Save Your Soul

I was a dead man, out in the cold

Life was a picture and I was deep in a hole

Just about to give up, then lo and behold

A voice from within said "save your soul"!

Yo brothers and sisters all around the globe

I got a story, yeah, it's gotta be told

To my family, friends, fans, even my foes

It's like this y'all, this is how it goes

I was out in the world without a name or a goal

Out of school and out of control

Set in my ways, yeah, stuck in a mold

Going the wrong way down a one-way road

Young and bold, I didn't wanna be told

I used to steal and brag about the stuff I stole

Then one bright day, my mind got blown

When a voice from within said "save your soul!"

I didn't listen, no I didn't wanna be told

Things were looking up and I was on a roll

I was a rude boy and a romeo

And anywhere I went I'd start the show

I had money, women, plenty of gold

And an overinflated E-G-O

I was a dead man, but I didn't know

Until a voice from within said "save your soul!"

Yo, you see me? Original roughneck youth

From up so, round so, down so, in so, out so, 'bout so

You see me? It's better a boy don't even see me

A me a run things this year

Expensive and beer, gone clear

Come with this rude boy, then me nah tell you man

My life was like a movie

And I was playing the role of a black youth living in the ghetto

Where the action was that's where I'd go

Right or wrong, I'd be going with the flow

But what you reap is what you sow

It's like karma, the bad you do will follow

You around, and I was going down

Right down, with my face in the ground

Two hands bound to a siren's sound

None of my so-called friends anywhere to be found

And as I thought to myself, in life you're alone

A voice from within said "anyone home?"

Yes Lord, well here I be

If I ain't ready yet, I go never be

I'm sorry for the things that I did before

Believe me Lord, I won't do them no more

I'll be an arrow Lord, if you'll be my bow

And anywhere I'm sent I'll gladly go

I'll be a witness, yeah, all around the world

To every man, every woman, every boy and girl

Well I was born in the ghetto where the strong survive

And with the will to strive, I began to rise

From '79 or was it '75

When reggae music began to open my eyes

About the truth, the rights, and Jah the most high

And how to achieve a little pie in the sky

Inspirated, yeah, I was totally elevated

To the point where I decided to jack the mic

But my direction, was not to only those of my complexion

But the brown, yellow, red and the white, man

Critters criticize, cynics synthesize

Any entertainer with a message they victimize

But in this world of sin, it's no surprise

So with the media, I sympathize

I hear the rich man's laughter, hear the poor man's cries

The hypocrites advertise their lies through their eyes

Everyone's born, everyone dies

But only God's children get the prize

Don't be a fool, be cool, come on and get wise

Yeah, wise up, no compromise

And listen to the voice that resides within the mind

'Cause God has sent a guide to all mankind

The choice is yours, life above or death below

It's up to you, to save your soul!