Yet our best trained, best educated
Best equipped, best prepared troops refused to fight
Matter of fact, it's safe to say
That they would rather switch than fight

Give it, give it, give it, give it, give it, come on and get down
Give it, give it, give it, give it, give it, come on and get down
Give it, give it, give it, give it, give it, come on and get down
Give it, give it, give it, give it, give it, come on and get down
Come on and get down

1989 the number, another summer
Sound of the funky drummer
Music hittin' your heart 'cause I know you got soul
Brothers an' sisters, hey

Listen if you're missin' y'all
Swingin' while I'm singin', givin' whatcha gettin'
Knowin' what I knowin', while the black bands sweatin'
An' the rhythm rhyme rollin'

Gotta give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We gotta fight the powers that be

Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, we've gotta fight the powers that be

As the rhythm designed to bounce
What counts is that the rhymes designed to fill your mind
Now that you've realized the prides arrived
We gotta pump the stuff to make us tough

From the heart, it's a start, a work of art
To revolutionize, make a change, nothin's strange
People, people, we are the same
No, we're not the same 'cause we don't know the game

What we need is awareness, we can't get careless
You say, "What is this?"
My beloved, let's get down to business
Mental self-defensive fitness

Bum rush the show
You gotta go for what you know
To make everybody see
In order to fight the powers that be

Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, we've gotta fight the powers that be

Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, we've gotta fight the powers that be

Elvis was a hero to most but he, Elvis was a hero to most
Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me
You see straight up racist that sucker was
Simple an' plain, mother fuck him an' John Wayne

'Cause I'm black an' I'm proud
I'm ready an' hyped
Plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamp

Sample a look back you look an' find
Nothin' but rednecks for 400 years, if you check
'Don't worry be happy' was a number one jam
Damn, if I say it you can slap me right here

Get it, let's get this party started right
Right on, c'mon, what we gotta say
Power to the people no delay, make everybody see
In order to fight the powers that be

Fight the power, fight the power
Fight the power, fight the power
We've gotta fight the powers that be

What we gotta say, fight the power
What we gotta say, fight the power, come on
What we gotta say, fight the power
What we gotta say, fight the power, come on