My favorite Tupac Shakur song is a posthumous release entitled “Changes.” It’s a laudable work, and is made even more interesting since it sampled a great Bruce Hornsby song I quite like. It’s a compelling song, musically, and it’s rife with interesting and enlightening lyrics. I think he made some mistakes in life, and isn’t someone I can wholly endorse, but I really dig this song, and I miss him when I hear it.
I sure enjoyed a documentary movie about his life I once saw. The recent movie depicting his life wasn’t too bad, either.
There is some evidence that Tupac Shakur was a good man and was interested in improving the lot for his people, and so I think we should all miss him. He wrote a lot of poetry and in many songs tried to highlight issues that plague the African-American community. Justice is justice, whether you think he was a violent money-grubber or a prophet (or something in between), and he had a way of making us all think about that social and racial justice. With police abuse, violence, poverty, and drugs, we certainly haven’t made much progress in 25 years, so it’s worth thinking about.
“Tupac Shakur was a rose that grew in spite of all obstacles. His life shows that a young man/boy could rise, shine, grow, and bloom beyond overbearing conditions to become one of America’s most beloved men. He also had the grace to make it all look easy. Tupac’s accomplishments, in twenty-five years, far surpasses what most people do in three of his lifetimes.”
Here is the video if you want to follow along while you read, which is highly recommended.
Here are some facts about the influential and insightful song.
Here is a piece in LA Weekly about pianist and lyricist Bruce Hornsby’s thoughts on the song and Tupac.
Look up the word race, justice, social justice, or violence here in The Wisdom Archive. It’s free and it’s awesome.
“I am society’s child. This is how they made me, and now I’m sayin’ what’s on my mind and they don’t want that. This is what you made me America!”
Below are the lyrics to Tupac’s compelling song “Changes”, which is about responsibility, personal growth, wisdom, self-confidence, truth, and passion (at its best):
“Come on, come on
I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself
Is life worth living, should I blast myself?
I’m tired of bein’ poor and even worse I’m black
My stomach hurts, so I’m lookin’ for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he’s a hero
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
One less hungry mouth on the welfare
First ship ’em dope and let ’em deal the brothers
Give ’em guns, step back, watch ’em kill each other
It’s time to fight back that’s what Huey said
Two shots in the dark, now Huey’s dead
I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere
Unless we share with each other
We gotta start makin’ changes
Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers…
“If you want to avoid criticism, it’s better to be good than it is to be great.” ~ Chuck Klosterman
…And that’s how it’s supposed to be
How can the devil take a brother, if he’s close to me?
I’d love to go back to when we played as kids
But things changed, that’s the way it is
Come on, come on, that’s just the way it is
Things will never be the same, that’s just the way it is
Aww, yeah
Come on, come on, that’s just the way it is
Things will never be the same, that’s just the way it is
Aww, yeah
I see no changes, all I see is racist faces
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under, I wonder what it takes to make this
One better place, let’s erase the wasted
“Yes, race is still a factor in our society. And it’s often played, as was suggested at the OJ trial, ‘from the bottom of the deck.’ And the deck is still stacked against African Americans.”
Take the evil out the people they’ll be acting right
‘Cause mo’ black and white is smokin’ crack tonight
And only time we chill is when we kill each other
It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven sent
We ain’t ready, to see a black President
It ain’t a secret don’t conceal the fact
The penitentiary’s packed, and it’s filled with blacks
But some things will never change
Try to show another way but you stayin’ in the dope game
Now tell me, what’s a mother to do?
Bein’ real don’t appeal to the brother in you
You gotta operate the easy way
I made a G today, but you made it in a sleazy way
Sellin’ crack to the kid, I gotta get paid
Well hey, well, that’s the way it is
Come on, come on, that’s just the way it is
Things will never be the same, that’s just the way it is
Aww, yeah
“Racism is a way of directing the anger of exploited Whites toward irrelevant enemies, making them feel victimized by African Americans who are supposedly expecting and getting special (equal) treatment. Racism blurs and buries economic grievances. Whites are less likely to act against their bosses, being themselves too busy trying to keep African Americans down. Thus the working populace is divided against itself, making it difficult for White and Black workers to act in unison against the moneyed class.”
Come on, come on, that’s just the way it is
Things will never be the same, that’s just the way it is
Aww, yeah
We gotta make a change
It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes
Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live
And let’s change the way we treat each other
You see, the old way wasn’t working so it’s on us to do
What we gotta do, to survive
And still I see no changes, can’t a brother get a little peace?
There’s war in the streets and war in the Middle East
Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs
So the police can bother me
And I ain’t never did a crime, I ain’t have to do
But now, I’m back with the facts givin’ ’em back to you
Don’t let ’em jack you up, back you up
Crack you up and pimps smack you up
“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.”
You gotta learn to hold ya own
They get jealous when they see ya, with ya mobile phone
But tell the cops, they can’t touch this
I don’t trust this, when they try to rush I bust this
That’s the sound of my tool, you say it ain’t cool?
My mama didn’t raise no fool
And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped
And I never get to lay back
‘Cause I always got to worry ’bout the paybacks
Some buck that I roughed up way back
Comin’ back after all these years
Rat-a-tat, tat, tat, tat, that’s the way it is
That’s just the way it is
Things will never be the same, that’s just the way it is
Aww, yeah
That’s just the way it is
Things will never be the same, that’s just the way it is
Aww, yeah
Some things will never change.”
Lyrics © Tupac Shakur.
NOTE: I do not claim copyright for this song. I am showing them as a means of both raising one’s consciousness about Tupac, social justice, racial justice in America, the African-American experience, and increasing interest in the song and his posthumous album.
