I See The World
[Verse 1]
We got a clash of perspectives
I'm coming from a place where almost every mother drives a Lexus
Connect this to how I've never seen a crime committed
Never lived anywhere where people kept their weapons hidden
Although we blast 50 Cent and rap all the words to Ludacris
The only hood we know is the one sewn to our jackets
The fact is the ghetto gets glorified in suburbia
Because there's so much distance from the violence of the real streets
The heartbeats and gangster lyrics represent a spirit
Oh, but baby, recognize reality, it's not so pretty
When you live the hard-knock life, though we'll sing along with Jay-Z
But never had the strife, never felt the knife against our jugular
Society's the murderer, the word is hush
Let's keep our differences, we're quiet, and like people say
There's something wrong, we'll all deny it, you can't fight it
Try to defy it when you're trapped inside the system, itchin' to get out
I pray I have the empathy and when I reason out loud, the sound
Of my voice is sufficient to demonstrate that I am here to learn and listen
[Chorus]
I see the world through the eyes of a girl
Who's from the suburbs, family that loves her, life that's so secure
I'm blind to you and all the struggles have proved so painful
Livin' life and the hard truth seems to crush your very world
[Verse 2]
You gotta wonder where the justice is
I gotta wonder just how rough it is
To live in places that I see only on TV or in movies, daily shootings
How can people protect themselves? They have no wealth
And no healthcare since HMOs don't give a fuck
If you got AIDS, a flu, a gunshot wound, well, you're outta luck
I was born into existence never missing out on luxuries I took for granted
Not fully grasping I've been handed everything
All the opportunity never seemed to be so extraordinary
And now in school, I learn about the urban underclass and race
But it's all in abstract terms, these ideas don't have faces
Like the people of the cities do
I won't be able to get rid of your image
If I truly look at you, it's not too palatable
To taste that acrid mess that is an [?]
To all the technological advances that I have
So, this rapping thing, is it a negligent imitation of someone else's life, their creation?
Am I making [?] white girl taking hip-hop and distorting it, as I record these lines, yo?
I'm just reporting it
[Chorus]
I see the world through the eyes of a girl
Who's from the suburbs, family that loves her, life that's so secure
I'm blind to you and all the struggles have proved so painful
Livin' life and the hard truth seems to crush your very world
[Verse 3]
So now this social divide, that is a chasm ever-widening
A canyon [?] and you can't imagine, splittin' cities
Watch as gentrification puts an up-and-coming yuppie next to projects
It's so ugly when I saw it, 'cause
It's like the ones with money cannot see the boarded windows
Close their eyes to poverty when it's so close, and
Now I'm thinking back to suburbs and how rap music, we love it
And how [?] and how we brushed it off our shoulders, but
Inside these empty gestures, we created ghetto that is just pretend
We're playin' it forever and we feel real safe 'cause our windows look out at big oak trees
And it's really just a formality to have belief
Yeah, while I criticize the way things are, I'm guilty too
It's easy to talk but it's another thing to do
I feel ashamed 'cause I'm responsible
Ashamed 'cause I got knowledge that should prompt me to be more than sorrowful
I borrowed someone else's life and so have millions like me
Should we fight this cultural entanglement, is it the right thing?
I don't have the answers, I can hardly formulate the questions
How to turn things around, I'll accept any suggestions
[Chorus]
I see the world through the eyes of a girl
Who's from the suburbs, family that loves her, life that's so secure
I'm blind to you and all the struggles have proved so painful
Livin' life and the hard truth seems to crush your very world
[Outro]
I see the world