Arrested Development is an alternative hip-hop group, founded by Speech and Headliner in the early '90s.
Speech wrote this song after the deaths of his grandmother and brother, which occurred in close succession. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance in 1993.
[Verse 1: Speech] Lord I've really been real stressed Down and out, losing ground Although I am Black and proud Problems got me pessimistic Brothers and sisters keep messin up Why does it have to be so damn tough I don't know where I can go To let these ghosts out of my skull My grandma's passed, my brother's gone I never at once felt so alone I know you're supposed to be my steering wheel Not just my spare tire (home) But Lord I ask you (home) To be my guiding force and truth (home) For some strange reason it had to be (home) He guided me to Tennessee (home) [Hook] Take me to another place Take me to another land Make me forget all that hurts me Let me understand your plan [Verse Two] Lord it's obvious we got a relationship Talking to each other every night and day Although you're superior over me We talk to each other in a friendship way Then outta nowhere you tell me to break Outta the country and into more country Past Dyersburg into Ripley Where the ghost of childhood haunts me Walk the roads my forefathers walked Climbed the trees my forefathers hung from Ask those trees for all their wisdom They tell me my ears are so young (home) Go back to from whence you came (home) My family tree my family name (home) For some strange reason it had to be (home) He guided me to Tennessee (home) [Hook] [Interlude: Aerle Taree] Eshe, she went down to Holly Springs Rasadon and Baba, they went down to Peachtree Headliner, I challenge you to a game of horseshoes, a game of horseshoes [Verse 3: Speech] Now I see the importance of history Why my people be in the mess that they be Many journeys to freedom made in vain By brothers on the corner playing ghetto games I ask you Lord why you enlightened me Without the enlightment of all my folks He said cause I set myself on a quest for truth And he was there to quench my thirst But I am still thirsty The Lord allowed me to drink some more He said what I am searching for are The answers to all which are in front of me The ultimate truth started to get blurry For some strange reason it had to be It was all a dream about Tennessee [Hook] [Outro: Aerle Taree] Headliner, I won the game of horseshoes Now you owe me a watermelon Let's go climb trees and skip over rocks Do like they do below the border Speech's hair Don't it look like the roots of the tree that the ancestors were hung from But that's okay, get it cause he's down to Earth