Stranger In This Land

Song Stranger In This Land
Artist Joy Denalane
Album Born & Raised

Lyrics

[offset:0]
[00:13.56] I was the daughter
[00:14.95]
[00:19.30] Of a little known king
[00:22.16]
[00:22.71] When they came
[00:24.18] And put me in a castle
[00:25.72]
[00:28.54] My eyes had never seen
[00:31.77]
[00:33.03] They spoke in tongues
[00:34.23] I've never heard
[00:35.44]
[00:36.48] They took me to the sea
[00:38.58]
[00:39.10] At the edge of the earth
[00:44.40] I journied tempest waters
[00:46.50]
[00:47.49] Reached these distant shores
[00:49.49] My clothes are tattered
[00:51.32]
[00:52.40] And my soul is worn
[00:53.97]
[00:54.74] I bore a daughter
[00:56.46] In captivity
[00:57.32]
[00:59.17] They came late one night
[01:01.22] To take her away from me
[01:02.86]
[01:05.80] I cried and I cried
[01:07.96]
[01:08.47] Oh, Lord have mercy on me
[01:10.15]
[01:11.22] Can't they see
[01:13.01] That little girl
[01:13.75] Is royalty
[01:14.70] I held my ground
[01:18.13] And took my stand
[01:20.47] Can't help
[01:22.08] Feeling sometimes
[01:24.27]
[01:25.27] That I'm a stranger
[01:27.84]
[01:29.35] In this land
[01:30.66] In this land of mine
[01:34.29]
[01:38.43] My mother used
[01:39.80] To cook and clean
[01:41.36]
[01:42.99] For the rich folks
[01:44.46] On the hill
[01:46.03]
[01:48.01] Made sure
[01:48.74] I got an education
[01:50.10]
[01:53.42] And could hardly
[01:54.27] Pay the bills
[01:55.51]
[01:57.07] I studied
[01:58.67] Schools of thought
[02:02.84] And philosophies of man
[02:05.13] Started questioning
[02:06.27] The contradictions
[02:07.07] In this land
[02:09.40] I left the classroom
[02:10.91]
[02:11.43] Joined the rallies
[02:12.74] In the street
[02:13.48]
[02:14.90] Marching hand in hand
[02:16.34]
[02:16.95] In the Mississippi heat
[02:19.65] I spent so many years
[02:21.85] Of my life on the move
[02:23.70]
[02:25.41] That confrontation
[02:25.91] Was the only thing i knew
[02:29.24]
[02:30.75] Talking unity and how
[02:32.53] We gone push on through
[02:33.80]
[02:34.61] Can't even say no more
[02:37.79]
[02:38.52] If anything's improved
[02:40.03]
[03:25.93] I'm a family man
[03:27.39]
[03:27.99] With a wife
[03:28.67]
[03:29.94] And two kids to feed
[03:31.92]
[03:34.82] I dedicated my life
[03:37.30]
[03:40.40] To seeing we succeed
[03:42.40]
[03:44.62] The way I sought to make it
[03:46.83]
[03:47.35] I learned to follow the rules
[03:49.14]
[03:50.67] So we can make sure
[03:52.14] Our children visit
[03:53.72] The finest schools
[03:55.66] Grandmas on the weekends
[03:58.21] Going on about the good old days
[03:59.88]
[04:01.59] When decent black folks
[04:02.70]
[04:04.18] Be trying to make a change
[04:06.00] My parents used to tell me
[04:07.90]
[04:08.52] To live my life steadfast
[04:10.17]
[04:11.13] But some may ask me
[04:13.70] What it is that I have