Cover art for Philstine David by Brother Ali

Philstine David

Produced by

1 viewer

Philstine David Lyrics

* originally on Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains Soundtrack

Chorus: [X2]
I stand tall I raise my fists
I pray all this pain might lift
I don't want to die tonight
But I can't live another day like this

Verse One:
The first time I ever broke the law
Was just being born in a zone that's controlled by y'all

A foreigner in my own damn home land
Made me a sixteen year old, grown man
I was aged by the pain that I saw
Outside my front door was the front line of a war
Shots gets fired I cry on the floor
Underneath my bed tryin' to hide from it all

I try to recall the first time that I saw
Someone close to me die and my mind starts to draw
A blank
There's far to many of us die
Genocide it's a genocide
And our enemies will never be satisfied
Until not even our memories survive
It feels like they got the whole world on their side
And the story of my people will never reach your eyes
But understand one damn thing I can't run
I don't care where Goliath got his strength from

I'll rush your tank with not even a hand gun
Only a rock from the land that I stand on

Chorus [X2]

Verse Two:
That's the law that I break when I breathe
The blood of my people races through me
I will never back down, I can not flee
Would rather die on my feet then to live on my knees
Adorning the soldier uniform I was born in
I did not chose the war I was drawn in
If I been called to be a martyrs end
I'm standing on Heaven's front door with a grin
Saying please let me in
Greet me as a friend
I did not believe I would breathe free again
Lord have mercy on my soul
I was desperate and I had people to defend
I'm the slave that drowned on the middle passage
I'm chief Sitting Bull at the hand of a savage
John Brown standing, both guns blasting
Crying freedom, something must happen
If I'm the only weapon that I have
Then I'm standing with a bomb strapped to my abdomen

Eyes full of water
God please forgive me
My people must one day live free
Chorus [X2]

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Have the inside scoop on this song?
Sign up and drop some knowledge

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Produced By
Tags
Comments