Kimya Dawson - At the seams

^CLeft hands hold the leashes and the right hands hold the torches And ^G7grandpas holding shotguns swing on ^Gporch swings hung on porches And the ^Amgrandmas in their gardens plant more seeds to cut their losses And the ^Gpoachers with the pooches and the nooses preheat crosses And the ^Cpooches see the grandpas and they bare their teeth and growl While their ^G7owners turn their noses up like they ^Gsmell something foul And they ^Amfumble with their crosses and they start to mumble curses And they ^Gplot ways to get grandpas off of porches into hearses

But the ^Cgrandpas on the porches are just scarecrows holding toys And the ^G7grandmas in the ^Ggardens are papier-mâché decoys While the ^Amreal grandmas and grandpas are with all the girls and boys Marching ^Gdowntown to the city hall to make a lot of noise saying

Saying ^CHands up don't shoot I can't breathe ^G7Black lives matter no ^Gjustice no peace I ^Amknow that we can overcome because I had a dream A ^Gdream we tore this racist broken system apart at the seams

Sometimes it ^Cseems like we've reached the end of the road We've seen ^G7cops and judges sleep together ^Gwearing long white robes And they ^Amput their white hoods up try to take the black hoods down And they ^Gdon't plan on stopping til we're all in the ground Til we're ^Cdead in the ground or we're incarcerated 'Cause ^G7prison's a big business ^Gform of enslavement Plantat^Amions that profit on black folks in cages They'll ^Gbreak our backs and keep the wages It's out^Crageous that there's no place we can feel safe in this nation Not in ^G7our cars not a^Gt the park not in subway stations Not at ^Amchurch the pool the store not asking for help Not ^Gwalking down the street so we've gotta scream and yell

^CHands up don't shoot I can't breathe ^G7Black lives matter no ^Gjustice no peace I ^Amknow that we can overcome because I had a dream We^G tore this racist broken system apart at the seams

^CYou tweet me my own lyrics tell me to stop Letting ^G7a few bad ^Gapples ruin the bunch Don't m^Aminimize the fight comparing apples to cops This is ^Gabout the orchards poisoned roots not loose fruits in a box Once the ^Csoils been spoiled the whole crop's corrupt That's ^G7why we need the ^Ggrassroots working from the ground up And we ^Amlook to black twitter to stay woke and get some truth In^Gstead of smiling cops and black mugshots from biased corporate news 'Cause if ^Cyou steal cigarillos or you sell loose cigarettes Or you ^G7forget your turn signal will they ^Gsee your skin as a threat Will they ^Amkill you and then smear you and cover it up and lie Will they ^Gcall it "self defense" will they call it "suicide"

^CHands up don't shoot I can't breathe ^G7Black lives matter no ^Gjustice no peace I ^Amknow that we can overcome because I had a dream A dream ^Gwe tore this racist broken system apart at the seams

^CDecades of cultivation starts from tiny seeds that were once planted And we ^Gmustn't take the ^G7gardens that our ^Gelders grew for ^G7granted Though it ^Amis up to our youth how new rows sown are organized Because ^Gmovements can't keep moving if old and unsharpened eyes Can't ^Csee the need to hear what those on the ground hafta say In ^GFerguson and ^G7Cleveland Staten ^Gisland the east ^G7bay C^Amharleston Phoenix Detroit Sanford Waller ^GSeattle Chicago Los Angeles Baltimore Climbing ^Cflagpoles taking bridges locked together to the bart Speaking ^Gup about ^G7injustice in our ^Gmusic and our ^G7art Storming ^Amstages to ask candidates when they're gonna start ^GReally directly addressing issues breaking our hearts

^CHands up don't shoot I can't breathe ^G7Black lives matter no ^Gjustice no peace I ^Amknow that we can overcome because I had a dream A dream ^Gwe tore this racist broken system apart at the seams

^CHands up don't shoot I can't breathe ^G7Black lives matter no ^Gjustice no peace I ^Amknow that we can overcome because I had a dream A dream we ^Gtore this racist broken system apart at the seams

And if the ^Caltars are torn down we'll just keep on placing flowers For the ^Gboy whose body ^G7was in the road ^Gfor more than four ^G7hours We will ^Amhonor the dead of every age and every gender 'Cause we ^Gcan't just have it be the brothers' names that we remember ^CBlack boys with skateboards and black boys with hoodies And ^Glittle black ^G7girls who are ^Gon the couch ^G7sleeping And ^Amall of the black trans women massacred Too many ^G7black folks killed and ^Gbrutalized too ^G7little justice ^Gserved After the ^Clynchings of our people by the murderous police Who ^G7stand like hunters 'round their ^Gprey gasping ^G7helpless in the ^Gstreet Feet from the ^Amteen sister they tackled, locked handcuffed in the car Feet ^Gfrom her twelve year old brother dying... While no one did CPR

And we'll ^Ckeep on planting flowers and we'll fight until the day That ^G7we don't have to ^Gpick them all to ^G7put them all on ^Ggraves Yeah ^Amwe'll keep planting flowers and we'll fight until the day That ^Gwe don't have to pick them all to put them all on graves

^CHands up don't shoot I can't breathe ^G7Black lives matter no ^Gjustice no peace I ^Amknow that we can overcome because I had a dream A dream ^Gwe tore this racist broken system apart at the seams