Home - Common, Bilal

A man whose genius and freedoms and—

Ability to communicate and—

To talk, and to touch chords—

A man who has the ability and the audacity

And the unmitigated gall God to stand up, to stand up

I heard the sound of the trumpets, the voice on the throne

Seen the twenty-four elders and I knew I was home

I was told to write a song for the people

Take the original Hebrews on an Exodus of Black Excellence

Tell them to invest in us and make testaments about each other

On how we sisters and brothers

Cover the land and corners with poems and stone

Go hard with it, let 'em know you God with it

Even though I authored it, let no one margin it

And make it all about paper or first week’s sales

Though this is from Heaven give 'em verses from Hell

Those that fell off the path, bring 'em back to the math

Your staff will be your microphone

Your name is Common, you was born to fight the norm

Take house niggas outta darkness 'til they lights is on

I’ma put a hyphen on your name: rapper-actor-activist

You the one that can reach into the black abyss

Stars that’s asterisks, show 'em what a classic is

Freedom riders need passengers

In your lyrics use scriptures and passages

To make them rise like Lazarus and resurrect it again

They’ll put disrespect on your name and respect it again

Every section you in, bless 'em and keep bussin'

If they don’t like it, shake the dust and say «fuck em»

Until you get home, I’m the one you trust in

I’m happy to be in any place

Where God’s name is remembered

Soon I will be gone with the trouble of this world

Trouble of this world, trouble of this world

Soon I will be gone with the trouble of this world

Going home to live, going home to live

Going home to live with God

Go into the wilderness like Musa on a pilgrimage

Streets are villages, speak with diligence and authority

The fake are the Pharisees and Sadducees

Give them that Garvey free from the Black Odyssey

Yo pardon me, you the God bodily

Functioning on earth as a part of me, that’s why I gave you artistry

Go into the hoods with the shooters and the strippers

Forget the New World Order, New Jerusalem is with us

Tell sisters they earths and goddesses

If they got bottom, don’t get caught in a bottomless

Pit, there’s a lot of us fit for the kingdom is near

You can tell by the wars and how the seasons appear

You’ll appear in the circles in Hollywood, I birth you

In Chicago, you know how to parlay good

You’ll get Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys, give those to your family

Don’t get caught up in the vanity or the world’s insanity

Soon I will be gone with the trouble of this world

Trouble of this world, trouble of this world

Soon I will be gone with the trouble of this world

Going home to live, going home to live

Going home to live with God

To those of you who are unfamiliar with those words

They mean, in English, 'Peace, be unto you'