Well we had a mouse right in our house and were afraid to move 
But I'd never trade that time we spent huddled up in the front room 
No chill or rats or poverty can quell my love for you 
Or for this dump we're standing in 'cause this is my home too 
Chicago, Chicago, well there's assholes everywhere 
Chicago, Chicago, where you're 15 pints from all your cares 
Where your wallet's like a sieve 
And that's where all of the gangsters live 
Chicago, Chicago, is where we can afford to live 
Well I sit out on my front porch step, watch the gangsters selling crack 
And I call the cops when a girl walks by and they give her a smack 
Oh I like to get my beer and sit on my front step or by the store 
Hanging out where white folks fear to tread, yeah this is my home for sure 
No gangsters can deface it 'cause it's still the same to me 
Sometimes the bullets frighten me but 
I speak up you see 
Oh I can navigate the subway sect just like a weathered pro 
And anywhere 
I want to you know that is where 
I go Chicago, 
Chicago, assholes everywhere 
Chicago, Chicago, we are 15 pints from all our cares 
Where your wallet's like a sieve 
And that's where all of the gangsters live 
Chicago, Chicago, is where we can afford to live 
I'm going out all by myself, no victims role for me 
No I'm not transgressed by lovers or friends or owed something you see 
Well the new condo's they're coming fast and the rents have gone sky high 
Just because we're seen as pioneers they start to build for all the whites 
They fuckin' gentrified my home, they fuckin' gentrified my home 
Left affordable housing there to roam, they fuckin' gentrified my home 
They fuckin' gentrified my home, they fuckin' gentrified my home 
Daley kicking ethnic vendors off the street, ordinanced nothing cheap to eat 
No more vendors in front of restaurants 'cause 
Daley says they attract vermin to their haunts 
But I don't think that's the targeted vermin that he wants 
See the copper with his badge and his gun 
He's not hiding from anyone 
So you better collect your shit and run 
New shopping fronts are popping up all around 
Driving our affordability out of town 
You'd think they no longer want us around 
Public housing coming down by federal mandate 
All of whom they promised to relocate 
Rick Lazio's bill passed congress but they just segregated 'em back from where they came 
Neighborhoods splits up by highways lined 
Dividing different races by color lines 
Old mayor 
Daley put 'em there in the ever old grand ol' time 
Real world hype drives the rent sky high 
Now MTV age yuppies want to buy 
The city got the exorbitant tax 
But in the real world in 
Chicago someone was shot outside the apartment and they died 
So you better run, stand, fight