Released: August 25, 1998

Featuring: Carlos Santana

Songwriter: Lauryn Hill

Producer: Che Pope Lauryn Hill

[Intro]
One day, you're gonna understand
Zion

[Verse 1]
Unsure of what the balance held
I touched my belly overwhelmed
By what I had been chosen to perform
But then an angel came one day
Told me to kneel down and pray
For unto me a man-child would be born
Woe this crazy circumstance
I knew his life deserved a chance
But everybody told me to be smart
"Look at your career," they said
"Lauryn, baby use your head"
But instead I chose to use my heart

[Chorus]
Now the joy of my world
Is in Zion! (Zion, Zion!)
Now the joy of my world
Is in Zion! (Zion, uhh, Zion!)

[Verse 2]
How beautiful if nothing more
Than to wait at Zion's door
I've never been in love like this before
Now let me pray to keep you from
The perils that will surely come
See life for you, my prince has just begun
And I thank you for choosing me
To come through unto life to be
A beautiful reflection of His grace
See I know that a gift so great
Is only one God could create
And I'm reminded every time I see your face

[Chorus]
That the joy (Joy)
Of my world (World)
Is in Zion (Is in Zion)
Is in Zion (Is in Zion)
Now the joy (Joy)
Of my world (World)
Is in Zion (Is in Zion, is in Zion)
Now the joy (Joy)
Of my world (World)
Is in Zion (Is in Zion, is in Zion)
Now the joy (Joy)
Of my world (World)
Is in Zion (Is in Zion, is in Zion)

[Outro]
Marching, marching, marching, marching (Marching)
To Zion, marching, marching, marching (We gon' march)
Marching, marching, marching, marching
To Zion, marching, beautiful, beautiful, Zion
Marching, marching, marching, marching
To Zion, marching, marching, marching
Marching, marching, marching, marching
To Zion, marching, beautiful, beautiful, Zion
Marching, marching, marching, marching (My joy, my joy)
To Zion, marching, marching, marching (My joy, my joy)
Marching, marching, marching, marching (My joy, my joy)
To Zion, marching, beautiful, beautiful, Zion (My joy, my joy)
Marching, marching, marching, marching (My joy, my joy)
To Zion, marching, marching, marching (My joy, my joy)
Marching, marching, marching, marching (You're the joy)
To Zion, marching, beautiful, beautiful, Zion (Of my life)
Marching, marching, marching, marching (It is in Zion)
To Zion, marching, marching, marching (Zion)
Marching, marching, marching, marching (You're the joy)
To Zion, marching, beautiful, beautiful, Zion (You're the joy of my life)
Marching, beautiful, beautiful Zion (Is in Zion, Zion)
Marching, beautiful, beautiful Zion (It is in Zion)
Marching, beautiful, beautiful Zion
Marching, beautiful, beautiful Zion
Marching, beautiful, beautiful Zion
Marching, beautiful, beautiful Zion
Marching

[Skit]

[Teacher]
Okay, how many people here have ever been in love? I know none of the guys are gonna raise their hand. How many of y'all ever been in love?

[Class]
(Mumbling)

[Teacher]
I know none of the guys been in... we don't get in love, right? Oh! Let this black man right here tell what his idea of love is, 'cause not all the time we hear a young black man talk about love. About your personal definition, don't tell me what Webster thinks. Huh?

[Boy]
Willingness to do everything for that person

[Teacher]
Okay, everything like what? Explain. Let him talk, c'mon. If I asked him to talk about a fancy car, he'd be right on point. But we wanna talk about love. You can do it. (To another pupil) What do you think? You said you love somebody, you should know why you love them right?

[Boy 2]
The way they act

[Teacher]
Uh-huh

[Boy 2]
The way they carry themselves, stuff like that

[Teacher]
Okay

[Girl]
The way that they hang with they boys, and they just stand out. It's like sometimes it don't even matter like what they wear or what they look like. It's like, that way, you know?

[Girl 2]
Yeah

[Girl]
It's like you know you want to talk to him, because he stands out, it's like he got a glow or something

[Teacher]
That's deep

[Boy 2]
That's what I'm talking about

[Teacher]
I thought that was a beautiful point. Anyone else want to deal with that?

[Girl 2]
It's sometimes, like when they try to act funny in front of they boys, like when they get around say they love you. They can't love you. 'Cause love-love-love wouldn't do that

[Girl 3]
Love is not phony!

[Class]
(Laughter)

Lauryn Hill

As one of the founding members of Fugees, Lauryn Hill has spit her truthful lyrics unlike any female rap artist in history. Being as informative as she is inspiring, Lauryn has received monumental success with her solo albums going multi-platinum.

Her classic, critically acclaimed debut album Miseducation of Lauryn Hill went outside of the box for female rappers of her kind, making listeners think about greater causes in their community and how to be a powerful female without selling yourself short. The album also proved to be a huge landmark in rap, as it combined rap, r&b and neo-soul into a unique and beautiful mixture, full of different religious stories and concepts.

Although she retired after the success of her debut, mostly due to her child, Lauryn continued to make appearances at different shows (including at a concert with Drake in 2014). Shortly after announcing her official retirement, Lauryn returned to the scene to release MTV Unplugged 2.0, a live album where she explored with folk, departing from her rap/neo-soul style. Hill is also set to perform tracks from Miseducation in 2018 on its 20th Anniversary.