Didn't take nothing, that I didn't need
'Cause they didn't offer classes in what I wanted to be
They didn't offer manhood, responsibility
Had to learn it the hard way
Earned my degree in the streets
Graduated from Hard Knocks
Got my education
Hard Knocks
Out on the street
Can't bust through that ceiling without feelin' the burn
And I ain't got nothing that I did not earn
Chasin' that mighty dollar
'Stead of hittin the books
Studying Donny and Stevie
Learned to sail the hooks
I graduated from hard knocks
Got the bumps and the bruises to prove it
Hard knocks
Summa cum laude
Hard knocks
Hard knocks
Had a real good teacher named Mr. Life
Didn't teach no chemistry but he taught me how to fight
Didn't teach biology but I learned it from the birds and the bees
Said stay close to your friends even closer to your enemies
Hard knocks
Graduated Hard knocks
Bumps and bruises to prove it
Hard Knocks
Hard Knocks
Got to bring it on home
Said these streets keep calling me
Don't know what it is
Is it the thrill that I seek
I don't know
Is it the night
Or the sound of the city
Whatever it is
These streets keep calling me
Day in and night, can't get them off
