"A good name is rather to be chosen than riches."
The wise writings say
"A name don't mean nothing"
I heard on the block yesterday
Where you get a name like Shamsiddeen
That name aint common around here
Smith and James and Jones and Jackson
Are the names that people wear
We have good Christian names
Not foreign names, I mean
Those names don't sound Christian to me
I said, merely European
Can you show me these names in the Bible
The book Christians hold dear
Well here's James, the brother of Jesus
I don't see the others, I fear
Well what's with that
Tell me, what's the real deal
It seems some game is being played
At least that's how I feel
What's in a name anyway
Do names really mean very much
Or are they just something to call people
To keep from calling them such and such
An echo keeps coming to me
From the depths of my soul
Placing in my mind the suspicion
That names have a greater role
So I change my name from Frank Benjamin Parks
Seeking to fulfill my soul's need
Now I live more comfortably
As Faruq Bilal Rasheed
The wise writings say
"A name don't mean nothing"
I heard on the block yesterday
Where you get a name like Shamsiddeen
That name aint common around here
Smith and James and Jones and Jackson
Are the names that people wear
We have good Christian names
Not foreign names, I mean
Those names don't sound Christian to me
I said, merely European
Can you show me these names in the Bible
The book Christians hold dear
Well here's James, the brother of Jesus
I don't see the others, I fear
Well what's with that
Tell me, what's the real deal
It seems some game is being played
At least that's how I feel
What's in a name anyway
Do names really mean very much
Or are they just something to call people
To keep from calling them such and such
An echo keeps coming to me
From the depths of my soul
Placing in my mind the suspicion
That names have a greater role
So I change my name from Frank Benjamin Parks
Seeking to fulfill my soul's need
Now I live more comfortably
As Faruq Bilal Rasheed
