I'm goin' back to the South
I'm goin' back, back, back, back
Where my roots ain't watered down
Growin', growin' like a Baobab tree
Of life on fertile ground, ancestors put me on game
Ankh charm on gold chains, with my Oshun energy, oh
Drip all on me, woo, Ankara Dashiki print
Hol' up, don't I smell like satya, Nag Champa incense?
Yeah, pure ice (ice), ice (ice), buss down
Uh, flooded (flooded), flooded (flooded), on my wrist, ow
Ooh, goin' up, goin' up, motherland, motherland drip on me
Ooh, melanin, melanin, my drip is skin deep, like
Ooh, motherland, motherland, motherland, motherland drip on me
Eeya, I can't forget my history is her story, yeah
Being black, maybe that's the reason why they always mad
Yeah, they always mad, yeah
Been passed 'em, I know that's the reason why they all big mad
And they always have been

Honey, come around my way, around my hive
Whenever momma says so, momma say
Here I come on my throne, sittin' high
Follow my parade, oh, my parade
Talkin' slick to my folk (my folk), nip that lip like lipo (lipo)
You hear them swarmin', right? Bees is known to bite
Now here we come on our thrones, sittin' high
Follow my parade, oh, my parade

On fours, all black
All chrome, black-owned
Black tints, matte black
Walked by, my window down, let 'em see who in it
Crack a big smile (ding)
Go figure, me and Jigga, fifty 'leven children
They like, "Chick, how?"
I charge my crystals in a full moon
You could send them missiles, I'ma send my goons
Baby sister reppin' Yemaya (Yemaya)
Trust me, they gon' need an army
Rubber bullets bouncin' off me
Made a picket sign off your picket fence
Take it as a warning
Waist beads from Yoruba (woo)
Four hunnid billi', Mansa Musa (woo)
Stroll line to the barbeque
Put us any damn where, we gon' make it look cute
Pandemic fly on the runway, in my hazmat
Children runnin' through the house and my art, all black
Ancestors on the wall, let the ghosts chit-chat
(Ancestors on the wall, let the ghosts chit-chat)
Hold my hands, we gon' pray together
Lay down, face down in the gravel
We wearin' all attire white to the funeral
Black love, we gon' stay together
Curtis Mayfield on the speaker (woo)
Lil' Malcolm, Martin, mixed with momma Tina (woo)
Need another march, lemme call Tamika (woo)
Need peace and reparation for my people (woo)
Fuck these laid edges, I'ma let it shrivel up (shrivel up)
Fuck this fade and waves, I'ma let it dread all up (dread all up)
Put your fists up in the air, show black love (show black love)
Motherland drip on me, motherland, motherland drip on me

Honey, come around my way, around my hive
Whenever momma says so, momma say
Here I come on my throne, sittin' high
Follow my parade, oh, my parade
Talkin' slick to my folk (my folk), nip that lip like lipo (lipo)
You hear 'em swarmin', right? Bees is known to bite
Now here we come on our thrones, sittin' high
Follow my parade, oh, my parade

We got rhythm (we got rhythm), we got pride (we got pride)
We birth kings (we birth kings), we birth tribes (we birth tribes)
Holy river (holy river), holy tongue (holy tongue)
Speak the glory (speak the glory), feel the love (feel the love)
Motherland, motherland drip on me, hey, hey, hey
Motherland, motherland drip on me, hey, hey, hey
I can't forget my history, it's her story
Motherland drip on me, motherland, motherland drip on me

Honey, come around my way, around my hive
Whenever momma says so, momma say
Here I come on my throne, sittin' high
Follow my parade, oh, my parade
Talkin' slick to my folk (my folk), lift that lip like lipo (lipo)
You hear 'em swarmin', right? Bees is known to bite
Now here we come on our thrones, sittin' high
Follow my parade, oh, black parade


Lyrics submitted by mike

BLACK PARADE Lyrics as written by Beyonce Giselle Knowles Akil Fresh

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Black Parade song meanings
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    General Comment

    On June 19th, also known as the holiday Junteenth, Beyoncé dropped BLACK PARADE, her newest song that vividly talks about black pride and the importance of black heritage and culture. After listening to the song once, I couldn’t think of a better day to drop the song than Junteenth as the topic fits hand-to-hand with the day of celebration. The Beyhive, as she likes to call her fanbase, couldn’t hold in their excitement as Beyoncé sings about her hometown, African roots, and hints of her womanhood in her new song. Throughout the song, she uses words such as “Baobab” which is a sub-saharan tree in Africa. A line after that, she sings “Ankh charm on gold chains, with my Oshun energy, oh. Drip all on me, woo, Ankh or the Dashiki print” which contain words that are unfamiliar to those that don’t know much about Africa. Ankh refers to an ancient symbol from Egypt, Oshun is one of the Orisha goddesses from Nigeria, and Dashiki refers to a colorful African shirt. While rhyming and flowing, she puts together words that can be linked back to African culture which is creative- she could’ve just said the word “tree” instead of the specific tree of Baobab or taken the words “Ankh” and “Oshun” out of the sentence, but she decided to use them to make her audience want to look up what those words mean and why they’re important to the African culture. This effort shows her emotions and how she feels about her true roots from Africa. All around the song, from the chorus to different verses, items that lead to the African culture can be found hidden within sentences- this is important because there aren’t that many songs out there today sung by A-list celebrities that mention anything from the African culture. For Beyoncé to be singing about her womanhood and her roots from Africa is inspirational to many that are from Africa and that don’t have a favorite singer that represents their home country and origin. Many are thankful and happy that Beyoncé has, yet again, blown the minds of many by combining current social issues, national issues, and worldwide issues- such as COVID-19, police brutality protests, and woman’s rights’ movements- into a catchy song that speaks “a thousand words” in just a couple of minutes.

    BoseBose2001on June 22, 2020   Link

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