Chords for Syl Johnson Is It Because I'm Black Single

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