Lauryn Hill: Every ghetto every city

I was just a little girlSkinny legs, a press and curlsMy mother always thought I'd be a starBut way before my record dealThe streets that nurtured Lauryn HillMade sure that I'd never go too farEvery ghetto, every city and suburban place I've beenMake me recall my days in the New JerusalemStory starts at Hootaville grew up next to Ivy HillWhen kids were stealing quartervilles for fun"Kill the guy" in Carter parkRode a Mongoose 'til stolen onesEvery ghetto, every city and suburban place I've beenMake me recall my day in New JerusalemYou know it's hot, don't forget what you've gotLooking backLooking back, looking back, looking backYou know it's hot, don't forget what you've gotLooking backThinking back, thinking back, thinking backA bag of Bontons, twenty cents and a nickelSpringfield Ave, hat the best popsiclesSaturday mornings cartoons and Kung-FuMain street roots tonic with the dredsA beef patty and some coco breadMove the patch from my Lees to the tongue of my shoeBack when Dough Fresh and Slick Rick were togetherLooking at the crew, we thought we' all live foreverYou know it's hot, don't forget what you've gotLooking backThinking back, thinking back, thinking backYou know it's hot, don't forget what you've gotLooking backThinking back thinking back, thinking backDrill teams on Munn streetRemember when Hawthorne and Chancelllor had beefMoving Records was on Central Ave.I was there at dancing school South Orange Ave, at Borlin poolUnaware of what we didn't haveWriting your friends' names on your jeans with a markerJuli 4th races of ParkerFireworks at Martin stadiumThe Untoucheable P.S.P., where all them crazy nigger beAnd car thieves got away through IrvingtonHillside brings beef with the copsSelf-Destruction record dropsAnd everybody's name was MuslimSensations and '88 attracted kids from out-of-stateAnd everybody used to do the wopJack, Jack, Jack ya bodyNah, the Biz Mark used to amp up the partyI wish those days, they didn't stopEvery ghetto, every city and suburban place I've beenMake me recall my days in New JerusalemYou know it's hot, don't forget what you've gotLooking backWelcome back, welcome back, welcome backYou know it's hot, don't forget what you've gotLooking backThinking back, thinking back, thinking backThinking back, thinking back, thinking back(To end)