Take me back in time where life seemed free
Take me back in time where childhood chased life around a tree
You might think and wonder - where this journey takes you to
I might take you back in time - where the sky had a different blue
Do you remember your first day in school
Do you remember rebelling, making everyone feel like a fool
Do you remember your first playground fight
Do you remember defending your mother’s pride
Do you remember being a star on the basketball court
Do you remember teasing the girls from that day forth
Do you remember your father saying ‘treat women with respect’
Do you remember seeing strangers in a state of neglect
Do you remember wondering ‘where is the rest in their eyes’
Do you remember your mother saying ‘whatever comes in life – avoid lies’
Do you remember watching Michael Jordan in TV
Do you remember saying ‘that is the future me’
Do you remember the swagger of your older brother
Do you remember him being your idol like no other
Do you remember embracing the true meaning of *Thug Life
Do you remember being deprived of rights, somebody took us on a ride
Take me back in time where life seemed free
Take me back in time where childhood chased life around a tree
You might think and wonder - where this journey takes you to
I might take you back in time - where the sky had a different blue
Do you remember how the taste of childhood finally changed
Do you remember its variety of happiness – the colours it ranged
Do you remember the lessons impetuosity did teach
Do you remember the double standards society did preach
Do you remember being pushed to the side for your dress code
Do you remember feeling lonely on that crowded road
Do you remember who always put a smile on your face
Do you remember who embraced you for who you were in those days
Do you remember the nightmares in broad daylight
Do you remember the police having you lined up in their sight
Do you remember or is your skin tone still reason enough
Do you remember or are you still in jail – life has been rough
Do you remember trying not to confuse right with wrong
Do you remember saying ‘what doesn’t kill you only makes you strong’
Do you remember?
It still makes me wonder.
Take me back in time where life seemed free
Take me back in time where childhood chased life around a tree
You might think and wonder - where this journey takes you to
I might take you back in time - where the sky had a different blue
Do you remember your childhood back home - you call it Mogadishu
Do you remember? Sit down, tell me the stories too good to be true
Do you remember the afro of the punt and their smile
Do you remember their tales echo downstream the river Nile
Do you remember your first steps towards life from the cradle
Do you remember his last steps to the grave – life has been a battle
Do you remember what it takes to become a man
Do you remember ‘pride goes before the fall’ living to the best we can
Do you remember the day you moved to my neighbourhood
Do you remember those lips whispering 'they are up to no good'
Do you remember those eyes saying ‘they came from the gutter’
Do you remember anger at society made you speak with a stutter
Do you remember those great poets, all aiming to ‘spark the change’
Do you remember the day we said ‘a sincere spark might burn the future page’
Do you remember?
‘Take me back in time, still won’t see me surrender’
Sometimes, there is nothing in sight
Feeling like an extinguished candle in the dark
For your illuminating light
You need love as a spark
“(T)he (H)ate Yo(U) (G)ive
(L)ittle (I)nfants (F)!s (E)verybody “ * Thug Life – Tupac Shakur
Pen 'N' Paper
Copyright © 2011
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