Songtexte: Woodie. Life Stories, Vol. 1. Mind Games.

[Blackbird:]
It's 1993, some things have been rough,
You know, they just made me hard and stuff
I didn't like when people tried to punk me
Then people started carrying guns
Shit
Well anyways
In 94 Raymond he got shot
Which just started a big ol' thing
Then a whole bunch of stuff happened

[Verse 1:]
Enemies grab your strap cause Woodie's back
With an S.K. chop up on your ass
West twomp-norteno earn my stripes at a young age livin' fast
Strapped and young with a lot to prove,
Dared anyone to make a move
Buckin' at them scraps on west boulevard-way back in '92
It's '99, been to hell and back,
Blackbird is gone I dwell on that
Thinkin' what could I've done to change the way shit went down,
Wish I could bring him back
This gangbangin' done took it's toll,
I drink old gold to keep control
To appease my soul where the demon grows,
God if you're true release it's hold
It won't let go so I keep on ridin',
Slappin' the clip in the chop invitin'
Enemies... to come get at me and say your last goodbyes
Cause one of us dyin'
I know when it's time for me to go
I'm gonna die in a cloud of gun smoke
Had dreams of my death since the age of fourteen,
I'm surprised I ain't already done croaked
Put negative thoughts in the back of my mind,
Gotta find a way to make that cabbage
I'm tired of seein' the homiez broke,
Gotta plan to have us livin' lavish
Rappin' about this life we've lead,
Rappin' about this blood we shed
And all the different ways homiez have bled,
To keep each other one step ahead

[Chorus:]
When enemies approach
Should I run or should I kill
Fuck runnin' I'm gunnin' producin' murders with my steel
What if you're slippin' without your strap the chances are most likely high
Come show up in these streets now they see bullets fly!

When enemies approach
Should I run or should I kill
Fuck runnin' I'm gunnin' producin' murders with my steel
I'm trying to keep my thoughts in check everyday
I struggle to keep my mind sane
Pull an AK and I can't tell
Heaven and hell keep playing mind games

[Verse 2:]
From trials and tribulations
I've developed a knack for patience
So I'm camouflaged and waitin'
When it comes to retaliation
Infiltratin' surveyin' your spot,
Gotta plot so I don't get caught
My click is hot, by the cops were sought,
They'd love to empty out our knot
Therefore engagin' in tactics the average soldier couldn't grasp
But I'll leave it at that
Cause I know detectives try decodin' my raps
They tryin' to lock all of us up,
They might have killed the babies and los
They knew that snoop didn't kill nobody
Yet sentenced him to the most
No doubt the media's on their side,
The media feeds the nation lies
They just relay what the government say,
They're puppets for the public's eyes
This world's built up of gangs,
Some are bigger some are smaller
F.B.I, C.I.A, Norteno, Crip, Blood we all are... set trippin'
But the A.T.F decides how many straps we get,
The D.E.A decides just how much coke and heroin's smuggled in
And so on... it goes on from the top to the bottom
And we're at the bottom
Livin' up in these streets
So fuck you pigs when you ask me why I shot 'em

[Chorus:]
When enemies approach
Should I run or should I kill
Fuck runnin' I'm gunnin' producin' murders with my steel
What if you're slippin' without your strap the chances are most likely high
Come show up in these streets now they see bullets fly!

When enemies approach
Should I run or should I kill
Fuck runnin' I'm gunnin' producin' murders with my steel
I'm trying to keep my thoughts in check everyday
I struggle to keep my mind sane
Pull an AK and I can't tell
Heaven and hell keep playing mind games

[Verse 3:]
I'd love to have a family,
Beautiful wife that understands me
Many sons and a daughter
But I'd be a father on the brink of sanity
Would it be fair? If one day daddy disappeared
Whether I lost my mind or I lost my life
Left with one mother to care
Would they end up like me?
It's definitely a possibility
Just one of a thousand questions
Eatin' me up inside it's killin' me
But if an unplanned child comes,
I'm stickin' by my loaded guns
I'll protect my little homie and have an army of sons
Fuck it! I'll teach 'em everything that I know,
Make sure they grow to become hogs
How to plot attacks and cover their tracks,
Loyalty above all laws
I gotta keep dreamin' to keep them demons out my head
So I don't snap
I might peel my wig back or your wig back,
I ain't dealin' with a full stack
Brain unstable but I remain able
To keep them shady thoughts cradled
Takin' it day by day
And when the sunsets hope the night ain't fatal
Look in the sky, pick a star,
That's blackbird tonight
I'm choppin' it up with my big homie
He might be gone but he's still in my life
Impossible to separate us we're one of the same spirit
His flesh is gone but his soul lives on
And when he speaks to me I hear it
The only difference is I'm walkin' the earth
Still caught up in drama
Until my numbers called game over
No more need for the bulletproof armor

[Chorus:]
When enemies approach
Should I run or should I kill
Fuck runnin' I'm gunnin' producin' murders with my steel
What if you're slippin' without your strap the chances are most likely high
Come show up in these streets now they see bullets fly!

When enemies approach
Should I run or should I kill
Fuck runnin' I'm gunnin' producin' murders with my steel
I'm trying to keep my thoughts in check everyday
I struggle to keep my mind sane
Pull an AK and I can't tell
Heaven and hell keep playing mind games

[Blackbird:]
Whenever you wanna talk to me,
I'll be listening don't worry

[Woodie:]
Hear that home boys,
He's still with us

[Blackbird:]
Whenever you wanna talk to me,
I'll be listening don't worry

[Woodie:]
Just not in the flesh
Woodie watching over all of us

[Blackbird:]
Whenever you wanna talk to me,
I'll be listening don't worry

[Woodie:]
I'll see you in a minute Los
I love ya

[Blackbird:]
Whenever you wanna talk to me,
Whenever you wanna talk to me,
Whenever you wanna talk to me,
I'll be listening don't worry

[Woodie:]
Yeah and I love all my family
All my homies
Ya know
I never turn my back on any of ya
How could I
Look what snoop did
Loyalty above all laws!