"Back Home" is the eighth song from Fort Minor's album "The Rising Tied".
Lyrics[]
[Intro - Common]
Uh! Yeah...yo,
We about to take ya'll to the tip, to the crib...
Let's do it Mike!
Yeah!
[Chorus]
Back home (back home),
Everybody's searching for somethin',
But all they can find is a whole lot of nothin',
Back home (back home),
Ain't nobody hopin' and prayin',
'Cause they feel like nothing can save 'em,
And they try to hold out but they can't fight the fact,
That life goes black when those lights go out,
But I guess you gotta just watch out for your own,
'Cause ain't a damn thing free back home! (Back home)
[Verse 1 - Common]
Back home, they holler "disciple" and "blackstone",
Same block they freebase yo we trapped on,
Where our grandmothers marched, the guns clap on,
There's liquor stores, beauty supplies, and rap songs,
I travel the world just to come back to it,
The crib got a lot of soul like black music,
I'm attached to it,
In many ways the city raised me, and gave me,
The drama, honor, and bravery,
The streets seem hollow, when I go to Chicago,
It's cheap wine and sorrow,
Times is hard to swallow,
In search of God's tomorrow, I borrow words from the,
Bible, and use them for survival, gangs rival,
Signs painted on walls like hieroglyphics,
I tell 'em that this is all tribal,
Used to do dirt, shorty's goin' through the same cycle,
And trials like Michael, tryin' not to stay idle!
[Chorus]
Back home (back home),
Everybody's searching for somethin',
But all they can find is a whole lot of nothin',
Back home (back home),
Ain't nobody hopin' and prayin',
'Cause they feel like nothing can save 'em,
And they try to hold out but they can't fight the fact,
That life goes black when those lights go out,
But I guess you gotta just watch out for your own,
'Cause ain't a damn thing free back home! (Back home)
[Verse 2 - Ryu]
Back home it's not Compton but close,
The same problems exist and the pain throbbin',
And folks are so common,
It don't, really bother us much we just swallow it (uh!),
Crack the bottle and smoke, hope tomorrow something,
Magical happens that'll put me back in the biz,
But the chances of it actually happening's kinda slim,
Back home, we get the good life at a glimpse,
In the form of a rap star, drug dealers, and pimps,
I'm back home!
[Verse 3 - Tak]
Back home, I try my best to keep it together it's cold,
Like the Windy City streets of December,
I pace back and forth, looking for the courage to shine,
But can't tap the source, need something to nourish my mind,
I know we all lose quite a bit in life,
Only to gain some,
Life of the dark winding roads we came from,
But I move with the night, so I'm used to the shade,
And never lose sight, bringing truth back to the game!
[Verse 4 - Mike]
Back home, we've got a lot of shit on our minds,
We're always behind on something cause there's not enough time,
And we're non-stop, bottom line, doing what we gotta do,
To get some food in the fridge and stay out of the hospital,
Back home there's people calling us hopeless,
People trying to tell us all we need is some focus,
But focus,
Focus is overrated,
Cause you see every blemish and mistake and can't change it,
Back home is Alvarado, K-Town and J-Town,
Or Little Tokyo for those that don't know,
Where figures shiver, living right in the litter,
Where kids write bigger, right inside the LA river,
On the concrete, a symbol of our everyday way,
Its that color and concentration over heavy and grey,
And by the time the ink dries on this page,
I'll be half a day away from the place where I stay!
[Chorus]
Back home (back home),
Everybody's searching for somethin',
But all they can find is a whole lot of nothin',
Back home (back home),
Ain't nobody hopin' and prayin',
'Cause they feel like nothing can save 'em,
And they try to hold out but they can't fight the fact,
That life goes black when those lights go out,
But I guess you gotta just watch out for your own,
'Cause ain't a damn thing free back home! (Back home)
[Outro - Common]
We takin it back home ya'll,
Yeah it's Common Sense (yeah!),
My guy Mike (what up Com'?),
S.O.B. (uh-huh),
Yeah, this is how we rotate,
It's good music (ha ha ha),
Hip-hop (don't stop!),
Uh, it's home for me baby...yeah!