Lyrics of 'They're Finished' by Brother Ali

"We have a small disturbance at Lake Street in Chicago, some young men fighting
Could we get some cars to go and check that out please?"

A young man stands up against the wall
Dressed in all blue, tilted hatbrim and all
He's got his peeps around him, so he's talkin supertall
About how many women he got or how much he ball
Second man comes walkin down the street
This one dressed in all red from his head to the sneaks
It's the same thing, he's shootin off the mouth to his peeps
Sees the one in blue, walks over and starts to speak
"I'm from such and such a gang, I'll knock ya out, woop-de-woop
?? blue said "I told you, I don't fight, fool, I shoot"
The one in red said "I'll still bust your mouth like "bloo!"
Man, you gon' get your wig split out here tryin to act cute"
Neither one of them likes being threatened
They talking superbig and so their friends won't see'em sweatin
Neither one of them wants this to be the day that they're regrettin
Cause nowadays, you never know who's packing a weapon

So they talk and talk and talk and, talk and talk and
They talk and talk and talk and, talk and talk and
They talk and talk and talk and, talk and talk and
"This is how the story goes"

The argument is gettin louder and louder
A crowd of people notice that so naturally they started to surround'em
One pulled his fist up, man he really wants to pound him
He threw the one-two and he tried to ten-count him
Like "huh, huh"
You know these kids can't fight
He missed him with the left and barely nicked him with the right
But now they notice that they're in the female sight
So they go and try to knock eachother out
??? out of breath, cause they ain't about nothin
Three minutes later, they both huffin and puffin
Hollerin to they crew like "Yo, you better tell that man somethin"
Everybody laughin, cause they know they only frontin

But they fightin, fightin, fightin, fightin, fightin
They fightin, fightin, fightin, fightin, fightin
They fightin, fightin, fightin, fightin, fightin
"This is how the story goes"

The storeowner comes out with a broomstick and some mace
Like "Yo, you kids can't fight in front of my place"
So they pull'em apart, they both red in the face
Like "I'll get you in another time, another place"
So they both pick up what little pride they got left
And go back to the rest, embarrased to death
This was their big chance to prove they big strength
Instead they just both made a fool of theyselves
If you from the neighborhood, then you already know
I ain't even got to tell you how the story go
Everybody talkin bout ?? the tension grow
Y'all go ahead and laugh and I'm a kill ??
Teenagers today have too many bad habits
And way too proud to let static be static
And that combination right there is problematic
Cause shorty knows a way he can cop an automatic

So he's schemin, schemin, schemin, schemin, schemin
He's schemin, schemin, schemin, schemin, schemin
He's schemin, schemin, schemin, schemin, schemin
"This is how the story goes"

So now shorty and his cousin borrow his aunt's car
With the gat in the lap they try to find where they are
They know where they they be at, they ain't have to look far
He scared as hell but he's like "Yo, I'm ready for war"
They roll up on the scene, roll down the window
Said a few words, then let the gat blow
He hit his enemy but his girlfriend also
And all of a sudden here comes the po po
They hollered at shorty to throw down the heater
But he tryin to go out like he's Lil' Ceasar
They wet his ass up without even takin a breather
In their mind that's just proper police procedure
Now everybody's at the funeral scene
Boo hoo'in about how he was only fifteen
He should have been at home playin video games
But he got too wrapped up in the rap and the fame

So now they finished, finished, finished, finished, finished
They finished, finished, finished, finished, finished
They finished, finished, finished, finished, finished
"This is how the story goes"

[Continues with variations to end]