Verse 1
They say I’m the problem the root of all the pain
Born with the wrong skin and the wrong kinda name
I paid my taxes fought their wars kept the streets safe at night
But I’m the villain now when I turn on the light
I raised three kids on a factory floor
Taught ’em right from wrong kept ’em fed and more
Now the TV tells ’em their old man’s the shame
And I just sit here takin’the blame
Chorus
So I bite my tongue till the blood runs red
Swallow every damn thing I should’ve said
In this land of the free better keep it down
Some truths you just can’t say out loud
No you can’t say it out loud
Verse 2
I see the boys in uniforms comin’home in bags
While the suits in the city keep wavin’their flags
I lost a brother in ’03 another to pills last June
But if I cry about it I’m breakin’the rules
They call me privileged from their downtown towers
While I’m workin’two jobs for minimum dollars
I ain’t askin’for pity just a little room to breathe
But that’s the one thing they won’t ever give
Chorus
So I bite my tongue till it’s raw and sore
Lock up the anger behind my front door
You can burn down the cities tear statues to the ground
But a man like me can’t say it out loud
Hell no can’t say it out loud
Bridge (band drops to kick drum and handclaps)
I ain’t proud of everything my people done
But I ain’t the devil and I ain’t the only one
When did standing in the rain with a rusted-out plow
Become something you can’t talk about now
Final Chorus (full band roaring voice half-snarl)
So here’s to the silent the tired the proud
The ones who built this town and ain’t allowed
To open their mouth or stand their ground
We carry the weight we carry the crowd
But we can’t say it
We can’t say it
Goddamn it we can’t say it out loud
