Artist: Brand Nubian Album: Time's Runnin' Out Song: A Child Is Born (Original Version) Typed by: OHHLA Webmaster DJ Flash [Lord Jamar] A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin on you but he's frownin too Because only God knows what you go through, uh A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin on you but he's frownin too [Sadat X] He grew up in an instant, the fourth of seven children The oldest male, on the block that's half and half Brown stones to neck bones, crack jones to tones Where young girls spread out and drop seeds like they farmers They old as they mommas and the same age as they aunt and the neighborhood drunk man and that lady with the dreaded disease, is like hard to please And the house of ill fate with the metal gate Keep the thin people cracked out like crunch they munch The old man with the fruit stand, is on his knee and his hand, his old heart, just can't stand the CPR As they load him in the back of a car I'm on a world tour to help free the poor From the local drug cats to kids in front of the store Number runners, gang bangers and the fake money spenders Reality check rings as we descend from the kings [Grand Puba] Now a child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God's smilin on you but he's frownin too Cause only God knows what you'll go through A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God's smilin on you but he's frownin too Cause only God knows [Lord Jamar] No hope, was scopin horror in my horoscope Tomorrow I could be broke, this ain't a joke I'm twenty dollars away, from bein dead ass I'm 'bout to spend half, on a bag to get my head blast Last week I lost the Justice Cypher Born That spawned a rift with my Wis, now she dipped with my kids I live by the subway, niggaz push drugs in my hallway All day everyday, tryin to get the pay And I've been tryin to find a better way It seems when you poor then you forced to endure to raw play Survival be your forte, lookin forward to arrival of your food stamps, projects like boot camps With generals, cookin chemical warfare Peace to Amir, I ain't seen your ass in four years The law bears down on anybody that's brown My complexion, puts me in the direction of the section 8 Rejection seems to be my fate As a kid I wanted shit but momma always used to say I had to wait And its been drama up to date Enough to traumatize people's lives and the eyes that try to fixate [Sadat X] A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin on you but he's frownin too Cause only God knows what you'll go through A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin on you but he's frownin too Because [Grand Puba] Born into existance, with some resistance A struggle, comin out my ol' Earth's womb It was little past noon, three months before June I had a feelin I was headed toward the land of doom I came out, and the doctor got ready to smack I grabbed the 'bilical cord, and tried to pull myself back but it was too late for that, cause out slid the sack So I guess I gotta maintain where I'm at Now I'm here breathin this new kind of air Poverty bound, headin for the welfare I had a feelin somethin wasn't gonna be right Cause I can feel it in my mom's uptight appetite Now I'm growin up around stale beans and drug fiends and shiesty characters with their harebrained schemes Now momma I don't wanna be poor no more And I'm tired of these crackheads in front of our door [Outro] A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin on you but he's frownin too Because only God knows what you'll go through A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin on you but he's frownin too Because only God knows what you'll go through