[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 n***a 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