We gonna take you from Tokyo to New Jersey
New Jersey to Tokyo
Tokyo to Jersey
It's pretty just the same

I was just a little girl
Skinny legs, a press and curl
My mother always thought I'd be a star
But way before the record deals
Streets that nurtured Lauryn Hill
Made sure that I'd never go too far

Every ghetto, every city
And suburban place I been
Make me recall my days in New Jerusalem

Story starts in Hooverville
Grew up next to Ivy Hill
When kids were stealing quartervilles for fun
"Kill the Guy" in Carter Park
Rode a Mongoose 'til it's dark
Watching kids show off the stolen ones

Every ghetto, every city
And suburban place I been
Make me recall my days in the New Jerusalem

You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back... looking back, looking back, looking back
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back

Bag of Bonbons, 20 cents and a nickel (well that's a quarter)
Springfield Ave had the best popsicles
Saturday morning cartoons and Kung-Fu (wuh-TAH!)
Main street roots tonic with the dreads
A beef patty and some coco bread
Move the patch from my Lee's to the tongue of my shoes

Every ghetto, every city
And suburban place I been
Make me recall my days in New Jerusalem
Make me recall my days in New Jerusalem
Every ghetto and every city that I been
Make me recall my days in New Jerusalem
Make me recall my days in New Jerusalem

You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
One more time you know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
Wait a minute, one, two, three, four
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back