Be (Intro)

i believe the song simply discusses how he wants to be free from the burdens of everyday life.Whether it is war , drugs , the future of hip hop , we must not let these things bring us down . That one must not worry about the past , nor focus too much on what the future holds , but instead realize that the present is a blessing and that we must cherish it

I love Common! The poetic vibe he brings to a track is unmatched! Does anyone know if he's talking about the poet Yusef in line 2 or someone else?

I'm pretty sure the song is a reference to Yusef Hawkins - a unknowing martyr In the summer of 1989, when Yusef Hawkins, a 16-year-old African American from Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, visited the mostly white Bensonhurst neighborhood in the borough, a mob of white youth killed him.

i dont kno about hawkins. i thought the line was refering to yusef lateef. i could be wrong. but i dont think the whole song is an ode to either of them.

im not sure excatly what its about. it might be an ode to the state of hiphop.

"we got arems but won;t reach for the skies" "when drunk nights get remembered more than the sober ones" he might be saying how hiphop is underachieving in this "club" era. im not sure bout the rest though.

the other lines seem to refer to the state of life in general. "bush pushing lies, killers immortalized"

through all this he just wants to be. he doesnt want to have to deal witht the chaos.

im not sure. i wish more people would post.

i believe the song simply discusses how he wants to be free from the burdens of everyday life.Whether it is war , drugs , the future of hip hop , we must not let these things bring us down . That one must not worry about the past , nor focus too much on what the future holds , but instead realize that the present is a blessing and that we must cherish it

Yeah... Yes...

I wanna be as free as the spirits of those who left I'm talkin' Malcolm, Coltrane, my man Yusef Through death grew conception, new breath and resurrection For moms, new steps in her direction, in the right way Told inside Chi where the fight lay And everything a nigga do may not be what he might say Chicago nights stay, stay on the mind But I write many lives, they lay on these lines Way besides of the times Many say the grind's on the mind Shorties blunted-out and everyone wanna rhyme, Bush pushing lies, killers immortalized, We got arms but won't reach for the skies Waiting for the Lord to rise I look into my daughter's eyes And realize I'ma learn through her The Messiah, might even return through her If I'ma do it, I gotta change the world through her Furs and a Benz, Gramps wantin 'em Demons and old friends, Pops they hauntin' him The chosen one from the land of the frozen sun When drunk nights get remembered more than sober ones Walk like warriors, we were never told to run Explored the world to return to where my soul begun Never looking back or too far in front of me The present is a gift, and I just wanna BE

That question about the Drunk nights...

Hes talking about getting drunk and having a good time that was remembered even though it is common (fukk puns) for people to blakk out and not remember.

Common..!

best song ever

He's referring to Maleek Yusef, a contemporary poet/rapper, I'm nearly certain.

i don't think it's either malik or yusef lateef.. because they're both alive, and he's clearly referring to "those who left"

no idea who it could be though!

I think K04sk got it on the nail. I don't believe this song is really effective on people just listening to it. But when you're happy and listen to it than that third part of the beat comes in and you feel it within your soul and happiness just spreads all throughout you and you get yourself on a happy high. I mean he just wants to Be and i found pure happiness in this song right now.