J. Cole – Be Free Lyrics

And I’m in denial¹
And it don’t take no x-ray to see right through my smile²
I know, I be on the go
And there ain’t no drink out there that can numb my soul³
Oh no

All we wanna do is take the chains off
All we wanna do is break the chains off⁴All we wanna do is be free⁵
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is take the chains off
All we wanna do is break the chains off
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is be free

Can you tell me why
Every time I step outside I see my niggas die⁶
I’m lettin’ you know
That there ain’t no gun they make that can kill my soul⁷
Oh no

All we wanna do is take the chains off
All we wanna do is break the chains off
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is take the chains off
All we wanna do is break the chains off
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is be free

So now it was like the officer is pulling him inside the car and he’s trying to pull away. At no time the officer said that he was going to do anything until he pulled out his weapon. His weapon was drawn and he said, “I’ll shoot you” or, “I’m going to shoot” and in the same moment, the first shot went off. We looked down and he was shot and there was blood coming from him. Then we took off running.⁸

Are we all alone, fighting on our own⁹
Please give me a chance, I don’t wanna dance¹⁰
Somethings got me down, I will stand my ground¹¹
Don’t just stand around, don’t just stand around¹²

As we took off running I ducked and hid for my life, because I was fearing for my life. I hid behind the first car I saw. My friend, he kept running, and he told me to keep running because he feared for me too. So as he was running the officer was trying to get out of the car, and once he got out the car he pursued my friend but his weapon was drawn. Now he didn’t see any weapon drawn at him or anything like that, us going for no weapon. His weapon was already drawn when he got out the car. He shot again, and once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air, and started to get down, but the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and he fired 7 more shots and my friend died¹³

All we wanna do is take the chains off
All we wanna do is break the chains off
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is take the chains off
All we wanna do is break the chains off
All we wanna do is be free
All we wanna do is be free