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] .
.
.