Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry to bother you today. My name is
Joe. And, um, I`m not on crack, I don`t do drugs, I`m just trying to get
something to eat. If you can give just a penny, a nickel..a dime, a
quarter..anything will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time...
and have a nice day.
How do you do?
I`m from the other side of town
The place where the only skin you see is the color brown
The sun never shines in this place where I live
And it`s hard to do right when you feel negative
I have no compassion
I only know agression
And there is nothing great about this opression
People I see on TV, in there towns live the good life
But I live out of bounds
Where nobody comes unless they`re forced to come
In school, they call me the bum from the slum
But they don`t know
My sista has no food to eat
And her hand-me-down shoes are too tight for her feet
The way I see things, life isn`t fair
So I never learned how to share or to care
But to hope - and hope
Instead of feeling down
And that`s how it is
On the other side of town
I live on the other side of town
Pardon me, brotha
As you stand in your glory
I hope you don`t mind as I tell the whole story
Some people livin life like fun in the sun
But yo, others are givin strife, and that`s all they know
I feel no comfort in talks from the President
So put back on Cosby
A shack is my resident
I think if I ever die, it might be a blessin
Some say I never try, but why are they stressin
I`ll never get ahead; my raps have a better chance
I`m livin on Wonder Bread with holes in my leather pants
I`m not on the drug scene; they call me a crack head
I just had a bugged dream that I was a black man
Workin in the hospital
Then in came in a half-dead rich bitch
Yo, they must be insane
You think I would save her?
Yo, she wouldn`t save me
I asked for a quater once, and guess what she gave me
A fuckin penny
A ?quarter? costs half a mill
If it`s up to me, yo, she`s pushin up dafodils
In a casket
Payback`s a female dog
Yo, send her ass to the morgue
Then I woke up, and I sat with a frown
Damn, I woke up
But on the other side of town
The other side of town
My teacher`s a fat man
Yo, how can they tempt me so
Fuck geometry, my stomach is empty, yo
Can`t you teach me to win this crazy game?
You and I are in so many ways the same
People tell me, but I don`t believe that shit
Why do you sell me a dream, then leave me spit?
The truth is bare, and so is my cupboards, too
I wonder what could even L. Ron Hubbard do
Because my mind right now is on the brink of breakin
Yo, look how I think
I think I`ll stick up the store with the Arab guy
I`m sick of him anyway; his prices are too high
Or maybe I`ll start sellin Avon door-to-door
Then pull a jammy, and make a bigger score
Nah, maybe I`ll start sellin dope for my cous
Then I could drive the same car he does
The life of a poor man
Consider me desperate
I sleep in a cold room
And wish I could just get
A piece of the pie
Is that asking too much?
I can`t even reach what others have in their clutch
I wish I could go on, but I have to end this
And get back to livin a life that is winless
There`s no use swimmin, so I might as well drown
In my sorrows
Cause tomorrow`s the other side of town
The other side of town
The other side of town
