And so my life has been guided
All the love that I needed was provided
And through my mothers sacrifices I saw where her life went
Give me more than birth to me, more than life to me
And this ain't one little cliche about black women and being strong
Cause, hell, if you're week, you're gone
But life courage determined to do more than just survive
And too many homes have a missing woman or man
Without the feeling of missing love
Maybe they are homes that are hurt
But they are no real life's that hurt without reach
But not broken
Unless the homes of soldiers, stationed overseas
Or lost in battles or broken
Unless the homes of firemen, policemen, construction workers,
Seamen, railroad men, truckers, pilots
Who lost their life's, but not what their life's stood for
Because men die, men loose, they are lost and they leave

It is the women
I came from what they called "a broken home"
But they ever really called it "a house"
They would have known how wrong they were
We were working on our life's and our homes
Dealing with what we had, not what we didn't have
My life has been guided by women
But because of them, I am the man.
God bless you mama, and thank you.

Writer : WEST, KANYE / SCOTT-HERON, GIL / HUDSON, ERIC
Copyright : Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing