Common

Featuring: will.i.am

Songwriter: Common Martin Luther King Jr. will.i.am

Producer: will.i.am

[Hook x2: Will.I.Am] (Sample from Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech)
(I have a dream) I got a dream
(That one day) We gonna work it out
(That one day) We gonna work it out
(That one day) We gonna work it out

(I have a dream) I got a dream
(That one day) That one day
(That one day) I'm a look deep within myself, I gotta find a way
(I have a dream)

[Bridge: Will.I.Am]
My dream is to be free
My dream is to be...
My dream is to be...
My dream is to be free

[Verse 1: Common]
In search of brighter days, I ride through the maze of the madness
Struggle is my address, where pain and crack lives
Gunshots coming from sounds of blackness
Given this game with no time to practice
Born on the black list, told I'm below average
A life with no cabbage
That's no money if you from where I'm from
Funny, I just want some of your sun
Dark clouds seem to follow me
Alcohol that my pops swallowed bottled me, no apology
I walk with a boulder on my shoulder
It's a cold war, I'm a colder soldier
Hold the same fight that made Martin Luther the King
I ain't using it for the right thing
In between lean and the fiends, hustle and the schemes
I put together pieces of a dream, I still have one

[Hook]

[Bridge]

[Verse 2: Common]
The world see me lookin' in the mirror
Images of me, gettin' much clearer
Dear self, I wrote a letter just to better my soul
If I don't express it, then forever I hold
Inside, I'm from the side where we out of control
Rap music in the hood play the fatherly role
My story like yours, yo it gotta be told
Tryna make it from a gangsta to a godlier role
Where it scrolls and stow slaves, and Jewish people in cold cage
Hate has no color or age
Flip the page, now my race became freedom
Write dreams in the dark, they far but I can see 'em
I believe in heaven more than hell, lessons more than jail
In the ghetto, let love prevail with a story to tell
My eyes see the glory, and well
The world waiting for me to yell "I Have a Dream"

[Hook]

[Bridge]

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common (previously Common Sense), is a Grammy and Oscar-winning rapper and actor from Chicago, Illinois. Common’s inspired mix of poetic flow and hip-hop soul has helped him earn his status as one of the most respected rappers in the game.

After being a ball boy for his hometown Chicago Bulls as a teen and attending Florida A&M University for business administration, Common Sense kicked in and he left school to become a rapper. He gained national attention after being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine in 1991. He released his debut album Can I Borrow a Dollar? through Relativity Records in 1992, followed by his breakthrough second album Resurrection in 1994, which features his hip-hop classic single “I Used To Love H.E.R.”

As his career began to take off, he was sued by the music group Common Sense over the name, leading Common to drop the “Sense” and allude to the change in the title of his third album, One Day It’ll All Make Sense (1997). He has released several critically acclaimed albums, including Like Water For Chocolate (2000), which features his J Dilla-produced hit single “The Light”, and Be (2005), which was released under fellow Chicago musician Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint. He also joined musicians Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper to form the group August Greene, and the trio released their self-titled album in 2018.

more tracks from the album

Once Upon a Time in 2006

From the album

Once Upon a Time in 2006 (2020)

Common popular songs

A DreamCommon

Common

Once Upon a Time in 2006