Cuttin’ Heads

Lyrics

[Intro: Choir, Chuck D] Hey Poppi, yay ho Hey Poppi, yay ho Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Lay low, proud Poppi (Come on) Lay low, proud Poppi Shout it out [Verse 1: John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D] He's from the deep south (Shout it out) Pass Christian Mississippi Where the cane breaks are burnin' every night Lay low, proud Poppi (Shout it out) Shout it out [Chorus: Choir, Chuck D] Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Hey Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh (Alright) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah [Verse 2: John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D, John Mellencamp & Choir] Poppi had a wife (Huh) And she was black and Poppi was white (Shout it out) Everything was rollin' great (Shout it out) 'Til some man called her race a disgrace Oh no [Chorus: Choir, John Mellencamp & Choir, Chuck D] Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh (Huh) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah [Verse 2: John Mellencamp, Choir & Chuck D] Well, Poppi went down to the river (Hey) To defend the honor of his wife (Somebody's killin' somebody) Gonna drown the man in the water (No, no, no) (Shout it out) And the water was shiny like a new knife [Verse 3: John Mellencamp & Choir, John Mellencamp, Chuck D] But Poppi stopped at the banks of the Delta He said it sure ain't worth this man's life (Come on) Someday the wind of change is gonna blow on through And put all of these jokers right Come on and sing now [Chorus: Choir, John Mellencamp & Choir] Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah [Instrumental Break] [Chorus: Choir] Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah [Verse 4: Chuck D] Papa got a brand new bag, dag Delta blues got 'em dazed and confused Came a long way crazy Seems the abuse is racism's baby And it's wild 'Cause I connect the word with pain Now some smile when they scream the name? Funny how times have changed And the rhymes have changed But some of these cat's frame remains the same Agitating adjective, what gives? Die, n-word, die But I wanna live Knowin' all this where the word came from I must be three times stupid and stuck on dumb If I use it and confuse it with a term of love Now, popular culture can't stop 'til it gets enough Underlined in marketing campaigns I feel undermined Heard the n-word promotes that bottom line Down by the river there's a great divide Let's ride [Bridge: Choir & Chuck D] Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that That's right Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't (No, no, no) Like it like that [Pre-Chorus: John Mellencamp & Choir, John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D] Shout it out (Shout it out) Yeah, shout it out Oh, shout it out Tell the world Shout it out (No, no, no, no) I said [Chorus: Choir, Chuck D & John Mellencamp] Hey-oh, hey-oh (Down by the river there's a great divide) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Heard the n-word promotes that bottom line) Hey-oh, hey-oh (I feel undermined) Oh Poppi (Underlined in marketing campaigns) Hey-oh, hey-oh (Tell the world) Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Tell the world) Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh (That it ain't right) Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh Oh Poppi (Don't send us back) Hey-oh, hey-oh (Oh Poppi) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Don't send us) Hey-oh, hey-oh (Back now, Poppi) Oh Poppi Hey-oh, hey-oh (Delta blues got 'em dazed and confused) Oh Poppi (Tell the world) Hey-oh, hey-oh (Papa got a brand new bag) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Came a long way crazy) Hey-oh (Seems the abuse is racism's baby) [Outro: Chuck D] And it's wild Die, n-word, die But I wanna live Let's ride