Braided Hair

[Pre-Intro Speech]
Yeah? Yo we was talkin earlier and I was -I was tellin' you, I was talkin 'bout life
And I.. I feel like life is really just like braided hair
Cause it's, it's got like twists, y'know, you know about braiding? Heh
Like twists you know, three strands twist together
Ultimately you get to where you gonna get to, y'know

[Intro]
I have to tell everybody about myself

[Verse 1: Speech]
From the same dirt, from the heels of my ancestors
The naked rows and the fields where the pain festered
I wonder where the hole came from
In the deeps of my heart, make me yearn for the drum
It's the same place where the cross is burned
The same place where the loss was earned
It's the place where the floss was yearned
Gold teeth and bling ice on the rings baby sure, yo

[Hook: Neneh Cherry + Speech]
We all got things that hang on our back
Things that make us cool, things that make us whack
Things that make us mad, things we wish we never had... done
But they're just the things that make us real
Not the maps to guide where we go from here
The road twists and braids like hair
Until we all get there

[Post-Chorus: Ulali - African chants]

[Verse 2: Speech]
I like that I don't know some mysteries
Ancient things and beginnings
Excited 'bout the day when I don't have to hear all the theories
My scalp needs some grease
In the same place where the cross is burned
The same place where the loss was earned
The only way we all can learn
Is if we have these braids with the twists and turns, so

[Hook]

[Verse 3: Neneh Cherry]
Walkin in the race of life, lookin for my own pace
Not always wantin to, but I have to
Sometimes feelin like I've bitten off much more than I can chew
But the wind goes though my hair and lifts me up with ease, not a crease
Hair full of grease, no weave embracin' me; it's you I see
I am you and you are me I see, yeah

{Interlude: Ulali - African chants}

[Neneh Cherry:]
I am you and you are me I see, yeah

[Speech + Neneh Cherry:]
We might survive as brothers yeah or perish here as fools
Go place your bets; but don't bet too soon
Yeah you might find me in another, feels like someone you once knew
You know that face, yeah we all do (braided hair, braid-a braid hair)
Yeah we all do, what's it all for? (braided hair, braid-a braid hair)
Braided hair, braid-a braid hair