My skin I brown
My hair is platinum blonde, today
Burgundy tomorrow
My nails is long
I know no sorrow, cause
Ain't nothing I care to know, but…
where my check so I can get my tix for the Jay-Z show
And
I do aspire to be a video-ho do
and I know
Pop-eye got shot last night
But
that's how it go, in da ghetto
in da ghetto
What do they call me?
Read the tattoo on the left breast
My name is…Lexxus
yeah girl
my name is…Lexxus
get it right
My skin was young, so young
It burned and tore
My hair was pressed and curled
and tied with ribbons that Sunday morn
September 15, 1963
I screamed
In the basement of the church, I screamed
The last day I would ever see
Ma and Pa would never know the woman I would grow up to be
I was an involuntary offering for humanity
Why did they hate me?
Why dey hate me, so, so, sooo
What did they call me?
Four Little Girls
Four Little Girls
My skin is tough
This woman
This
Lunch and home, mistake and love maker
double shift worker
sometimes warrior, sometimes weak
This wife
This single soldier
God-given, God fearing, God doubting
This, bearer of wisdom and fruit and pain
This
once girl…sometimes still
saint, sinner, teacher, multi-tasker, friend, this everyday wonder
This…woman
This…nation-builder
This…raiser of leaders, of losers, of babies, of boys who will become men
Girls who will become women
This…woman
Some call me mama
Hey mama
Hey mama
Hey mama
My eyes are a rainbow
I reflect the spectrum
I have seen much
My heart weighs heavy
Even with joy I feel so much
My hair is electric
I am ablaze, I am the source
I can feed you or starve you
Breath life into you or bleed you
I can fuck you or love you
I don't care how they call me
I know who I is
Call me…
crazy, divine, Ma'at, true honeybun, Supreme Pontifica, electric lady, holy prostitute
I don't care what you call me
I know who I is
I know who I is
I know who I is
I know who I is
I is…
Mammy, mulatto, welfare mom
Matriarch, mid-wife
I IS
My hair is platinum blonde, today
Burgundy tomorrow
My nails is long
I know no sorrow, cause
Ain't nothing I care to know, but…
where my check so I can get my tix for the Jay-Z show
And
I do aspire to be a video-ho do
and I know
Pop-eye got shot last night
But
that's how it go, in da ghetto
in da ghetto
What do they call me?
Read the tattoo on the left breast
My name is…Lexxus
yeah girl
my name is…Lexxus
get it right
My skin was young, so young
It burned and tore
My hair was pressed and curled
and tied with ribbons that Sunday morn
September 15, 1963
I screamed
In the basement of the church, I screamed
The last day I would ever see
Ma and Pa would never know the woman I would grow up to be
I was an involuntary offering for humanity
Why did they hate me?
Why dey hate me, so, so, sooo
What did they call me?
Four Little Girls
Four Little Girls
My skin is tough
This woman
This
Lunch and home, mistake and love maker
double shift worker
sometimes warrior, sometimes weak
This wife
This single soldier
God-given, God fearing, God doubting
This, bearer of wisdom and fruit and pain
This
once girl…sometimes still
saint, sinner, teacher, multi-tasker, friend, this everyday wonder
This…woman
This…nation-builder
This…raiser of leaders, of losers, of babies, of boys who will become men
Girls who will become women
This…woman
Some call me mama
Hey mama
Hey mama
Hey mama
My eyes are a rainbow
I reflect the spectrum
I have seen much
My heart weighs heavy
Even with joy I feel so much
My hair is electric
I am ablaze, I am the source
I can feed you or starve you
Breath life into you or bleed you
I can fuck you or love you
I don't care how they call me
I know who I is
Call me…
crazy, divine, Ma'at, true honeybun, Supreme Pontifica, electric lady, holy prostitute
I don't care what you call me
I know who I is
I know who I is
I know who I is
I know who I is
I is…
Mammy, mulatto, welfare mom
Matriarch, mid-wife
I IS
Contributed by Alessandro - 2009/8/26 - 10:34
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Album "Ma'at Mama"
Un’attualizzazione, per così dire, della bellissima Four Women di Nina Simone, ma il riferimento nella seconda strofa è sempre alla storia dolorosa dell’emancipazione degli afro-americani negli USA: le “Four Women” della Simone diventano le quattro ragazzine uccise dal KKK nell’attentato alla 16th Street Baptist Church di Birmingham, Alabama, il 15 settembre 1963.
Sull’episodio in specifico si vedano anche Alabama di John Coltrane, Birmingham Sunday di Richard Fariña, Mississippi Goddam, sempre della Nina Simone, e Talking Birmingham Jam di Phil Ochs…
Alla fine dell’ultima strofa, la Rucker fa riferimento al titolo dell’album: “Ma’at” o “Mayet” o “Muʔʕat” nell’antico Egitto indicava il concetto di verità, giustizia, ordine ed armonia delle cose. Il principio era personificato nella giovane dea Maat, raffigurata a volte alata oppure con in una mano il bastone del potere e nell’altra la chiave della vita…