Chords for Is It Because I'm Black

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