Living Colour

ping away
Your future won't save your past
The time is now, it won't last
The time is nigh
Time to do or die

Time waits for no one
If you want to go on
Leave me something to grow on
The forests, the trees, the rivers, the seas
All die of this disease

Time ain't on your side
Don't sit idly by
You've got to just try

2. History Lesson - 0:52

In Africa, music is not an art form as much as it is a means of communication
A negro has got no name
Quite often, the words of the song are meaningless
A negro has got no name
We are wearing the name of our master
The slave had no separate?
A negro has got no name (Civilisation, start the way)
He was never asked who he was (They tied us to be against one another)
A negro has got no name
Another instrument used to control the mind of the slaves was religion
Is our slaves gonna be free and?
In Africa, music is not an art form as much as it is a means of communication

3. Pride - 4:55

When I speak out loud
You say I'm crazy
When I'm feeling proud
You say I'm lazy
I look around and see the true reality

You like our hair
You love our music
Our culture's large, so you abuse it
Take time to understand, I'm an equal man

History's a lie that they teach you in school
A fraudulent view called the golden rule
A peaceful land that was born civilized
Was robbed of its riches, its freedom, its pride

When I'm at work you say I'm great
You watch and ponder, but can you relate?
Inviting eyes hands drop, when the music stops

Don't ask me why I play this music
'Cause it's my culture, so naturally I use it
I state my claim to say, it's here for all to play

History's a lie that they teach you in school
A fraudulent view called the golden rule
A peaceful land that was born civilized
Was robbed of its riches, its freedom, its pride

It's time for a change
Concepts rearrange
Now can't you feel my rage?

It's up to you to seek the truth
To know your history, the difference between me and you
Relate to me as me, not what you see on TV

History's a lie that they teach you in school
A fraudulent view called the golden rule
A peaceful land that was born civilized
Was robbed of its riches, its freedom, its pride

4. Love Rears Its Ugly Head - 4:19

Yeah ehh ehh
Ah oooh ooh
Dib um dib dib dib dib dib dib

I always thought that our relationship was good
You played the role of having sense, I always played the fool
Now something's different, I don't know the reason why
Whenever we separate I almost want to cry

Oh no, please not that again
Love rears up its ugly head

And when I come home late you don't complain or call
So as a consequence I don't go out at all
My friends are frightened, they don't know what's going on
They think you put a spell on me and now my mind is gone

Oh no, please not that again
Love rears up its ugly head
...its ugly head

Love's not so bad they say
But you never know where love is gonna go

Does anybody really know oh?

(Check this out...)

I'm standing at the altar
As they play the wedding march
I'm in a black tuxedo with my collar full of starch
She looks as lovely as she's ever gonna get
I wake up from this nightmare in a pool of sweat

Oh no, no, no, no
Not that again...yeah...

I'm not goin'
I'm not goin when
Love rears up its ugly head

No not me
No no not me when
Love rears up its
Love rears up its ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly head

What you gonna do
What you gonna do when it comes and gets you?

5. New Jack Theme - 3:30

Buy and die/or sell and be free
We are the new Jacks/this is our reality
Do unto others/leave no one alive
This is our creed/we will survive
No control is how I'm living
On the edge with no forgiving

Things get rough when you've got time to kill
You've got the cash/then I've got your thrill
I make more money than a judge or a cop
Give me a reason why I should stop

Large is how I'm living
On the edge with no forgiving

Some people say my soul is lost
I'll lose my life if I start to turn soft
From where I am there's no turning back
Crack is the master
I am a new Jack

Can anybody see me?
Can anybody hear me?

I'll never change/I'll never stop
I've got cold cash/I'm on the top
We can get busy if you want to play
I'll have the last laugh when I blow you away

Don't you see me?
Can't you hear me?

