about
Grateful.
lyrics
[Verse 1]
Damn, y'all. Since when are we adults?
A better breed of punks with a pedigree of pulse.
Could never be the Hulk. Y'all my biceps, jo.
Though a time may come where we might let go,
my smile says no. Globes don't stop.
Pass pretty fast, but if mojos drop,
we won't grow cropped. Ain't no Photoshop.
Bond stone cold rock. If it don't hold taut,
know that a grudge ain't cement.
Can't pay love for the rent, though we'll hug 'til it's spent.
What you couldn't budge with a wrench
or a judge on the bench with some cuffs on your neck.
Cliche smothered and then some. You know I meant well.
Y'all the reason I had to leave my spent shell.
But before it's on to the next,
thought I would drop y'all a line so we all could connect.
[Hook]
For Mom and Dad and everyone who raised me;
for my sisters and brothers and those who saved me;
for the lightening and the thunder that you stayed through,
all I can say is thank you.
Yo...
...for Mom and Dad and everyone who raised me;
for my sisters and brothers and those who saved me;
for the lightening and the thunder that you stayed through,
all I can say is thank you...
...so thank you.
[Verse 2]
People wonder how I got addicted to smile-wearing.
I tell 'em it's the spark that isn't in your nice earrings.
Though I know it's what you wouldn't like hearing,
your hand knew the difference between ass-whoopings and child-rearing.
You social butterfly. I've never known comfort
like I do coming through whenever it's a homecoming.
And where Mrs. Levin's son is, forever shown wonder.
How all my friends see you as a gem to call mother.
Older I get, the more you love just clownin'.
Shiiiiiit...you even comfortable when you cussin' around me.
Even when I was hard to reach like the top shelf
with real difficult combinations for my locked self.
Know you're much more than you tell folks,
and though I've grown a lot now that my lungs felt smoke,
we've had hard luck, and stress you can't master.
So if I catch you cryin', tryna make you laugh after.
[Hook]
[Verse 3]
Dad named me Adam cuz he thought it strong.
Twenty-one years of leanin' later, maybe he thought it wrong.
When I walk around like a monk that forgot his psalms
or a harpist's fingers that done lost all they songs,
I remember Hillel, and what his name holds.
Standin' on one foot, teachin' from a stained scroll.
Even if you only think it as the same old,
it turned my entire mindframe into a payload.
When every word's a seed, and each limb's a pillar,
and traits from childhood flicks I've seen hit the mirror,
I look at all our similarities like hand-me-downs.
What you held on your back, I'll attempt to carry now.
So even when we were stuck in wild tight times,
I'd lose every staring contest with eyes like mine.
Always looked up, even when I acted loveless.
Your voice a favorite record...hope I do this sample justice.
[Hook]
credits
from
Selves,
released June 21, 2011
license
all rights reserved