The Boy Who Played The Harp

Yeah, I sometimes wonder
What would I do with the next generation?
In 1940
If I was enlisted to fight for the nation
Or in 1960
If I had to fight for the rights of my people
And lay down my life on the line
So my grandkids could live a life that's peaceful

Would I be on that? Would I be frontline?
That's what I'm thinking
If I was alive in the 1912
On the Titanic and it was sinking
Who am I saving?
Am I fightin' women and children, or am I waitin'?
I wonder
What would I do in the next generation?

Battle of Karbala
If they captured me for the sake of my father
Would I stand on my honor like Hussein did
And tell them to make me a martyr?
Would I read, get smarter
Forgive my oppressor, stick to the creed
If I got locked inside like Nelson Mandela
But never was freed

I see a white man dance to rumba
Ain't study Patrice Lumumba
But get on the stage and sing like sungba
Lajaja-ja-ja, sungba

Fuck it, I wonder
What would I do with the next generation?
Would I fight for justice?
Is it the reason my mum named me David?
How can you be king?
How can you be king? Don't speak for the people
Them man try draw me out and compare
Like me and these niggas are equal

I'm a black man and this bozo sayin'
My music socially conscious
While the mandem troll in responses
This world's gone totally bonkers
I sometimes wonder
What would I do in the next generation?
But I'm knowin' the answer
'Cause what am I doin' in this generation?

Afraid to speak cah I don't wanna risk it, my occupation
We got kids under occupation
Our parents, they wouldn't get that
The people that died for our freedom
Spoke on justice, couldn't accept that
I talk 'bout the money in all my accounts
So why don't I speak on the West Bank?

Remember growin' up prejudiced
The damage 7-7 did
Extremist and terrorist
I was afraid of the Taliban
Can't speak out on illegal settlers now
I'm afraid of a shadow-ban
What would I do in the next generation?

Critiquin' African leaders
For sellin' our country's natural resources
To the West for peanuts
If they don't hear, they'll feel us
I question what I'm alive for
And can you say you're alive
If you ain't got somethin' you're willin' to die for?

What am I willin' to die for?
What am I doin' in this generation?
I get in my head sometimes
I feel like I'm in despair
That feelin' of total powerlessness
I get that sinkin' feelin'
That good ain't defeatin' evil
I put that pain on vinyl
But feel like that shit ain't movin' the needle

Retweetin' people, raisin' awareness
In all fairness
Ain't gonna bring Chris back to his parents
But there's no other option, it's a process
Gotta stand and protest, cah they want man silenced
Cah they want man dead or they want man hopeless

In the next generation
I spoke with my ancestors in the night
And I showed them
They spoke with tears in their eyes
For the brothers they lost and said it was progress

"How can it be progress?"
I asked him, confused, disgusted
They said, "David, just so you can fight this
You know how much sufferin' touched us?
And you got a chance, we come from
A time and a place where you couldn't get justice
Had to find peace in the fact
That we all answer to the one what we trust in

And in our generation
We did do peaceful protest, just like you
Burnt buildings, just like you
Did boycotts, just like you
Sat in a hostel, powerless
Did feel powerless just like you
And I know that it may sound strange
But we made some change and we're just like you

I know that you question your character
I know that you suffer in silence
I know that it don't feel right
When you go to the club in Victoria Island
'Cause how can you dance in the club?
There's a hundred people beggin' outside it
I know the sins of your father
I know that you're desperate to fight them

So step in your purpose
Speak for your people, share all your secrets
Expose your emotions
You might not see, but there's people that need it
Never demand it
And if God can grant it, manifest it and receive it
Your name is David and that covenant's sacred
You gotta promise, so keep it"

Deep it, them man talk on the ting, but I bleed it
Man wanna speak on the scene, but I seen it
Tried in the fire by Ghetts, I'm anointed
Kano passed me the torch, I received it
God told me I'm the one, I believed it
Shout Hollowman 'cause he helped me achieve it
I'm the youngest of my brothers
Father eased the burden on our mothers

Give these niggas money, see their colors
Don't mix me with them, I'm not the one
Grind and miss the summer, when it comes
I'm Abraham, I sacrifice the sun
Where I'm from, they sacrifice their son
Hold up, I ain't finished, I ain't done
My ancestors
My ancestors told me that my life is prophecy

And it's not just me
It's a whole generation of people gradually makin' change
There ain't a greater task
Shift that, make a name, make a star
They don't know what they're facin' when they ask
With the will of David in my heart
The story of the boy who played the harp