Lyrics: Michael Franti And Spearhead. Home. Crime To Be Broke.

I take the needle off the record
and shove it in my arm
whenever I feel life is
comin' on too strong
they left me in a clinic fulla
cynical motha fuckin' bureaucrats
and other kinda ding bats

Livin on the tracks
the tracks in my arm said
it all depends which side the tracks your on.
tellin' me what to wear
tellin me cut my hair
and tryin to convince me that they
really really care
all about my health and about my wealth
but still they built the Stealth
'cause everybody's
just lookin out for they self

So then I ask 'em
can I have a clean needle
"Hell no that's illegal!"

(chorus)
'Cause it's a crime to be broke in America!
and it's a crime to smoke dank in America!
(repeat)

"Yeah hit those drums now"
they lockin' brother's in the poorhouse
who can't afford Moorhouse
politicians nervous
it's the only free service they provide
you wanna go inside
there's a hot meal waitin' for ya
a deal we can score ya
on a bed for a night or two
or three or four months.

They say they lockin' us up in cells
to protect us from ourselves
it smells like they got anotha
plan in store house
or should I say warehouse
fulla niggas and other misfits
that couldn't turn tricks in the courthouse
it's a justice whorehouse

(chorus)
It's a crime to be broke in America!
and it's a crime to be Black in America!

But there's a mutiny on the bounty
in ever single county
we remember Attica
but don't forget to pat a few
other on the back as a matter of fact
sister Asatta Shakur and Geronimo Pratt
'cause Amnesty international
is fightin' for political
but if your analytical
you know it's much more critical than that
percentages black is really, really whack
can I kick a few facts yes?

Sx percent in college
from livin on the block
twenty five percent in prison
the school of hard knocks
fifty percent in poverty
is livin on the rocks
five hundred brothas on a death row box

The punishment is capital
for those who lack in capital
because a public defender
can't remember the last time
that a brother wasn't treated like an animal.

They say they blame it on a song
when someone kills a cop
what music did they listen to
when they bombed Iraq?
give me one example so I can take a sample
no need to play it backwards
if you wanna hear the devil
cause music's not the problem
it didn't cause the bombin'
but maybe they should listen
to the songs of people starving..

(chorus)
'Cause it's a Crime to be broke in America!
it's a crime to smoke dank in America!
it's a crime to be black in America!
it's a crime to be black in America!
it's a crime to be Puerto Rican
African
Native American
Asian Hatian
a Woman