Ode To Lauryn

(album: The Art Of Joy - 2014)

First time I saw you I was with my cousin
He was buzzing
He had a baby mother that didn't trust him
I was seven, he was 20-something with two kids
While we was at the store, she popped up with a pistol and a fist
I looked her in the eyes, seen the schizo and the fear
With a mama out her mind screaming "I'mma come for mine"
So I ran to the back with his two kids, we both crying
Tryna figure out if my cousin dead or alive
Am I the last one to see his eyes?
Am I the last one to see his time pass with the blast
Of a mother troubled by my sad situation
I waited for somebody to rescue me
The song I see on TV is The Refugees
Playing in my head while I dread watching my cousin get locked like Haile Selassie
Praise Yahweh, he wasn't dead, Lauryn
I ain't know your name back then but your lyrics
Kept me kinda sane back when
I was in the back thinking "Let the track spin"
Let the track spin, sing it

Ooh la la la
Ooh la la la
That's the way that we rock when we doing our thing

Saturday morning I see you on the TV singing in the split screen
50's theme with a picture
It's a sister with a crown that isn't made of gold
But skin like mine, that's when my mind froze like the summer's gone
That color wasn't popular, changed me in the winter
Maybe that will make me lighten up or bright enough or white enough to heighten love
"Zion" was the track I played out
Educating misses on the mission Adam made out
?
Ms. Marigold, you killed the Grammy's, rest in peace to them
Very ghosts that repeated the parable that chicks don't put bullets in pencils
Even in writtens let the lead go
The trigger spitting wicked, it's wicker, it's brooms flying, no witches
The lyrics only scarecrows, you made 'em timid, Lauryn
Yeah, I knew your name back then and your lyrics
Really brought some change back when
I was in the back thinking "Let the track spin"
Let the track spin, sing it

Ooh la la la
Ooh la la la
That's the way that we rock when we doing our thing

Ms. Lauryn, it was a minute before we saw your face
You made "Miseducation" then left the class with another teacher to take your place
Fans waiting patiently, pacing the record places for music that they could play without you
We just Drakes, nothing was the same until "Unplugged" showed up
Voice broken but the substance told the story that a drug imitates
It was hot, doper than the vanity in the veins
In entertainment's attics, you radically ravished the masses
With a couple words or two
With action in your language, something verbs would do
But your emotion had me asking if you was alright
You seemed kind of different like in the distance you might've dealt with some issues
Some religion that had Scriptures but with no intentions of giving you Christ
Giving you life, I could be tripping but I'm telling the truth
If a decision's what you made, lyrics can't be the proof
It's something else, it's something bigger than you
It's Jesus, when you was climbing out your box, I hope you seen Him
Peace will find you when you seek Him
In the meantime, I'm praying for you
You're a legend, hope to see you in Heaven, Lauryn

You ain't been the same since back then, I know
You kinda changed back when
I was in the back thinking "Let the track spin"
Let the track spin, sing it

Ooh la la la
Ooh la la la
That's the way that we rock when we doing our thing