedHeld tight, knowing the fight would live through this seedIn need of a doctor, from her stomach shes bleedOut of this situation a girl was conceivedSeparated from her, left to mother the revolutionAnd lactated to attack hateCause federal and state was built for a black fateHer emptiness was filled with beatings and court datesThey fabricated cases, hoping one would stickAnd said she robbed places that didnt existIn the midst of threats on her life and being caged with aryan whitesThrough dark halls of hate she carried the lightI wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?All of this shit so we could be free.Yeah, I often wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?All of this shit so we could be free, so dig it, people-(cee-lo)Im thinkin of assata, yeah.Listen to my love, assata, yeah.Your power and pride, so beautiful...May God bless your soul.Oooh.(common)YoFrom north carolina her grandmother would bringNews that she had had a dreamHer dreams always meant what they needed them to meanWhat made them real was the action in betweenShe dreamt that assata was free in they old house in queensThe fact that they always came true was the thingAssata had been convicted of a murder she couldna doneMedical evidence shown she couldna shot the gunIts time for her to see the sun from the other sideTime for her daughter to be by her mothers sideTime for this beautiful woman to become soft againTime for her to breathe, and not be told how or whenShe untangled the chains and escaped the painHow she broke out of prison I could never explainAnd even to this day they try to get to herBut shes free with political asylum in cuba.(cee-lo vocals)Im thinkin of assata, yeah.Listen to my love, assata, yeah.Were molded from the same mud, assata.We share the same blood, assata, yeah.Your power and pride, so beautiful...May God bless your soul.Your power and pride, so beautiful...May God bless your soul.Oooh.(assata)Freedom! you askin me about freedom. askin me about freedom?Ill be honest with you. I know a whole more about what freedom isntThan about what it is, cause Ive never been free.I can only share my vision with you of the future, about what freedom is.Uhh, the way I see it, freedom is-- is the right to grow, is the right toBlossom.Freedom is -is the right to be yourself, to be who you are,To be who you wanna be, to do what you wanna do. (fade out)
