Lyrics

**Hook — Low, Smoky Vocal**

Wake up…
They taught us colors before character
Taught us division before names
Got us fighting over pieces
While somebody owns the game

Wake up…
We all breathing through the same fear
Trying to make it through the day
Colors belong inside a crayon box
People were never made that way

**Verse 1 — Restrained Melodic Rap**

They called one Black
Called one White
Called another Hispanic

Then built entire systems
Around words we never handed them

Before the paperwork divided us
We were mothers, sons and neighbors
People trying to feed a household
Trying not to lose our labor

But they taught the poor to blame the poor
For why the cupboard stayed depleted
While the ones who wrote the rules
Kept profiting when we competed

Got a man working twelve hours
Hating someone on his shift
Both their children need a doctor
Neither one can pay for it

Different language in the household
Same eviction on the door
Different food around the table
Same landlord wanting more

Still we argue over pigment
Like complexion wrote the contract
While the hands collecting interest
Never enter where the harm at

**Hook — Ghostly Background Harmonies**

Wake up…
They taught us colors before character
Taught us division before names
Got us fighting over pieces
While somebody owns the game

Wake up…
We all breathing through the same fear
Trying to make it through the day
Colors belong inside a crayon box
People were never made that way

**Verse 2 — Conversational Confession**

Listen closely

A label can describe you
But don’t let it become your cage

Don’t let somebody weaponize
The history inside your pain

Every people got a struggle
Every struggle must be heard
Coming together doesn’t mean
We erase what people endured

It means your wound don’t make mine worthless
Mine don’t make your sorrow small
We can honor every difference
Without constructing prison walls

I saw a Black nurse save a white child
While his father begged for grace
Saw a Mexican mechanic
Fix a stranger’s car without pay

Saw an old white woman shelter
Three young brothers from the rain
That’s the truth they rarely broadcast
Human love without a lane

Because fear is good for business
Anger keeps attention rented
If they keep the crowd suspicious
Nobody studies who benefits

**Bridge — Cracked Notes, Deliberate Pauses**

Look beyond the curtain
Read beyond the headline

Ask who gains from every conflict
Ask who profits from the divide

Don’t be easily recruited
Don’t let outrage choose your sight

A vigilant mind stays open
But it questions every side

**Verse 3 — Weary Singing into Rap**

We all sitting at the same table
But some entered knowing rules
Some were handed better pieces
Some were treated like the tools

That don’t mean attack each other
It means study how it’s played
Learn the language of the contract
Learn where every dollar stays

Teach the children real economics
Teach them history without disguise
Teach them difference isn’t danger
Teach them how to recognize lies

Build with people based on conduct
Not assumptions from a face
Watch who shows up when it’s difficult
Watch who disappears with praise

Unity ain’t everybody matching
Unity is shared defense
Knowing when they harm your neighbor
Your own freedom stands at risk

So the next time someone tells you
Who deserves your fear or blame
Look around at who is struggling
Then look upward at the game

Maybe we were never enemies
Maybe that was someone’s plan
Because divided people beg for scraps
Together they make demands

**Final Hook — Layered Requiem Harmonies**

Wake up…
They taught us colors before character
Taught us division before names
Got us fighting over pieces
While somebody owns the game

Wake up…
See the person past the title
Keep your heart alert and brave
Colors belong inside a crayon box
Not inside a human cage

Wake up…
Black, white, brown—those ain’t instructions
They don’t tell you who to hate
We are different shades of people
Trying to survive the same maze

**Outro — Near Whisper**

Be proud of where you come from.

Know your history.
Protect your people.
Respect somebody else’s story.

But never let a label
Do your thinking for you.

A crayon box needs every color
To complete the picture.

And the game only stays unfair
While the players keep fighting
Over who deserves
To hold the pencil.

Wake up.

Study the board.
Question the dealer.
Recognize your neighbor.

Then play together.