Todd Snider - The Devil You Know lyrics

helicopters over the house again we got the projects two or three blocks from here they pull the kids over for driving while african and the ones with the warrants always run in fear so i sit here waiting for the coast to clear wishing once again i had a gun around here turn on the news and what do i hear some kid shot the bank up on gallatin road ran away from the cops while he was trying to reload he beat them up to eastland street on feet now he's probably reloaded and running down my street better turn the alarm on and lock myself in helicopters over the house again sometimes you rise above it sometimes you sneak below somewhere in between believing in heaven and facing the devil you know poor kid probably never had a chance to give a fuck wouldn't know good luck from a debutant he's gotta find a way to be steve mcnair or young buck or he's just tough luck looking for a prison to haunt and you can fuck getting any kind of job you want unless you really want to work in a fast food restaraunt and who wants to do that? do you want to do that? i wouldn't trade that for my crooked hat or my gang or my gun or my waist full of pagers for a job deep frying shit, for richer teen agers if that's where it's at and no one's gonna help how you gonna blame a man for helping himself there's a war going on that the poor can't win helicopters over the house again sometimes you rise above it sometimes you sneak below somewhere in between believing in heaven and facing the devil you know black and white cops shining lights in the bushes can't see how this kid is gonna get very far unless he finds a way to make it back over to barry street and he can't do that unless he steals a car man the way things are they just don't seem right all the white people talking 'bout the hope and the light there ain't no hope in sam levy just guns and drugs we ain't building bridges we're just training thugs then i hear a terrifying kick at my back door and in comes this kid i say hey i've seen this kid before i see him all the time at that bar on woodland street now he's bleeding in my kitchen tracking mud off his feet and he's looking at me like i'll either help him or die until he sees in my eyes that i'm on his side i hand him my keys i say you better move fast there's a J in the ashtray and plenty of gas he throws me the cash and says i'll be back for this i say yeah well don't be surprised if theres' a little bit of it missing his gold teeth glistened with a big old grin he said we'll talk about that when i see you again he shook my hand i shook his back i felt like i was about to have a heart attack until he finally drove away i thought "goddamn" helicopters over the house again sometimes you rise above it sometimes you sneak below somewhere in between believing in heaven and facing the devil you know