Saul Williams - Raised to Be Lowered Lyrics

To manifest your dreams before you manifest your fears
To navigate beyond the treachery of self-despair
To find the balance between all you sense and all you see
To find the patience and the strength it takes to let it be

To stand amongst the crowd and have the strength to hold your own
To throw away the pen and pad and simply be the poem
To rise above hatred to love through seeming contradiction
To seldom take a side and learn to compliment the friction

To bring about the change within that we can't live without
To shift and rearrange ideals and learn to deal with doubt
To voice the victory and unlearn ways of self-defeat
To learn the value of, "Yo, fuck the words, just ride the beat"

To leave the comfort zones of all you know to all you feel
To step beyond the void and realize the unknown is real
To reimagine every obstacle as just means
Of honing craft and learn to laugh at failures funny dream

There has to be some other way to stop the fight
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?

Each day we sing and pray for guidance through the night
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?

To not allow the worshipers to take up all the space
To dance at funerals and grieve when true love shows it's face
To meditate upon the lesser things like hair and nails
To find new meaning in your freedom when your freedom kills

To walk the runway on the one day when you've lost your stride
To show your face when you feel more inclined to run and hide
To keep it gutter when you utter, "No, it won't stop"
Until the ones that point their guns at get got

You're gonna get got, let these niggas get got
Lying on the blacktop you're lying on the have not
You're gonna get got, get popped, get cocked
Let these niggas get got, let these niggas get got

There has to be some other way to stop the fight
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?

Each day we sing and pray for guidance through the night
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?
I was raised to be lowered
Was I raised to be lowered?

Hallelujah, all these other suckas make me sick
Inshallah we've come this far, the past can suck my dick
Blessed be the virgin especially if she's nice and thick
May your first time be full of grace respect and not a trick

First communion, sacred as the day you were conceived
Born in sin? Nah, think again, repent and disbelieve
Heaven is between your thighs there lies the trick, deceived
Holy blood shed once a month until you nurture seed

Was I raised to be lower?
Was I raised to be lower?
Was I raised to be lower?

(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?
(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?
(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?
(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?

(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?
(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?
(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?
(Was I raised?)
Was I raised to be lower?