Brooklyn Rain

It's good to meet you
I can't believe I'm actually here
Feel like I'm in The Wiz
Is this The Wiz?

I was just a young man
From the City of Wind
When she invited me in
And fixed me a plate
She said round here
We break bread
When you leave
We going to make sure that you ate

So she fed me, she fed me, she fed me
Her love
So she fed me, she fed me, she fed me
Her love

In that Brooklyn rain
That sweet Brooklyn rain
Pouring down
Pouring down

Before they gentrified you
I found myself tied to you
You help me stand tall
When I didn't think I'd stand at all
Concrete everywhere
Cabbies asking for their fares
Buildings climb so high over me
Cat-sized rats running the streets

I see people
Beautiful people
From all over the world

In that Brooklyn rain
That sweet Brooklyn rain
Pouring down
Pouring down

It was late summer, early fall
And the planet became a home away from home indeed
Found out I could stand on my own
She provided me peace, while I worked on my needs
Worked on my spirit
My soul
I didn't expect her to play this role

I mean I only knew her from the movies
And I was trying to do the right thang
She inspired me
Encouraged me to write new things
I wrote Dear Father
I wrote Never Let Me Down
In Bed-Stuy
Brooklyn
The borough
This town
This place that accepted me for who I was

Told me my energy was fresh
I wanted dearly to reflect the love
Spread love it's the Brooklyn way
I was posted up not to far from where Biggie stayed
Where Mos grew up
Not far from Jay
I walked through the Roosevelt Houses to get to the J
When I was in the city, sometimes I would hop on the A
Make my way back to BK
When I spoke they would say
You sound country
You from the South?
"Chicago," would proudly fall from my mouth
My doubts turned into confidence
This lady said I looked Ethiopian
Assumed I was from the continent
The Motherland
"Naw, my Pops from Mississippi
The Otherland
Black man, Black man"

I wrote my Brown Boy Blues
Staring up at shoes that hung from phone lines
Intently they listened to poems of mine
I watched my wounds heal in time
This culture would eventually become a piece of mine
Out East this Midwest kid found peace of mind
I found peace of mind

In that Brooklyn rain
That sweet Brooklyn rain
Pouring down
Pouring down

That Brooklyn rain
Washed the pain away
That Brooklyn rain
Washed the pain away
That Brooklyn rain
Washed the pain away
Washed the pain away
Washed the pain away
Washed the pain away