I AM Not My Hair- by India Arie

I was driving to work and was listening to one my favorite singers; India Arie and on her CD the song I am Not my Hair came on. India has a true musical gift and tackles the hard and difficult subjects in her music, there is nothing trival about her what so ever. India Arie is very real, very spiritual and considers her gift of music a gift from God and uses it as such. Most of her music has some sort of spiritual or moral lesson in the lyrics.

I listened to this song closely and this song is deep, deep, deep. It talked about the hair thing with women and with the various hair styles of black women in paticular. Also there is a little rap portion by a black man who states in his case "corporate didn't hire dread locks" and that "success didn't come until I cut it all off. " So here the man and the woman were both talking about how they are judged by outward looks. The black man in the rap portion talks about judging each other by appearances and being stoped by the police because of a paticular hair style- as in racial profiling.

One thing in this song is that the man and the woman were on the same wave lenght. This is typical with India because she is about communication and understanding between all people. And how self esteem was too often tied to outward appearances. Then there was the issue of losing all one's hair to breast cancer and chemo therapy and the ultimate realization "I am not my hair, I'm not my skin, I'm the soul that lives with in."

India Arie records on Motown Records.

Da da da da da

(Verse 1)
Little girl with the press and curls
Age 8 I got a jerry curl
13 and I got a relaxer
I was the source of so much laughter
15 when it all broke off
18 when I went all natural
February 2002
I went on and did what I had to do

Cuz it was time to change my life
To become the woman that I am inside
97 dread locs all grown
I looked in the mirror for the first time and saw that (hey)

(Chorus)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations (no)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am the soul that lives within

(Spoken)
What she do to her?
I don't know; it look crazy!
I like it.
I might do that.
I wouldn't go that far.

(Verse 2)
Good hair means curls and waves.
Bad hair means you look like a slave
At the turn of the century
Its time for us to redefine who we be
You can shave it off like an African beauty
Got in on "loc" like Bob Marley
You can rock it straight like Oprah Winfrey
It's not what's on your head, it's what's underneath (say hey)

(Chorus)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations (no)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am the soul that lives within

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person
Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend
Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity
Expressing my creativity

(Verse 3)
Breast cancer and chemotherapy
Took away her crown and glory
She promised God if she was to survive
She would enjoy everyday of her life
On national television her diamond eyes are sparkling
Baldheaded like a full moon shining
Singing out to the whole wide world like hey

(Chorus)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations (no)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am the soul that lives within
(Repeat)

If I wanna shave it close or I wanna rock locs
That don't take a bit away from this soul that I got

If I wanna wear it braided all down my back
I don't see nothing wrong with that


I am not my hair- AoL Video