Shots Fired

[Verse 1]
Jamal called Denise
Said he'd be home late
Earning money on the side
To put food on their plate
Only trying to provide
But it sealed his fate
Selling bootleg tapes
By the subway train
When the cops came through
In an hour or two
They unloaded hot lead
Through his valid excuse
Proving black and blue
Can mean more than a bruise
Now there's one less seat
At a table for two

The officers stood trial
Crippled justice let them walk
They'll hide behind a badge
That let's them live above the law

[Chorus]
And it's shots fired in the city streets
Across the color line
Shots fired through concealment
Of the power structures crimes
Shots fired at the courthouse
Where corruption wears the crown
Shots fired when the crooked gavel
Comes a crashing down

[Verse 2]
Billy's father raised him tough
Told him "be a man"
With a Bible and a rifle
For aluminum cans
Sent him off to fight a war
Came back lost in his head
With a vengeance toward the system
That he fought to defend
Brought a semi automatic
To a southern church
Now the congregations leaving
In the back of a hearse
Then he took his own life
Cause the truth can hurt
When you trust in God
And your country first

A casualty of liberty
With landmine mental health
He"s daddy's little hero
But he couldn't save himself

[Chorus]
Cause it's shots fired on the battlefield
What are we fighting for?
Shots fired through the smiles
Of the profiteers of war
Shots fired in the classrooms
By the twisted poisoned mind
Shots fired for the answers
That we seek but cease to find

[Verse 3]
When Omar's face flashed
On the TV screen
For a massacre, the likes of
Which we'd never seen
Some reporters called him crazy
Others blamed his beliefs
His religion or conflicting sexuality
But it doesn't really matter
When push comes to shove
Cause he aimed a loaded weapon
At a Florida club
Taking 49 lives
Hated how they loved
Left a shadow on a rainbow
Drenched in blood

The politics of ignorance
Will lie and generalize
It spreads the thread of prejudice
To widen the divide

[Chorus]
So it's shots fired at extremists
And their blatant bigotry
Shots fired for communities
In fear of the police
Shots fired at the government's
Who orchestrate the fight
Shots fire on the left
And then shots fire on the right

[Verse 4]
Hear the thunder as it echoes
All across the land
From the fire arms
The trigger happy
Hold in their hands
Some will call it patriotic
Others want them banned
And attempt to put the genie
Back inside the lamp
It's a matter of opinion
If it's wrong or right
It depends, cause' they can end
Or they can save a life
Its the edges of perspective
Where our views collide
Or the center of the target
Where we compromise

So think it through, this much is true
Whatever you decide
You're bound to find a paradox
In every paradigm

[Chorus]
Shots fired throughout history
A chapter in decline
Shots fired at the barricades
That block the changing times
Shots fired for the victims
Sweating bullets on the run
Shots fired cause were looking down
The barrel of of a gun