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