LYRICS FROM THE CD Nomad's Land BY ROOT 1
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Education [J. Stevens, P. White] Jerry and Philipidon on vocals

this is a lesson I learn [learn you lesson wel]l rebuild the bridges we burn ['cause we naw burn down the bridges of life] respect for the teacher in this time [as I would say]

[chorus] I got an education/ it's not like the one you got /still we must fill, we must build/ this house in respect for equality, in the name of diversity

Jerry: everybody got a lesson to learn./ everybody got a lock and a key to turn/ everybody learns in a different way /still we got to live together everyday/ doesn't matter where you went to schoo/l everybody's maken up their own rules /can we build this house I'd like to see /build it up in the name of unity

Philip: a me seh fill it up/ come mek we build it up come mek we free up we mind with education/ ah me seh fill it up/ come mek we build it up /come mek we fill it cause the vibes is strong /a me seh fill it up come mek we build it up /come mek we free up we mind with education/ ah me seh fill it up/ come mek we build it up/ come mek we build it 'cause we can't go wrong /come me seh house upon the sand mus ha fe fall down/ house upon rock mus ha fe stick around /well got an education and no gwan like no clown/ respect the teacher who let off a good sound/ dem say a mind is a terrible thing just to waste /still some a dem keep a dem mind focus pon outer space/ forget about the problems of the human race/ what good is education if you don't use it

Jerry: everyone is still a student here/ trying to learn to overcome their fears/ not only knowlege will break up the chains/ it's what you do with what you got in your brain /a lot of people still are on the run /because they didn't get their homework done /try remembering what the teacher said or try to learn to teach yourself instead

Philip: no badda fool yourself a like a fodder fe de feed/ climb up the ladder of life a me say yes it indeed/ naw get an education jus fe earn some money/ but fe help a public people me seh lose some gravity/ some a dem fall in a trance and a still nonchalant/ meditate pon vacant and dem life unbalance/ missing reality intelligently ignorant man, use what you have and go set up a plan /different people different land house on rock or house on sand/ all a we here together for a real reason/ diversity integrity must bring the wisdom cu cu cu cu cu cu cu cu come along/ different people in de dance and we ha fe move out /but eh Daddy Philip have carry this ya clout/ respect the teacher of a true humanity /come a come a come a come a rock with me/ unity, equality, love, reality

Jerry: sometimes you really got to read the book/ a chosen few are getting by on looks/ red or yellow white or brown or black /still ain't gonna get your tuition back /and if the lesson doesn't stick to you/ be another one arriving soon /check the scholar and learn from the fool/ thanks and praise for another day in school

Soul Raggamuffin [J. Stevens, S. Aaron, P. White, M. Firoozi] jerry, choctaw, philipidon, and mohammad on vocals jerry on violin drum tracks by casanova

[chorus] this is the raggamuffin soul raggamuffin

Choctah: mi nah deal wit leprechaun an dem kinda ting /mi nah bodda pinch ya if ya nah wear green/ history and wisdom is my weapon/ so I give ya celtic music inna strict rub a dub

goin way back long before stonehenge /'nuf celtic man wear 'nuff natty dread/ and the magic of the druids known throughout the land/ listen to me good I'm beggin you to all overstand/ the anglo-saxon a push right through/ raping and pillaging the celtic roots/ this is nothin but the doggone truth/ so I and I spread it to the raggamuffin youth

Philip: God made Eve and he made also Adam /God made all of us as a human /fe come in a de dance and a live it as one/ God made de man also de woman /holdin on we holdin on this life /'cause you know jah jah's got we soul you know he's gonna make it alright /ah me seh love we a deal, love we a deal /Lawd you know we got the real loving feel /love we a deal we nuh come ya fe steal/ Lawd we get me seh love appeal/ come a Daddy Philip at the mic in time/ when we come a dance on the mountain climb /reach a highest heights where the sun it ha fe shine/ feel la la la la la la la loving sublime/ love we a deal raggamuffin plus dis ya raggamuffin sound bound ha fe rock

Mohammed: [translation from Farci] I hear the sound coming from the ocean like the sounds of seagulls/ watching the dances of fish it tells me that life is short/ give love give love as long as you live/ have faith in love until the last breath /die for love/ burn like the candle to give the butterfly the light my dearest,/come here I want to sing you a song a song for white a song for black a song for all colors a song for the bird in the sky/ a song for the fish in the ocean/ a song for broken hearts/ a song for starving people/ I want to burn like a candle to give my love for the butterfly

