[Intro - police radio static fades in, then spoken] I been watching this city for fifty years. I know what happens when the badge becomes the crime. [Verse 1] Fifty years of watching suits and badges work together Seen the precinct flip the evidence depending on the weather Seen the sergeant run the corner while he's running investigations Seen the evidence room empty — call it lost documentation They pulled the young boy over on a Wednesday after midnight Planted what they needed — wrote the report in the blue light DA shook the captain's hand at somebody's fundraiser Same hand signed the warrant — same hand pulled the trigger later I remember Marcus — twenty-two, just got a job Driving home from overtime when they invented probable cause Three cars, seven officers for a broken taillight Marcus didn't make it to the sunrise of that night No camera malfunction — cameras were on Footage disappeared between the precinct and the court I know because I asked — asked everybody in that building Thirty years of silence got a language — I been reading it [Hook] Badge and blood — the uniform was never clean Badge and blood — the law ain't always what it seems Badge and blood — they swore to serve but served themselves Badge and blood — the truth been buried on the shelf They got the drugs, they got the power and the gun They got the courtrooms and the judges when it's done Badge and blood — the city paid the price in lives Badge and blood — and somebody's gotta testify [Verse 2] Let me tell you what they did to Rosa on the east side Picked her up for questioning — nobody was advised No lawyer, no recording, just a room and a detective What happened in that room — she carried for a decade Filed a complaint — complaint got lost in processing Filed again — got visited by officers suggesting She drop it for her safety — drop it for her children She dropped it — they promoted him the following September I got a list of names — dates and badge numbers Case files that I copied before they went to storage I been building this for years because the system won't And every name on every page is somebody who won't Come home. Won't come back. Won't get their story told Unless somebody with enough years and nothing left to lose Stands up in the fire and refuses to be moved I'm seventy-one years old — what exactly can they do [Hook] Badge and blood — the uniform was never clean Badge and blood — the law ain't always what it seems Badge and blood — they swore to serve but served themselves Badge and blood — the truth been buried on the shelf They got the drugs, they got the power and the gun They got the courtrooms and the judges when it's done Badge and blood — the city paid the price in lives Badge and blood — and somebody's gotta testify [Bridge - organ swells, spoken word, raw] I buried three neighbors who didn't get justice. I watched two mothers grow old waiting for answers. I sat in courtrooms where the verdict was decided before the trial started. I watched a detective retire with a pension and a handshake for crimes I can document on seventeen pages. You want to know what corruption looks like? It doesn't look like the movies. It looks like paperwork. It looks like promotions. It looks like silence at a city council meeting. It looks like a mother who stopped crying because crying didn't bring him back. I'm not afraid anymore. At seventy-one — you run out of afraid. All that's left is the truth. And I got plenty of that. [Verse 3] Now the federal investigators finally at the door Thirty boxes of documentation from my floor Every name, every date, every case that disappeared Every transfer that happened right when things got unclear The captain's lawyer's talking — talking about a deal You don't offer deals to innocence — you offer deals to guilt So let the record show — this old man saw it all And wrote it down — and kept it safe — and lived to make the call For Marcus. For Rosa. For every name they filed away. For every verdict that was purchased on somebody's payday. The badge was never blue to me — it always ran red I'm testifying for the living and I'm testifying for the dead [Hook - final, full weight] Badge and blood — the uniform was never clean Badge and blood — the law ain't always what it seems Badge and blood — they swore to serve but served themselves Badge and blood — the truth been buried on the shelf They got the drugs, they got the power and the gun They got the courtrooms and the judges when it's done Badge and blood — the city paid the price in lives Badge and blood — and somebody's gotta testify [Outro - organ fades, voice alone] I kept every document. Every name. Every date. They can't bury this anymore. Badge and blood. The truth don't retire.
