[Intro: Nina Simone]

Baby, you understand me now

If, sometimes, you see that I'm mad

Don't you know no one alive can always be an angel?

When everything goes wrong, you see some bad

[Chorus: Nina Simone]

But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good

Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

[Verse 1: Lil Wayne]

Uh, what's understood ain't gotta be explained

But you don't understand me, so let me explain

Huh, stood in the heat, the flame

The snow, "Please, slow down, hurricane"

The wind blow, my dreads swang

"He had hair like wool, like Wayne"

Huh, droppin' ashes in the Bible

I shake 'em out, and they fall on the rifle

Scary, Hail Mary, no tale-fairy

All real, very extraordinary

Perry Mason facin' the barrel if he tattle

My God is my judge, no gown, no gavel

A hound, a rebel, down to battle

Now or never, or whenever, and the F for

"Fucking fantastic," fuck if you agree

I'm bright, but I don't give a fuck if you see me

[Chorus: Nina Simone]

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good

Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

[Verse 2: Lil Wayne]

Uh, what's understood ain't gotta be explained

So for those who understand, meet Dwayne

For eight and a half months I gave Miss Cita pain

Now it's Young Money, baby, keep the change

My mama say, "Fuck 'em," and we the same

So hello, motherfucker, you got some sheets to change

And ain't it funny how people change like Easter Sunday?

You know, church fit, then out-fit

Bright pink and green chest look house-lit

Bright pinky rings, but that ain't about this, what you 'bout, bitch?

Excuse my French emotion and my passion

But I wear my heart on my sleeve like it's the new fashion

What are you askin'? If I don't have the answer

It's probably on the web, like I'm a damn tarantula

But I know you don't understand

'Cause you thought Little Wayne was Weezy, but Weezy is Wayne

[Chorus: Nina Simone]

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good

Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

[Interlude: Lil Wayne]

I'm watchin' TV the other day, right

Got this white guy on there talkin' 'bout Black guys

Talking about how young Black guys are targeted

Targeted by who? America

You see, one in every one hundred Americans are locked up

One in every nine Black Americans are locked up

And see, what the white guy was trying to stress was that

The money that we spend on sending a motherfucker to jail, a young motherfucker to jail, would be less to send his or her young ass to college, huh

See, and another thing the white guy was stressin' was that our jails are populated with drug dealers

You know, crack cocaine? Yeah, stuff like that

Meanin', due to the laws we have on crack cocaine and regular cocaine

The police are only, I don't want to say only right, but, shit

Only logic by riding around in the hood all day

And not in the suburbs because crack cocaine is mostly found in the hood

And um, you know, the other thing is mostly found, you know where I'm goin'

But why bring a motherfucker to jail if it's not gon' stand up in court?

Because this drug ain't that drug

You know, level three, level four, drugs, shit like that, haha

Mhm, I guess it's all a misunderstandin'

And um, I sit back and think, well, shit, us young motherfuckers, you know, that one in every nine

We probably only sellin' the crack cocaine just because we in the hood, and it's not like your suburbs

We don't have the things that you have

Why? I really don't want to know the answer

But, I guess we just misunderstood, huh? Hahaha, yeah

You know, we don't have room in the jail now for the real motherfuckers, the real criminals, you know

Sex offenders, rapists, serial killers, shit like that

Oh, don't get scared, don't get scared

I know you saw one of them sex offender papers

Don't trip, he live right on the end of your block, mhm

Yeah, that nigga live right down the street from you

Sex offender, on the level three drug

Convicted, ex-con, yeah, check him out

And what you got, you got daughters, son, what you got? Hahaha

Yeah, well you know what?

Don't stop the track, that's the good weed

You know what? I have a fucking daughter, you understand me?

And why the fuck would you bring my neighbor to jail just because

The reason why he live next door to me ain't the reason why I live next door to him?

Meanin', he didn't rap his way to my fuckin' neighborhood

He sold crack cocaine to get to my neighborhood

You move him out, bring him to jail for life, and then, you move in a sex offender, hahaha

Then give me a paper, haha

Is that a misunderstandin'? 'Cause I don't understand it

Another thing, let me take my glasses off 'cause I want to see the reaction on the faces when I say this

Uh, Mr. Al Sharpton, here's why I don't respect you, and nobody like you

Mhm, see, you're the type that gets off on gettin' on other people, haha

That's not good, no homo, and rather un-human, I should say

I mean, given the fact that humanity, well, good humanity, rather

To me, is helping one another, no matter your color or race

But this guy, and people like him, they'd rather speculate before they informate, if that's a word, haha

You know, 'spec before check, anyway

Meanin', I'd much rather you talk to me first and see if you can learn an opinion before you make one

Just my thought of good humanity, Mr. Sharpton, haha

Hold on, I ain't finished with you man

Gotta pluck the ashes, mhm, hold on, um

Mr. Sharpton, and anyone like you, you don't know me

So, if you're not gonna try to, then what you say or think about me, or whatever I do, is totally Casper the Friendly Ghost to me

And, it doesn't make you a good person to criticize before you improvise

Doesn't necessarily make you a bad person neither, but the characteristics fall heavily into bad's way, haha

But, since I am human, I am good and bad as well

But I try my hardest to stay good

And some of the things I do and say may be bad, or just not too good, haha

But I do try, so with that said, I don't fault you

I mean, you're only human, good or bad

But I also don't respect you, and I don't care if that's good or bad, haha

You see, you are no MLK, you are no Jesse Jackson

You are nobody to me

You're just another Don King with a perm, hahahaha

Just a little more political and that just means you're a little un-human than us humans

And now, let me be human, by sayin', fuck Al Sharpton, and anyone like him

Fuck if you understand me

I love bein' misunderstood, haha, why?

'Cause I live in the suburbs, but I come from the hood

Bring the hook in

[Chorus: Nina Simone]

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good

Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood