And any man who knows a thing knows,
he knows not a damn, damn thing at all
And every time I felt the hurt and I felt the
givin' gettin' me up off the wall
I'm just gonna take
a minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a minute
and let it breeze
I'm just gonna take
a minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a minute
and let it breeze
How did Mandela get the will
to surpass the everyday
When injustice had him caged
and trapped in every way
How did Gandhi ever withstand
the hunger strikes and all
Didn't do it to gain power
or money if I recall
It's to give; I guess I'll pass it on
Mother thinks it'll lift
the stress of Babylon
Mother knows,
my mother she suffered blows
I don't know how we survived
such violent episodes
I was so worried,
and hurt to see you bleed
But as soon as you came out the
hospital you gave me sweets
Yeah, they try to take you from me
But you still only gave 'em some pray
ers and sympathy
Dear mama, you helped me write this,
by showing me to give is priceless
And any man who knows a thing knows,
he knows not a damn, damn thing at all
And every time I felt the hurt and I felt
the givin' gettin' me up off the wall
I'm just gonna take
a minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a minute
and let it breeze
I'm just gonna take
a minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a
minute and let it breeze
All I can say is the worst is over now
We can serve the hard times,
divorce is over now
They try to keep us out,
but they doors is open now
My nigga Akon is getting
awards for covers now
This is K'naan, and still
reppin' the S
Comin' out of Mogadishu and still
draped in the mess
And no matter how we strong, homie
It ain't easy coming out of
where we from, homie
And that's the reason why,
I could never play for me
Tell 'em the truth,
is what my dead homies told me
Oh yeah, I take inspiration from the
most heinous of situations
Creating medication out
my own tribulations
Dear Africa, you helped me write this,
by showing me to give is priceless
And any man who knows a thing knows,
he knows not a damn, damn thing at all
And every time I felt the hurt and I felt the
givin' gettin' me up off the wall
I'm just gonna take a
minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a minute
and let it breeze
I'm just gonna take
a minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a minute and let it breeze
And any man who knows a thing knows,
he knows not a damn, damn thing at all
And every time I felt the hurt and I felt
the givin' gettin' me up off the wall
I'm just gonna take
a minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a minute
and let it breeze
I'm just gonna take
a minute and let it ride
I'm just gonna take a minute and let it breeze
