Survival (Version)

They don't want us to be who we're supposed to be

But we are who we are, and that's the way that it's going to be

They don't want to see the further proof

And it's hard to find it hidden right in front of you (ooh, we)

Oh, we, oh, we, ooh-oh-oh

And they're showing us to fight for every struggle

Never ever let them put you in a bubble

And the brimstone will rain from our fire

Tell me if that is what you desire

Control, control, control

Control, control, control

They want control of we

And they want control over me

Over me

We'll keep on surviving

They keep on fighting us down

But we'll keep on surviving (Keep on surviving)

Even though they push to the ground

We'll keep on surviving (Keep on surviving)

They keep on fighting us down

That same bullet killed Lumumba

That same bullet stole Fred Hampton's thunder

That same bullet put Sam Cooke six feet under (under)

That same bullet took Medgar Evers out

Bobby, another Kennedy, split the Nation of Islam up into enemies

That same bullet traumatized would-be men

Turned would-be revolutionaries into Barbie and Ken

That saw Peter in a heater, we lost so many leaders

Many **** turned on time and times (on time and times)

Afraid to get shot down like Malcolm X in the Audubon

That same bullet took so much young black potential (so much)

Just 'cause they're black, they're perceived as a threat (so much)

In containing their power, the premature death

Some just walk down the street, some for resisting arrest

Some at home in their beds, some just for taking a breath

Or for daring to dream, or for having success

This construct is tricky, it was made for a few

If you don't hold the peace, they'll come after you too

That same bullet is for population control

And we'll all have to face that dark night in the soul

If you gonna walk what you saw, if you haven't been told

You gon' have to have faith, it's calculated and cold

That same bullet tries to control the appeal

And men like Huey Newton and his man Bobby Seale

That same bullet even shot at Bob Marley

For preaching One Love as a single authority

And that bullet doesn't have to be literal

They'll try to take a man down just for being political

Assassinate character with the click of their thumbs

Like a gun, make the people go deaf, blind and dumb

So overcome that we content with the crumbs

I keep reminding my sons that's how business gets done

And reminding my daughters to watch for verbal assassins

Should they decide not to cash in

They like puppets, they control with strings, levers and pulleys

And if seduction don't work, then they'll be back to bully

Control, control, control

Control, control, control

They want control of we

And they want control over me

Over me

Control, control, control

Control, control, control

They want control of we

And they want control over me

Over me

We'll keep on surviving (Keep on surviving)

They keep on fighting us down

But we'll keep on surviving (Keep on surviving)

Even though they push to the ground

We'll keep on surviving (Keep on surviving)

They keep on fighting us down

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh