2trangers Lyrics

Two strangers

1969, that's when I arrived

Little farm in the country, I'm the youngest of five

Mom and dad was always fighting, they couldn't see eye to eye

My sister's joked, said it's cause she's short and he was 6'5

Sadly it's true, they just couldn't get along

But as far as I remember, he never do me no wrong

I don't know about my sisters, could they all say the same

All I know is I can't let my father's image bring pain

Mom and daddy split, she couldn't take it no more

She packed up all her shit, said she gon' file for divorce

We left the crib, my momma put her foot to the floor

I was just a kid, ain't know if I'd see daddy no more

By the time I was seven, we all moved out to the city

Southside, Minneap-, you know these trenches is gritty

Only white family on the block had to adapt to a change

Paranoid of my new surroundings, would they see me the same

By the time I'm in high school, I had friends of all races

I ain't care if they was white, black, Latino, or Asian

Always judged by they heart, never judged by they faces

Can't say the same about my sisters, hate to say it, they racist

See my father had died when I was 22

Sent me into depression, I ain't know what to do

So I started thinking back, tracing my memories

I guess I thought that somehow it would better me

That's when I realized, I never liked being touched

By my friends or by guys, it didn't matter to I

I was never sure why, I always struggled with trust

Then I thought maybe I was a child victim to lust

See I thought about my father, then I thought about my sisters

Then I thought about my mother and how we made them all victims

He would beat on my mother, take to his raping my sisters

Then the thought made me sick, what if I was his victim

See my whole life, I have always sang in the choirs

I even sang in my school, I always sang in the shower

I even sang in the band, I sang my soul would recoup

At 25, I went to South Africa with my church group

Started off as church business, I would manage the choir

Doing shows and concerts to the next church that would hire

Stayed with a friend in the ghetto, I was tired

Slowly over time, some new friends I would acquire

While I was there, I met a man, he stood about 5 foot 5

He was nervous around me, I saw the fear in his eyes

I always stayed around him, I wanted to be his friend

Started off as his friend, to fall in love we ain't planned

Two strangers

1973, that's when I came to be

A small child in a shack with no shoes on my feet

4th child of 6, it's 5 boys and a girl

At a young age, I knew that it's a lot of pain in this world

As I got older, had pent up anger inside

Always exploded in rage, my family never knew why

Did I have anger issues? Was I the problem child

I ain't know how to tell him that I was just traumatized

Grew up in South Africa during apartheid

Racial segregation, we suffered from hard times

Family was piss-poor in a colored community

I would do anything just to make sure my family eat

I remember me and my homies was playing a game in the street

A three-man game of cricket, I swear I couldn't be beat

When we saw a few policemen walking over to we

They killed my best friend for none, they left him laying at my feet

I started pacing in anger by what they did to my brother

Why can't we live in a world where we all love one another

Why them crackers always thinking that they above someone other

We need some reconciliation in this nation called mother

I remember when I was five, I was hungry and broke

Looking for a meal or some rand, I suppose

The man next door yelled out his door and he spoke

He offered me a meal and I thought it was a joke

Welcomed me in his home and set some food on the table

Sat and watched me eat, I ain't know his mind wasn't stable

After I finished eating, he grabbed me by my arms

As a child, I ain't really know what was just going on

As I got older, I started to understand

Every single day, I had been raped by that man

Offering me meals and disguising his plans

Stripped me of my pureness, I felt the devil's hands

See, my whole life, I have had a love for music

My voice was a tool, I released pain when I used it

Gathered up some friends and we would start a band

Gospel rap and R&B, that's when ambition began

Made us some music and we had put out an album

Started doing shows and I ain't talking about no Malcolm

Going gig to gig and then repeat the cycle

One of us had even opened up for Michael

While doing a show one night, I ran into a woman

Scared of her paleness, but no admitting to it

She stuck around with me, she wanted to be my friend

Started off as her friend, to fall in love, we ain't planned

Two strangers

As the time passed, the two became a couple

They would make it work, they'd get through all the trouble

Married in 2000, moved back to Minnesota

Had a couple of kids and watched them both grow older

Son was born in 02, he felt the weight of the earth

Grew up without no money, he putting his pain in a verse

Hustling through music, trying to make it out first

It was that or go to jail for the drugs being dispersed

Daughter born in 05, she was the polar opposite

Living the Disney life and trying to ignore the obvious

Also had a dream of music, that'd be pretty cool

Always went to show choir to pave the way through school

Two strangers

See if my mama never took that trip

I don't even think my father would reach 26

Cape Town, a dark place deep behind his beauty

It makes all our toughest hoods look all sweet and fruity

So who are we to say who struggled

Look around you nigga, everybody here has struggled

Everybody got they problems and they situations

Everybody got they feelings, got they aspirations

So before you start to judge the next man

Ask yourself, would I survive the shit he been in

Ask again, would I live 20 minutes in they skin

Pass the gin, cause we all survived our struggles nigga, bask it in