[Verse 1]
I was just a little girl
Skinny legs, a press and curl
My mother always thought I'd be a star
But way before the record deals
Streets that nurtured Lauryn Hill
Made sure that I'd never go too far

[Chorus]
Every ghetto, every city
And suburban place I been
Make me recall my days, in New Jerusalem

[Verse 2]
Story starts in Hootaville
Grew up next to Ivy Hill
When kids were stealing quartervilles for fun
"Kill the Guy" in Carter Park
Rode a Mongoose 'til it's dark
Watching kids show off the stolen ones

[Chorus]
Every ghetto, every city
And suburban place I been
Make me recall my days, in the New Jerusalem
[Refrain]
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back.. looking back, looking back, looking back
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back

[Verse 3]
Bag of Bontons, twenty cents and a nickel (well that's a quarter)
Springfield Ave. had the best popsicles
Saturday morning cartoons and Kung-Fu (wuh-TAH!)
Main street roots tonic with the dreads
A beef patty and some coco bread
Move the patch from my Lee's to the tongue of my shoes
'Member, Freling-Huysen used to have the bomb leather
Back when Doug Fresh and Slick Rick was together
Looking at the crew, we thought we'd all live forever

[Refrain]
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
[Verse 4]
Drill teams on Munn street
'Member when Hawthorne and Chancellor had beef
Moving Records was on Central Ave
I was there at dancing school
South Orange Ave. at Borlin pool
Unaware of what we didn't have
Writing my friends' names on my jeans with a marker
July 4th races outside Parker
Fireworks at Martin Stadium
The Untouchable P.S.P
Where all them crazy n***as be
And car thieves got away through Irvington (skrrrt, lock it up, uh)
Hillside brings beef with the cops
Self Destruction record drops
And everybody's name was Muslim (children playing, women producing)
Sensations and eighty-eight
Attracted kids from out of state
And everybody used to do the wop (wop it out, wop it out, wop it out)
Jack ya, jack ya, jack ya body
Nah, the BizMark used to amp up the party
I wish those days, they didn't stop

[Chorus]
Every ghetto, every city
And suburban place I been
Make me recall my days, in New Jerusalem
[Refrain]
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
You know it's hot
Don't forget, what you got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back

[Outro]
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back