Tennessee

Album: 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... (1992)
Charted: 18 6
Play Video
  • Tennessee (Tennessee)
    Tennessee (Tennessee)
    Tennessee (Tennessee)
    Tennessee (Tennessee)

    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 tuff?
    I don't know where I can go to let these ghosts out of my skull
    My grandma past, 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) take me to another place, take me to another land
    Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan
    Take me to another place, take me to another land
    Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan (yeah)

    Lord, it's obvious we got a relationship
    Talkin' 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 Dyesburg into Ripley
    Where the ghost of childhood haunts me
    Walk the roads my forefathers walked
    Climb the trees my forefathers hung from
    Ask those trees for all their wisdom
    They tell me my ears are so young (home)
    Go back, 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)

    Take me to another place, take me to another land
    Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan
    Take me to another place, take me to another land
    Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan

    (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)

    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 playin' ghetto games
    I ask you, Lord, why You enlightened me
    Without the enlightenment 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

    Take me to another place, take me to another land
    Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan
    Take me to another place, take me to another land
    Make me forget all that hurts me, let me understand Your plan
    Oh, won't You let me, won't You help me
    Won't You help me understand Your plan
    Take me home, take me home, home, take me to another place
    Take me home
    Whoa, you know I need to go home, yeah

    (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
    (Hmm? 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
    (Mmm, Tennessee (Tennessee)
    Tennessee, woo, yeah
    Tennessee
    Te-tenes Writer/s: Aerle Jones, Todd Thomas
    Publisher: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT MUSIC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • Neil from Toronto, OnMalcolm Jamal Warner (Cosby show's Theo) appeared in the video.
  • Karen from Dania Beach, FlI'm so interested to read this. I love this song. The song was so honest and real that it transcended the barriers of race and age that can often make it difficult for the universal listener to feel the experience being portrayed. Great, moving song.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Daniel Lanois

Daniel LanoisSongwriter Interviews

Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas

Kerry Livgren of KansasSongwriter Interviews

In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."