The Long and Whining Road

(All verses: Chuck D) That's right, Public Enemy Number 1 20 years [Verse 1] It's been a long and whining road Even though time keeps a'changin' I'm a' bringing it all back home I been told I spit lyrics with politics, why wouldn't I? It says Negro on my birth certificate Born in 1960 in a nation throughout I've been a spokesperson for a generation Within the same old fear of a black planet 20 years of blood, sweat, no tears for fanatics So damn it, if times are hard, time is God Understand it, never took time for granted It's alright, Ma, as a child of the sixties Along the watchtower, I can't bet they're going to miss me I'm only bleeding, every grain in me Fans, if it's not for you, there'd be no PE From the Nashville Skyline, to the homeboys and girls of South Country In this world gone wrong, here's another love song [Verse 2] We came a long way, baby, you know what's amazing? They're surprised, we told these new guys Flavor's always been crazy Hit London 87 like it was an invasion Toured the world for three years, Hell with a vacation Vocation of vocalisation Especially with the impact of "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" You bet there's blood on them Bomb Squad tracks "Black Steel", "Baseheads", "Party For Your Right to Fight" "Prophets of Rage", "Bring the Noise" and "Don't Believe the Hype" "Can't Do Nuttin' For You Man", "911 is a Joke" 20 years, we got here by acting like common folk Touring the world like a Rolling Stone, then the nineties came Then we welcomed y'all to the Terrordome Some threw it away, instead we had something to say Cause the streets still ended up having no names Since "Rebel Without a Pause" the beats were never the same And by 1998 we still had game, we rocked on [Verse 3] Only a pawn in the game, chastised for naming names What was said and who said it, anti-nothing so forget it Tears of rage left a friend blowing in the wind But time is God Been back for ten years, and black again Some of them same cats helped usher in Gangsta rap Damn, our interviews were better than a lot of them acts Praised the Gangsta just because it sold While consciousness went from platinum and it shrunk down to gold Seen a nation reduce "Fight the Power" to "Gin and Juice" Some people gave it up and they turned it loose, they rock on [Verse 4] Beethoven, Bach and Brahms, I want some James Brown Even Bruce, Brian, Bono, Beck, yeah Chuck Berry Prince, Stevie, Sly, Smokey, Johnny Cash, in my Chevy Heard some call me Uncle Tom - now that's Petty I'm a songwriter, fool, I condense sense from right and wrong I'm living in the key of protest songs From basement tapes, beyond them dollars and cents Changing of the guards - spent where the Hell the majors went Most of their time out of mind, hating my mess-age rhymes Can't truss it, shut 'em down, call it what you wanna They made a day fit for a king, by the time we got to Arizona Tomorrow's a long time, got God on our side Over bass and drum beats hear the good rhymes ride There's A Poison Goin' On, there's a shelter from the storm Hard rain's gonna fall Still the people rock on, we rock on Blood, sweat, no tears Public Enemy