Lost Desire
The Roots Feat. Talib Kweli & Malik B Lyrics

It's the lump in your heart
The feeling of sadness and distress that resides inside you

Or the pain in your mind
The mental anguish and agony that you're facing

No one cares what the truth is
People don't bother about the reality anymore

Cause a fortress built on lies
There's a stronghold that's built on falsehood and deceit

I'm exhausted but I never ever forfeit
I'm tired, but I don't admit defeat

Y'all just bullshit while I knock a nigga off quick
While people are beating around the bush, I quickly take down a person

Y'all start speaking in tongues and start reaching for guns
People begin blabbering and then grabbing guns

A militant will put this heat in your lungs
An aggressive person will shoot or harm you badly

The street and the slums, the weekend is done
The metropolis and the ghetto, the period of fun is over

The local class always show you what [?] is become
The lower rungs of society reveal what the community has turned into

The seasons are done, and reasons are none
There aren't any valid justifications

People dyin' bullets flyin' cause they schemin'[?] for fun
People are getting killed or hurt because someone plotted it for entertainment

It's all of a nightmare, that's right there
The situation is a complete horror that's happening in front of us

They hopin' that somebody in the hood just might care
They wish that someone from the ghetto would show some empathy

With all this protestin' and rallyin'
Despite all the complaints and demonstrations

Death toll tallyin'
The number of fatalities is continuously increasing

Foul smells around them [?] in the alley and
There's an unpleasant odor surrounding the dead bodies in the alley

Corner filled with teddy bears, cause they killed a child again,
A street corner has been transformed into a memorial after a child was murdered

They sing about murder, so it ain't a song it's [?
People are so used to violence and crime that even songs aren't enough to describe the horror

Get off the choir with your soft attire,
Stop acting nice and soft when reality is brutal

Niggas out here don't give a fuck, cause they lost desire
People don't have the care or the motivation anymore because they're worn out

My city's full of heartbreakers and stargazers
My town is full of people who crush your hopes and dreams

Who puff kush
Who smoke marijuana

Vegas, So they gone with the wind, like Clark Gable,
People disappear inexplicably, like how Clark Gable left in Gone with the Wind movie

Breathin' like Darth Vader, believin' in dark angel
People are struggling, and they're obsessed with the idea of a wicked force controlling everything

Yeah, we got flags, but they not star-spangled
Even though we have flags, they're not the ones that represent our nation

We not patriotic, the heroes are not them,
We don't have love for our country, and the real heroes aren't being celebrated

Ghetto griots like rims, you stop, they still spin,
People in the ghetto are like the rims of a car, even if they stop, they keep spinning

Tall tales at the bar, witnessed after dark,
Stories being told at the bar after sundown are always exaggerated

And we still stop in and chicken and [?]
Despite everything happening, we still go to fast food joints for dinner

And listen to Rakim
Still listening to hip-hop music legends like Rakim

With the [?] that y'all been
What we've been through gives us a perspective that others don't have

For realla, I hadn't been schemin' to [?]ply in
Honestly, I didn't plan on getting involved in this mess

You fear us? Fear is self, personified
Are you scared of us? Fear is just a manifestation of your own personality

Payin' homage to homicide
Paying respect to murderers and killers

Prayin' to the dollar sign
Worshiping and hoping for money

It's idol worship
It's a situation where people are treating money and power as their new gods

The rebel forces
The ones who go against the mainstream and refuse to conform

Bodies lie at the foundation of the fortress
The base of the stronghold is built upon corpses

This is war, we expect some losses
We're fighting a war, and there will always be casualties

And we comin' for the heads of the bosses
We're after the leaders and the people in charge

We on some casualties of war shit,
We're in a situation similar to what happens in a time of war

What you stand for, kid?
What do you believe in and what's your purpose?

We in the city where they definitely lost it
We're in a place where people have lost their minds

You open your eyelids and get capped in the ribs
You get shot as soon as you wake up

Your funeral they have your 12th grade portrait
At your funeral, people put up your senior year high school photo

Pretty corpse in casket, bell-shaped orchids
Even though you died young, you look beautiful in the coffin adorned with flower arrangements

Said he 19 and left a self-made fortune
He was only 19, but he had already made his own wealth

And left trey orphans
He left three orphans behind

Now he in a box with the same chain and watch
Now he's dead, and he's wearing the same chain and watch he had when he was alive

That never came off him
He always wore that chain and watch and never took them off

It's a shame what it cost him
It's sad to see what he had to pay for his success

Where he come from it ain't nuthin'
Where he's from, there's nothing but poverty and hopelessness

It's a everyday thing, that's a problem
It happens every day, and that's an issue

It's chambers revolving
It's like a revolving door where people are dying constantly

Bustin' like Russian roulette
People shoot each other, just like in the game of Russian roulette

With a full set, then change what the odds is,
Even when the odds are stacked against them, they don't give up

Flames in the mosque, and
A mosque is burning

People held hostage
Innocent people are being taken captive

Everyday I struggle, try to get up out the mosh-pit
Every day is a battle, and I'm trying to break free from the chaos

Homicide for profit, tell me how we not sick?
People are killing others for money, why wouldn't that make us sick?

This shit is out of control, they can't stop it
The situation is beyond anyone's ability to contain or fix it