"The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman" and "Apparently" by J.Cole
(Mother to son relationship)
"The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman"
Before I see another day, Oh let my body die away! In sleep I heard the northern gleams; The stars they were among my dreams; In sleep did I behold the skies, I saw the crackling flashes drive; And yet they are upon my eyes, And yet I am alive. Before I see another day, Oh let my body die away! My fire is dead: it knew no pain; Yet is it dead, and I remain. All stiff with ice the ashes lie; And they are dead, and I will die. When I was well, I wished to live, For clothes, for warmth, for food, and fire; But they to me no joy can give, No pleasure now, and no desire. Then here contented will I lie; Alone I cannot fear to die. Alas! you might have dragged me on Another day, a single one! Too soon despair o'er me prevailed; Too soon my heartless spirit failed; When you were gone my limbs were stronger, And Oh how grievously I rue, That, afterwards, a little longer, My friends, I did not follow you! For strong and without pain I lay, My friends, when you were gone away. My child! they gave thee to another, A woman who was not thy mother. When from my arms my babe they took, On me how strangely did he look! Through his whole body something ran, A most strange something did I see; —As if he strove to be a man, That he might pull the sledge for me. And then he stretched his arms, how wild! Oh mercy! like a little child. My little joy! my little pride! In two days more I must have died. Then do not weep and grieve for me; I feel I must have died with thee. Oh wind that o'er my head art flying, The way my friends their course did bend, I should not feel the pain of dying, Could I with thee a message send. Too soon, my friends, you went away; For I had many things to say. I'll follow you across the snow, You travel heavily and slow: In spite of all my weary pain, I'll look upon your tents again. My fire is dead, and snowy white The water which beside it stood; The wolf has come to me to-night, And he has stolen away my food. For ever left alone am I, Then wherefore should I fear to die? My journey will be shortly run, I shall not see another sun, I cannot lift my limbs to know If they have any life or no. My poor forsaken child! if I For once could have thee close to me, With happy heart I then would die, And my last thoughts would happy be, I feel my body die away, I shall not see another day. |
"Apparently"
[Hook:] Oh right, oh Oh why na-da-da-da I keep my head high I got my wings to carry me I don't know freedom I want my dreams to rescue me I keep my faith strong I ask The Lord to follow me I've been unfaithful I don't know why You call on me This is my canvas I'm a paint it how I want it baby, oh I This is my canvas I'm a paint it, paint it, paint it, how I want it nigga Fuck you cause there There is no right or wrong Only a song I like to write alone Be in my zone Think back to Forest Hills, no perfect home But the only thing like home I've ever known Until they snatched it from my mama And foreclosed her on the loan I'm so sorry that I left you there to deal with that alone I was up in New York City chasin' panties, gettin' dome Had no clue what you was goin' through How could you be so strong? And how could I be so selfish, I know I can be so selfish I could tell by how I treat you with my girl Damn she so selfless, but she put up with my way Because she loves me like you do And though it don't always show I love her just like I love you And I need to treat you better Wish you could live forever, so we could spend more time together (I love you mama) [Hook] [Bridge:] Apparently, You believe in me, You believe in me Apparently, You believe in me and I thank you for it Another day another rhyme hoe Another day another time zone Today I woke up feelin' horny so it's only right I got two bitches playin' on my trombone Keep up, never sure where the words would take me Niggas eat em up, and regurgitate me Shit jumped tight never slurred it lazy Give a virgin the urge to rape me Nigga please Best friends really make great for enemies My watch came niggas can't wait for one of these I see you nigga, this ain't no Rolex, it's a AP nigga I'm hot dog, catch up to me nigga Uh, couldn't resist Aim for the stars and I shouldn't have missed But I was ridin' on fumes so I stopped by the moon Now I'm sittin' on the hood of this bitch Like thanks for the view Waitin' on thanks from a few cause without me you wouldn't exist You know that shit gave you the blueprint don't forget Cold as your phone on zero percent Going off, now niggas showin' off Niggas swear they hard but they flowin' soft I'm taking off like boing on a big ass Boeing Gettin' head like a coin toss Too easy [Hook] [Bridge] |
|
|
The Parallels:
This connection is unique in that J. Cole is speaking for both the mother and the baby in his song "Apparently." In the poem "The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman," there is an Indian woman who is abandoned by her tribe, and her baby is taken away from her. As she waits to die, she looks up at the sky and thinks about the potential of her child as a man that would have been able to carry her away so that she wouldn't have been abandoned. Going back to J. Cole's song, we have the lyrics, "Think back to Forest Hills, no perfect home But the only thing like home I've ever known Until they snatched it from my mama And foreclosed her on the loan I'm so sorry that I left you there to deal with that alone I was up in New York City chasin' panties, gettin' dome Had no clue what you was goin' through How could you be so strong? And how could I be so selfish, I know I can be so selfish." These lyrics bring across the idea of the baby that wasn't capable of caring for the mother, the baby didn't know and therefore couldn't have done anything in that situation. Then the speaking for the mother comes from the lyrics, "I keep my head high I got my wings to carry me I don't know freedom I want my dreams to rescue me." This brings across the concept of the mother keeping her head high by looking the the sky, and she's wanting her dreams to rescue her. Or in other words, she's wanting to die.
This connection is unique in that J. Cole is speaking for both the mother and the baby in his song "Apparently." In the poem "The Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman," there is an Indian woman who is abandoned by her tribe, and her baby is taken away from her. As she waits to die, she looks up at the sky and thinks about the potential of her child as a man that would have been able to carry her away so that she wouldn't have been abandoned. Going back to J. Cole's song, we have the lyrics, "Think back to Forest Hills, no perfect home But the only thing like home I've ever known Until they snatched it from my mama And foreclosed her on the loan I'm so sorry that I left you there to deal with that alone I was up in New York City chasin' panties, gettin' dome Had no clue what you was goin' through How could you be so strong? And how could I be so selfish, I know I can be so selfish." These lyrics bring across the idea of the baby that wasn't capable of caring for the mother, the baby didn't know and therefore couldn't have done anything in that situation. Then the speaking for the mother comes from the lyrics, "I keep my head high I got my wings to carry me I don't know freedom I want my dreams to rescue me." This brings across the concept of the mother keeping her head high by looking the the sky, and she's wanting her dreams to rescue her. Or in other words, she's wanting to die.