This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
I'm not the one who made the world what it is today
I'm not the one who caused the problems started long ago
But now I deal with all the consequence that troubles our times
I carry on and never once have even questioned why
Yeah, I'm innocent, the weight of the world is on my shoulders
Yeah, I'm innocent, the battles started are far from over, yeah, oh
We're not the ones who leave the homeless in the streets at night
We're not the ones who've kept minorities and women down
Still we grow and then the problems they become our own
We carry on without even realizing why
Yeah, we're innocent, the weight of the world is on our shoulders
Yeah, we're innocent, the battles left us are far from over, yeah, oh
Yeah, we're innocent, the weight of the world is on our shoulders
Yeah, we're innocent, the battles left us are far from over
Yeah, we're innocent, the weight of the world is on our shoulders
Yeah, we're innocent, the battles left us are far from over, yeah
We're not the ones whose pollution blackened our skies and ruined our streams
We're not the ones who made the nuclear bombs that threaten our lives
We're not the ones who let the children starve in faraway lands
We're not the ones who made the streets unsafe to walk at night
And even if we try and not become so overwhelmed
And if we make some contribution to the plight we see
Still our descendants will inherit our mistakes of today
They'll suffer just the same as we and never wonder why
I'm not the one who caused the problems started long ago
But now I deal with all the consequence that troubles our times
I carry on and never once have even questioned why
Yeah, I'm innocent, the weight of the world is on my shoulders
Yeah, I'm innocent, the battles started are far from over, yeah, oh
We're not the ones who leave the homeless in the streets at night
We're not the ones who've kept minorities and women down
Still we grow and then the problems they become our own
We carry on without even realizing why
Yeah, we're innocent, the weight of the world is on our shoulders
Yeah, we're innocent, the battles left us are far from over, yeah, oh
Yeah, we're innocent, the weight of the world is on our shoulders
Yeah, we're innocent, the battles left us are far from over
Yeah, we're innocent, the weight of the world is on our shoulders
Yeah, we're innocent, the battles left us are far from over, yeah
We're not the ones whose pollution blackened our skies and ruined our streams
We're not the ones who made the nuclear bombs that threaten our lives
We're not the ones who let the children starve in faraway lands
We're not the ones who made the streets unsafe to walk at night
And even if we try and not become so overwhelmed
And if we make some contribution to the plight we see
Still our descendants will inherit our mistakes of today
They'll suffer just the same as we and never wonder why
Lyrics submitted by spitfirek7
Not the One Lyrics as written by Bryan Holland
Lyrics © ROUND HILL CARLIN, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i think this is a simply amazing song. goes along perfectly with all of the offspring's other material the amazing, and yet simple bass line, and the common theme of how our elders dont deserve nearly all the respect they demand. this song is all about how the past generations have caused so many problems and have pretty much destroyed the world and now us kids have to deal with it. i know its pretty obvious but the point of this site is to say what we think songs mean, not to just say that they have a meaning.