Revisit: Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7 – Day 8
The ‘LIT’ Album Experience
LIT is a ‘lyrical remix’ album where I take mainstream pop and hip hop songs that have an amazing sound and style (but leave a lot to be desired in terms of lyrical content), and I infuse them with my own original, spiritually-conscious lyrics.
Day 4 – “Don’t Look At Me”
🎥 Vlog #4 🎥
🎤 The Original Song 🎤
Chris Brown ft. Busta Rhymes & Lil’ Wayne – “Look At Me Now”
***Warning Explicit Content***
Song Facts:
Release Date: 2/1/2011
Billboard Hot 100 Chart Peak: 6th
U.S. Record Sales: 5 million+
YouTube Streams: 430 million+
⬇️ My Lyrical Remix – “Don’t Look At Me” ⬇️
✍ The Lyrics ✍
[Intro]
“Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves…”
[Verse 1]
If you only knew what my life was like behind your view,
Green tomatoes splattering all over feeling like a poser,
See I claim to be a man of God,
You’re probably looking at me thinking I’m a good example living like an angel,
But I’m feeling like a devil every moment that I ponder,
All my evil doings in my heart,
My blood boileth in my veins,
Heart melteth within me, withering in shame,
My back is bowed by the burden of my sins,
As I fall to the ground destroyed by my heedlessness,
And my weaknesses hidden underneath my skin,
[Hook]
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
[Verse 2]
If you only knew what I’m going through, betchya never knew that,
I struggle with depression, I could lose my cool at any moment,
Flooded with emotions, no control I feel like I’m in outer space,
Like I’m outta whack, like I’m outta place,
In a black hole, suckin all my light, like I don’t wanna be alive
[Interlude]
“Let your eyes be directed toward the kingdom of truth and not toward the world of creation. Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves.”
[Verse 3]
If you only knew, I’m trying to play it cool, putting up a front like,
Got my stuff together, nice guy, feeling fake like a denture, no lie,
Wear a mask like fencer, can’t hide, feeling bare like a dessert inside,
Play it off like a jester, real sly, but I’m sick like a leper, here’s why,
Every day I disappoint and as I point a finger at a reason I am seeing all the otha’ fingers pointin’ back at me and then I see how truly low I really am I gotta take my vision off all of my faults, I am a man of the world, I’m debased, I am selfish, I am low, I am wicked, I am gross, I’m indecent,
Yeah you already know now
[Hook]
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
[Verse 4]
If you only knew what is hiding in my closet,
You would need an osteologist to deal with all of the skeletons
That are dancing in the dark as I work through one gotta another one waiting in queue,
My head has been so conditioned, where’s the shampoo
[Hook]
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
[Verse 5]
Phallocentric, misogynistic, racist, prejudiced, mind so twisted, self-centered, sexist, materialistic,
ethnocentric, individualistic, irritable, impatient, grudgeful, cynic, eye like a sharpshooter critic critic, watch for my crosshairs, critic critic, sizing you up like a weight gain clinic,
When I think, of my faults, I just want, to vanish, from the world, disappear, ahh
Breathe not sins, of others, so long as, thou art a, sinner, it is clear, ahh
As I scope out the speck in your eye, fail to notice the log stuck in mine,
Got my jurisdiction messed up with the Judge who is ruling on High,
Judge not, you will not be judged,
Judge others and you’ll hear the thud,
Of the gavel reigning down from the realm above,
Look away cuz,
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true,
look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
Redirect and what do I see,
Critical thoughts are melting away,
Auto correct my mentality,
To forget where they’re at and recall whence they came!
Love them for the sake of God,
Love yourself for the sake of God,
And seal my sins and secrets up like a confidant, yeah,
[Chorus]
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
If you only knew, if you only knew, what was true, look away, I’m ashamed, don’t look at me
[Outro]
“The eye that covers faults looks toward the Creator of souls. He created them, trains and provides for them, endows them with capacity and life, sight and hearing; therefore, they are the signs of His grandeur.”
🎁 Bonus Content 🎁
For today’s bonus content, I’m sharing a couple of goodies! First off, check out a live performance of “Don’t Look At Me” at the Native American Baha’i Institute for the 2017 Light of Unity Music Festival! Second, enjoy a free MP3 download of another track, “LookBook”, a collaboration with rapper Diversoul, where we explore some similar themes as today’s track!
“LookBook” ft. Diversoul
🤔 Elevated Conversation 🤔
Based on today’s lyrical remix, here are some questions for reflection:
1) What negative character traits in others seem to trigger you the most? Why?
2) Are there certain negative character traits YOU struggle with overcoming?
3) What helps you overlook the faults of others?
I find that society really conditions us to be hyper-critical of others. We so easily find the faults in other people, especially if it’s a trigger point for us. Learning how to overlook these faults and find the beauty in people is one of the most important capacities I think we can build in order to bring about unity in the world. What are your thoughts? Leave your comment below!👇🏽
Two things that I struggle with the most is self-doubt and not having patience, with myself and others. So these are the two things that I can recognize and it can be frustrating sometimes. But this is where being humble really helps me out. Looking at my own faults and highlighting that. Also recognizing, like your song points out, that we should love them for the sake of God. Not to jump to ahead but I like what your song “true friend” says about how we should view them as how God created them. In His image.
Thank you for your openness in sharing! Humility is such a great quality to possess in this regard… so helpful to remember our own faults when attempting to overlook the faults of others!
Haha I love that you are making connections between the various songs on the album! AMAZING!! True Friend coming up on Day 6… 🙏🏽
I used to live in London East End where there was a diversity of races and unless someone did me wrong I was ok with everyone regardless of their skin colour or religion. I have due to circumstances beyond my control but oh my, I was disturbed to find out how racist the Welsh people were. Since seeing your 1st song with Awu called Change the World I have been looking at the Baha’i faith, which was something I had not heard of until then.
Hi Sharon, thanks for your comment! Yes, it’s quite ironic how one of the most difficult things to tolerate is intolerance! Lol…😂 I also struggle when I hear people say or do things that are overtly racist (or even subtly racist). I also really struggle with people that are mean-spirited, close-minded, and are unable to see things from others’ perspectives…
To overlook those things, the best strategy I’ve found it to sincerely strive to understand their perspective, as well as to really try and find the positive qualities about them in order take my mind off what I’m critical of. And always remembering that they were created by the same Essence that created me!
And oh cool, I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed “Change The World” (that’s one of my classics, for sure!), and I’m happy to hear it’s led you learn a bit more about the Baha’i Faith! I always strive to make my music accessible to anyone (regardless of Faith), but I’m also very joyful if it leads someone to investigate the teachings of the Baha’i Faith in more depth, because that’s where I personally derive most of my inspiration as an artist, and I feel there is so much beauty in the ocean of Baha’i teachings/writings for others to benefit from!