My next post is coming guys, I've been super busy with school and work, but here is something to read and contemplate in the meantime.... Below are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs (that I'm sure you've all heard before), "Forgive Them Father" by Lauryn Hill. Lauryn has always been one of my favorite artists, not because she was talented (which she was!) but because she wasn't afraid to speak the truth. I purposely didn't post the link to the actual song because I feel like you have to read Lauryn's words first to really grasp the depth of the song...I wonder why she isn't around anymore? Maybe spoke too much truth so the powers that be had to shut her up?? So who do you think she is talking to in this song? I don't think she is generalizing at all. Enjoy!
"Forgive Them Father" from the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us
Although them again we will never, never, never trust
Dem noh know weh dem do, dig out yuh yei while dem sticking like glue,
Fling, skin, grin while dem plotting fah you,True, Ah Who???
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
Beware the false motives of others
Be careful of those who pretend to be brothers
And you never suppose it's those who are closest to you, to you
They say all the right things to gain their position
Then use your kindness as their ammunition
To shoot you down in the name of ambition, they do
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
Why every Indian wanna be the chief?
Feed a man 'til he's full and he still want beef
Give me grief, try to tie off my piece
Why for you to increase, I must decrease?
If I treat you kindly does it mean that I'm weak?
You hear me speak and think I won't take it to the streets
I know enough cats that don't turn the other cheek
But I try to keep it civilized like Menelik
And other African czars observing stars with war scars
Get yours in this capitalistic system
So many caught or got bought you can't list them
How you gonna idolize the missing?
To survive is to stay alive in the face of opposition
Even when they comin' gunnin'I stand position
L's known the mission since conception
Let's free the people from deception
If you looking for the answers
Then you gotta ask the questions
And when I let go, my voice echoes through the ghetto
Sick of men trying to pull strings like Geppetto
Why black people always be the ones to settle?
March through these streets like Soweto
Like Cain and Abel, Caesar and Brutus, Jesus and Judas,
Backstabbers do this!
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
It took me a little while to discover
Wolves in sheep coats who pretend to be lovers
Men who lack conscience will even lie to themselves, to themselves
A friend once said, and I found to be true
That everyday people, they lie to God too
So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
Forgive them, forgive them
Forgive them father for they know not what they do
Forgive them, forgive them
Gwan like dem love while dem rip yuh to shreds,
Trample pon yuh heart and lef yuh fi dead,
Dem a yuh fren who yuh depen pon from way back when,
But if yuh gi dem yuh back den yuh mus meet yuh end,
Dem noh know wey dem do,
Dem no know, dem no know, dem no know,
Dem no know, dem no know wey dem do
2 comments:
lol- so first let me say i'm not a fan of Lauryn-I say that jokingly because I do love her as a person, and I am sooo with her on the 'Miseducation" tip- BUT- I never really needed to hear the album over and over again. Lauryn is definitely a thinker. She tells how she feels, and she speaks on alot of issues and judgements in the world. To me, she tried to be more like her teacher (Nina Simone)- which in theory is very cool, we need more of them out there, but, I loved Lauryn as a Fugee vs a sort of fan proclaimed Prophet-
Just my spill on Lauryn- Love the meaning of the song though
Oh- for those that don't know Nina- Check her out- Note that in "Ready or not" by the Fugees, lauryn said - "So while you're imitating Al Capone I'll be Nina Simone And defacating on your microphone." few years after that- she reiterates everything Nina spoke on in the 60's...
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