everybody wanna change the world but nobody ever changed this town tell yourself you re gonna rise above it until the blacktop pulls you down we got blue veins til they hit the knife and we don t change who we are we got blue veins til they hit the knife and they bleed red bleed red why can t i be more i don t wanna fight my father s wars nothing comes easy where i come from so we sweat it out in the concrete sun til the colors run i ve seen the story play out before old men they just fade away and we become what our fathers were like soldiers following the orders put it on the shoulders of the family name it s who we are we got blue veins til they hit the knife and they bleed red bleed red why can t i be more i don t wanna fight my father s wars nothing comes easy where i come from so we sweat it out in the concrete sun til the colors run maybe it s like axel spins it you hate it you hate it and then one day you miss it find yourself coming back to old divisions while your cinder block dream sleeps with the fishes thought it had wings you thought you could fly but nobody flies on the south side you re just born here and then you die loyal to the oil in the blacktop sky or maybe it s like joni says it nothing is written boy nothing is set there s something brave about staying with it and making beauty out of all this shi but i m a long way from going the distance feels more like dying by inches all the wishes and the misses the poverty of indifference why can t i be more i don t wanna fight my father s wars nothing comes easy where i come from so we sweat it out in the concrete sun til the colors run1