Didn't take nothing, that I didn't need

'Cause they didn't offer classes in what I wanted to be

They didn't offer manhood, responsibility

Had to learn it the hard way

Earned my degree in the streets

Graduated from Hard Knocks

Got my education

Hard Knocks

Out on the street

Can't bust through that ceiling without feelin' the burn

And I ain't got nothing that I did not earn

Chasin' that mighty dollar

'Stead of hittin the books

Studying Donny and Stevie

Learned to sail the hooks

I graduated from hard knocks

Got the bumps and the bruises to prove it

Hard knocks

Summa cum laude

Hard knocks

Hard knocks

Had a real good teacher named Mr. Life

Didn't teach no chemistry but he taught me how to fight

Didn't teach biology but I learned it from the birds and the bees

Said stay close to your friends even closer to your enemies

Hard knocks

Graduated Hard knocks

Bumps and bruises to prove it

Hard Knocks

Hard Knocks

Got to bring it on home

Said these streets keep calling me

Don't know what it is

Is it the thrill that I seek

I don't know

Is it the night

Or the sound of the city

Whatever it is

These streets keep calling me

Day in and night, can't get them off