J. Cole — Be Free Live on The Late Show with David Letterman

[Verse 1] And I'm in denial And it don't take no x-ray to see right through my smile Oh no I be on the go But there ain't no drink out there that can numb my soul Oh no Uh [Chorus] All we wan' do is take the chains off All we wan' do is break the chains off, yeah All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is take the chains off All we wan' do is break the chains off, yeah All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is be free [Verse 2] Can you tell me why Every time I step outside I see my people die? Oh, I I'm lettin' you know That there ain't no gun they make that can kill my soul Oh no [Chorus] All we wan' do is take the chains off All we wan' do is break the chains off, yeah All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is take the chains off All we wan' do is break the chains off, yeah All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is be free [Verse 3] Yeah Forget this chain, 'cause this ain't me Though I'm eternally grateful to Jay Z We so elated, we celebrated like Obama waited until his last day in office To tell the nation, "Brothers is getting they reparations, hey!" A man can dream, can't he? No disrespect, in terms of change I haven't seen any Maybe he had good intentions but was stifled by the system And was sad to learn that he actually couldn't bring any That's what I get for thinking, this world is fair They let a brother steer the ship and never told him that the ship was sinkin' But I got other shit to think about Like my bank account Forget that watch, you paid too much for it, you oughta be ashamed When brothers back home be dreading when the seasons change 'Cause they ain't got no heat and they ain't got no AC WalMart distribution fired my homie, he just had a baby You wonder why it's been so many B and E's lately While brothers from the hood shooting like this is TNT lately And since all the ballers leaving college early I turn on the TV and don't see no brothers with degrees lately [Bridge] Are we all alone Fighting on our own? Please give me a chance I don't wanna dance Something's got me down I will stand my ground Don't just stand around Don't just stand around [Outro] All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is be free All we wan' do is take the chains off