Chords for Syl Johnson - is it because I'm black (HOSTILE RECORDS - SHAOLIN SOUL EPISODE 1 - 1969) 12inch

_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [Abm] _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _
[Bbm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Abm] _
_ [B] _ _ _ _ _ _ [Abm] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
The dark brown shades of my _ skin _ only _ _ [Bb] _
[Abm] _ add color to my tears.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _
[Dbm] That splash against my hollow bones, _ _ _ _ _ that [Bb] rocks [Abm] my soul.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, _ oh.
_ _ _ _ [Bbm] _
[Abm] Looking back over my false dreams that I once knew.
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _
[Abm] Wondering why my dreams never came true.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _
[Dbm] Is it because I'm black?
Uh-huh.
_ _ _ _ Somebody [Dm] tell [Abm] me what can I _ do? _ _
[B] Oh, Lord.
_ _ Oh, _
[Dbm] _ something is holding me back. Uh-huh.
_ _ _ _ Is [Bb] it [Abm] because I'm black?
_ Yeah. _ _
[B] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
[Abm] In this world of no pity, I was raised
in the ghettos of the [Bb] city.
[Abm] _ Yeah.
Oh, Lord.
Uh.
_ _ _ Uh.
_ _ [Ab] _
[Dbm] _ Mama, she worked so hard _ _ _ to earn every [Bb] penny.
[Abm] _ Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, _ _ Lord.
_ _ _ _ _ [Cm] _
[Dbm] _ Something is holding me back.
Uh-huh.
_ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
[Abm] Is it because I'm black? _ _
Uh-huh.
_ _ _ _ [Gm] _
[Abm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
[Abm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Gb] _
[Abm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Like a child stealing his first piece of candy and got caught
_ _ _ [Bb] _
[Abm] _ peeping around life's corner somewhere, I got lost.
_ _ _ Oh, [Cm] _
[Dbm] _ something is holding [Dbm] me back.
Uh-huh.
_ _ _ _ [C] I [B] wonder, _ _ is it because I'm black?
[Abm] _ _ _ _ _ _ [Eb] Oh, [Dbm] _ somebody tell me what can I do?
_ _ _ _ _ Will I [Gm]
[Abm] survive or will I die? _ _ _
[B] _ _ Oh, _ oh, you [Dbm] keep on holding me back.
_ Keep on holding on.
_ _ _ [Gm] Keep [Abm] on picking on me. _ _
Keep on holding back.
[B] _ _ [Gm] Keep [Abm] on holding on.
Keep on holding on.
_ _ _ _ [Gb] Holding me [Abm] back.
_ _ _ I wonder why _ you do me like that.
_ [Bb] But you [Abm] keep on holding [B] me back.
_ Keep [Bb] on [Abm] putting your foot on me.
But I, [Bbm] _ [Abm] _ _ I've got to break away [Bbm] _ [Abm] somehow and someday.
Somebody _ _ so bad, so bad.
[Bbm] _ [Abm] I want to be somebody. _
[Bb] I want to [Eb] be somebody [B] so bad.
You [Abm] see, _ _ _ _ things and [Bbm] things [Abm] _ _ like you do. _ _
[Bbm] [Abm] And I want to drive Cadillac _ cars.
Oh, _ I want to be somebody so bad.
_ But you keep on [Bb] putting [Ab] your foot on me.
[Abm] And I _ _
[Abm] _ _ believe, I believe [Gb] I can [Abm] break away and be somebody _ somehow in some way.
_ _ You [Bbm] see, [Abm] _ _ I heard somebody say one time, _ you can make it [Bbm] if [Abm] you try.
_ _ [B] _ _ Oh, and some of us, we're trying so hard.
[Bb]
[Abm] We're trying so hard.
_ I want you to know that I don't speak for myself.
_ But I [Bb] speak [Abm] for y'all right now.
_ You see, if you have white, light brown skin and a high yellow,
[Bb] you're [Ab] still black.
[Abm] So we all got to stick together right now.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Bbm] _
[Abm] _ _ This I want to say to you, my sisters and my brothers.
_ _ _ _ [Bbm] Right [Abm] on, sister. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Right on, brother.
_ Dig this.
If we keep on pushing on, _ oh, we got to make it a little bit further. _ _
We got to make it a little further.
_ All we got to do is try, try, try.
_ [Bbm] _
[Abm] And some of us, _ _ we're trying so hard.
_ _ [Bbm] We're [Abm] trying so hard.
We're trying so hard. _
_ _ _ _ We're trying so hard, so hard to be somebody. _ _
_ _ _ _ We're trying [Bbm] so [Abm] hard.
_ Although, _ they're holding us back. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ And if that's the reason _ that _ they're doing us like [Bbm] that, [Abm] _ _ you know what? _ _ _
It is.
_ _ _ I believe it's because we're black. _ _ _ _
But hey, _ _ we [Ab] can't stop now.
_ [B] We can't stop now. _ _
[Abm] Got to keep on, keep on, [Bb] keep on, [Abm] keeping on.
_ _ We got to keep on, keeping on.
_ _ _ _ [Bbm] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ I know it ain't right.
_ _ _ _ Oh, it ain't right.
_ It ain't right.
It ain't right.
That they hold us, hold us, hold us back.
They're holding us back. _ _
_ They're holding us back.
I wonder.
_ _ _ Sometimes I sit [B] down.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _