[Intro: John F. Kennedy]
Only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it
[Chorus: Black Thought sample & harmonies by Joss Stone]
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
[Verse 1: Pharoahe Monch]
The bane of my own existence, strange
Our defeat is deranged
Add that, multiplied by my feelings
The pain still egregious, but strategic
I came to rise up out of the flames like a phoenix
My words'll reach a million or more when I tweet it
That's as many people as MLK and Jesus
In half the time, peep the rhymes of a genius
Who refuses to align with the elitist
Seeing Dr King's dreams were not for the squeamish
Children of a lesser god, oppression gets repeated unless
We slide up out of the chains and delete it
America's like black and white dice tumbling
Any day you could bite the dust, another one
So while our culture is crumbling I will enunciate every line
Clearly so you can hear what the fuck I'm saying, no mumbling
[Chorus: Black Thought sample & harmonies by Joss Stone]
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
[Verse 2: Posdnuos]
The irony of a nation claiming to be the United States
Yet never in a state of unification
Egos and ignorance creates incisions
Comforted ones believe these divisions
And we rep the rhythm with a little bit of scepticism
Leaving us jaded and traded in compassion for compression
Ready to squeeze the life out of anyone who steps to us
With aggression
The media runs with it, calling us aggressive
When it's just reaction to a system that's oppressive
Raised fists are claimed offensive
But when both arms and open palms are up
Police [?]
[?] it's the mood and the outcome of this selection is stewed
In a mellow [?] no longer good for blending
And yet it's never too late for the cleansing
If we want to rise up, then put the lies up
Know the truth, make sure you need to size up before you judge
In order to unify someone's got to budge
And to the choir don't preach, and discard the beat
So instead those trapped in ignorance can be reached
The outcome from this is a high
Consciousness instead of a fist, push to the sky
[Chorus: Black Thought sample & harmonies by Joss Stone]
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
[Verse 3: Black Thought]
Rise to power then fall from grace
Though often cases our heads are lost in the clouds
Or we're lost in space
Citizens of the divided states identify with hatred
For our demise, they watch and wait
Look at the downward spiral, it's goin' viral
Nobody's ever accountable, who's held liable?
If anyone could court respond, if they so inclined to
It's sad, they want a borderline, redefine you
As a people we can rise like the tides
Due to tower over evil as a nation under God
Indivisible [?] the weight of all our odds
But together we'll survive, just never sever ties
We could rise to a brilliance, rise to a balance
Rise to a way to coexist in nonviolence
Rise to a volume that's impossible to silence
In the morning when I rise, I'll rise to the challenge
[Chorus: Black Thought sample & harmonies by Joss Stone]
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
Rising up out of the flames like a phoenix
[Outro: Martin Luther King Jr]
Never in the history of this nation have so many people been for the cause of freedom and human dignity. Now let me say this, keep this movement going, keep this movement rolling. Long as we keep moving like we are moving, the power structures will have to give in. In spite of the difficulties and we're gonna have a few more difficulties, keep trying. Keep moving, if you can't fly, run. If you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving
