Listening to Lauryn Hill..

Her Unplugged 2 album is so full of wisdom and guidelines for self-reflection and growth. Although I don't think she's perfect, I am deeply transformed by her words. I'm not a christian, but I do believe that Jesus was a prophet. And although the bible has been twisted, tainted, and exploited by European hegemonic society, I think that through reading between the lines there's still some wisdom to be found. Ms. Hill utilizes biblical tales in this way in some of her songs. Here are 4 sets of lyrics and tracks from her album. You really need to get the whole album to get the complete message. The interludes are so key. (the crossed out line reflects my disagreement with those lyrics):

"Adam Lives In Theory"

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Adam lives in theory
Trying to turn stone into bread
Masquerading like he got it figured out
Cut off from the sunshine, only smart in his own head
Leaving his descendants to hope and doubt
Left to his devices, those worthless sacrifices
Praying to the alter of himself
Making pilgrimages, thinking he's religious
Like he's got all the light, and no one else

He takes the unsuspected
Cause he knows they're not connected
And he shows them how to be just as he is
Virtually real, and commercially appealed
To the lust of all the people where he lives

Eve was so naive, blinded by the pride and greed
Wanting to be intellectual
Drifting from the way she got turned down one day
And now she thinks that she's bisexual

Caught up in emotion
Burning up in her devotion
To the king of exploitation in the field
She handed him her virtue
Cause he told her "I won't hurt you"
So she lay with him to see how good it feels

Now can you tell me, what, what we gonna do now
Where we gonna go now, what we gonna say now
Now can you tell me, what, what we gonna do now
Where we gonna go now, what we gonna say now

Now after the sensation, and the empty fornication
She brought affection home into her bed, quickly multiplying
Now the 3 of them are dying by the poison she perceived to be good head
Now Eve and her husband are perverted in their judgment
Cause everything appears to be the same
They entertain suggestion,
Next time just use protection

Desiring to cover up their shame
But much to their demise, poor decision closed their eyes
To the very antidote to their dilemma
Burning in their lust,
Both of them adulterous
Destroying the original agenda
Praying to the sky, in order to maintain a lie
They exhausted every possible conclusion,
They can't even entertain the solution,
In a brain filled with vain information and pollution

Hiding from the truth,
He provided an excuse to explain away his desperate situation
When confronted, blamed his wife
Giving birth to carnal life
Refusing to acknowledge what he done

Now if we can agree with who created us to be
Who says we're guilty everyone before his eyes
Making no exceptions, since the day of our conception
Predisposed to hating truth, and loving lies

Then can you tell me, what, what we gonna do now
Where we gonna go now, what we gonna say now
Then can you tell me, what, what we gonna do now
Where we gonna go now, what we gonna say now

Stop walking in pride, let the thief be crucified
Un-learn everything you know, and let him teach you
Line upon line, precept upon precept, say goodbye,
To this decaying social system
He wants to know, how far we're willing to go
If we love him like we say we do,
He will try us

Just don't regress,
Or slip into hopelessness
Once he's satisfied his love,
He won't deny us,

And then he'll tell us,
What, what we gonna do now
Where we gonna go now, what we gonna say now

And then he'll tell us,
What, what we gonna do now
Where we gonna go now, what we gonna say now



"Oh Jerusalem"

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Realizing that there's no place else to go
And there's nobody I know who can help me
Text book solutions are so improbable
Cause everybody else is just as empty
Naked as the day that I was born, I tried to hide
...behind education and philosophy
Hopeless explanation to describe a situation
I can't see because the world's on top of me
Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me
From the body of this death
Freeing me from dust, and the superficial trust
Of an enemy that seeks to take my breath
Failing to connect, cause I'm morally defect
By reason of the God inside my head
Causing me to see, only what pertains to me
Believing I'm alive when I'm still dead
Limited to earth, unable to find out my worth
Cause I... can't see past my own vanity
If I'm not included, then I just have to remove it
From my mind because it has to be in sanity
Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me
From the body of this death
Can I even factor, that I've only been an actor
In this staged interpretation of this day
Focused on the shadow, with my back turned to the light
Too intelligent to see it's me in the way
What a paradox, having God trapped in a box
All this time professing to be spiritual
Naturally pretending, that I'm actually defending
God through my facade don't need material

Oh Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness
That thou may be saved from thy deception
How long, shall thy face those lies within thee
Oh Jerusalem, keeping thee from perfection

Submit to truth, leave the deception of thy youth
So we could walk in the council of authority
Forget the proof, our generation so aloof
Only follow in the steps of the majority
Trust in the Lord, with all thy heart
And lay not to thine, oh an understanding in all thy ways
Acknowledge Him, and He shall correct our paths
Be not wise in thine own eyes and you can follow him
We judge and condemn, just as ignorant as them
Who religion tells us that we should ignore
Perpetrating we're in covenant with Him
Exposed by the very things that we adore
We grin and shake hands, then lay ambush for the man
Who has a different point of view then us
Infuriated cause he doesn't understand
Bringing up those things we don't want to discuss
Why still do evil, we don't know how to do good
Walking on in darkness running from the light, ey
Led to believe, because we live in neighborhoods
Telling us what's going on will be alright
Oh so repressed, so convinced that I was blessed
When I played with my game of Monopoly
Oh to suggest, that my life is still a mess
Who reveal the pride I'm hiding is what's stopping me

Oh Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness
That thou may be saved from thy deception
How long, shall thy face those lies within thee
Oh Jerusalem keeping them from perfection

Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bare
...fruit of itself except in the vine
I am the vine, ye are the branches, He's in live in me
And I in him, the same bring forth much fruit
Without me, you can do nothing
Oh Jerusalem, you're traditions have deceived you
I've chosen you, you haven't chosen me
Do whatsoever, you asking my name he may give to you
But in vain they call my name
teaching doctrines just the same
Justified among themselves
But God know with the heart, what man esteemed as smart
Is an abomination to Emmanuel
Just repent, turn from selfish motivation
So iniquity will not cause your demise
Make you a new heart and a new spirit
...for why would he die
Oh Jerusalem, please tell me why
I have no pleasure in the death of him to die
Says the Lord God where forth turn yourselves and live
It's not the talkers, but the walkers and his word
Are the only ones the Father will forgive

Oh Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness
That thou may be saved from thy deception
How long, shall thy face those lies within thee
Oh Jerusalem, providing you no protection

Oh Jerusalem...


"Freedom Time"


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[Singing Chorus]
Everybody knows that they're guilty
Everybody knows that they've lied
Everybody knows that they're guilty
Resting on their conscience eating their inside
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now
Time to get free, oh give us yourselves up now
It's freedom, said it's freedom time

[First and only verse]
Yo, there's a war in the mind, over territory
For the dominion
Who will dominate the opinion
Skisms and isms, keepin' us in forms of religion
Conformin' our vision
To the world churches decision
Trapped in a section
Submitted to committee election
Moral infection
Epidemic lies and deception
Insurrection
Of the highest possible order
Destortin' our tape recorders
From hearin' like under water
Beyond the borders
Fond of sin and disorder
Bound by the strategy
It's systematic depravity
Heavy as gravity
Head first in the cavity
Without a bottom
A faith, worse than Saddam
Once got him
Drunk of the spirits
Truth comes, we can't hear it
When you've been, programmed to fear it
I had a vision
I was fallin' in indecision
Apollin', callin' religion
Some program on television
How can dominant wisdom
Be recognized in the system
Of Anti-Christ, the majority rules
Intelligent fools
PhD's in illusion
Masters of mass confusion
Bacholors in past illusion
Now who you choosin'
The head or the tail
The bloodshed of male
More confidence in the tale
Conference is in Yale
Discussin' doctrines of Baal
Causin' people to fail
Keepin' the third in jail
His word is nale
Everything to the tree
Severing all of me from all that I used to be
Formless and void
Totally paranoid
Enjoy darkness as the Lord
Keepin' me from the sword
Block for mercy
Bitter than (?)
Hungry and thirsty
For good meat we would eat
And still, dined at the table of deceit
How incomplete
From confrontation to retreat
We prolong the true enemy’s defeat
Death to the ascendancy
Causin' desperation to get the best of me
Punishment 'til there was nothing left of me
Realizin' the unescapable death of me
No options in the valley of decision
The only doctrine, supernatural circumcision
Inwardly, only water can purge the heart
From words that fiery darts
Thrown by the workers of the arts
Iniquity, shapen in
There're no escapin' when
You're whole philosophy is paper thin
In vanity
The wide road is insanity
Could it be all of humanity
Picture that
Scripture that
The origin of a man's heart is black
How can we show up for
An invisible war
Preoccupied with a shadow, makin' love with a whore
Achin' in sores
Babylon, the great mystery
Mother of human history
System of social sorcery
Our present condition
Needs serious recognition
Where there's no repentance there can be no remission
And that sentence, more serious than Vietnam
The atom bomb is Saddam and Minister Farakkhan
What's goin' on, what's the priority to you
What authority do we do
When the majority hasn't a clue
We majored in curses
Search the chapters, check the verses
Recapture the land
Remove the mark from off of our hands
So we can stand
In agreement with his command
Everything else is damned
Let them with ears understand
Everything else is damned, let them with ears understand

[Singing Chorus]
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now
It's freedom, said it's freedom time now
It's freedom, I'ma be who I am
It's freedom time, said it's freedom time
Everybody knows that they've lied
Everybody knows that they've perpetrated inside
Everybody knows that they're guilty, yes
Resting on their conscience eating their insides
Get free, be who you're supposed to be
Freedom, said it's freedom time now
Freedom, said it's freedom time
Freedom, freedom time now


"Rebel" [This is the first track on my player]

I find it hard to say, that everything is alright
Don't look at me that way, like everything is alright
Cuz my own eyes can see, through all your false pretenses
But what you fail to see, is all the consequences
You think our lives are cheap, and easy to be wasted
As history repeats, so foul you can taste it
And while the people sleep, too comfortable to face it
His life so incomplete, and nothing can replace it
And while the people sleep, too comfortable to face it
Your lives so incomplete, and nothing can replace it
Fret not thyself I say, against these laws of man
Cuz like the Bible says, His blood is on their hands
And what I gotta say, and what I gotta say, is rebel
While today is still today, choose well
And what I gotta say, is rebel, it can't go down this way
Choose well, choose well, choose well...
...choose well, choose well, choose well
And while the people sleep, too comfortable to face it
Your lives are so incomplete, and nothing, and no one, can replace it
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
And what I gotta say, and what I gotta say
And what I gotta say, and what I gotta say
And what I gotta say, and what I gotta say
And what I gotta say, and what I gotta say
Is rebel... rebel, rebel, rebel, rebel, rebel, rebel
Rebel, rebel, rebel, rebel, rebel
Repent, the day is far too spent, rebel... rebel!
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up...
Wake up and rebel
We must destroy in order to rebuild
Wake up, you might as well
Oh are you... oh are you satisfied
Oh are you satisfied
Rebel... ohhh rebel
Why don't you rebel, why don't you rebel?
Why don't you rebel?
I'm fading myself down now...