Here I am after so many years
Hounded by hatred and trapped by fear
I'm in a box, I've got no place to go

If I follow my mind, I know I'll slaughter my own

Help me, I'm the prisoner won't you hear my plea?

I need somebody, yeah, to listen to me
I beg you, brothers and sisters
I'm counting on you, yeah


Black babies in the womb are shackled and bound
Chained by the caveman who keeps beauty down

Smacked on the $$# when they're squalling and wet
Heir to a spineless man who never forgets


Never forgets that he's a prisoner, can't you hear my plea?
'Cause I need somebody, Lord knows, to listen to me
I'm a stranger to my son

Who wonders why his daddy runs, yeah

On my way to work in the morning

When I don't give a damn
Can't nobody, can't nobody
Can't nobody, can't nobody see just who in hell I am?


Hemmed in by a suit, yes, all choked up in a tie
Ain't no wonder some times near morning I hear my woman cry

She knows her man is a prisoner, won't you hear my plea?
Yeah, 'cause I need somebody to listen to me


My woman, she don't say but she hates
To see her man chained this way, yeah
Help me, I'm the prisoner

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm the prisoner