Uploaded August 2013 | Updated September 2026, 47 minutes ago
Recorded 2008 for the MGY Album TRAIL OF DEVASTATION (coffindodgersunited CDU). LARSEN B., GEORGE BRADFUTE, RUDOLPH 'HILLARY' DIETRICH, COLLEEN DURAN, MARK J. CHAMBERS AEA (Lyrics below)
roses
-----------------
the lesson from the old black man
is that they'll kill
if they have the nerve to steal
they've got the nerve to kill
the streets out there are dangerous
you could not know
the meaning there, i saw it clear
"i don't live in roses"
the old man said i been around
whiskey nearly did me in
i used to smoke a lot of pot
'fore it came a national problem
me and the boys would catch a bus
got a trunk for 15 bucks
then the rich white kids got involved and
everything went bust
when it was just poor and black,
nobody cared
hippie says i live on the streets
a warning to you all
don't you try to live out here
unless you're very strong
if you feel yourself too weak
you'll never survive
if you have to think on it
don't you ever mess up
old man crosses the parking lot
lost in his dreams
up comes a young street stud and says
give me money
the old man looks at him
he nearly screams
i live in this city too
what do you mean
don't you come on up to me
and ask me for those things
you take from me, you take from me
you try to change me too
you booked me on your freedom
the dollar green and true
a native in my own lush lands
a stranger on your streets
you put me in this concrete jail
left sight unseen
shades of black
shades of brown
colours in between
the plight of your America
is on the streets
you've taken all the best from us
exalted all the worst
the revolution's overdue
better hold on to your purse
Recorded 2008 for the MGY Album TRAIL OF DEVASTATION (coffindodgersunited CDU). LARSEN B., GEORGE BRADFUTE, RUDOLPH 'HILLARY' DIETRICH, COLLEEN DURAN, MARK J. CHAMBERS AEA (Lyrics below)
roses
-----------------
the lesson from the old black man
is that they'll kill
if they have the nerve to steal
they've got the nerve to kill
the streets out there are dangerous
you could not know
the meaning there, i saw it clear
"i don't live in roses"
the old man said i been around
whiskey nearly did me in
i used to smoke a lot of pot
'fore it came a national problem
me and the boys would catch a bus
got a trunk for 15 bucks
then the rich white kids got involved and
everything went bust
when it was just poor and black,
nobody cared
hippie says i live on the streets
a warning to you all
don't you try to live out here
unless you're very strong
if you feel yourself too weak
you'll never survive
if you have to think on it
don't you ever mess up
old man crosses the parking lot
lost in his dreams
up comes a young street stud and says
give me money
the old man looks at him
he nearly screams
i live in this city too
what do you mean
don't you come on up to me
and ask me for those things
you take from me, you take from me
you try to change me too
you booked me on your freedom
the dollar green and true
a native in my own lush lands
a stranger on your streets
you put me in this concrete jail
left sight unseen
shades of black
shades of brown
colours in between
the plight of your America
is on the streets
you've taken all the best from us
exalted all the worst
the revolution's overdue
better hold on to your purse