6. Someone Like You - 3:47

INTRO
Lets go down that sliding board again
*children playing*

[Verse]
Do you remember
The times of laughter?
Children playin', life was so sweet
Before our city forgot us
And let the druglord take our street
Pacify me politician
Pacify me with your lies
Blind to the people suffering
Deaf to the children's cries

[Chorus]
Well I know what to do
With someone like you

[Verse]
Police, they chased my brother
Policeman licensed to kill
Ohh, how I miss my brother
Good shoes are so hard to fill
Policeman, are you happy?
You snuffed the medical student out
Ohh, maybe he could have changed the world
I guess we'll never find out

[Chorus]
Ohh, but I know what to do
With someone like you
Yea yea yeah
I know what to do
With someone like you

[Bridge]
It's never too late
To change your ways
It's never too late
To change your ways

[Verse]
Ohh, too young
Gave her body
She was afraid of being alone
One baby having another
Ohh, sweet baby wants to be grown
But there's a, there's an angel on your shoulder
Always speaking to your soul
Listen and your heart will be glad
You'll never have to be alone

[Final Chorus]
Ohh, 'cause I know what to do
With someone like you
Yeah, I know what to do
With someone like you


Ohh, I know what to do
With someone like you
I know what to do

7. Elvis Is Dead - 3:50

[Spoken]
Yo, Corey, man
Yeah, man. What's up?
I saw Elvis the other day
Get outta here, man!

Tabloids scream Elvis seen at a shopping mall
That's the kind of talk that makes my stomach crawl
Picture a zombie Elvis in a tacky white jump suit
Just imagine a rotting Elvis shopping for fresh fruit
He can't 'cause

Elvis is dead (x8)

When the King died he was all alone
I heard that when he died he was sittin' on his throne
Alas poor Elvis, they made us know you well
Now you dwell forever in that heartbreak hotel

Elvis is dead (x8)
Band!

Elvis was a hero to most but that's beside the point
A black man taught him how to sing
And then he was crowned King (What?)
The pelvis of Elvis, too dangerous for the masses
They cleaned him up and sent him to Vegas
Now the masses are his slave (Slave?)
Yes, slave. Even from the grave

Elvis is dead (repeats in various languages)

[Little Richard]
Presley was a good performer, on stage he was electrifying
When he was ill, his fans got sick and moaned when he had died
To all you pimps making money on his name
How do you sleep, don't you feel the shame?
He went through the test, he's out of this mess
Be my guest and let him rest

Elvis has left the building!

I've got a reason to believe we all won't be received at Graceland
I've got a reason to believe we all won't be received at Graceland
I've got a reason to believe we all won't be received at Graceland
I've got a reason to believe we all won't be received at Graceland
No, not you, my brother, 'cause

Elvis is dead (x8)

8. Type - 6:26


Track 8 On
Time’s Up
View Tracklist
Type
Living Colour
Produced by

Ed Stasium
Release Date

August 20, 1990
View All Credits
1
9
[Intro]
Stereotype
Mono type
Blood type
Are you my type?
Minimalism
Abstract expressionism
Post modernism
Is it?

[Chorus]
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real

[Verse 1]
Corporate religion
Televangahypnotism
Suffer till you die
For the sweet-bye-and-bye
Science and technology
The new mythology
Look deep inside
Empty

[Chorus]
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real

Everything that goes around
Comes around

[Verse 2]
Well I'm hypothetical
Theoretical
Circumstantial evidence
Irrelevance
Well don't think twice
Just roll the dice
Pay the price
Snake eyes

[Chorus]
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real

[Chorus]
We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where your fate has been sealed
This is the time when your life is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is, nothing is, nothing is
Nothing is, nothing is, nothing is real
Nothing is real

Everything that goes around
Comes around

9. Information Overload - 6:11

Sometimes I feel
Like my mind will explode
Sometimes I feel
Like I've got no control
Sometimes I wish
I had a heart made of steel
Sometimes I wish
I couldn't feel

Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload

They say the future...it's on a microchip
Don't you know we're all on a sinking ship
Only ten percent control all the rest
Only ten percent decide what is best

Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload
Information overload

I don't want to live like this
I don't want to live like this
I don't want to live like live like
I don't want to live like this

No, no, no

Still ain't no cure for the summertime blues
I'd like to shake these blues but I'm still paying dues
My blues is so deep you might think they're black
My blues is so deep there ain't no turning back

Information overload...

