Brother
Title | Brother |
---|---|
Artist | Amir Sulaiman |
Album | Like a Thief in the Night |
Release Date | 2007-05-15 |
Description | 13th track off “Like a Thief in the Night” and one of my favorite songs. |
Lyrics | [Intro] (Spoken Word) I wish I could tell him that I love him I wish I could tell them that I love them That we love them But how could they believe us When they are caught between the enemies' prison systems And their own family's criticism? No one to counsel, nor console Where does a young, tortured soul find its home? When they are molested for being too young And punished for gettin' grown Our love for them is so conditional Our love for them is too conditional But the condition is not conducive to our condemnation Pickin' out the faults like vultures Consumin' the scattered leftovers Once The Beast has had His fill Our sons emasculated And consequently, overcompensating And unbeknownst to them They are just waiting, for you to say "I love you" Not, "I love you but..." Not, "I'd love you if..." When love is missed, love turns to myth So why break your heart waiting for, a myth? Why break your heart waiting for something that doesn't exist? Our love for them is so conditional Our love for them is too conditional I wish, I could just tell them that we love them [Verse 1] I'm alive, I'm a liar But I deserve to die For the things I've said For the times I've lied They lied when they said time flies Time floats aimlessly, and then time dies A broken-winged bird is slave to gravity A broken-winged bird is slave to reality I'm alive, but I deserve to die For the souls I've stolen, bodies broken The hearts of my close kin crushed by my carelessness But my family tree has been uprooted And the broken branches of broken marriages Leave me out on a limb That can barely support its own weight Like I can barely support my own kids Like I can barely keep my own crib Ain't never had a piece of the pie Just pieces of crust that don't stick to the ribs And I'm hungry again Ain't nobody fed us since we were kids So by the time he had got hair on his chin He had his ear to the street By the time he had hair on his cheeks He was carrying heat By the time he got some base in his voice-box He had rocks in his socks Never played Pop Warner But rode recklessly An' pop[?]-winded In the potholes and pitfalls of Westside avenues You might also likeI'm dead, I'm a liar But he deserves to be alive I should be the one to die For the promises I've broken He was just searchin' the streets For a martyr[?] token That would take him anywhere Northbound platform towards elsewhere The subterranean transit terminal Who figured it could be like Cinderella's pumpkin? Like Aladdin's carpet, like Jay-Z's Cooper, Shaq's truck Cash, bucks, cake, cream, money, bread, flow, green? Do you blame the dreamer, or the dream? The trap or the fiend? The parent or the teen? Even when I used to tell him that we came from kings He gonna ask me, "Have you ever seen a king wit' no bling?" He said, "If we're royalty then we have gotta shine "An' if I've gotta shine than I've got to grind "An' if I've gotta grind, then never-mind all that extra you talkin' "Unless these shoes you've walked in "Or unless your chest my heart's in "Unless you can guarantee that you'll hold my hand "When it's dark an' cold an' hard an' lonely an' hungry then "You can't hear me, see me, be me, feel me, touch me... "Hug me, hold me, scold me, teach me, love me... Be me" [Chorus] We see you young brothers Caught in hustle Although you don't see it Just know that we love you You're young, strong, an' brave An' you are born for the struggle Forgive us for our negligence Know that we love you We see you young brothers An' you're, caught in the hustle I know you don't see it But, know that we love you You're young, strong, an' brave An' you are, born for the struggle Forgive us for our negligence Know that we love you [Outro] We see you out there Know that we love you We see you in the prisons Know that we love you We see you on those corners Know that we love you We see you in those streets Know that we love you We see you in them juvies Know that we love you We see you on the battlefield Know that we love you We see you strugglin' We see you hustlin' We see you love An' know that we love you |