"Waterfalls"

A lonely mother gazing out of her window

Staring at a son that she just can't touch
If at any time he's in a jam she'll be by his side
But he doesn't realize he hurts her so much
But all the praying just ain't helping at all
'Cause he can't seem to keep his self out of trouble
So he goes out and he makes his money the best way he knows how
Another body laying cold in the gutter
Listen to me
[Chorus:]
Don't go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to
I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all
But I think you're moving too fast
Little precious has a natural obsession
For temptation but he just can't see
She gives him loving that his body can't handle
But all he can say is "Baby, it's good to me."
One day he goes and takes a glimpse in the mirror
But he doesn't recognize his own face
His health is fading and he doesn't know why
Three letters took him to his final resting place
Y'all don't hear me
I seen a rainbow yesterday
But too many storms have come and gone
Leavin' a trace of not one God-given ray
Is it because my life is ten shades of gray
I pray all ten fade away
Seldom praise Him for the sunny days
And like His promise is true
Only my faith can undo
The many chances I blew
To bring my life to anew
Clear blue and unconditional skies
Have dried the tears from my eyes
No more lonely cries
My only bleedin' hope
Is for the folk who can't cope
With such an endurin' pain
That it keeps 'em in the pourin' rain
Who's to blame
For tootin' 'caine into your own vein
What a shame
You shoot and aim for someone else's brain
You claim the insane
And name this day in time
For fallin' prey to crime
I say the system got you victim to your own mind
Dreams are hopeless aspirations
In hopes of comin' true
Believe in yourself
The rest is up to me and you

NAME: ___________________________________________

Find the rhyme scheme.

Label the mini stories with consecutive
numbers.
Summarize the stanzas and chorus.

"Come Into My House" QUEEN LATIFAH

Welcome into my Queendom (My Queendom), come one come all
When it comes to lyrics I bring them (I bring them)
In spring I sing, in fall I call out to
All the ones who had a hard day
I prepared a place on my dance floor
The time is now for you to par-tay
I thought it would be a good chance for you to move
(One nation under a groove) House music always soothes
So get with the flow, let's go, yo
Can you rock to a house groove tempo?
If so, then shall we let the games begin?
What better off position can you be in?
I'm on fire, the flame's too hot to douse
The pool is over, come into my house
Don't make me wait, come into my house
Give me body
Here's a dance step, from now I'll kick a
Bass and treble flow through the speakers
Ride the rhythm, I know it's gonna reach ya
I'm the Queen, Latifah
Now it's time to run through it
45 King? (Yeah, baby?) Cue it
Yeah, there you go, I told you you could do it
Now did you enjoy it? (That was cool) I knew it
Dance to the beat of the drum, give me some
With the Flavor Unit I've come to say "Ride the grooveline"
Don't swing the pipeline, listen to the smooth line
Throw away the white line
It's a house party I'm hosting (What?)
Come and rock with the one that's chosen
It can't turn me inside out (Uh uh)
For those that dare, come into my house
It's a new fusion I'm using
You ask what is it I'm doing?
Hip-hop house, hip-hop jazz, with a little pizzazz
From the Queen, the Queen of Royal Badness
Remember me from "Wrath of My Madness?"
It's my rap that rocks this party
I'm a hijack and jack your body
This is not an erotic interlude
Keep in mind I move multitudes
The asiatic black woman, hardcore beat drumming
It's hard to keep a good woman down, so I keep coming
Blow for blow, I take and I get some
Still I rise in a civilized wisdom
I hope the lyrical display has you around
It's an open invitation, come into my house

What image of black women is found in this

song?
Are the rhyming words in the traditional
place?
Does it flow?

LYRIC & VIDEO SUMMARY:

What stood out to you in the following song lyrics & video that we have just analyzed? List
your answers (use bullets.
SONG TITLE

Waterfalls
By TLC

Come into My House

By Queen Latifah

LYRICS

VIDEO

MAYA ANGELOUS POETRY: While reading these poemsmentally link them to the songs/videos
we have just read and watched.
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
Still I Rise
I rise
You may write me down in history
I rise.
With your bitter, twisted lies,
MEANING:
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

What song(s) does this poem link to?

Phenomenal Woman
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

MEANING:

Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

What does this quote say to you?

Ain't That bad?

Ain't that bad ?

Dancin the funky chicken

Eatin' ribs and tips
Diggin' all the latest sounds
And drinkin' gin in sips
Puttin' down that do-rag
Tighten' up my 'fro
Wrappin' up in Blackness
Don't I shine and glow?
Hearin' Stevie Wonder
Cookin' beans and rice
Goin' to the opera
Checkin' out Leontype Price
Get down Jessie Jackson
Dance on, Alvin Ailey
Talk, Miss Barbara Jordan
Groove, Miss Pearle Bailey
Now ain't they bad?
An ain't they Black?
An' ain't they Black?
An' ain't they Bad?
An' ain't they Bad?
An' ain't they Black?
An' ani't they fine?
Black like the hour of night
When your love turns and wriggles close
to your side
Black as the earth which has given birth

MEANING:
What people are mentioned in this poem & why?

To nations, and when all else is gone will abide.

Bad as the storm that leaps raging from the heavens
Bringing the welcome rain
Bad as the sun burning orange hot at midday
Lifting the waters again.
Arthur ashe on the tennis court
Mohammmed Ali in the ring
Andre Watts and Andrew Young
Black men doing their thing.
Dressing in purples and pinks and greens
Exotic as rum and cokes
Living our lifes with flash and style
Ain't we colorful folks?
Now ain't we bad?
An ain't we Black?
An ain't we black?
An ain't we bad?
An ain't we bad?
An ain't we Black?
An ain't we Fine?

Take Time Out

When you see them

on a freeway hitching rides
wearing beads
with packs by their sides
you ought to ask
whats all the
warring and the jarring
and the
killing and
the thrilling
all about.
Take Time Out.
When you see him
with a band around his head
and an army surplus bunk
that makes his bed
youd better ask
whats all the
beating and
the cheating and
the bleeding and
the needing
all about.

If you know that youth

is dying on the run
and my daughter trades
dope stories with your son
wed better see
what all our
fearing and our
jeering and our
crying and
our lying
brought about.

MAYA ANGELOU POETRY ANALYSIS:

1. What them runs through the Maya Angelou poems? Can

they be tied together? ____________________________

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
2. Can the poems of Maya Angelou be tied to the song lyrics of

Take Time Out.

TLC & Queen Latifah? How? ________________________

When you see her walking

barefoot in the rain
and you know shes tripping
on a one-way train
you need to ask
whats all the
lying and the
dying and
the running and
the gunning
all about.

_______________________________________________

Take Time Out.

Use a minute
feel some sorrow
for the folks
who thinks tomorrow
is a place that they
can call up
on the phone.
take a month
and show some kindness
for the folks
who thought that blindness
was an illness that
affected eyes alone.

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
3. Which of Angelous poems did you like best? __________

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
4. What messages to women is Angelou trying to say: (List at

least three)

________________________________________________
________________________________________________

________________________________________________
________________________________________________

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