Black Star Thieves In The Night Lyrics

Thieves In The Night Lyrics

Talib Kweli] 

 Yo Dee (What?) 

 Come on (Yeah..) 

 What? What? Come on 

 (Yeah) 

  

 "Give me the fortune, keep the fame," said my man Louis 

 I agreed, know what he mean because we live the truest lie 

 I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye 

 He looked at me, he thought about it 

 Was like, "I'm clueless, why?" 

 The question was rhetorical, the answer is horrible 

 Our morals are out of place and got our lives full of sorrow 

 And so tomorrow comin later than usual 

 Waitin' on someone to pity us 

 While we findin beauty in the hideous 

 They say money's the root of all evil but I can't tell 

 YouknowhatImean, pesos, francs, yens, cowrie shells, dollar bills 

 Or is it the mindstate that's ill? 

 Creating crime rates to fill the new prisons they build 

 Over money and religion there's more blood to spill 

 The wounds of slaves in cotton fields that never heal 

 What's the deal? 

 A lot of cats who buy records are straight broke 

 But my language universal they be recitin my quotes 

 While R&B singers hit bad notes, we rock the boat 

 of thought, that my man Louis' statements just provoked 

 Caught up, in conversations of our personal worth 

 Brought up, through endangered species status on the planet Earth 

 Survival tactics means, bustin gats to prove you hard 

 Your firearms are too short to box with God 

 Without faith, all of that is illusionary 

 Raise my son, no vindication of manhood necessary 

  

 [M.D.] Not strong 

 [T.K.] Only aggressive 

 [M.D.] Not free 

 [T.K.] We only licensed 

 [M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite 

 [T.K.] Now who the nicest? 

 [M.D.] Not good but well behaved 

 [T.K.] Chasin after death 

 so we can call ourselves brave? 

 [M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves 

 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life 

 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice 

 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life 

 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice 

  

 [Mos Def] 

 Yo, I'm sure that everbody out listenin agree 

 That everything you see ain't really how it be 

 A lot of jokers out runnin in place, chasin the style 

 Be a lot goin on beneath the empty smile 

 Most cats in my area be lovin the hysteria 

 Synthesized surface conceals the interior 

 America, land of opportunity, mirages and camoflauges 

 More than usually -- speakin loudly, sayin nothin 

 You confusin me, you losin me 

 Your game is twisted, want me enlisted -- in your usary 

 Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly 

 Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception 

 Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin glass 

 Walkin the street, wonderin who they be lookin past 

 Lookin gassed with them imported designer shades on 

 Stars shine bright, but the light -- rarely stays on 

 Same song, just remixed, different arrangement 

 Put you on a yacht but they won't call it a slaveship 

 Strangeness, you don't control this, you barely hold this 

 Screamin brand new, when they just sanitized the old shit 

 Suppose it's, just another clever Jedi mind trick 

 That they been runnin across stars through all the time with 

 I find it's distressin, there's never no in-between 

 We either niggaz or Kings 

 We either bitches or Queens 

 The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse 

 Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts 

 Long barrel automatics released in short bursts 

 The length of black life is treated with short worth 

 Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary 

 That type of illin that be fillin up the cemetary 

 This life is temporary but the soul is eternal 

 Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you 

 Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain't directed 

 That's why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive 

 Not free, we only licensed 

 Not live, we just excitin 

 Cause the captors.. own the masters.. to what we writin 

 Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained 

 Our sincerity's rehearsed in stage, it's just a game 

 Not good, but well behaved cause the ca-me-ra survey 

 most of the things that we think, do, or say 

 We chasin after death just to call ourselves brave 

 But everyday, next man meet with the grave 

 I give a damn if any fam' recall my legacy 

 I'm tryin to live life in the sight of God's memory 

 Like that y'all 

  

 [Mos Def] 

 A lot of people don't understand the true criteria of things 

 Can't just accept the appearance 

 Have to get the true essence 

  

 [Talib Kweli] 

 They ain't lookin around 

  

 [M.D.] Not strong 

 [T.K.] Only aggressive 

 [M.D.] Not free 

 [T.K.] We only licensed 

 [M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite 

 [T.K.] Now who the nicest? 

 [M.D.] Not good but well behaved 

 [T.K.] Chasin after death 

 so we can call ourselves brave? 

 [M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves 

 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life 

 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice 

 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life 

 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice 

 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life 

 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice 

 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life 

 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice 

  

 [Mos Def (singing)] 

 Stop hidin, stop hidin, stop hidin your face 

 Stop hidin, stop hidin, cause ain't no hiding place 

 * repeat 2X* 

  

 (Ad libs to fade