[00:04.297][Intro: J. Cole]
[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]
[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