Text: Talib Kweli. Ear Drum. Eat to Live.
Yeah, this is a ghetto prayer
Prayin' for all of those who ain't got it
We gotta get it there, we gotta get it, here
Yeah, the people starvin' for somethin' new, we starvin' for it
My little man go to bed so hungry
Get up, go to school with his nose runny
Come home with his nose bloody
His sister laughin', he like, "What's so funny?"
'Til she drowned out by the sounds of hunger pains in his tummy
Nuttin' in the freezer, nuttin' in the fridge
Couple of 40 ounces but nuttin' for the kids
Little man know they to eat to live
But he don't wanna leave the crib
The kid who punched him in his face
House right down the street from his
He went anyway, more scared to face his moms
She'll beat him soon as she flip out seein' his face scarred
Walkin' past the dope fiends with they smoke to the place of God
Hopes and dreams pourin' out the holes in they face and arms
Little man in the face of harm if he don't eat
He need energy so when he go to school he can compete
And keep up, all he got is bodegas
But hey, he only got enough a for quarter water and a now or later
Anyway, grandma say Jesus'll be here any day
Good, 'cause with nuttin' to eat it's gettin' hard to pray
Pray, pray, pray
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
My rhymes got nutritional value
I get it how I live, it's critical when the conditions allow you
Do you entrust the critics who doubt you?
Try to write shit about you
But they can't make a living without you
Go hungry, you gotta watch what the media feed you
And don't be a poisoned animal, eaten either
It's harder than it sound, 'cause nowadays
Put that swine in everything
The white sugar so addictive, it's pure 'caine
They got pork in the toothpaste, soda in the Sunny D
Jello brand gelatin is laced with the lecatin
In Africa, they starvin', over here the food hurt you
Cows goin' mad and the chickens crunk with bird flu
It's too ill how the food kills, it's like blue steel
Lies never set you free, but the truth will
The truth still matter, the proof is in the batter or the pudding
You can tell we eatin' good, we gettin' fatter
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
Prayin' for all of those who ain't got it
We gotta get it there, we gotta get it, here
Yeah, the people starvin' for somethin' new, we starvin' for it
My little man go to bed so hungry
Get up, go to school with his nose runny
Come home with his nose bloody
His sister laughin', he like, "What's so funny?"
'Til she drowned out by the sounds of hunger pains in his tummy
Nuttin' in the freezer, nuttin' in the fridge
Couple of 40 ounces but nuttin' for the kids
Little man know they to eat to live
But he don't wanna leave the crib
The kid who punched him in his face
House right down the street from his
He went anyway, more scared to face his moms
She'll beat him soon as she flip out seein' his face scarred
Walkin' past the dope fiends with they smoke to the place of God
Hopes and dreams pourin' out the holes in they face and arms
Little man in the face of harm if he don't eat
He need energy so when he go to school he can compete
And keep up, all he got is bodegas
But hey, he only got enough a for quarter water and a now or later
Anyway, grandma say Jesus'll be here any day
Good, 'cause with nuttin' to eat it's gettin' hard to pray
Pray, pray, pray
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
My rhymes got nutritional value
I get it how I live, it's critical when the conditions allow you
Do you entrust the critics who doubt you?
Try to write shit about you
But they can't make a living without you
Go hungry, you gotta watch what the media feed you
And don't be a poisoned animal, eaten either
It's harder than it sound, 'cause nowadays
Put that swine in everything
The white sugar so addictive, it's pure 'caine
They got pork in the toothpaste, soda in the Sunny D
Jello brand gelatin is laced with the lecatin
In Africa, they starvin', over here the food hurt you
Cows goin' mad and the chickens crunk with bird flu
It's too ill how the food kills, it's like blue steel
Lies never set you free, but the truth will
The truth still matter, the proof is in the batter or the pudding
You can tell we eatin' good, we gettin' fatter
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
Talib Kweli
Ear Drum