So, I first heard this song on Vh1's Top 100 songs of the 90's a few years ago and immediately loved the chorus. I've listened the song/watched the video quite a few times since then but have recently realized the true meaning. The singer is having a conversation with God explaining how he is at point in his life where he is asking "Why?". He feels lost and alone and that he needs guidance. He also realizes that his people(Black people) are acting a certain self destructive way. He thinks back to the time slavery and how black people in America have overcome so much, which the relevance of "Tennessee" being a southern/slave state during that time. What really explains this meaning is the third verse:
Now I see the importance of history
Why people be in the mess that they be
Many journeys to freedom made in vain
By brothers on the corner playin ghetto games
I ask you lord why you enlightened me
Without the enlightment of all my folks
He said cuz I set myself on a quest for truth
And he was there to quench my thirst
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