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