Released: November 7, 1989
Featuring: A Tribe Called Quest
Songwriter: Sammy B Mike Gee Afrika Baby Bam
Producer: Jungle Brothers
[Intro dialogue]
[Verse 1: Afrika Baby Bam]
Born buck-naked out my mother's womb
A man cooped up in a rubber room
Time changes, time flies
Caterpillars turn into butterflies
A kitten grows up to be a tiger
I grows up to be a writer
Children go through puberty
And then they reach maturity
Metamorphasizms
The Force of Nature has gotten in them
In my book that comes first
Controls the soul and the universe
It's the Nature...
[Verse 2: Mike Gee]
Black man, Black heart, Black soul
I was born to roll
Roll, like water in an open stream
Smooth as I can be
Tick Tock goes the hands of time
Time puts meanin' to my rhymes
Rhyme lets you know what's goin' on
What's goin' right and what's goin' wrong
Power, poor, rich, and weak
There is some science to what I speak
And if there wasn't, I could not face ya
'Cause this was brung... By The Forces Of Nature
[Interlude: Q-Tip]
Alright y'all, get ready for the first Pharoah of funk, Afrika, and his famous flute
[Verse 3: Afrika Baby Bam]
Tickle-tickle, trickle-trickle
You can't buy nature with a nickle
Excuse me one minute...
Can I get some of that saxophone?
*saxophone plays* Yeah, I like that
Rainbows, volcanoes, waterfalls, native calls
Avalanches, trees with branches
B. boys in their favorites stances
Ejaculation, menstruation
A prayer to God is a confrontation
Dirt and soil, gas and oil
Gold, copper, silver, tin foil
Love ya momma Mother Nature
But some act through as if they hate ya
Artificials, man-mades
They don't use lemon to make lemonades
Everything I see is half-real
Ziplocked, wrapped up, signed and sealed
Gettin' ready to return back to the source
About to get Done By the Force...of Nature
("It began in Africa")
[Verse 4: Mike Gee]
Boy, girl, sister, brother
Wife, husband, friend, lover
You can't change what's meant to be
You can't hit what you can't see
It's easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle
Than for a rich man to enter the gates of Heaven
(I hear what you're sayin', my brother, I hear what you're sayin')
Treble, bass, haste makes waste
Nature puts things in the right place
Hot, baked, carrot cake
In life there's many things at stake
Records spun, let's have fun
I like to have fun by the ton
Roads, places, avenues, streets
I'll walk a mile for a funky beat
I put these words in a special order
Because I was overcome By the Forces of Nature
[Outro dialogue]
[Verse 1: Afrika Baby Bam]
Born buck-naked out my mother's womb
A man cooped up in a rubber room
Time changes, time flies
Caterpillars turn into butterflies
A kitten grows up to be a tiger
I grows up to be a writer
Children go through puberty
And then they reach maturity
Metamorphasizms
The Force of Nature has gotten in them
In my book that comes first
Controls the soul and the universe
It's the Nature...
[Verse 2: Mike Gee]
Black man, Black heart, Black soul
I was born to roll
Roll, like water in an open stream
Smooth as I can be
Tick Tock goes the hands of time
Time puts meanin' to my rhymes
Rhyme lets you know what's goin' on
What's goin' right and what's goin' wrong
Power, poor, rich, and weak
There is some science to what I speak
And if there wasn't, I could not face ya
'Cause this was brung... By The Forces Of Nature
[Interlude: Q-Tip]
Alright y'all, get ready for the first Pharoah of funk, Afrika, and his famous flute
[Verse 3: Afrika Baby Bam]
Tickle-tickle, trickle-trickle
You can't buy nature with a nickle
Excuse me one minute...
Can I get some of that saxophone?
*saxophone plays* Yeah, I like that
Rainbows, volcanoes, waterfalls, native calls
Avalanches, trees with branches
B. boys in their favorites stances
Ejaculation, menstruation
A prayer to God is a confrontation
Dirt and soil, gas and oil
Gold, copper, silver, tin foil
Love ya momma Mother Nature
But some act through as if they hate ya
Artificials, man-mades
They don't use lemon to make lemonades
Everything I see is half-real
Ziplocked, wrapped up, signed and sealed
Gettin' ready to return back to the source
About to get Done By the Force...of Nature
("It began in Africa")
[Verse 4: Mike Gee]
Boy, girl, sister, brother
Wife, husband, friend, lover
You can't change what's meant to be
You can't hit what you can't see
It's easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle
Than for a rich man to enter the gates of Heaven
(I hear what you're sayin', my brother, I hear what you're sayin')
Treble, bass, haste makes waste
Nature puts things in the right place
Hot, baked, carrot cake
In life there's many things at stake
Records spun, let's have fun
I like to have fun by the ton
Roads, places, avenues, streets
I'll walk a mile for a funky beat
I put these words in a special order
Because I was overcome By the Forces of Nature
[Outro dialogue]
- Done by the Forces of Nature (1989)
- Beyond This World: Best & Rare (2001)
- Doin’ Our Own Dang
- Doin’ Our Own Dang (Do It to the JBs Mix)
- Black Is Black
- U Make Me Sweat
- The Promo
- How Ya Want It We Got It (Native Tongues Remix)
- Promo No. 2 (Mind Review ’89)
- Done by the Forces of Nature
- Doin’ Our Own Dang (Excursion on the Version - Norman Cook Remix)
- Jimmy’s Bonus Beat
- Down With the JBeeez
- On the Road Again (My Jimmy Weighs a Ton) (Q-Tip Remix)