Caged Bird

[Intro: J. Cole] Yeah, caged bird Something like a caged bird Caged bird Yeah, look [Verse 1: J. Cole] You ain't a man till you stop chasing your friends, my nigga Think for yourself, make your own plans, my nigga I'll be lying if I said I ain't understand, my nigga Cause who you gon' follow when the leaders all get swallowed By reefer clouds and bottles In and out of county jail This is hell, see the young black males in packed cells With they heads down And they fists clenched tight Thinking "I could bust a hole through this wall And bitch I just might" It's just like the caged bird I sing a song Hoping they open up these bars and send a nigga home I cry when I'm alone I'm wondering why would God send me here Knowing that they hate us Knowing that they make us feel like we evil so we kill our people Without a second thought, in every lesson taught by OGs We full of real nigga wisdom, so we proceed Like real niggas who been stripped of our humanity I see the judge's eyes, I know that he ain't understanding me [Hook: J. Cole] A caged bird (Yeah, a caged bird) (Let this little caged bird sing) Caged bird Yeah, caged bird Freedom's just an illusion, that's my conclusion And if it ain't, then how my niggas keep on losin' theirs? This goes out to childhood friends that's doin' years Prison tats on they backs like souvenirs We wish that you was here A mother's tear spilled on this page A brother's tear spilled on this page How many days left? And can you find peace when you released Still filled up wit' rage Back on the streets just to peep that you still in the cage [Verse 2: Omen] Well, it's the oratory vet Turned down king slash poet laureate Used to paint a picture with a story of neglect I could've been a shorty drinking 40s on the steps With a shorty on my lap With a shorty on the way coming shortly to protect I could've been a dealer in the party with the X But I'm hardly in the mix and I partially confess I definitely got a couple parts in me that I regret Is the cup half-empty or is it half-full? I fill mine up with Hennessy, then get back to him I'm just a jazz musician trapped in a rap form You think you standing for something you on a trap door Well it's the, Mr. Introspective I'm a dreamers dream, a sort of an inception I never fiend for the scene but I dreamed of the things That a Mercedes brings, like slow sex with fast women Drinking cognac I'm past grinning A sexy dress, fat ass in it But still hit it till I'm half-winded Cause niggas tell me I'm the shit Well I be hitting all these dimes See I'm caged by the visions of the blind I started as a king Turned to a slave Put us in our chains We was forced to entertain Thinking bout the present day I'm living off the stage Wonder if a nigga ever get up out this cage As I sing [Hook: J. Cole] A caged bird (Yeah, a caged bird) (Let this little caged bird sing) Caged bird Yeah, caged bird Freedom's just an illusion, that's my conclusion And if it ain't, then how my niggas keep on losin' theirs? This goes out to childhood friends that's doin' years Prison tats on they backs like souvenirs We wish that you was here A mother's tear spilled on this page A brother's tear spilled on this page How many days left? And can you find peace when you released Still filled up wit' rage Back on the streets just to peep that you still in the cage