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Brad Paisley - Accidental Racist (Featuring LL COOL J)

Accidental Racist
Brad Paisley
05:51
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Song lyrics

[Verse 1:]
To the man that waited on me
At the Starbucks down on Main,
I hope you understand,
When I put on that T-shirt
The only thing I meant to say
Is I'm a Skynyrd fan.
The red flag on my chest somehow is
Like the elephant in the corner of the South,
And I just walked him right in the room,
Just a proud rebel son with an ol' can of worms.
Lookin' like I got a lot to learn,
But from my point of view...

[Chorus:]
I'm just a white man comin' to you from the Southland,
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be.
I'm proud of where I'm from, but not everything we've done,
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history,
Our generation didn't start this nation,
We're still pickin' up the pieces, walkin' on eggshells, fightin' over yesterday,
And caught between Southern pride and Southern blame.

[Verse 2:]
They called it Reconstruction,
Fixed the buildings, dried some tears,
We're still siftin' through the rubble
After a hundred-fifty years.
I try to put myself in your shoes,
And that's a good place to begin,
But it ain't like I can walk a mile
In someone else's skin.

[Chorus:]
‘Cause I'm a white man livin' in the Southland,
Just like you I'm more than what you see,
I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done,
And it ain't like you and me can re-write history,
Our generation didn't start this nation,
And we're still payin' for the mistakes
That a bunch of folks made long before we came,
And caught somewhere between Southern pride and Southern blame.

[LL Cool J:]
Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood
What the world is really like when you're livin' in the hood.
Just because my pants are saggin', doesn't mean I'm up to no good,
You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would.
Now my chains are gold but I'm still misunderstood,
I wasn't there when Sherman's March turned the South into firewood.
I want you to get paid, but be a slave I never could,
Feel like a newfangled Django, dodgin' invisible white hoods,
So when I see that white cowboy hat, I'm thinkin' it's not all good.
I guess we're both guilty of judgin' the cover, not the book,
I'd love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air,
But I see that red flag and I think you wish, I wasn't here.

[Brad Paisley:]
I'm just a white man,
[LL Cool J:]
If you don't judge my do-rag,
[Brad Paisley:]
Comin' to you from the Southland,
[LL Cool J:]
I won't judge your red flag.
[Brad Paisley:]
Tryin' to understand what it's like not to be,
I'm proud of where I'm from,
[LL Cool J:]
If you don't judge my gold chains,
[Brad Paisley:]
But not everything we've done,
[LL Cool J:]
I'll forget the iron chains.
[Brad Paisley:]
It ain't like you and me can re-write history.
[LL Cool J:]
Can't re-write history, baby.
[Brad Paisley:]
Oh, Dixieland!
[LL Cool J:]
The relationship between the Mason-Dixon needs some fixin'.
[Brad Paisley:]
I hope you understand what this is all about.
[LL Cool J:]
Quite frankly I'm a black Yankee, but I've been thinkin' about this lately.
[Brad Paisley:]
I'm a son of the new South,
[LL Cool J:]
The past is the past, you feel me.
[Brad Paisley:]
And I just want to make things right
[LL Cool J:]
Let bygones be bygones.
[Brad Paisley:]
Where all that's left is Southern pride.
[LL Cool J:]
R.I.P. Robert E. Lee but I've gotta thank Abraham Lincoln for freein' me, nahmean?
It's real, it's real,
It's truth.

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