We need a contribution
To help us find a solution
Barely staying alive
In all this confusion
I never took a cent
That wasn't mine to keep
Worked my fingers to the bone
Dug myself in way too deep, yeah

Don't define yourself by what you are
Define yourself by what you love

I'm a soldier in the ghetto
Fighting for a few home truths
I'm a soldier in the ghetto
There's war in my neighborhood
Hey, I shoulda known better
Than to trust in the wisdom of fools
I'm a soldier in the ghetto
Won't somebody please call a truce?

Now everything's different
And nothing's really changed
People trying to move on up
But they just get rearranged, yeah
They'll give you what you want
Repossess all you own
I don't know where I live
But I wanna go home, yeah

Don't define yourself by what you are
Define yourself by what you love

I'm a soldier in the ghetto
Fighting for a few home truths
I'm a soldier in the ghetto
There's war in my neighborhood
Hey, I shoulda known better
Than to trust in the wisdom of fools
I'm a soldier in the ghetto
Won't somebody please call a truce?

What it all comes down to
Is you don't really care
I bet you sleep like a baby
While we lie awake saying our prayers (Yeah)

Don't define yourself by what you are
Define yourself by what you love

I'm a soldier in the ghetto (Soldier in the ghetto)
Fighting for a few home truths
I'm a soldier in the ghetto (Soldier in the ghetto)
There's war in my neighborhood
Hey, I shoulda known better (Shoulda known better)
Than to trust in the wisdom of fools
I'm a soldier in the ghetto (Soldier in the ghetto)
Won't somebody please call a truce?

I'm a soldier in the ghetto
I'm a soldier in the ghetto
I'm a soldier in the ghetto