Respiration lyrics

Artist  : Mos Def 
Song : Respiration



 Send "Respiration" Ringtone to your Cell 

 

"What'd you do last night?"
"We did umm, two
whole cars
It was me, Dez, and Main Three
right?
And on the first car in small letters
it said
'All you see is..' and then you
know
big, big, you know some block silver
letters
that said '..crime in the city'
right?"
"It just took up the whole
car?"
"Yeah yeah, it was a whole car and
shit..."

[spanish speaking woman]
Escuchela.. la ciudad respirando
(translation
of spanish: Listen to it.. the city
breathing)

* woman repeats 3X
*

[spanish speaking woman]
Escuchela..

[Mos Def]
The new moon rode
high in the crown of the metropolis
Shinin,
like who on top of this?
People was hustlin,
arguin and bustlin
Gangstaz of Gotham hardcore
hustlin
I'm wrestlin with words and ideas
My
ears is picky, seekin what will transmit
the
scribes can apply to transcript, yo
This ain't
no time where the usual is suitable
Tonight
alive, let's describe the inscrutable
The
indisputable, we New York the
narcotic
Strength in metal and fiber
optics
where mercenaries is paid to trade hot
stock tips
for profits, thirsty criminals take
pockets
Hard knuckles on the second hands of
workin class watches
Skyscrapers is collosus,
the cost of living
is preposterous, stay
alive, you play or die, no options
No Batman
and Robin, can't tell between
the cops and the
robbers, they both partners, they all
heartless
With no conscience, back streets
stay darkened
Where unbeliever hearts stay
hardened
My eagle talons STAY sharpened, like
city lights stay throbbin
You either make a
way or stay sobbin, the Shiny Apple
is bruised
but sweet and if you choose to eat
You could
lose your teeth, many crews retreat
Nightly
news repeat, who got shot down and locked
down
Spotlight to savages, NASDAQ
averages
My narrative, rose to explain this
existance
Amidst the harbor lights which
remain in the distance

So much on my mind
that it can't recline
Blastin holes in the
night til she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale
vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe
out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Heard the
bass ride out like an ancient mating call
I
can't take it y'all, I can feel the city
breathin
Chest heavin, against the flesh of
the evening
Sigh before we die like the last
train leaving

[Talib Kweli]
Breathin in
deep city breaths, sittin on shitty steps
we
stoop to new lows, hell froze the night the city
slept
The beast crept through concrete
jungles
communicatin with one another
And
ghetto birds where waters fall
from the
hydrants to the gutters
The beast walk the
beats, but the beats we be makin
You on the
wrong side of the track, lookin visibly
shaken
Taken them plungers, plungin to death
that's painted by the numbers
with crime
unapplied pressure, cats is playin God
but
havin children by a lesser baby mother but fuck
it
we played against each other like puppets,
swearin you got pull
when the only pull you
got is the wool over your eyes
Gettin
knowledge in jail like a blessing in
disguise
Look in the skies for God, what you
see besides the smog
is broken dreams flying
away on the wings of the obscene
Thoughts that
people put in the air
Places where you could
get murdered over a glare
But everything is
fair
It's a paradox we call reality
So
keepin it real will make you casualty of abnormal
normality
Killers Born Naturally like, Micky
and Mallory
Not knowing the ways'll get you
capped like an NBA salary
Some cats be
emceeing to illustrate what we be seeing
Hard
to be a spiritual being when shit is shakin what
you believe in
For trees to grow in Brooklyn,
seeds need to be planted
I'm asking if y'all
feel me AND THE CROWD LEFT ME STRANDED
My
blood pressure boiled and rose, cause New York
niggaz
actin spoiled at shows, to the winners
the spoils go
I take the L, transfer to the 2,
head to the gates
New York life type trife the
Roman Empire state

[Mos Def and
crew]
So much on my mind I just can't
recline
Blastin holes in the night til she
bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from
bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed
smoke retrace the skyline
Yo don't the bass
ride out like an ancient mating call
I can't
take it y'all, I can feel the city
breathin
Chest heavin, against the flesh of
the evening
Sigh before we die like the last
train leaving

[spanish speaking woman]
Escuchela.. respirando
??

[Common]
Yo...on The Amen, Corner I
stood lookin at my former hood
Felt the spirit
in the wind, knew my friend was gone for
good
Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt, I
couldn't mask it
Mixin down emotions, struggle
I hadn't mastered
I coreograph seven steps to
heaven
And hell, waiting to exhale and make
the bread leavened
Veteran of a cold war It's
Chica-I-go for
What I know or, what's
known
So some days I take the bus home, just
to touch home
From the crib I spend months
gone
Sat by the window with a clutched dome
listenin to shorties cuss long
Young girls
with weak minds, but they butt strong
Tried to
call, or at least beep the Lord, but didn't have a
touch-tone
It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta
mush on
Some of this land I must own
Outta
the city, they want us gone
Tearin down the
'jects creatin plush homes
My circumstance is
between Cabrini and Love Jones
Surrounded by
hate, yet I love home
Ask my God how he
thought travellin the world sound
Found it
hard to imagine he hadn't been past
downtown
It's deep, I heard the city breathe
in its sleep
Of reality I touch, but for me
it's hard to keep
Deep, I heard my man breathe
in his sleep
Of reality I touch, but for me
it's hard to keep

[Mos Def and crew]
So
much on my mind I just can't recline
Blastin
holes in the night til she bled
sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright
stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke
retrace the skyline
Yo how the bass ride out
like an ancient mating call
I can't take it
y'all, I can feel the city breathing
Chest
heavin, against the flesh of the evening
Kiss
the Ide's goodbye, I'm on the last train leaving