Growing up I've seen a lot of s**t in my time
I've seen hunger, hunger, pleasure, pain, violence and crime
I have learned
from the mistakes of my friends that have died
And from those who have gone down in life that just never
tried
Life is just too
short I realize that now
I'm gonna get my s**t together and try to make it some how
Cause one thing that I have learned is that you
only live once
So now I'll take life by the balls and squeeze until they crunch
Knowledge of the streets, a valuable
tool
Type of education you can't get in school
Many hard times, losing friends, getting burned
Nobody to teach me, I just
learned
A man like clay molded by his surroundings
He starts to take shape of the beating and the pounding
Assembly line that
I've been through
A hard m**********r with a bad attidude
Maybe its just the times we live in
Maybe its just urban
discipline
The ways of urban life are not as they seem
Standing up and fighting is what living here means
In order to survive
you've got to earn your respect
The only lessons that you learn are from things that you regret
[Lead]
[Verse
II]
Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Queens
Standing up and fighting is what living here means
In order to
survive you've got to earn your respect
The only lessons that you learn are from things that you regret