Damage [J. Stevens, P. White] Jerry and Philipidon on vocals

Jerry: forgiveness is in the forgiving/ it's alright alright life is for living

Philip: blessed is the man who can forgive/ longer the life the man shall live now sometimes we have to forget,/ you know reality, never neglect the past

Jerry: some people are preaching ideas with which I may not agree/ because they want the world to be the way they think it should be/ but when I hear the judgement passing and singling out /I'm wondering if they're living the life they're preaching about/ to be living up is difficult enough/ to be pulling people down makes it prohibitively rough/ may the words ring true in the songs we sing /but in my heart I pray we're not gonna bring any

[chorus] damage from the stones thrown by the people living in the plate glass homes/ I feel the pain but it's alright /rain but it's alright/ pain but it's alright

Philip: rain down thunderstorm and cool the warm/ 'cause we coming just like a charm/ flinging rockstone after me once again/ it's like inna de brain me seh me catch a migrain /using up the crack heroin and cocain/ come inna de dance and you wan give me the blame/ don't you know a man a seh you acting very lame/ come inna de session and you a get a shame/ goosey goosey gander why you acting so strange/ it's like inna you brain man you get rearrange/ so me naw go look go seek me naw go deal with damage/ naw go look go seek me naw go deal with damage

Jerry: to trod a righteous path takes nerve/ but to be minding one's business might make it easier /one man's treasure could be another man's trash /one man's pleasure could be another man's clash /the whole world won't cater to one point of view/ that's why I cannot dictate the path another must choose/ our fates are not set our future's not sealed/ and even though I understand sometimes I feel [chorus]

Philip: you live inna glass house then you don't throw stones/ sticks and stones may break my bones names will make a giant moan /fling low blows, box off your own toe heavily /on your mind or on your face heavy nose /do you smell the fragrance of a perfumy rose /or do you sniff the odor of a rotten mango/ weigh yourself down with you own problem/ 99% of the time is only you creating them/ be responsible for the errors that you make/ instead of coming after me with the fullest of blame/ 96 degrees it coulda be inna de shade /real hot then cool off with some lemonade /rustle the leaves shoot the breeze roots will flog you from the trees of life that you ignore/ rough up mother nature and you bound fe feel sore /no more whirlwind of damage I saw the rain and it pours/ seek a path I pray more safe and secure

New Love [T. Tarpley, J. Stevens] Dwayne on bass guitar Jerry on flute

we didn't start out seeking any mysteries of love /caught by surprise didn't have to push or shove/ you saw me staring at you close as I could be/ I tried to hide my efforts but you saw right through to me /my body felt a tingle through my spine there was a rush/ It must have carried over 'cause I caught you when you blushed /my thoughts were single minded had to have you near/ when I tried to tell you what I felt you disappeared

[chorus] love, I feel I've found a new love

here's a woman with pride and a concience for a guide/ I'd like to get to know you can we go out for a drive /something pulls me near you what it is I'd like to know/ some pleasant conversation just might help the feeling grow /am I seeing clearly is this fantasy my dear/ starved for affection yet no one could get too near/ my heart had been wide open I felt like I'd been drained /your presence is infectious and I'm drawn in just the same

love, I feel I've found a new love

Heat From the Kitchen [J. Stevens] Dwayne on bass guitar

James and Susan cruising on a level with a fever that burned/ they just couldn't miss steal another kiss every time they took another turn /giving their best getting no rest blessed with a youth so wild /so easy to be careless and free it was a perfect recipe for a child /experience so enriching /owing it all complete to the

[chorus] heat from the kitchen

Mr. Oppenheimer and Mr. Einstein were enquiring minds so inclined /with a pencil and a pad in a lab on a mission /to unlock the secrets of nuclear fission/ time had come to choose up sides/ mr. oppenheimer helped mr. truman decide /to explain to hirohito's gang straight up about the big bang/ story became the truth no longer fiction/ playing with the heart of the fire /heat from the kitchen

I don't know if anybody's thinking about their mom when they're making love or dropping a bomb/ but I know it raises my level of care to burn my fingers on a railroad flare/ playing with fire don't you know it's a lesson to learn it's a chance to grow/ everybody's gonna get their turn to put their hand in the oven and bring it back burned /joy in this life is a welcome addition giving up a healthy respect for the heat from the kitchen

Inside Out [J. Stevens] Jerry and Choctaw on vocals live drums by RJ

I had everything didn't want anymore /I was a lonesome reckless child/ you showed me something I'd never seen before/ my curiosity was running wild/ a sailor lost out in a storm at sea /I just had to let it pass /then I found what you offered to me/ turned out to be a looking glass

[chorus] you took my love turned it inside out/ took my heart turned it inside out/ baby tell me what it's all about /you took my love turned it inside out

