In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Harlem once was red line district rated
Designated ghetto like the yellow star of David
And you wonder why people don't own their homes
'Cause the racist bank wouldn't fuckin' mortgage a loan
Until after the invasion of gentrification
Eminent domain intimidation
That's not negotiation
And it's frustrating to look at every day
Like watching a porno on 56K
Biohazard labs instead of storerooms
What's next motherfucker projects as dorm rooms
You ain't fooling nobody in this community dude
With your little fake Manhattanville community group
Ivy league real estate firms are corrupt
They lay siege to your castle like the Moors in Europe
They treat street vendors like criminal riff raff
While politicians get the corporate kickbacks
[Chorus: ]
Harlem Renaissance a revolution betrayed
Modern day slaves thinking that the ghetto is saved
'Til they start deporting people off the property
Ethnically cleaning the hood, economically
They want to kill the real Harlem Renaissance
Trying to put the Virgin Mary through an early menopause
The Savior is a metaphor for how we set it off
Guerilla war against the rezoning predators
When I speak about Harlem, I speak to the world
The little Afghan boy and the Bosnian girl
The African in Sudan, the people of Kurdistan
The third world American indigenous man
Palestinians, Washington Heights, Dominicans
Displaced New Orleans citizens
Beachfront Brazilian favelas that you livin' in
The hood is prime real estate they want back in again
I didn't write this to talk shit, I say it because
Some of y'all forgot what the Harlem Renaissance was
We had revolution, music and artisans
But the movement was still fucked up like Parkinson's
'Cause while we were giving birth to the culture we love
Prejudice kept our own people out of the club
Only colored celebrities in the party
And left us a legacy of false superiority
W.E.B. Du Bois verses Marcus Garvey
And we ended up selling out to everybody
The Dutch soldiers and the John Gotti's
Bankers ? modern day gangsters, a mobile army
They want to move us all out the NYC
Like they did to the Jews with the Alhambra Decree
So support your own businesses and do the knowledge
'Cause the real Harlem Renaissance is economic
[Chorus: ]
Designated ghetto like the yellow star of David
And you wonder why people don't own their homes
'Cause the racist bank wouldn't fuckin' mortgage a loan
Until after the invasion of gentrification
Eminent domain intimidation
That's not negotiation
And it's frustrating to look at every day
Like watching a porno on 56K
Biohazard labs instead of storerooms
What's next motherfucker projects as dorm rooms
You ain't fooling nobody in this community dude
With your little fake Manhattanville community group
Ivy league real estate firms are corrupt
They lay siege to your castle like the Moors in Europe
They treat street vendors like criminal riff raff
While politicians get the corporate kickbacks
[Chorus: ]
Harlem Renaissance a revolution betrayed
Modern day slaves thinking that the ghetto is saved
'Til they start deporting people off the property
Ethnically cleaning the hood, economically
They want to kill the real Harlem Renaissance
Trying to put the Virgin Mary through an early menopause
The Savior is a metaphor for how we set it off
Guerilla war against the rezoning predators
When I speak about Harlem, I speak to the world
The little Afghan boy and the Bosnian girl
The African in Sudan, the people of Kurdistan
The third world American indigenous man
Palestinians, Washington Heights, Dominicans
Displaced New Orleans citizens
Beachfront Brazilian favelas that you livin' in
The hood is prime real estate they want back in again
I didn't write this to talk shit, I say it because
Some of y'all forgot what the Harlem Renaissance was
We had revolution, music and artisans
But the movement was still fucked up like Parkinson's
'Cause while we were giving birth to the culture we love
Prejudice kept our own people out of the club
Only colored celebrities in the party
And left us a legacy of false superiority
W.E.B. Du Bois verses Marcus Garvey
And we ended up selling out to everybody
The Dutch soldiers and the John Gotti's
Bankers ? modern day gangsters, a mobile army
They want to move us all out the NYC
Like they did to the Jews with the Alhambra Decree
So support your own businesses and do the knowledge
'Cause the real Harlem Renaissance is economic
[Chorus: ]
Lyrics submitted by Subliminalx
Harlem Renaissance Lyrics as written by James D'agostino Felipe Coronel
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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