Mos Def speaking)
I?m not gon sing a song or nothing.
Um, what that term they call it post traumatic stress syndrome? That thing that
Uh, soldiers will get. I think a lot of people get that. It?s like when you
Experience somethin and uh, it affects you for a long time afterwards. I guess
Everything works that way. Certain things have more impact than others.
Sometimes it visits you in your dreams or when you?re quiet or just at peace or
Trying to be at peace. A lot of soldiers get it. A lot of common people get
It. A lot of the time common people are soldiers, that?s just the way it works
Out.
This is a soldier?s dream
The other night I was tumbling towards an uneasy sleep
When I had discovered myself
Atop the sweet sticky firmament of my dreams.
Daybreak came and discovered me
With my fantasies pasted to my face.
I can't look at you right now.
Show me your eyes, she says.
Later, he says. Now, now. NO!
Shame is a prison you know.
Yeah, well discretion is a fortress
You?re starin and lookin too closely.
There?s so much about me that I hide
That careful eyes will recognize.
If you look closely you?ll notice
That the pattern on this soft cloth shirt
Is made of workin men?s sweat
And prayin folk?s tears.
If you look closer you?ll notice
That this pattern resembles
Tenement row houses, project high rises,
Cell block tiers,
Discontinued stretches of elevated train tracks,
Slave ship gullies, acres of tombstones.
If you look closer, you?ll notice
That this fabric has been carefully blended
With an advanced new age polymer (oh man, that?s nice)
To make the fabric lightweight
Weatherproof, and durable.
All this to give some sort of posture and dignity
To a broken body that is a host for scars.
I am the new landmark. I am the museum of injury.
Soldiers visit me and admire me quietly,
Whispering amongst themselves. You're no soldier.
Your soft bright eyes never have to
Survey the battlefield,
Much less its collected relics of which, I am one.
So, my flesh bullet-ridden remains hidden
Underneath these soft fabrics
Which I carefully select
That stand in for how I used to feel,
For how I remember feeling,
For how I dream about feeling,
For how I feel about you.
And now your curious fingers want to search
Beyond this tender armor.
I can't look at you right now
(This is my rifle there are many like it but this one is mine) 2x
Your eyes are too careful,
Collecting it all arranging it all;
Surgically, robotically, exactly.
I can't look at you right now
But that doesn't matter because
You can look at me and the longer that
I don?t return your gaze,
The harder that your gaze
Starts to run across my back
Like a nervous policeman?s hands:
Brisk, intent, anxious for discovery.
If discretion is a fortress
Then you're threatening to destroy it
By simply standing at the gates
And refusing to leave.
I can't look at you right now,
But you can look at me. Do you see me?
A Soldier's Dream
Mos Def
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Lyrics by Mos Def
A Ha All Praise Due All Praises Due America Astronomy Astronomy (8th Light) Auditorium B Boys Will B Boys Beautiful Beauty In The Dark (Groove With You) Bedstuy Parade Bedstuy Parade & Funeral March Beef Beef [#] Black & Blue Black Jack Blak Iz Blak Blue Black Jack Body Rock Body Rock (Featuring Q-Tip & Tash) Boogie Man Song Breakdown Brooklyn Brown Skin Lady Brown Sugar (Extra Sweet) Brown Sugar (Fine) Brown Sugar (Raw) Caldonia Casa Bey Champion Requiem Children's Story Climb Climb - Featuring Vinia Mojica Close Edge Come On Crime & Medicine Crime and Medicine Definition Definition [Instrumental] Destination Love Do It Now Dollar Day Dollar Day (Surprise Surprise) Drunk and Hot Girls Embassy Excellence Fake Bonanza Fear Not of Man Fear Not Of Men Freak Daddy Freaky Black Greetings Freestyle Freestyle Over Instrumental Ghetto Rock Ghetto Rock [Instrumental] Good Night Got Grown Man Business Grown Man Business (Fresh Vintage Bottles) Habitat Hater Players Hip Hop History Hurricane I Against I If Looks Could Kill (You Would Be Dead) If You Can Huh! You Can Hear If You Can Huh... Invisible Game Jam on It Jam on It [Instrumental] Joy K.O.S. (Determination) Kalifornia Know That Life in Marvelous Times Life Is Real Lifetime Love Love Rain [Coffee Shop Mix] Love Rain [Coffee Shop Mix] Love Rain [Head Nod Remix] Mathematics May-December Miss Fat Booty Modern Marvel Mos Def Freestyle Mos Def-Grown Man Business (Fresh Vintage Bottles) Mr. Nigga Mrnigga Ms Fat Booty Ms. Fat Booty Ms. Fat Booty 2 Msfat Booty Much Respect To Michael Jordan (Nike Commercial) Murder of a Teenage Life Nadine Napoleon Dynamite New World Water Next Universe Niggas In Poorest No Hay Nada Mas No Particular Place To Go Oh No On My Own Pistola Pretty Dancer Priority Promised Land Quiet Dog Quiet Dog (Bite Hard) Quiet Dog Bite Hard RE: DEFinition RE:DEFinition Reminisce Respiration Revelations Rock N Roll Roses Sex, Love & Money Sex, Love & Money [Album Version Explicit] Sex, Love & Money [Instrumental] Sex, Love & Money Six Days Speed Law Sun, Moon, Stars Sunshine Supermagic Supreme Supreme Sweepstakes The Beggar The Boogie Man Song The Day The Easy Spell The Embassy The Glow The Jump Off The Jump Off [*] The Light Is Not Afraid Of The Dark The Panties The Rape Over The Undeniable Theives In The Night There Is A Way Thieves in the Night This Means You Thug Is a Drug Travellin Man (Remix) Travellin' Man True Magic Twice Inna Lifetime Twilite Speedball U R the One Umi Says Umi Says [Live] Umi Says [Ritual Session] Undeniable Universal Magnetic Very Well Wahid War Water Workers Comp Workers Comp. Wylin Out Wylin Out [Instrumental] Wylin Out [Original Version] Yo Yeah You Are Undeniable Zimzallabim
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