Talk To Strangers

Nah, I wasn't raised at gunpoint

And I've read too many books

To distract me from the mirror

When unhappy with my looks

And I ain't got proper diction

For the makings of a thug

Though I grew up in the ghetto

And my niggers all sold drugs

And though that may validate me

For a spot on MTV

Or get me all the airplay

That my bank account would need

I was hoping to invest in

A lesson that I learned

When I thought this fool would jump me

Just because it was my turn

I went to an open space

'Cause I knew he wouldn't do it

If somebody there could see him

Or somebody else might prove it

And maybe in your eyes

It may seem I got punked out

'Cause I walked a narrow path

And then went and changed my route

But that openness exposed me

To a truth I couldn't find

In the clenched fists of my ego

Or the confines of my mind

In the hipness of my swagger

Or the swagger in my step

Or the scowl of my grimace

Or the meanness of my rep

'Cause we represent a truth, son

That changes by the hour

And when you open to it

Vulnerability is power

And in that shifting form

You'll find a truth that doesn't change

And that truth's living proof

Of the fact that God is strange

Talk to strangers

When family fails and friends lead you astray

When Buddha laughs and Jesus weeps

And it turns out God is gay

'Cause angels and messiahs

Love can come in many forms

In the hallways of your projects

Or the fat girl in your dorm

And when you finally take the time

To see what they're about

And perhaps you find them lonely

Or their wisdom trips you out

Maybe you'll find where cycles end

You're back where you began

But come this time around

You'll have someone to hold your hand

Who prays for you, who's there for you

Who sends you love and light

Exposes you to parts of you

That you once tried to fight

And come this time around

You choose to walk a different path

You'll embrace what you turned away

And cry at what you laughed

'Cause that's the only way

We're gonna make it through this storm

Where ignorance is common sense

And senselessness the norm

And flags wave high above the truth

And the two never touch

And stolen goods are overpriced

And freedom costs too much

And no one seems to recognize

The symbols come to life

The bitten apple on the screen

And Jesus had a wife

And she was his messiah

Like that stranger may be yours

Who holds the subtle knife

That carves through worlds like magic doors

And that's what I've been looking for

The bridge from then to now

Was watching BET like, "What the fuck, son?

This is foul"

But that square box don't represent

The sphere that we live in

The Earth is not a flat screen

I ain't trying to fit in

But this ain't for the underground

This here is for the Sun

A seed a stranger gave to me

And planted on my tongue

And when I look at you

I know I'm not the only one

As a great man once said

"There's nothing more powerful

Than an idea

Whose time

Has come"