| When I think about the branches of my family tree
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| I see the roots underground in the land of the free
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| But they were choked by the weeds and the vandalous thieves
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| Branded and keyed
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| Beaten like a gamblers knees
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| I can’t weep for the willow
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| I’m angry as bees demanding a queen
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| Trapped by humanity’s greed
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| I give thanks that my ancestors planted a seed
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| So I know I can’t sleep til I abandon the dream
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| I don’t count sheep
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| I’m living with my eyes open
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| Trying to laugh and act happy like God’s joking
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| The poems I rhyme remind me to find hope
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| And I’m keeping my mind focused following divine motion
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| But I get paid to glance down over the waves that buried the slaves
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| And gave evolution a stage
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| In a plane I can’t fathom or imagine the pain
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| The same teardrops rage every time that it rains
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| (chorus)
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| If you don’t know where you come from
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| How you’re gonna know how to go through what you go through
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| (How you gonna know, how you gonna know
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| If you don’t know where you come from?)
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| Travelling around the world carrying a heavy weight
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| Here in this suitcase, the struggles that my family faces
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| Anywhere that I go I’m still riding the same train
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| On the same stage in the same play
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| Even if the faces change
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| Can I cry when I know the things they’ve been through?
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| Can I smile when I know how much they cried?
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| Should I lie to myself when I know the past?
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| I guess I’ll try my best to carry on
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| Because I know where I come from
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| (chorus)
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| The pain of the past can easily eclipse the present
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| But raindrops relieve tears like kisses from heaven
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| And they’re flooding the streets deeper than a busted levy
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| They try to smile on the news, I don’t trust the TV
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| Cause there’s another branch breaking and you can’t feel it
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| And there’s another tree falling and you can’t hear it
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| We’re the lost generation of youth looking for truth
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| It’s a strange fruit trying to change suit with the same roots, but yo
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| Can I cry when I know the things they’ve been through?
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| Can I smile when I know how much they cried?
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| Should I lie to myself when I know the past?
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| I guess I’ll try my best to carry on
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| Because I know where I come from |