When Rivers Cry (feat. Common)

Feet crushing plastic
Moving windows tossing bottles dry
I can't get past it
Waste and dust still choking road and sky
The trees remember days of plenty
Before rivers cried
Now they cry oh, oh, oh...

Winds carry sorrow
While forgetful dreamers pass us by
Temperatures rising
No one stopping just to wonder why
Old men recall the kindness of the sun
Before the rivers cried
Now they cry oh, oh, oh...

The rivers tell a story of
God's reign and glory
Pay homage to the land of those that came before me
The land of the mother and the first man discovered
Look overseas and see waters that are troubled
The bridge somewhere in the truth and the kids
Somewhere in the spirit of the kids the truth lives
I died many times many lives just to live again
Contemplating on where my life and river blends

I was ignorant to the earth and what we did to it
Never seek to find. Yeah, I hid from it
So when the rivers cried, I never felt the sentiment
Until the hurricanes - that's when I caught wind of it
My Paps said the hurricanes was the ancestors
Reminding us of who we are and our transgressions
Lessons of the mother and the waves
I'm the sun reflecting the earth these days

Green belts tug at the necks and bellies
Of our beasts and times
Shortsighted leaders
Flush with irony and oil mines
Eroding shorelines lap at memory
While the rivers cry
Now they cry oh, oh, oh...