My Every Step

At 18 months I belonged to the city Sheltering Arms Children's Service Foster Parents Home Parents!? Ha! They were in it for the money Rent A Kid Cash that monthly stipend Stick it in the bank An' don't look back. Oh~ Never really knew my real mom Only met dad when in my 20s I did everything I knew just to survive And when the belt came down on me I simply took it Running scared with an anger I could never put my finger on And all the while never knowing Where my life might lead Simply trying to make it to the next day I had no clue Nor the gumption to even wonder What lay in front of me I only really knew one thing ... I liked to sing So, I sang in the church I sang in the shower I sang on the street As I walked to school An' I sang in my head I sang in the choir Through all my classes I carried a song And hardly learned a damn thing I sang in my sleep When I went to bed I couldn't get the music Outta my head And my foster mom yelled "Shut up!" "Enuff already. You're drivin' me crazy with all that noise" "Shut up!" How comforting Bewildering Discouraging There's an old saying sayin' God takes care of fools and babies I was the baby They were the fools Them an' all their rules I had no way to make my way to a better day So, every step I took Was a step into the great ... A step into the great unknown I thought I'd never get out of the ghetto I would never find my way home And all the while what I really didn't know Was that God knew my every step My every breath My every heartbeat My every thought My every need Now I may not have known it But the good Lord He knew it God knew my every step Now how was I to know What no one taught me? How was I supposed to figure that out? I belonged to strangers But never really belonged Passed from one family to another Like a beat-up hand me down An' all the while What I really didn't know Was that God knew my every step My every breath My every heartbeat My every thought My every need Now I may not have known it But the good Lord He knew it Yeah, God knew my every step At 18 years I escaped from the city's Sheltering Arms Children's Service Foster Parents Home Home? Ha! I was nothin' but an Outcast Rent a Kid So, it was time ta' move on Stick it in the bank An' don't look back Found a real home with a real mom South Bronx store front minister with a choir Finally, somebody who heard in me a voice That brought the light of God to man I simply sang it Movin' on with a notion I could never put my finger on And all the while still in wonder Where my life might lead Simply trying to make it to the next day I had no clue I only really knew one thing I liked to sing So, I sang in the clubs I sang in the choir I sang with a band That was goin' nowhere But I sang every night My ten thousand hours An' I worked my music That I heard in my head Every chance I got So, every step I took Was a step into what might A step into what might could be Oh, I would get myself out of the ghetto I would figure the damn thing out And all the while what I finally came to know Was that God knew my every step My every breath My every heartbeat My every thought My every need My every skeptical volition Every skeptical ambition Every skeptical transition Every skeptical condition No, I may not have known it But the good Lord He knew it God knew my every step!