[Produced by Kanye West]

[Verse 1]
We sell, crack to our own out the back of our homes
We smell the musk of the dusk in the crack of the dawn
We go through episodes too, like Attack of the Clones
Work til we break our back and you hear the crack of the bone
To get by, just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
We commute to computers
Spirits stay mute while you egos spread rumors
We survivalists, turned to consumers
Just to get by, just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
Ask Him why some people got to live in a trailer, cuss like a sailor
I paint a picture with the pen like Norman Mailer
Mi Abuela raised three daughters all by herself with no help
I think about her struggle and I find the strength in myself
These words, melt in my mouth
They hot, like the jail cell in the South
Before my nigga CORE bailed me out
To get by, just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
We do or die like Bed-Stuy through the red sky
With the window of the red eye
Let the lead fly, some G. Rap shit, Living to Let Die

[Hook]
This morning, I woke up
Feeling brand new, I jumped up
Feeling my highs and my lows
In my soul and my goals
Just to stop smoking and stop drinking
I've been thinking, I've got my reasons
Just to get by, just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by

[Verse 2]
We keeping it gangster say fo shizzle, fo sheezy and staying crunk
It's easy to pull a breezy
Smoke trees and we stay drunk
Yo, I activism - attacking the system
The Blacks and Latins in prison
Numbers have risen, they're victims; lacking the vision
Shit and all they got is rapping to listen to
I let them know we missing you, the love is unconditional
Even when the condition is critical, when the living is miserable
Your position is pivotal
I ain't bullshitting you
Now, why would I lie
Just to get by
Just to get by, we get fly
The TV got us reaching for stars
Not the ones between Venus and Mars
The ones that be reading for parts
Some people get breast enhancements and penis enlargers
Saturday sinners, Sunday morning at the feet of the Father
They need something to rely on
We get high on all types of drug
When, all you really need is love
To get by, just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
Our parents sing like John Lennon
Imagine all the people watch
We rock like Paul McCartney
From now until the last beat'll drop

[Hook]

[Bridge]
Yoyoyo, yo
Some people cry, and some people try
Just to get by, for a piece of the pie
You love to eat and get high
We decieve when we lie, and we keeping it fly
When, the people decide, to keep a disguise
Can't see they eyes, see the evil inside
But there's people you find
Strong or feeble in mind, I stay reading the signs
HH