Before I speak I should warn you
In fact, I should warn the Surgeon General
That my speech could give you cancer
Cancer of the throat
Because what I have to say is
Hard for most to swallow
It can give you Emphysema of the ear
Because too many times people
Hear but they refuse to listen
And be careful because this
This shit right here
THIS shit right here
Just might smoke you out of your mind
Because I just took the filter
Off of this cigarette
To smoke this microphone
So it’s straight up concentration
For your brain to keep up
With what I got to say
And nicotine is sooooo
Addictive
In fact, they should probably
Hand patches to you on your
Way out so you don’t
Get the itch, the urge to pick up
The next paper you see
And roll it
Smoking that lead right out of your pencil
Just to write
You see
My ancestors were smoking
This peace pipe long before Europeans
Ever discovered tobacco
And you just can’t jump from a shallow
Existence on this earth into a higher
Consciousness without being altered
Because it is important that you not just
Realize THAT you have become addicted
But you must understand WHAT you are addicted
To and it isn’t enough to know WHAT you
Are addicted to but you must understand WHY
It is that you are addicted.
That is why marijuana is illegal
Because it is easier to ban what you don’t
Understand or what you’ve never been a part
Of and since you ain’t making a profit
Fuck it
But this isn’t about marijuana
Or being legal or illegal
This is about words that
Maybe you should inhale their definitions
Before you just follow blindly their descriptions
In the papers or on the radio
And before you pass the blunt
Maybe you should make sure that what you got
Is worth smoking
Because what if I asked you who discovered America?
And if you said Columbus
What would you say if I asked you how can you discover
Something that already had people on it?
You got to the party late homeboy

And what if I just say the word
“Insurgent”
What comes to mind?
Enemy? Iraq? Terrorist?
Well what if I told you these were just
Men women and children in sandals and housecoats
Who were fighting for a CAUSE that they believed in
And dying by the thousands
And what if I reminded you
That INSURGENT would have been EXACTLY
What the British called Washington and Nathan Hale
And Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton
And we call them revolutionaries
And freedom fighters

And before you cough your lungs up on that

Understand that I’m not trying to justify these people or give credence
To their cause
I’m just saying
Just saying maybe we are not on the side of right
Or maybe their isn’t necessarily a right or wrong but what is the cause
And I’m not questioning their right to be a martyr because they believe it so strongly
But I keep asking myself
If I died right now with this weapon in my hand
What CAUSE did I die for
And what freedom of America am I protecting
But before you hurt yourself trying to figure it out
Because of all the smoke on your brains
I will tell you that I died so that you could put more petroleum
In your SUV
And you honor me by putting a yellow sticker
On the back of your SUV
While you publicly denounce the war
But privately support their cause
To fight for more and more
OIL
See this shit right here
This shit right here
You can’t smoke and not inhale
And what if
I sang the song
“Get up! Stand up! Stand up for your rights!”
And reminded you that while you are standing up
For gay marriages and the right to abortion
You were giving up other rights like
The right to a private conversation on your cell phone
And your right to progressively pursue
A better job because of your credit score
And credit cards are the calling cards of the government controlled Mafia
And maybe just maybe
I’m saying a prayer to myself in school
Because I’m scared
And I’m hoping that if there is a God
He hears me because I don’t have insurance
To cover a doctor bill if I get shot

Let that fill your lungs up before you exhale

And when you go home
And look in the mirror
I hope your eyes are red
I hope they are red from crying
Because you know that kid down the street
That kid
Is being molested by the priest
And she still smiles at you while she cries on the inside
Because this is how Jesus loves her
And I hope your eyes are red
I hope they are red from crying
Because the old man that greets you at Wal-Mart
Cannot afford the medication needed to
Sustain himself and get a decent meal at the same time
And I hope your eyes are red
I hope they are red from crying
Because your friend just lost their house
To foreclosure because the banks got too greedy
To tell them the truth about subprime mortgage practices
And I hope your eyes are red
I hope they are red from crying
Because all it takes for that to be you
Is tomorrow

And I hope when someone asks you
Why your eyes are red
You pick up the closest piece of paper
And you roll it
And you give it to them
Straight
And with the filter off