10. Under Cover of Darkness

Touch without seeing love with no feeling
Stealing a moment...under cover of darkness

I'd like to kiss you and let my lips caress you
Sending sparks of passion up your spine
But doing so means saying no
And even the thought would be a crime

I'd like to touch your skin even if it is a sin
I'd rather burn than not touch you
I might just go mad thinking what I might have had
All the things I'd like to do

Safer seduction isn't what it is
Sexuality isn't what it appears to be
It's what you think you see

I want to make you hot
Touch that spot and send you on a trip
But my consequence is abstinence
And Lord knows I just can't slip
I want to feel you
The real you
Not the projection that you let me see
The safest sex is when it's not skin to skin
It's very simple let your mind go free

Safer seduction isn't what it is
Sexuality isn't what it appears to be
It's what you think you see

To do or not to do that is the question
Over and over you're prone to suggestion
Some sense is when I can't condone
The fact that you want to make your bed my home
Let's say I take this man as my lover
And he swears that there will never be another
But really he doesn't give a damn about safe sex
And with all these other girls he has a taste test
Well the thrill doesn't outweigh the consequences
Therefore I am using my common senses
To let you know I adore you
But I'm afraid I'm not the one for you

Safer seduction isn't what it is
Sexuality isn't what it appears to be
It's what you think you see

11. Ology - 1:07

(Instrumental)

12. Fight the Fight

We are all fighting the same fight
We are all in the same war
We are all in the same revolution
You got to know what you're fighting for

Yelling and kicking , trying to stay alive
All the time eyes on the prize
But does anybody hear my cries
Tell me something do I qualify?

TV telling me just we're just the same
What they're talking is the same old game
Tell me if I'm just like you, why can't I do the things
That you do uh?

If war's the key, what door will it open?
Is peace the answer, then what's the question?

War is hell
Peace is hell
Love is hell
Oh what the hell

My heart beat just like yours
When I dream my mind soars
But no fantasy can pay my bills
Another dream unfulfilled

We are all...

(x2)

Fight the fight
In the war
In this revolution
You've got to know
What you are fighting for

13. Tag Team Partners - 0:48

(Instrumental)

14. Solace of You - 3:38

When it hurts to be out there
Where no one will care
I've got the solace of you

Frustrated by the people's lying
But I keep on trying
I've got the solace of you

When I can't think straight
And there's no escape
I've got the the solace of you

Gotta go inside back to where it started
Back to the beginning
'Cause that's where my heart is
Gotta go inside back to where it started
Back to the beginning
'Cause that's where my heart is

They can hurt me and jail my body
I'll still be free
I've got the solace of you

They can take my land
Tell me I'm not who I am
I've got the solace of you


A wise man said to know thyself
'Cause in the end there's no one else
Just the solace of you

Gotta go inside back to where it started
Back to the beginning
'Cause that's where my heart is
Gotta go inside back to where it started
Back to the beginning
'Cause that's where my heart is

Gotta go inside
Back to the beginning
Gotta go inside
Back to the beginning

15. This Is the Life - 6:23

In another life
You might have been a genius
In another life
You might have been a star
In another life
Your face might have been perfect
In another life
You'd drive a better car

In another life
All your jokes are funny
In another life
Your heart is free from fear
In another life
You make a lot of money
In this other life
Everything is clear

In another life
You're always the hero
In another life
You always win the game
In another life
No one ever cheats you
In another life
You never have to change

In another life
Your friends never desert you
In another life
You never have to cry
In another life
No one ever hurts you
In this other life
Your loved-ones never die

But this is the life you have
This is the life you have
This is the life you have
This is the life

In another life
You're always the victim
In another life
You're always the thief
In another life
You are always lonely
In this other life
There is no relief

In your real life
Treat it like it's special
In your real life
Try to be more kind
In your real life
Think of those that love you
In this real life
Try to be less blind

This is the life you have
This is the life you have
This is the life you have
This is the life you have