No Excuses

Lord knows I tired hear it Protestors daily declare it Bedlam on Nelson or Beetham When URP shut down their program Vendors from Queen Street to Charlotte When they hot and ready to riot What they want we do like they want we thief Once some facing adverse conditions Crime is their fall back position And to this mind set does bawl Good grief good grief Cause I remember back in the nineties When they kill poor Michael Hercules Shoot we famous Prison Commissioner The mother say she boy was ah hustler But for crimes like murder There is no good reason or rhyme Poverty eh no damn excuse for crime No Way Poverty is no excuse Yuh doh ever win but lose For quick upward mobilization Nothing beats good education Next time ah youth man say it Hit him ah slap one time Poverty eh no damn excuse for crime No Way Go tell yuh pickney dem All who causing the problem Met some youth men down on the breadline Same song they sing and then rewind Tho care for Ytepp or Costaat Tell them to work they ent want that But to your face they will hiss forthright If Cepep only miss out ah fortnight What they want we do How they want we eat Is that self way causing the problem Boss man run the bread is their anthem Causing major woe and gnashing of teeth Still I remember Michael Hercules When they kill him back in de nineties The mother say it wasn't murder She son was just seeking a dollar For many of us who broken Who don't have a cent or dime Poverty ain't no damn excuse for crime No way Poverty is No excuse So when is your time to choose Instead of shooting and looting MYPAT and MYLAT still recruiting Tell dem youth men chant it Before a next church bell chime Poverty ain't no damn excuse for crime So hear me now If you starving to death with nothing to eat That is no excuse When them vendors get chase off the street That is no excuse Unemployment lard you can't get a job That is no excuse If yuh struggling inside the No Money Club That is no excuse Broken to thief you ain't have a cent That is no excuse Cyar mind yuh pickney cyar pay yuh rent That is no excuse If Life giving you a really hard time That is no excuse Poverty is still no excuse for crime Take a look at Miss Oprah Winfrey Grew up in abject poverty Because of drive and ambition Today that same Oprah worth billions And over seventy four years ago A little black boy born in Tobago No shoes on his feet walk for miles to school Never knew the lap of luxury Ketcharse and hard grind was the story But today as our PM he rule He rule He never said like back in de nineties Like that youth who shoot poor Hercules This nation owes me a living Today I go make ah killing Never once stoop to thieving By brains and hardwork he climb Poverty could never absolve crime No Way Poverty is No excuse So doh fall for that abuse Yuh doh have to rob or cause distress Because yuh poor or yuh jobless Yuh living in mental slavery Exorcise that thought from your mind Poverty eh no damn excuse for crime No Way Poverty is no excuse So doh use that as your fuse If that is your present condition Let it stir your will and ambition There's no need to wallow In ah pit of despair and slime Poverty eh no damn excuse for crime No No Poverty is no excuse So doh come sing me no blues I was born and raised in the ghetto I work real hard and I get through Even if born a pauper You could still elevate and shine Poverty eh no damn excuse for crime No No Poverty is No excuse So that stigma please refuse There are many heroes and legends Who emerge from slums like the Beetham Once your mind could conceive it There's no mountain you can't climb Poverty eh no damn excuse for crime No Way Go tell yuh pickney dem All who causing de problem No way no way No way