The Devil You Know (Purple Version)
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Lyrics
Helicopters over my house again
We got projects two or three blocks from here
They pulled these kids over for driving while laughing
Once I got them warrants, I was running in fear
So I sit here waiting for the coast to clear
Wishing once again I had a gun around here
I turn on the news, what do I hear?
Some kid shot the bank up on Gallatin Road
He ran away from the cops while they're trying to reload
He beat them up to Eastland Street
On feet now he's probably reloaded and running down my street
I better turn my alarm on and lock myself in
Helicopters over my house again
Sometimes you rise above it
Sometimes you sneak below
Somewhere in between believing in heaven
Or facing the devil you know
This poor kid probably never had a chance to give a fuck
He wouldn't know good luck from a debutante
He's got to find a way to be like Steve McNair or Young Buck
Or he is tough luck looking for a prison to haunt
And you can forget getting any kind of job you want
Unless you really want to work in a fast food restaurant
Who wants to do that? You want to do that?
I wouldn't trade that for my crooked hat
Or my gang or my gun or my waist full of pagers
For a job deep frying shit for richer teenagers
If that's where it's at, no one's going to help, man
How you going to blame a kid from helping himself?
There is a war going on the poor can't win
Helicopters over my house again
Sometimes you rise above it
Sometimes you sneak below
Somewhere in between believing in heaven
Or facing the devil you know
Black and white cops shining lights through the bushes
I can't see how this kid is supposed to get very far
Unless he finds a way to make it back over to Berry Street
And he can't do that unless he steals a car
You know theThe way things are, it don't seem right
It's always white people talking about hope and light
There ain't no hope in Sam Levy, there's just guns and drugs
We ain't building bridges, we trainin' thugs
And then I hear this terrifying kick at my back door
In walks this kid, I say, "Hey, I've seen this kid before
I see him all the time at that bar on Woodland Street"
Now he's bleeding in my kitchen, tracking blood off his feet
And he is looking at me like I'm gonna help him or die
Until he sees in my eyes that I'm on his side
I hand him my keys, I say, "You better move fast
There is a J in the ashtray and plenty of gas"
He throws me the cash, he says, "I won't be back for this"
I said, "Yeah, well, don't be surprised if
There's just a teeny bit of it missing"
His golden teeth, they glisten with a little grin
He said, "We talk about that when I see you again"
He shook my hand, I shook his back
I felt like I was about to have a heart attack
Until he finally drove away, I thought, "Goddamn
Helicopters over my house again"
Sometimes, you're gonna rise above it
Sometimes, you're gonna sneak below
Somewhere in between believing in Heaven
And facing the devil you know
Facing the devil you know
Mmm, that was one take
And for those of you keeping score at home
There's only the chorus
It's the only time we ever go to another chord
I'll show you something else
Most of you probably know this, but if you're a beginner guitar player
Keith Sykes showed me this thing
See how there's an E chord?
If you just leave these, forget about them
And then take this string and just take
This one finger and put it right there
I might have showed you this before
Keith Sykes showed me this
And essentially, if you don't hit any other strings but these two
That's an E, right?
And then, here's the big part, ready?
And then you can go, if you're not making an E like that
You can do it this way too, but it's a lot
Easier if you just take this one and go
And then you just go back and forth with that
Pick up a guitar at home right now and go
It's just one little string
But then you learn you can go all around that fucker, man
A lot of good times, a lot of good times
I hope I'm not too stoned today
I mean, that was the plan
But, and now I'm maybe regretting it
No, I'm having a good time
I'm excited to hear Robert sing