Month: April 2020

April 30, 2020

Everything is Everything

by Lauryn Hill

Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually

Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually

I wrote these words for everyone who struggles in their youth
Who won’t accept deception, instead of what is truth
It seems we lose the game
Before we even start to play
Who made these rules? (Who made these rules?)
We’re so confused (We’re so confused)
Easily led astray
Let me tell ya that

Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything

I philosophy
Possibly speak tongues
Beat drum, Abyssinian, street Baptist
Rap this in fine linen, from the beginning
My practice extending across the atlas
I begat this
Flipping in the ghetto on a dirty mattress
You can’t match this rapper slash actress
More powerful than two Cleopatras
Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti
MCs ain’t ready to take it to the Serengeti
My rhymes is heavy like the mind of sister Betty (Betty Shabazz)
L-Boogie spars with stars and constellations
Then came down for a little conversation
Adjacent to the king, fear no human being
Roll with cherubims to Nassau Coliseum
Now hear this mixture, where Hip Hop meets scripture
Develop a negative into a positive picture

Now everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually

Sometimes it seems
We’ll touch that dream
But things come slow or not at all
And the ones on top, won’t make it stop
So convinced that they might fall
Let’s love ourselves and we can’t fail
To make a better situation
Tomorrow, our seeds will grow
All we need is dedication
Let me tell ya that

Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything

Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Lauryn Hill / Lauryn N. Hill

Everything Is Everything lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

30. Would you rather sneeze cheese or have your tears be chocolate flavored?

April 30, 2020
April 29, 2020

The Times They Are A Changing

Bob Dylan

Come gather ’round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin’
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Bob Dylan

The Times They Are A Changing lyrics © Audiam, Inc

29. Would you rather see a song performed by the original artist only once, or by a cover band as many times as you wanted?

April 29, 2020
April 28, 2020

Change is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I’ve been running ev’r since
It’s been a long time, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It’s been too hard living, but I’m afraid to die
‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there, beyond the sky
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown
Somebody keep tellin’ me don’t hang around
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knockin’ me
Back down on my knees, oh

There have been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Sam Cooke

A Change Is Gonna Come lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc

28. Would you rather play a villain or a hero in a movie?

April 28, 2020
April 27, 2020

Pain

De La Soul

Pain will make you better
Tell me how you feel
Look over your shoulder
Time will make it real
Give me no excuses
I know how ya feel
Pain will make it better
Pain will make it better
Pain will make it better

Let me see how many palms go up high
If you’ve ever felt the world had you licked (put ’em up high)
And what you waving side to side to symbolize
Needing help on the sand ‘fore you under quick
Big mama said “the Devil’s up to no good”
But we can heal it on a Sunday with a good book (but)
Oft we deal it on a Monday for a good look (and)
Make it part of the campaign, to withstand pain
Me, myself, place it all on my shoulders
And give it my all, like heavy lifting
No gain without tears and sweat
They claim blue skies with white clouds, steady drifting
When pain come to get ya (it hit ya like flu)
Better times will pick ya (do what you gotta do)
To earn focus in the stormy weather
Come out the tunnel to the light saying

Pain will make you better
Tell me how you feel
Look over your shoulder
Time will make it real
Give me no excuses
I know how ya feel
Pain will make you better (yeah)
Pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
(I hear the people say) pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
(I hear my people say) pain will make it better

No wetter, four-letter, mo’ better
Slow pain, no gain, go getta
Change like the weather
Solid as a rock, small piece of leather
But well put together
Flames are endeavors
Time to find out that game makes it better
Pain makes it better
Shades of epiphany, can’t let it get to me
Move so differently, do it so swiftly
Ease into my style, lay mine down
King be crowned, look at me now
Teaching my classes by the masses
Used to gang bang, used to love the clashes
Now cash is the only motivation, but not for me G
I’m into public relations
That’s food for your De La Soul, word to the letter

Pain will make you better
Tell me how you feel
Look over your shoulder
Time will make it real
Give me no excuses
I know how ya feel
Pain will make it better (yeah)
Pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
(I heard my nana say it, say it)

Yo, the bigger the headache, bigger the pill
The harder you fall, stronger the will
We came from the back of the bus
Talking “Watch the mobile, ” now we’re on a house on a hill
The struggle went from filling ya gas tank
The bank wasn’t feeling your loan
The OT couldn’t cover the bills
And life came with a couple of spills
But we’re gonna use that pain fo’ fuel so

Give me no excuses
I know how ya feel
Pain will make it better (yeah)
Pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
(I hear the people say) pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
(You hear my people saying) pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
(I hear the people say) pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
Pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
Pain will make it better (oh whoa whoa ah)
Pain will make it better

