Black Woman

[Intro: Fatoumata Diawara] Woman cry, give life Mother Mary and baby the burden she carry all time Woman cry, when give us life And she beg He forgive us, the sin and dem sinners all time, whoa [Verse 1: Fatoumata Diawara] Foreign man take me from land Banished my name, I survive all the same Nuff commotion, way across ocean Through whip and chain, I survive all the same [Chorus: Fatoumata Diawara] So dem a go make war before we free Why dem a go make war before we free? So dem a go make war bеfore we free Why dem a go makе war before we free? [Verse 2: Fatoumata Diawara] Tie my neck, ship, it don't wreck Bind me to tree, I survive, they will see, ah Whip they crack, scar me 'pon back So we gon' see who survive make us free [Chorus: Fatoumata Diawara] So dem a go make war before we free Why dem a go make war before we free? So dem a go make war before we free Why dem a go make war before we free? [Verse 3: Lauryn Hill] Follow, follow, people, they know they follow People all know they copy, people all in my grotto They see me like a genie, try to keep me in a bottle Petty, petty people, keep them incommunicado They tie you up in strings, they play niggas like pizzicato Lose sight of the picture scripture, now they not so steady Meanwhile I'm like Curtis Mayfield, getting people ready To see into the future then cut through like a machete Or Cutlass, all these trappings leavin' nigga gutless You can't make moves for justice, you can't make no adjustments Drowning in corruption, Charlie addict to convenience Now they got you caught up and callin' freedom extremists We're not in agreement, I won't lay down politely I closed my mouth for years and they still tried to fight me I sat down on the sidelines and they still tried to bite me They think they buried my career and promoted my peers to spite me But they can't tell me nothing Charlie, they don't underwrite me I've had a lot of money thrown at me but none of that shit excites me It's just another kind of cage to get up in my psyche To use me as an instrument to further push their puppet show But I'm not inexperienced and this not my first rodeo I'm not so shallow Charlie, I call it too precisely Separate bone from marrow, so much soul that they dislike me Intuitives (Intuitives) Charlie, we be like fugitives (Fugitives) Until the universe responds to show them who the student is [Bridge: Lauryn Hill] Woman cry (Woman cry) gives life (Gives us life) Mother Mary and baby the burden she carries all time (Burden she carries) Woman cry (Woman cry) gives us life (Gives us life) And she beg He forgive us, the sin and the sinners all time (Begs He forgives us) [Chorus: Fatoumata Diawara] So dem a go make war before we free Why dem a go make war before we free? So dem a go make war before we free Why dem a go make war before we free?