Respiration

[Intro]
"What'd you do last night?"
"We did, umm, two whole cars
It was me, Dez, and Mean Three, right?
And on the first car in small letters it said
'All you see is…' and then, you know
Big, big, you know, some block silver letters
That said 'crime in the city', right?"
"It just took up the whole car?"
"Yeah, yeah, it was a whole car and sh*t..."
Escúchela, la ciudad respirando
Escúchela, la ciudad respirando
Escúchela, la ciudad respirando
Escúchela...

[Verse 1: Mos Def]
The new moon rode high in the crown of the
Metropolis, shining, like "Who on top of this?"
People was tusslin', arguin' and bustlin'
Gangstas of Gotham hardcore hustlin'
I'm wrestlin' with words and ideas
My ears is pricked, seekin' what will transmit
The scribes can apply to transcript
Yo, this ain't no time where the usual is suitable
Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable
The indisputable, we New York the narcotic
Draped in metal and fiber optics
Where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips
For profits, thirsty criminals pick pockets
Hard knuckles on the second hands of working class watches
Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of living is
Preposterous, stay alive, you play or die, no options
No Batman and Robin, can't tell between the cops and
The robbers, they both partners, they all heartless
With no conscience, back streets stay darkened
Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened. My eagle talons
Stay sharpened, like city lights stay throbbin'
You either make a way or stay sobbin', the shiny Apple is
Bruised, but sweet and if you choose to eat
You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat
Nightly news repeat who got shot down and locked down
Spotlight to savages, NASDAQ averages
My narrative grows to explain this existence
Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance

[Chorus: Mos Def, all]
So much on my mind that I can't recline
Blastin' holes in the night till she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Heard the bass ride out like an ancient mating call, I can't
Take it, y'all, I can feel the city breathing
Chest heaving, against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving

[Verse 2: Talib Kweli]
Breathin' in deep city breaths, sittin' on sh*tty steps
We stoop to new lows, Hell froze the night the city slept
The Beast crept through concrete jungles communicating with one another
And ghetto birds where waters fall from the hydrants to the gutters
The Beast walk the beats, but the beats we be makin'
You on the wrong side of the track, looking visibly shaken
Taken them plungers, plunging to death that's painted by the numbers
With Krylon applied pressure; cats is playing God
But having children by a lesser baby mother, but f*ck it
We played against each other like puppets, swearing you got pull
When the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes
Getting knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise
Look in the skies for God, what you see besides the smog
Is broken dreams flying away on the wings of the obscene
Thoughts that people put in the air, places where you could get
Murdered over a glare, but everything is fair
It's a paradox we call reality so keepin' it real
Will make you casualty of abnormal normality
Killers Born Naturally, like Mickey and Mallory
Not knowing the ways'll get you capped, like an NBA salary
Some cats be emceein' to illustrate what we be seein'
Hard to be a spiritual being when sh*t is shaking what you believe in
For trees to grow in Brooklyn, seeds need to be planted
I'm asking if y'all feel me and the crowd left me stranded
My blood pressure boiled and rose 'cause New York n*ggas
Acting spoiled at shows, to the winners, the spoils go
I take the L, transfer to the 2, head to the gates
New York life type trife, the Roman Empire state

[Chorus: Common, Mos Def, all]
So much on my mind, I just can't recline
Blastin' holes in the night till she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, green smoke retrace the skyline
Yo, don't the bass ride out like an ancient mating call? I can't
Take it, y'all, I can feel the city breathing
Chest heaving, against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving

[Spanish speaking woman] ¡Escuchela... Respirando como yo… Ojos sinceros, escondiendo pena y temor… El silencio de mentira, tocando al hogar escapando sentimientos entre ella y yo…

[Verse 3: Common]
Yo, on The Amen
Corner I stood lookin' at my former hood
Felt the spirit in the wind, knew my friend was gone for good
Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt, I couldn't mask it
Mixin' down emotions, struggle I hadn't mastered
I choreograph seven steps to Heaven
In Hell, waiting to exhale and make the bread leaven
Veteran of a cold war; it's Chica-I-go for
What I know or what's known
So some days I take the bus home, just to touch home
From the crib I spend months gone, sat by the window
With a clutched dome listening to shorties cuss long
Young girls with weak minds, but they butt strong
Tried to call, or at least beep the Lord but didn't have a touch-tone
It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on
Some of this land I must own, outta the city, they want us gone
Tearing down the 'jects creating plush homes
My circ*mstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones
Surrounded by hate, yet I love home
Ask my guy how he thought travelling the world sound
Found it hard to imagine he hadn't been past downtown
It's deep, I heard the city breathe in its sleep
Of reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep
Deep, I heard my man breathe in his sleep
Of reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep

[Chorus: Mos Def, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, all]
So much on my mind, I just can't recline
Blastin' holes in the night till she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Yo, how the bass ride out like an ancient mating call? I can't
Take it, y'all, I can feel the city breathing
Chest heaving, against the flesh of the evening
Kiss the odds goodbye, I'm on the last train leaving