Common | Lyrics | G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition)

After bein' 25, you know, just trying to survive in the world
?Bout to have a little boy or baby girl, who knows?
Anyway, just when you start getting' that little age
And experience to you
You start thinkin' about stuff, tryin' to make the right moves
So bust it out, this is what I was thinkin', check it

Yo, the education of the Lon-chicka-Lonnie Lynn
Began, began with time
Bein' my bloodline is one with the divine
In time brotha, you will discover the light
Some say that God is black and the devil's white
Well, the devil is wrong and God is what's right

I fight with myself in the ring of doubt and fear
The rain ain't gone but I can still see clear
As a child, given religion with no answer to why
Just told believe in Jesus ?cuz for me he did die

Curiosity killed the catechism
Understanding and wisdom became the rhythm that I played to
And became a slave to master self
A rich man is one with knowledge, happiness and his health

My mind had dealt with the books of Zen, Tao the lessons
Koran and the Bible, to me they all vital
And got truth within 'em, gotta read them boys
You just can't skim 'em, different branches of belief

But one root that stem 'em
But people of the venom try to trim 'em
And use religion as an emblem
When it should be a natural way of life
Who am I or they to say to whom you pray ain't right

That's who got you doin' right and got you this far
Whether you say, "In Jesus name", or, "Al hum du'Allah"
Long as you know it's a bein' that's supreme to you
You let that show towards others in the things you do

?Cuz when the trumpets blowin', 24 elders surround the throne
Only 144,000 gon get home
Only 144,000 gon get home
Only 144,000 gon get it, baby

I've lived and I've learned
I have taken and I've earned
I have laughed, I've cried
I have failed and I have tried
Sunshine, pouring rain
Found joy through all my pain
I just wanna be happy with being me

Let me voice my concern
So many of my fellow brothers have given themselves a title
That their actions didn't earn
Our ignorance is in the same breath as our innocence
Subconsciously, seeking to find
An impressionable mind to convince

I've finally come to the realization
Why black people in the worse place
?Cuz it's hard to correct yourself when you don't know
Who you are in the first place , so I try to find the clue in you
But evidently, white folks know more black history than we do

Why're we bein' lied to?
I ain't know our history was purposely hidden
Damn, somethin' in me wanna know who I am
So I began my search, my journey started in church
It gave my heartache relief when I started to understand belief
Hustlin' was like a gift spent my share of time in the streets

Taught me survival from this evil I'm just gonna have to deal with
And I felt like a fool when I tried to learn it in school
It almost seemed like a rehearsal when the only
Science and math are universal

Takin' elder advice, read the Bible, the Koran
Searched scrolls from the Hebrew Israelites
Hold on, this ain't right, Jesus wasn't white
Some leads were granted with insight

And it's all in the plan, but it took me some time to overstand
He still created with the imperfection of man
So, with followin' I disagree
By no means have I forgotten or forgiven
What's been done to me but
I do know the devil ain't no white man, the devil's a spiritual mind

That's color blind, there's evil white folk and evil niggas
You gon surely find there's no positivity without negativity
But one side you gonna have to choose
Any chance to speak I refuse to misuse

So how can you call yourself God
When you let a worldly possession
Become an obsession and the way you write your rhymes
And can't follow your lesson

If a seed's sown, you make sure it's known
You make sure it's grown
If you God, then save your own, don't mentally enslave your own
If you God, then save your own, don't mentally enslave your own
If you God, then save your own, don't mentally enslave your own

Well, I've lived and I've learned
I've taken and I've earned
I have laughed, I have cried
I failed and I have tried
Sunshine, pourin' rain
I found joy through my pain
Just wanna be happy, bein' me, bein' me