Long and Whining Road

That's right
Public Enemy, number one (one)
Twenty years

It's been a long and whining road, even though time keeps a changin'
I'ma bring it all back home
I been told I spit lyrics with politics, why wouldn't I?
It says negro on my birth certificate
Born in 1960 in a nation throughout
I've been a spokesperson for a generation
Within the same old fear of a black planet
Twenty years of blood, sweat, no tears for fanatics
So damn it, if times is hard, time is God, understand it
Never took time for granted
It's alright, Ma, as a child of the sixties
Along the watchtower, I can't bet they're going to miss me
I'm only bleedin' every grain in me
Fans, if it's not for you, there'd be no PE
From the Nashville Skyline, to the homeboys and girls of South Country
In this world gone wrong, here's another love song

(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
(One, one, one) "honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one" come on
(One, one, one) no tears
"Num-number one, number-number one"
"Honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one" ("hoo-hah")

We came a long way, baby, you know what's amazing?
They're surprised, we told these new guys Flavor's always been crazy
Hit London '87 like it was an invasion
Toured the world for three years, a hell with a vacation
Vocation of vocalization, especially with the impact
Of "It takes a nation of millions to hold us back"
You bet there's blood on them Bomb Squad tracks
"Black steel," "Baseheads," "Party for your right to fight,"
"Prophets of rage," "Bring the noise," and "Don't believe the hype"
"Can't do nuttin' for you man", "911 is a Joke"
20 years, we got here by actin' like common folk
Tourin' the world like a Rolling Stone, then the nineties came (yeah)
Then we welcomed y'all to the Terrordome
Some threw it away, instead we had somethin' to say
'Cause the streets still ended up by havin' no names
Since "Rebel without a pause," the beats were never the same
And by 1998, we still had game, we rocked on
(Rockin' on, rockin' on)

(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
(One, one, one) "honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one"
(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
"Honest I need to stop hating, number one" "hoo-hah"

Only a pawn in the game, chastised for naming names
What was said and who said it, anti-nothing so forget it
Tears of rage left a friend blowing in the wind
But time is God, been back for ten years, and black again
Some of them same cats helped Usher in gangsta rap
Damn, our interviews were better than a lot of them acts
Praised the gangsta just because it sold (power)
While consciousness went from platinum and it shrunk down to gold
Seen the nation reduce fight the power to gin and juice
Some people gave it up and they turned it loose (bring the noise)
They rocked on
(Come on)

(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
(One, one, one) "Honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one"
(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
"Honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one" (hoo-hah"

Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms, I want some James Brown
Even Bruce, Brian, Bono, Beck, yeah, Chuck Berry
Prince, Stevie, Sly, Smokey, Johnny Cash in my Chevy
Heard some call me Uncle Tom, now that's Petty
I'm a songwriter, fool, I condense sense from right and wrong
I'm livin' in the key of protest songs
From basement tapes, beyond them dollars and cents
Changing of the guards spent, now where the hell the majors went?
Most of their time out of mind, hating my mess-age rhymes
"Can't truss it," "shut 'em down," call it what you want it
They made a day fit for a king by the time we got to Arizona
Tomorrow's a long time, got God on our side
Over bass and drum beats, hear the good rhymes ride
There's a poison goin' on, there's a shelter from the storm
Hard rain's gonna fall, still the people rock on
We rock on (blood, sweat, no tears, Public Enemy)

(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
(One, one, one) "honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one"
(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
"Honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one" "hoo-hah"
(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
(One, one, one) "honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one"
(One, one, one) "num-number one, number-number one"
"Honest-honestly I need to stop hating, number one" "hoo-hah"