Tough

Written by：Robert Arthur Ford Jr./James B. Moore/Russell W. Simmons/Lawrence Smith

I don't want a lot I want just enough

So why has it got to be so d**n tough

Livin' on the uptown side of jive

Hustlin' a buck to stay alive

Lookin' for a ten and they give your five

Well it's tough

You talk to the boss the boss is gruff

You ask for a raise and they call your bluff

You may get some but it's never enough

Because it's tough

Strong like a magnum force

Rough like a new divorce

Mean like a three time loser

Bad like an l a cruiser

Down like a limousine

Blind like a submarine

Hard like cold concrete

Tough that's the rhythm of the beat

You hit the street and you look for work

You don't want to be some welfare jerk

But I wonder how you get to be captain kirk

It's tough

Now kirk has a ship called the enterprise

He cuts the aliens down to size

But I wonder

What he'd do with the uptown guys

They're tough

Tough

Try to get some cash

When you're looking for

A raise and they give you

Trash

Rough

When you got it like that

And your woman's running

'Round with a baseball bat

Hard

Try to play it cool

When the girl's all know

You're an out of work fool

Tough

How it seems to be wish

I had somebody lookin'

Out for me

Try to find a lover if you dare

Even if you do she just won't care

Well no one ever said that that life is fair

Because it's tough

Saw a fine young lady the other day

I started my rap I had a lot to say

But she said she was goin' with a

C P A

Now it's tough

Strong like a superhero

Rough like a bank book zero

Mean like the oakland raiders

Bad like the caped crusaders

Down like a homerun ball

Blind like an umpire's call

Hard like a cruel deceit

Tough that's the rhythm of the beat

You worked all year to buy a brand new car

A coupe de ville or a jaguar

But you didn't make enough for a good cigar

Because it's tough

So you went to the bank to try to get

A loan

But the guy behind the desk had a heart os

Stone

He said you don't need

A car use the telephone

It's tough

Tough

It's a way of life lost your job

Your money but not your wife

Rough

Gettin' in the black uncle

Sam's in your pocket

And your woman's on your back

Hard

That's the deal had to get a loan just to

Buy a meal

Tough

That's how it goes

When it's gettin' better nobody knows

Strong like chocolate thunder

Rough like stevie wonder

Mean like brucie the shark

Bad like the raider's ark

Down like sugar's glove

Blind like a man in love

Hard like a big defeat

Tough that's the rhythm of the beat

Tough that's the word unemployment

Is all I heard

Rough when you start your day

Watch the finance man tow

Your car away

Hard to hold a job

When you've been replaced by a

Little blue knob

Tough like a dollar steak

Ain't someone ever gonna give me

A break