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FIND NO ENEMY
By Akala
Apparently I'm second generation black Caribbean
And half white Scottish, whatever that means
See, lately I feel confused with the boxes
'Cause to me, all they do is breed conflict
It's not that I've lost touch with reality
Of racism, sexism and nationality
Just to me, it all seems like insanity
Why must I rob you of your humanity
To feel good about mine?
It's all about crime
Dehumanizing is how I justify it
So I must keep lying 'bout the history of Africa
So I can live with the massacres
And repeat my mantra - Muslim terrorist
So I can sleep at night as bombs take flight
Eyes open wide but I'm blind to the sight
Too busy chasing the perfect life
And the working class, keep them uneducated
Truly educated men could never be a racist
To educate is to draw out what is within
Are we not all not the same under the skin?
I got a heart like yours that pumps blood and oxygen
And insecurities - a whole lot of them
I'm scared like you deep down
I really do care that the world is not fair like you
But I don't even believe my own prayers like you
Chasing career, going nowhere like you
Lost in a fog of my own insecurity
I hold myself up as an image of purity
And I judge everybody else
By the color of their skin or the size of their wealth
But it's not good for my health
As the only one I ever really judge is myself
The oppressor must suffer like the oppressed
Though I pretend I'm in control of this mess
By inflating my ego, puffing my chest
I see our weakness, and need to show strength
Or what we think strong is 'cause if we're honest?
True strength is the strength to be honest
And if I'm honest, I am just tired
If I'm honest, I am just tired
Tired of everyday filling up my car and knowing that
I'm paying for the bombs in Iraq
Tired of pretending it don't hurt my heart
Of wanting change but not knowing where to start
Tired of listening to all the conditioning
And all the forms that they got me filling in
Next time you see what you think is a thug and despise him
Please know I was just like him
'Cause I was like eight first time I saw crack
Same time I first smoked weed, choking on blowbacks
First time I saw knives penetrate flesh
It was meat cleavers to the back of the head
As I grew and teenage years passed
Many more knifes pierced and the shots blast
And I ain't saying I had the worst upbringing
But there's a million young men just like me in prison
We complain about racism, elevate clowns
With their trousers down swinging their dick 'round
Maybe that is not quite literal
But everything they do is just as stereotypical
To my real fans, I feel your pain
And I get the messages, but don't complain
That we ain't got more fame, we're playing our part
They can keep the charts, all I want is your hearts
They can keep the charts, all I want is your hearts
They can keep the charts, all I want is your hearts
Call it black radio, don't make me laugh
So is black music all about tits and arse?
You don't represent nothing, you're just pretending
When was the last time you ever played Hendrix?
Or Miles Davis or John Coltrane?
Or Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday?
We can call it urban, to me that's cool
If urban means street, that includes jazz too
And rock for that matter
Go ask Mick Jagger or Jimmy Page what they were listening to - the blues
Not discrediting, love Zeppelin too,
Just giving credit where credit is due
That blood soaked word rappers still use
All it really shows is we still self abuse
That was the word that was used to kill Kelso Cochrane and Emmett Till
That was the word that the conscience eased
And made people pleased that hung you from trees
That was the word that let the whips crack
No matter what you say, you can't take it back
And I can say they're black so I feel their pain easier
But 1915 look at Armenia
It's the whole world, this human stupidity
That we choke ourselves to death quite literally
And I can talk with my comfortable mouth
With my comfortable clothes and my comfortable house
The tables will turn, we can but stall them
Every empire on this earth has fallen
So unless we can find another way
Maybe not today, but it will come one day
And it may sound like I'm bitter
But in fact, truth be told, I am quite the opposite
I wake everyday and am overwhelmed
Just to be alive and be like no one else
And the sheer weight of the thought of space
Is enough to keep my little ego in place
All that we chase and try to replace
All along it was right in our face
The only way we can ever change anything
Is to look in the mirror and to find no enemy
The only way we can ever change anything
Look in the mirror and to find no enemy.
Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!
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A Note From The Gull
Thank you, Akala.
You've got my heart because your consciousness gives me hope.
"The only way we can ever change anything
Is to look in the mirror and to find no enemy."
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.
Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
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