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
  God (?), when thugs cry, too much is hard
    [2Pac]
  Born thuggin and lovin the way I came up
  Big money clutchin, bustin while evadin cocaine busts
  My pulse rushin, send my (?) into insanity
  Shout at my cousin now we bustin if they yo' family
  The coppers wanna see me buried, I ain't worried
  I got a line on the D.A. cause I'm fuckin his secretary
  I black out and start cussin, bust 'em and touch 'em all
  They panic and bitches duckin, I rush 'em and fuck '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 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 motherfuckers screamin
  What is the meaning, when thugs cry?
    [Chorus: singers]
  Oh why, children 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, no communication, 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 at times, but now our minds are gone
  We went from brothers and sisters, to niggaz and bitches
  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
    [Chorus]
    [2Pac]
  And all I see is these paranoid bitches, illegal adventures
  Bustin motherfuckers 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 that my attack'll take command of your dreams
  Leavin motherfuckers drownin in they own blood
  Clownin takin pictures later
  Laugh bout the punk bitches, that turned snitches
  Regulate my area, the terror I represent
  Makin yo' people disappear, you wonderin where they went?
  Am I cold or is it just I sold my soul?
  Addicted to these streets, never find true peace I'm told
  Come 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
    [Chorus]
    [2Pac over Chorus]
  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?
    [Chorus]