I know they like to beat you down a lot When you come around the block, brothers clown But please, don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive, but don't forget, girl, keep your head up And when he tells you you ain't nothin', don't believe him And if you can't learn to love you, you should leave him Cause sister, you don't need me And I ain't tryin' to gas you up, I just call him how I see You know what makes me unhappy? My brothers make dates and leave a young mother to be attached And since we all came from a woman, got our name from a woman And I came from a woman I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women? Do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women, time to heal our women Be real to our women And if we don't, we'll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies that make the babies And since a man can't make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up? I know you're fed up, ladies But keep your head up Keep your head up Things are gonna get easy Keep your head up Things will get brighter Keep your head up Things are gonna get easy Keep your head up Things will get brighter I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me He had me feelin' like black was the thing to be And suddenly the kettle didn't seem so tough And though we had it rough, we always had enough I've been buffered by my curfew and broke the rules Ran with the local crew and had a smoke or two I realized mama really paid the price She nearly gave her life to raise me right And all I had to give her was my vice Remember how I'm off the mic and make it to the bright screen I'm tryna make a dollar out of fifty cents It's hard to be legit and still pay your rent They say you're written in the end It seems I'm headin' for the pen I try to find my friends, but they're blowin' in the wind Last night, my body lost its whole family It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity It seems the rain'll never let up I try to keep my head up And still keep from gettin' wetter You know it's funny when it rains, it pours They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor Said it ain't no hope for the youth And the truth is it ain't no hope for the future And didn't they wonder why we crazy I blame my mother for turnin' my brother into a crack baby We ain't meant to survive cause this is fed up And even though you fed up Give me your fed up, ooh child Things are gonna get easy Give me your fed up, ooh child Things will get brighter Give me your fed up, ooh child Things are gonna get easy Give me your fed up, ooh child Things will get brighter And I'm told the ladies havin' babies on their own I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin' all alone Daddy's long gone and he left you by your lonesome Thanks a lot for my kids even if nobody else want em Cause I think we can make it in fact I'm sure And if you fall stand tall and come back for more Cause ain't nothin' worse than when your son wants to know Why his daddy don't love him no more You can't complain you was dealt this Hell of a hand without a man feelin' helpless Because too many things for you to deal with Dyin' inside but outside you're workin' fitness Why the tears is rollin' down your cheek Is daddy hopin' things don't all fall this week Cause if it did you couldn't take it And don't blame me I was givin' this world I didn't make it And now my son's gettin' old, I ain't old, I ain't cold From havin' the world on his shoulders While the rich kids are drivin' big I'm still tryin' to hold on to survivin' friends And it's crazy, it seems I'm never let up Please, you gotta keep your head up