You look at your brother man you gotta see yourself
 Gotta see the God within him
 Brothers gettin changed real quick over nothin
 We losin too many of ours
 Gotta recreate y'all
 Yo, check it

 Knowin you the best part of life, do I have the right to take yours
 Cause I created you, irresponsibly
 Subconciously knowin the act I was a part of
 The start of somethin, I'm not ready to bring into the world
 Had myself believin I was sterile
 I look into mother's stomach, wonder if you are a boy or a girl
 Turnin this woman's womb into a tomb
 But she and I agree, a seed we don't need
 You would've been much more than a mouth to feed
 But someone, I woulda fed this information I read
 to someone, my life for you I woulda had to leave
 Instead I lead you to death
 I'm sorry for takin your first breath, first step, and first cry
 But I wasn't prepared mentally nor financially
 Havin a child shouldn't have to bring out the man in me
 Plus I wanted you to be raised within a family
 I don't wanna, go through the drama of havin a baby's momma
 Weekend visits and buyin J's ain't gon' make me a father
 For a while bearing a child is somethin I never wanted to do
 For me to live forever I can only do that through you
 Nerve I got to talk about them niggaz with a gun
 Must have really thought I was God to take the life of my son
 I could have sacrificed goin out
 To think my homies who did it I used to joke about, from now on
 I'ma use self control instead of birth control
 Cause $315 ain't worth your soul
 $315 ain't worth your soul
 $315 ain't worth it

 [Lauryn Hill (two layers of vocals, same words)]
 I, never dreamed you'd leave, in summer
 You said you would be here when it rained
 [Common] Yo
 Why didn't you stay

 Seeing you as a present and a gift in itself
 You had our child in you, I probably never feel what you felt
 But you dealt with it like the strong black woman you are
 Through our trials and tribulations, child's elimination
 An intergration of thoughts I feel about the situation
 Back and forth my feelings was pacin
 Happy deep down but not joyed enough to have it
 But even that's a lie in less than two weeks, we was back at it
 Is this unprotected love or safe to say it's lust
 Bustin, more than the sweat in somebody you trust
 Or is it that we don't trust each other enough
 And believe, havin this child'll make us have to stay together
 Girl I want you in my life cause you have made it better
 Thinkin we all in love cause we can spend a day together
 We talkin spendin the rest of our lives
 It's too many black women that can say they mothers
 but can't say that they wives
 I wouldn't chose any other to mother my understanding
 But I want our Parenthood to come from Planning
 It's so much in my life that's undone
 We gotta see eye to eye, about family, before we can become one
 If you had decided to have it the situation I wouldn't run from
 But I'm walkin, findin myself in my God
 So I can, discipline my son with my writin
 Not have a judge tellin me how and when to raise my seed
 Though his death was at our greed, with no one else to blame
 I had a book of Afrikan names, case our minds changed
 You say your period hasn't came, and lately I've been sleepy
 So quit smokin the weed and the beadies and let's have this boy

 [Lauryn Hill]
 I, never dreamed you'd leave in summer
 You said you would be here when it rained
 	You said you would be here when it rained
 Ohh I, never dreamed you'd leave in summer
 Now the situation's made things change
 	Things change
 Why, didn't you stay
 	Why didn't you stay...
 I, never dreamed you'd leave, in summer
 	In summer
 You said you would be here when, it rained
 	When it rained, it rained
 Ohhhohh I, never dreamed, you'd leave in summer
 	You said you wouldn't leave
 Now the situation's made things change
 	Things change, why didn't you stay?
 Stay, stay stay stay stay stay stay
 Mmmmm, stayyy
 Uh-uh
 Ohh why didn't you stay