Lyrics
Incarceration rates are tearing through the roof
Incarceration rates are significantly increasing.
And every single institutions filling up
Prisons and other institutions are becoming overcrowded.
One in two inside is a father or a mom
One out of every two inmates is a parent (either a father or a mother).
And on the outside is a child who's loosing out
Children outside are negatively affected by the incarceration of their parents.
There's no excuse that happens
No valid justification exists for the situation.
When you fight the symptom not the disease
Addressing symptoms rather than the root cause leads to problems.
The systemized oppression wins
Systemic oppression prevails.
And the rich can eat the poor
The wealthy exploit the poor, exacerbating social inequality.
They miss their children and the way they used to live
Parents in prison long for their previous life and miss their children.
Who ever thought their life would be
Reflection on the unexpected turn their lives have taken.
A concentration camp
Life feels like a concentration camp, a metaphor for extreme hardship.
The inmates pouring in their kids will pay the price
Children of inmates will suffer the consequences.
Of another parent doing life
Parents serving long sentences face a lifetime of separation from their children.
You are broken you are beaten to the ground
Individuals feel shattered and defeated.
You never knew how much you had miss your girl and son
Realization of the depth of missing family, especially a girl and son.
Now your time is ticking but the world is on a hold
Time seems to stand still for inmates.
You try to tough it out but break down and despair
Struggling to endure the hardship but eventually breaking down in despair.
Keep the fire burning
A metaphorical call to maintain hope and resilience.
Try to keep the demons out of your head
Encouragement to keep negative thoughts at bay.
And never ever let them bring you down
Empowerment to resist external pressures.
You got to hold on to your faith
An urging to hold onto one's faith and beliefs.
You miss your family and the life when you were free
Nostalgia for the freedom and family life before imprisonment.
You never thought that life would be
Reflecting on the unexpected turn life has taken, similar to line 10.
A concentration camp
Life in prison is likened to a concentration camp.
The walls are closing in you cant keep track of time
Feelings of confinement intensify, losing track of time.
Another father doing life
Another father faces a life sentence.
Every second con in the US has darker skin
Highlighting racial disparities in the US prison population.
Now how the hell does that compute
Raising questions about the fairness of this statistic.
There's got to be some kind of conspiracy
Suspecting a conspiracy to maintain suburban cleanliness at the expense of minority incarceration.
To keep the streets of the suburbs clean
Implies a deliberate effort to imprison certain demographics.
They lock them up and throw away the key
Metaphorically, locking people up without the possibility of release.
They are weeding out the underclass
Efforts to eliminate the underclass, regardless of consequences.
No matter what the cost will be
Regardless of the cost, the underclass is targeted.
They miss their children and the way they used to live
Similar to lines 9 and 22, expressing the longing for family.
Who ever wished their life would be
Reflecting on the unexpected turn life has taken, similar to lines 10 and 23.
A concentration camp
Life in prison is likened to a concentration camp, repeating line 24.
The inmates pouring in their kids will pay the price
Children of inmates will suffer the consequences, similar to line 12.
Of another parent doing life
Parents serving long sentences face a lifetime of separation from their children, similar to line 13.
They miss their family and the life when they were free
Nostalgia for the freedom and family life before imprisonment, similar to line 22.
They never thought that life would be
Reflecting on the unexpected turn life has taken, similar to lines 10, 23, and 35.
A concentration camp
Life in prison is likened to a concentration camp, repeating lines 24 and 36.
The walls are closing in you cant keep track of time
Feelings of confinement intensify, repeating line 25.
Just another father doing life
Another father faces a life sentence, repeating line 26.
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