I was born in Chicago, nineteen and forty-one
I was born in Chicago in nineteen and forty-one
Well, my father told me
"Son, you'd better get a gun."
My first friend went down
When I was seventeen years old
Oh, my first friend went down
When I was seventeen years old
Well, there's one thing I can say about that boy
He gotta go
Well, my second friend went down
When I was twenty-one years of age
Oh, my second friend went down
When I was twenty-one years of age
Well, there's one thing I can say about that boy
He gotta pray
Well, now rules are alright
If there's someone left to play the game
Well, now rules are alright
If there's someone left to play the game
All my friends are going
And everything just don't seem the same
Things just don't seem the same, baby