“Wouldn’t you know, We been hurt, been down before, When our pride was low, Lookin’ at the world like, ‘Where do we go?'” Kendrick Lamar never ceases to showcase his poetic genius whenever he has something to say in his music. His lyrics take us to thought provoking scenarios that we might have not come across, yet affect our daily existence. Alright is one of the most peace and hope giving pieces especially when facing the tough times in life.
Should these lyrics be enough to convince us that everything is going to be alright? That we have gone through it before and somehow we made it through? I guess so, or at least I’d hope so. Because, sometimes life just isn’t working as we would want, except or hope. Bad becomes worse and worse becomes worst. And we are back to questioning the purpose of it all.
In the lyrics, Kendrick explains how all through we’ve had to fight, we have had hard times, bad times but as long as we got the supreme we are going to be alright. Truth be told, it’s all I want. However, I have witnessed a lot of people who still didn’t make it in the end, they just struggled all through to the end. My fear is, am I part of that? Perhaps I should believe in myself a little more.
What about hope? You may ask, I know I might be a bummer, but my thought is, isn’t it easier to avoid disappointment by expecting the worst then getting the best? The downside of this thought is that your life becomes so gloomy and dark that you fail to see the beauty of life. That without any input we get nothing at all, rather than try and fail. Maybe we will not get to experience the results of our hard work but our loved ones will.
I’d be lying if I said the lyrics to “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar didn’t somehow stop my train of negative thoughts. Seeing a person I admire so much explain what I am going through is so encouraging. That the struggles are only temporary. As a matter of fact, we have had hard times before that we conquered. Moreover, life is a balance of good and bad. We tend to magnify our “bad” but have we considered the lessons they brought us?
“Alright” is an affirmation that I take to heart to take me through the times everything seem to go south. I used to say it with resignation but the more I listen to the lyrics the more I understand that they are necessary. That from the past experiences things turned out okay eventually. Therefore it is okay that currently, “I’m f* up Homie, you f* up But if God got us then we gon’ be alright”