I heard of a wiseman talking 'bout fools rushing in /I'm not gonna do anything about it/ a very good friend of mine said that you were gonna break my heart /that's possible but I doubt it/ the river's rushing from the mountain to the sea/ never stops it just rolls on/ a dream of a lifetime was just waiting for me all I had to do was hold on

you took my love turned it inside out you turned my heart around

Only a Revolution [J. Stevens] Dwayne on bass guitar and live drums Mario on congas and shaker

we'll meet up at the halfway point /it's the only way /we'll meet up at the halfway point /find common ground I say/ 'cause this world is my country too/ my locality is my nationality/ my nationality is my universality/ love has no borders/ all blood is red/ love has no borders I trod common ground instead/ it doesn't matter when you've no tears left to shed/ talking 'bout resolution/ only a revolution

Prayer [J. Stevens, J. Lopez] Dwayne on bass Jerry and Jai on vocals

Jai: prayer in these times a crucial /for the agony of the world /so dem a pray

Jerry: I don't think I can take it any longer /the madness seemes so hard to bear/ then sometimes been feeling stronger/ 'cause I know there are still those who care

[chorus] this is my prayer/ my prayer for peace /my prayer for love /the violence must cease

business as usual is different now /business as usual is not the same as it was before/ the movies and the tv show us how/ if our lives aren't already hard core

Jai: come me seh some a dem a pray dem a pray to Allah/ some a dem a pray unto Hare Krishna/ de Indian in de east a dem a pray to Buddah but not me I choose to pray to Jah/ creator in the sky/ the Almighty/ Inspirer of my life He always help me/ so me pray /yes ah pray /dem a pray

Jerry: with the madness in your life your'e damaged/ wondering 'bout when the bullets come/ with the madness in your life your'e already damaged/ bullets don't have to come from a gun

Closer to My Heart [J. Stevens, S. Aaron] drum tracks by rj vocals by Jerry and Choctaw, Choctaw on guitar

Jerry: kind love/ the only one of your kind/ you gave my heart to m/e you brought me peace you brought me time/ I would empty my pockets spend my soul on you/ I know you hold the world for me /cause this inspiration is what comes through

[chorus] oh, love keep moving closer to my heart

Choctaw: comfort and love is a true necesity/ it gives you self esteem and makes you feel irie/ an l and an o and the third letter's a v and it wouldn't be love 'less you end it with an e

Jerry: remind me love/ to keep you always in mind /when I got you in my heart /you're always easier to find/ you keep on changing like the river /that will always remain /you keep filling up my empty cup /I keep coming back again

Choctaw: we got to put an end to all the skylark/ each and everyday we have to make a fresh start/ no whether you black or white or red you skin is light or dark /rule #1 we have to love one another/ all of your sisters and all of your brothers/ Jah said I and I must come together/ if the pickney are gonna have a future/ it nah break you back and it nah make you bleed /to show a little lovin to the pickney in need/ choctaw indian me love all humanity/'cause all a we is one family

Jerry: days are grey the days are golden/ a flash of silver in our tears/ to think heaven is so far away /yet it can be so near

River [S. Aaron] all tracks by Choctaw (except horns) with Jerry on backing vocals Dwayne on violin

when I find myself in tribulation /there's only one place that I like to go /it's the souce of life and all creation/ it's where the living waters flow

[chorus] I'm going down to the river/ to drink up some water

if you feel you stand in isolation/ and you got no one to fill your soul/ walk on down to those crystal waters/ let love and kindness make you whole/ if I and I stop from hailing him up/ He said the rocks are gonna cry out

 

Reality [J. Stevens, D. Jackson, and S. Aaron] vocals by Jerry and Dwayne drum tracks and live percussion by Dwayne

If I can't believe my eyes/ I got to beleive my heart/ if I can't believe my ears /I got to believe my heart/ if I can't believe the newspapers /I got to believe my heart/ if I can't believe the radio /I got to believe my heart/ and my heart says whoa wait a minute hold the phone /you know I'm out here in this wilderness alone/ troubles you bring to me make me feel like stone/ just because you can't find belief in this reality

I keep finding myself in places /where I got to believe my heart /not much to go on in some cases/ so I got to believe my heart / I might not possess the proper education/ so I got to believe my heart

And my heart says whoa/ wait a minute wait and see /I know you truly want what's best for me/ I'll try to be just what you want me to be/ just because you can't find belief in this reality /Alleleujah I got to believe my heart/ I feel my God lives in there/ so I got to believe my heart/ ever faithful ever sure/ I got to believe my heart

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