The song is about Jesus Christ, whom Lenny referred to as "the ultimate rock star." It's about how God gives choice to man about where to turn. The opening lines spell it out:
I was born long ago I am the chosen I'm the one I have come to save the day And I won't leave until I'm done
Kravitz explained the origin of this song:
"We were just jamming in the studio. You know, I was jamming with Craig Ross, who I wrote the song with. It was one of those songs that happened in 5 minutes. We were jamming. I thought there was something happening. I told Henry to turn the tape machines on, and we played it. And that was it. And then I went and wrote the lyrics on a brown paper bag, I remember at my loft on Broome Street at the time. Went in and sang it the next day. And that was it."
Kravitz thought he came up with a cool song but didn't expect it to become a big hit. He told Rolling Stone in 2018:
"I thought the subject matter was really interesting, because it's coming from the mouth of Jesus Christ, as I thought. So basically, 'Are you gonna go my way?' meaning 'my way of love.' I had no idea that that song would become what it became. No idea. There was nothing on the radio like that. And the recording is so raw, it's ridiculous."
Lyrics
I was born long ago
I am the chosen, I'm the one
I have come to save the day
And I won't leave until I'm done
So that's why you've got to try
You got to breath and have some fun
Though I'm not paid, I play this game
And I won't stop until I'm done
But what I really want to know is
Are you gonna go my way?
And I got to, got to know
I don't know why we always cry
This we must leave and get undone
We must engage and rearrange
And turn this planet back to one
So tell me why we got to die
And kill each other one by one?
We've got to hug and rub-a-dub
We've got to dance and be in love
But what I really want to know is
Are you gonna go my way?
And I got to got to know
Are you gonna go my way?
'Cause baby I got to know, yeah
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