| [00:04.297][Intro: J. Cole] |
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| [00:04.924] |
Yeah, caged bird |
| [00:11.298] |
Some'n' like a caged bird |
| [00:16.522] |
Caged bird |
| [00:20.310] |
Yeah, look |
| [00:22.504][Verse 1: J. Cole] |
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| [00:22.740] |
You ain't a man till you stop chasing your friends, my nigga |
| [00:26.031] |
Think for yourself, make your own plans, my nigga |
| [00:29.035] |
I'll be lying if I said I ain't understand, my nigga |
| [00:31.830] |
'Cause who you gon' follow when the leaders all get swallowed |
| [00:34.886] |
By reefer clouds and bottles |
| [00:36.480] |
In and out of county jail |
| [00:37.838] |
This is hell, see the young black males in packed cells |
| [00:40.503] |
With they heads down |
| [00:41.913] |
And they fists clenched tight |
| [00:43.272] |
Thinking, "I could bust a hole through this wall |
| [00:44.787] |
And, bitch, I just might." |
| [00:46.041] |
It's just like the caged bird; I sing a song |
| [00:48.392] |
Hoping they open up these bars and send a nigga home |
| [00:51.239] |
I cry when I'm alone |
| [00:52.415] |
I'm wondering why would God send me here |
| [00:54.086] |
Knowing that they hate us |
| [00:55.419] |
Knowing that they make us feel like we evil so we kill our people |
| [00:58.553] |
Without a second thought, in every lesson taught by OGs |
| [01:01.949] |
We full of real nigga wisdom, so we proceed |
| [01:04.457] |
Like real niggas who been stripped of our humanity |
| [01:07.017] |
I see the judge's eyes, I know that he ain't understanding me |
| [01:10.126][Hook: J. Cole] |
|
| [01:10.517] |
A caged bird (Yeah, a caged bird) |
| [01:14.593] |
(Let this little caged bird sing) Caged bird |
| [01:18.406] |
Yeah, caged bird |
| [01:21.071] |
Freedom's just an illusion, that's my conclusion |
| [01:23.500] |
And if it ain't, then how my niggas keep on losin' theirs? |
| [01:26.452] |
This goes out to childhood friends that's doin' years |
| [01:29.456] |
Prison tats on they backs like souvenirs |
| [01:32.304] |
We wish that you was here |
| [01:33.766] |
A mother's tear spilled on this page |
| [01:35.438] |
A brother's tear spilled on this page |
| [01:37.267] |
How many days left? |
| [01:38.730] |
And can you find peace when you released |
| [01:40.611] |
Still filled up wit' rage |
| [01:41.917] |
Back on the streets just to peep that you still in the cage |
| [01:44.633][Verse 2: Omen] |
|
| [01:45.234] |
Well, it's the oratory vet |
| [01:46.802] |
Turned down king slash poet laureate |
| [01:49.466] |
Used to paint a picture with a story of neglect |
| [01:52.548] |
I could've been a shorty drinking 40s on the steps |
| [01:55.396] |
With a shorty on my lap |
| [01:56.676] |
With a shorty on the way coming shortly to protect |
| [01:59.941] |
I could've been a dealer in the party with the X |
| [02:02.632] |
But I'm hardly in the mix and I partially confess |
| [02:05.192] |
I definitely got a couple parts in me that I regret |
| [02:08.431] |
Is the cup half-empty or is it half-full? |
| [02:11.304] |
I fill mine up with Hennessy, then get back to him |
| [02:14.073] |
I'm just a jazz musician trapped in a rap form |
| [02:17.156] |
You think you standing for something you on a trap door |
| [02:19.873] |
Well it's the, Mr. Introspective |
| [02:22.171] |
I'm a dreamers dream, a sort of an inception |
| [02:25.280] |
I never fiend for the scene but I dreamed of the things |
| [02:28.232] |
That a Mercedes brings, like slow sex with fast women |
| [02:31.837] |
Drinking cognac I'm past grinning |
| [02:33.796] |
A sexy dress, fat ass in it |
| [02:36.095] |
But still hit it till I'm half-winded |
| [02:38.446] |
Cause niggas tell me I'm the shit when I be hitting all these dimes |
| [02:41.397] |
See I'm caged by the visions of the blind |
| [02:43.748] |
I started as a king |
| [02:45.185] |
Turned to a slave |
| [02:46.779] |
Put us in our chains |
| [02:48.111] |
We was forced to entertain |
| [02:49.652] |
Thinking bout the present day I'm living off the stage |
| [02:52.500] |
Wonder if a nigga ever get up out this cage |
| [02:55.321] |
As I sing |
| [02:56.131][Hook: J. Cole] |
|
| [02:56.601] |
A caged bird (Yeah, a caged bird) |
| [02:59.187] |
(Let this little caged bird sing) Caged bird |
| [03:02.713] |
Yeah, caged bird |
| [03:06.423] |
Freedom's just an illusion, that's my conclusion |
| [03:09.061] |
And if it ain't, then how my niggas keep on losin' theirs? |
| [03:11.804] |
This goes out to childhood friends that's doin' years |
| [03:14.808] |
Prison tats on they backs like souvenirs |
| [03:17.864] |
We wish that you was here |
| [03:19.092] |
A mother's tear spilled on this page |
| [03:20.868] |
A brother's tear spilled on this page |
| [03:22.645] |
How many days left? |
| [03:24.108] |
And can you find peace when you released |
| [03:26.250] |
Still filled up wit' rage |
| [03:27.373] |
Back on the streets just to peep that you still in the cage |