When thugs cry..
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my guns to keep
If I die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take
Got us dying; when thugs cry, times is hard

[2Pac]
Born thuggin and lovin the way I came up
Big money clutchin, bustin while evadin cocaine busts
My [bad word]  semi clutchin into insanity
They shot at my cousin, now we bustin at they whole family
The coppers wanna see me buried, I ain't worried
I got a line on the D.A. cause I'm [bad word] his secretary
I black out and start cussin, bust 'em and touch 'em all
They panic and [bad word] duckin, [bad word] 'em and [bad word] 'em all
I'll probably be an old man before I understand
why I had to live my life with pistols close at hand
Kidnapped my homey's sister, cut her face up bad
They even raped her so we blazed they pad
Automatic shots rang out, on every block
They puttin hits out on politicians, even cops, I ain't lyin
They got me sleepin with my infrared beams
And in my dreams I hear [bad word] screamin
What is the meaning, when thugs cry?
 [bad word]  singers]
Oh why, should you send your child off to die
In the streets of chalk where they lie
Let no wrongs cry out when thugs cry
Dear God..
Oh why, does it have to be this way, our
children of today won't stay wise
Let the children hear when thugs cry
Dear God.. oh why..

* ("When thugs cry") on line 4, first time only
* ("thugs cry") on line 6, first time only

[2Pac]
Heh.. maybe my addiction to friction got me buggin
Where is the love? Never quit my ambition to thug
Ain't shed a tear since the old school years of elementary
Niggaz I used to love, enclosed in penitentiaries
But still homey keep it real, how does it feel
to lose your life, over somethin that you did as a kid?
You all alone, [bad word]  block on the phone
Don't get along with yo' pop, and plus your moms is gone
Where did we go wrong? I put my soul in the song
to help us grow in time, but now our minds are gone
We went from brothers and sisters, to niggaz and [bad word] We went from welfare livin, to worldwide riches
But somethin changed in this dirty game, everything's strange
Lost all my homies over cocaine.. mayne
See they ask me if I shed a tear, I ain't lie
See you gotta get high or die, cause even thugs cry
 [bad word] 

[2Pac]
And all I see is these paranoid [bad word]  illegal adventures
Bustin [bad word] with uppercuts, I leave 'em with dentures
Cause in my criminal mind, nobody violates the Don
I write your name on a piece of paper, now your family's gone
Why perpetrate like you can handle my team?
So merciless in my attack I [bad word] of your dreams
Leavin [bad word] drownin in they own blood
Clownin takin pictures later
Laugh bout the punk [bad word]  that turned snitches
Regulate my area, the terror I represent
Makin yo' people disappear, you wonderin where they went?
I cold or is it just I sold my soul?
Addicted to these streets, never find [bad word] peace I'm [bad word] take my body God, don't let me suffer any longer
Smoke a pound of marijuana, so I know it ain't long
Where is the end to all my misery, is there a close?
I suppose that's why I murder my foes, when thugs cry
 [bad word] 

[2Pac over [bad word] 
I shed tattooed tears for years
for my dead homeboys and my prison peers
Y'all ain't never heard my cries
Now you wonder why would you die?
 [bad word]