Zack Hemsey - 'The Pursuit Of Knowledge'

Track 9 from the album NOMAD.

Music, Lyrics, Production, and Vocals by Zack Hemsey
Mixed by Zack Hemsey
Mastered by Lou Hemsey
Artwork & Design by Omead Afshari

[triforce]

Still here Zack, thank you for your guidance and counsel. Your words always ring true.

[kccockran]

In a world of mumble rappers.... you are a shining light with intellectual lyrics. Thank you.

[Michael]

"I’ve seen love bring some to their knees,
And some lift hearts when they smile for no reason,
I’ve seen fairytale endings to believe in,
And now I see a man who’d see the same if he’d but seize it." - Z. Hemsey
Damn. These songs speak on a different level.

[echoecho]

My favorite part of this song is that the scholar the nomad visits feels that he's wasted his life on learning. He thinks he hasn't lived his life. The nomad then says that no, he has lived his life, and that the only thing keeping him from seeing the wonder of his own life and experience is himself.

[brucesnow]

This man is phenomenal, I mean seriously, such a meaningful and amazing songs. This songs should get millions of views, it's sad that shitty songs get so popular but something amazing as this is ignored

[fairyprincess]

I didn't think I would ever like rap and yet here it is. This is so lyrically poetic, deep, and intelligent. I do not think I will ever find an artist quite like this. Thank you for making the world a more beautiful place with your music.

[jaqshidy]

This song brings me to tears every time. I am this with one exception... sacrifice has always been a sort of sorcerer stone for me. I was an alter boy and spent 16 years in prison. My mom isn't my mom anymore, my younger brothers are locked up and left the planet. All i was worth was my faith and I studied passionately. It's too late, but there must be something I can do for good people...

[baseless]

After my daily reading of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, I find myself here.
Its almost fate that I find two overlapping ideologies nearly thousands of years apart in the span of 10 minutes.
This is a passage I had summarized from Meditations that I believe adequately summarizes this song as well,
"Knowledge and great study is nothing without the breath of life. Put down your books and get a breath of fresh air. It is often true that experience and earnest struggle will yield knowledge greater than anything in written text. Study is important, but study is just one of many great faculties to be used not abused."

[ahmadjabareen]

One of, if not, the best lyrics I have ever heard, so emotional with a story that some take ages to observe how important its lesson is.

[edwardogarca]

This still hits me every time. One of the greatest song out there. Amazing

[LoneMaestro-]

a long time ago man made music to tell a story to guide their children with songs of legends and heros, love and tragedy. and with each story of song their would be a lesson. I've searched endlessly and found what I was looking for.

[MarkCrowtherTheTester]

Did I just listen to a RAP song espousing the value of intellectual pursuits? Wonders never cease.

[WisemanChrison]

lyrical king, he is so much better than mainstream

[ClaasicMan]

Pursuit of knowledge lyrics:
The sun was scattered through the colored glass
The floor was stained as light enveloped in a bath
And shadows on the wall from piles of books were cast
With rows that formed an aisle in through which I passed
These the quarters of a recluse whom I'd come to ask
About the origin of wisdom he was said to have
To get the story of "the man who knows more than any", or so I read
He welcomed me to sit with affection and then he said:
"Since I was seven I've traveled the globe through words
Set on a mission to devour all I could learn
I've studied the writings of the greatest minds you've heard
Discovered the tenets that the finest thinkers observed
The more I gained, the more that I sought to earn
The more I attained, the hotter the fire burned
With every book I finished another was there to serve
For every text I read there were pages still left to turn
I've learned from all the migrants and drifters to whom I'd listen
Philosophers and soldiers whose knowledge I would solicit
I know histories of nations I'll never have chance to visit
Complexities of science and language with great precision
But in the end I've seen nothing of what's been given
This life that I've employed, while I love it, it has its limits
The failing I regret, though it's painful, I must admit it
For everything I know of this world, I never lived it"

A silence hung for a moment's thought
As echoes from the room decayed and tapered off
And there we sat reflecting, was it all for naught?
Until I spoke in earnest with this brief remark
I said that "while it's evident your knowledge is rivaled by much shrewdness
I've never met a man with such wisdom who's so foolish"
Then he grinned and he chuckled and asked if I
Would speak on what I'd seen through my travels, so I replied:
"I've seen the treasure that waits for a man to find
I've seen the consequence when the sun and the moon combine
I've seen the peaks of mountains that reach out and touch the sky
The struggle to survive and the desert where dreams have died
I've seen the best and the worst that we try to hide
The salt of the earth and the evil of humankind
I've seen the wrecked and ravaged and scavengers rummage through debris
And those that searched in hope,  finding meaning where none once used to be
And some that stormed the beaches
Some that pledged allegiance
Some that scorched the earth for motives that they don't agree with
Seen some get lost among the current of their grievance
While the tide of death and birth left some speechless
I've seen love bring some to their knees
And some lift hearts when they smile for no reason
I've seen fairytale endings to believe in
And now I see a man who'd see the same if he'd but seize it"

[Shod]

I keep coming back to this. What starts at 3:36 is possibly the most heart-wrenchingly bittersweet and beautiful ode to life I've ever heard.
"Some lift hearts when they smile for no reason", so beautifully true.

Thank you Zack, I don't know you, but your music has lifted my heart more times than you'd know.

[CBCELIMUPORTALORG]

Found this guy yesterday and now i am addicted - the poetry, the lyrical flow - the philosophical depth - all to a beat that is captive

[Shod]

This guy has so much to say, and he says it so well! And the best part about it? IT'S ALL MEANINGFUL

[sinzetsu]

Ladies and gentlemen ZACK HEMSEY
The man who humbly updated philosophy
And yet getting no recognition

[seeking_the_sun]

Eveye single time I come visit this, I get goosebumps. Unfailingly.

[piotrczarnecki]

Zack does not just make songs, he tells stories, and his stories enlighten.