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Calvin Broadus / David Jolicoeur / David West / Kelvin Mercer / Vincent Lamont Mason

Pain lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management, Jellybean Music Group

27. Would you rather do your own stunts in an action movie, or have a stunt person do them?

April 27, 2020
April 26, 2020

Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)

Nikki Giovanni – 1943-

I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
    the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
    that only glows every one hundred years falls
    into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad

I sat on the throne
    drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
    to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
    the tears from my birth pains
    created the nile
I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned
    out the sahara desert
    with a packet of goat’s meat
    and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
    so swift you can’t catch me

    For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
    He gave me rome for mother’s day
My strength flows ever on

My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
    as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
    jesus
    men intone my loving name
    All praises All praises
I am the one who would save

I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
    the filings from my fingernails are
    semi-precious jewels
    On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
    the earth as I went
    The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
    across three continents

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended
    except by my permission

I mean . . . I . . . can fly
    like a bird in the sky . . .

Copyright © 1968 by Nikki Giovanni. Used with permission of the author.

26. Would you rather set the table before dinner or clean up after dinner?

April 26, 2020
April 25, 2020

Alphabet Aerobics

Blackalicious

Now it’s time for our wrap up
Let’s give it everything we’ve got
Ready, begin
Artificial amateurs aren’t at all amazing
Analytically, I assault, animate things
Broken barriers bounded by the bomb beat
Buildings are broken, basically I’m bombarding
Casually create catastrophes, casualties
Canceling cats got their canopies collapsing
Detonate a dime of dank daily doin’ dough
Demonstrations, Don Dada on the down low
Eatin’ other editors with each and every energetic
Epileptic episode, elevated etiquette
Furious fat fabulous fantastic
Flurries of funk felt feeding the fanatics
Gift got great global goods gone glorious
Gettin’ Godly in his game with the goriest
Hit ’em high, hella height, historical
Hey holocaust hints hear ’em holler at your homeboy
Imitators idolize, I intimidate
In a instant, I’ll rise in a irate state
Juiced on my jams like jheri curls jockin’ joints
Justly, it’s just me, writin’ my journals
Kindly I’m kindling all kinds of ink on
Karate kick type brits in my kingdom
Let me live a long life, lyrically lessons is
Learned lame louses just lose to my livery
My mind makes marvelous moves, masses
Marvel and move, many mock what I’ve mastered
Niggas nap knowin’ I’m nice naturally
Knack, never lack, make noise nationally
Operation, opposition, off, not optional
Out of sight, out of mind, wide beaming opticals
Perfected poem, powerful punchlines
Pummeling petty powder puffs in my prime
Quite quaint quotes keep quiet it’s Quannum
Quarrelers ain’t got a quarter of what we got uh
Really raw raps, risin’ up rapidly
Riding the rushing radioactivity
Super scientifical sound search sought
Silencing super fire saps that are soft
Tales ten times talented, too tough
Take that, challengers, get a tune up
Universal, unique untouched
Unadulterated, the raw uncut
Verb vice Lord victorious valid
Violate vibes that are vain make ’em vanished
[Incomprehensible] well would a wise word Smith
Just weaving up words weeded up, I’m a work shift
Xerox, my X-ray-diation holes extra large
X-height letters and xylophone tones
Yellow back, yak mouth, young ones yaws
Yesterday’s lawn yards sell our yawn
Zig zag zombies, zoomin’ to the zenith
Zero in zen thoughts, over zealous rhyme Zea-lots
Good, can you say it faster
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Lucas Christian MacFadden / Timothy Jerome Parker
Alphabet Aerobics lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

25. Would you rather have five stitches to fix a bad cut or have a tooth pulled?

April 25, 2020
April 24, 2020

Where the Streets Have No Name

U2

I want to run, I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside
I wanna reach out and touch the flame
Where the streets have no name

I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see that dust cloud disappear without a trace
I wanna take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name, oh oh

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We’re still building then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there, I go there with you
It’s all I can do

The city’s a flood
And our love turns to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled into dust

I’ll show you a place
High on the desert plain
Where the streets have no name, oh oh

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We’re still building then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there, I go there with you
It’s all I can do

Our love turns to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We’re beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh when I go there
I go there with you
It’s all I can do

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Adam Clayton / Dave Evans / Larry Mullen / Paul Hewson

Where the Streets Have No Name lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

24. Would you rather have 500 spiders in your bedroom or 1000 grasshoppers in the rest of the house?

April 24, 2020
April 23, 2020

The Old Prince Still Lives at Home

by Shad

I live at home still, not paying phone bills
Hydro, or rent, and my mom makes most meals
So it’s so ill, I don’t need no scrill
Only cash for gas when I borrow my folks’ wheels
(But you can’t drive) whatever, our van died
(Get a good bike) who I look like, that Lance guy?
I ain’t pushing no banana seat
Looking like some eight year old kid on your grandma’s street
You can go ahead and call me lazy
I just retired real young, y’all, call me Jay-Z
Or maybe I just hate these crappy jobs, call me crazy
But I refuse to work ’em, man, it’s miserable
Can’t do it ‘less it’s due to circumstance
And I need the cash to feed my astronomical appetite
But for the time being, y’all, I’ll sacrifice
And have a life minus a couple of luxuries
Just cutting my budget schemes and getting some stuff for free
Like, why’s a brother need a dentist? It’s expensive
And my gums’ll bleed, they do every time when he scrubs ’em clean
And every year they try to bump the fee
Plus he’ll probably recommend braces (there you go) that’s another G!
Well thanks a lot, doc, but listen, I can brush my teeth
All on my own, so you ain’t gonna hustle me
So that takes care of the dental plan, now here’s a potential scam
Getting my toes crushed by a rental van
Then if I sued the driver and the rental guy’s
Enterprise or whatever, I bet they would settle nice
Court adjourned, now I just gotta pay for the law forms
(That’s easy) spend two weeks eating popcorn
Like students do, ‘cept I’m grown and it’s not dorms
So it’s a bit more pathetic, okay, a lot more
But what y’all gotta mock for? What’s wrong with my Mach 3?
Y’all gotta be macho and mock more?
Well not me, and I do not need to change blades
Its all my own hair I shave, chin back face legs
And the rashes rarely last more than 8 days
Usually, so it’s cool with me, I can save great
(But hygiene) That ain’t no reason to buy things
Like soap or visine or getting clothes dry cleaned
I don’t throw away dough on no facials
Yeah I make rolls of my pennies, I even pay folks
In clubs out this case full of pesos I lug
(Bro, get ’em exchanged) Nope, I’m waiting till the rate’s low
Don’t hate yo, just cause y’all wasteful
Y’all wanna make your bruh the scapegoat, it’s bugged
It’s all nuance, use your head
Why get a bed and couch when you can slouch on a futon instead
If you got a little bread like croutons
Download them new songs and spread them coupons

If you happy when you save 2 dollars a week
You steal your neighbors empty bottles and keep all your receipts
And only treat your girl yearly to McDonald’s to eat
Don’t be ashamed, pop your collars man, holler at me (holla)
If y’all are this cheap, cause this is for acknowledging peeps
That gotta track every dime using columns and sheets
If you strip search the mall for the bargain to beat
Like every day you’ve just a penny saved from starving on the street
Keep carving a niche, I’m started in a jar for the wee
Little Shaddies still to come for their college degree
Yo I figure starting early on the market is key
I plan on having smart daughters all Harvard M.D
And regardless, we gon’ never put a car on the streets
‘Less them gas prices lower and the parking is free
And no parka for me, not even gloves, scarves or a fleece
I may freeze but I’ll keep saving marvelously, holla

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Shadrach Paul Kabango

The Old Prince Still Lives At Home lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc

24. Would you rather get up very early or stay up very late?

April 23, 2020
April 22, 2020

Fast Car

by Tracy Chapman

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money

We won’t have to drive too far
Just across the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man’s got a problem
He live with the bottle that’s the way it is
He says his body’s too old for working
I say his body’s too young to look like his

My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody’s got to take care of him
So I quit school and that’s what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

See I remember we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder

And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
We go cruising entertain ourselves
You still ain’t got a job
And I work in the market as a checkout girl

I know things will get better
You’ll find work and I’ll get promoted
We’ll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs

See I remember we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder

And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids

I’d always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me’d find it
I got no plans I ain’t going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

See I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ’round my shoulder

And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Tracy L Chapman

Fast Car lyrics © Emi April Music Inc., Kobalt, Purple Rabbit Music, Emi April Music Inc

22. Would you rather be the most intelligent kid in school and make awesome grades or be the most popular kid in school and make poor grades?

April 22, 2020
April 21, 2020

Let me not to the marriage of true minds (Sonnet 116)

William Shakespeare – 1564-1616

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

This poem is in the public domain.

21. Would you rather go to the school only for four months in the winter and have the rest of the year off or go to school in the summer and have the rest of the year off?

April 21, 2020