Lauryn Hill Left Everyone in the Studio Teary-Eyed After Singing This Heartfelt ‘Miseducation’ Track

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, released in 1998, housed many tracks that became staples of Lauryn Hill‘s career. However, one track was more important and personal to Hill than others.

Hill wrote much of the album while pregnant with her first son, Zion David Marley. He inherited the last name “Marley” from his father, Rohan Marley, Bob Marley’s son. The track “To Zion” is for him.

“To Zion” Conveys Hill’s Choice To Have a Child, Despite Opposing Pressure

Many people told Hill to abort the child so she could focus on her career. She made her choice to keep the child, and the song “To Zion” shows her feelings throughout the experience.

Lines from the track convey the pressure and emotion very successfully:

“But everybody told me to be smart/ ‘Look at your career,’ they said/ ‘Lauryn, baby use your head’/ But instead I chose to use my heart.”

The song depicts her love for Zion before he is born; it thoughtfully conveys how she chose to love her son rather than worry about how it might affect her life and career.

Hill’s Pregnancy Played a Role When Writing the Tracks of Her Debut Album

Rohan Marley told Rolling Stone, “Those songs, it’s all her experience.”

Much of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the product of what Hill was experiencing and feeling. She credits her pregnancy for her creativity when writing the songs for the album:

“I had the desire to write in a capacity that I hadn’t done in a while. I don’t know if it’s a hormonal or emotional thing… I was very in touch with my feelings at the time,” said Hill. “Every time I got hurt, every time I was disappointed, every time I learned, I just wrote a song.”

The emotions rooted in the album created a piece of work that became deeply personal to Hill. She said that she had an idea to include a song about her baby, Zion, and that she did not know what the rest of the album would sound like until she heard that track.

Zion David Marley’s Response to His Mother’s Song With His Song ‘Marching’

In 2025, 27 years following the release of Hill’s “To Zion,” Zion himself released a song of his own in response, titled “Marching.”

He posted to his Instagram announcing the release of the song, directed toward his mother.

Marley wrote, “I’ve finally responded to your song about me… This is what I’ve learned from you!”