This epidemic is like taking a sedative
Millions are dying, have died, repetitive
We are the cynics, the blowhards, the critics
Ignoring the carnage until we're the victims
We wait, count backwards, 100 to one
Till the drug takes effect, then sleep will come
Dreams aren't for everyone, not if you're poor
Or black, or young, or your country's at war
The nations of Africa fighting for life
Just like our neighbors next door
While we lie awake at night
Bribing sleep for one hour more
That's what intentions are for
Never you mind all the killing and dying
Never you mind all the orphaned kids crying
Never you mind the people you meet
Getting thinner and older and weaker each week
Just sweep it under the rug and pretend
It's not really happening, it will all end
We can't know the cost and we can't comprehend
So we take a pill, no time to spend
For once in our lives we should take a stand
For once, be humble and lend a hand
Don't say, "I can't, it's too much to do."
What if the crisis mattered to you?
11/23/08
Don't Preach
You believe u r to blame
You, and u alone, r 2 blame
U hold it in, all ur pain
U don't confess, u don't explain
All those reasons validating ur brain
Cannot reason with the shame
That's put upon u by the men
Cuz it'll never have to be them
And the women who say they care
But they don't know, cuz they weren't there
It's only u, and u alone
Who took the test, and dialed the phone
Who cursed protection she thought was safe
For an act she thought was her escape
Now that she knows, it's far too late
Now she's scheduled a different date
She can't be something she knows she's not
The lonely woman time forgot
The girl who had it all, and lost
Renegade seedling before the frost
She takes a stand for her future self
Refuses to put her dreams on a dusty shelf
No time for relief, emotions drain
She'll always feel society's shame.
You, and u alone, r 2 blame
U hold it in, all ur pain
U don't confess, u don't explain
All those reasons validating ur brain
Cannot reason with the shame
That's put upon u by the men
Cuz it'll never have to be them
And the women who say they care
But they don't know, cuz they weren't there
It's only u, and u alone
Who took the test, and dialed the phone
Who cursed protection she thought was safe
For an act she thought was her escape
Now that she knows, it's far too late
Now she's scheduled a different date
She can't be something she knows she's not
The lonely woman time forgot
The girl who had it all, and lost
Renegade seedling before the frost
She takes a stand for her future self
Refuses to put her dreams on a dusty shelf
No time for relief, emotions drain
She'll always feel society's shame.
11/20/08
Lettered
Some things just can't be said
But the words still tumble round and round in my head
And as they're spinning, they break apart
And the broken-up words fall down to my heart
And since I got no words left to tell it
I guess I'll just take the letters and spell it.
Y R U
still on my mind?
I've tried to push your words back so they're hard to find
But O M G
it's plain to C
They're not very well hidden, and still doin damage to me
So L O L
I keep making jokes
To push the pain aside from those words we spoke
To the laughter, that bondage is who I M
And I'll B O K in the interim
Y M I
still kicking myself
for something I swore I put up on the shelf?
Y is it so hard 2 let go
I M feeling very small even tho
I M A phenomenal girl
I still let U give me A whirl
But Y? When I think back, U R not the best
And that's what I learned
from this spelling test.
32 letters that I wrote 2 U
Cuz the words don't say as much as they do.
But the words still tumble round and round in my head
And as they're spinning, they break apart
And the broken-up words fall down to my heart
And since I got no words left to tell it
I guess I'll just take the letters and spell it.
Y R U
still on my mind?
I've tried to push your words back so they're hard to find
But O M G
it's plain to C
They're not very well hidden, and still doin damage to me
So L O L
I keep making jokes
To push the pain aside from those words we spoke
To the laughter, that bondage is who I M
And I'll B O K in the interim
Y M I
still kicking myself
for something I swore I put up on the shelf?
Y is it so hard 2 let go
I M feeling very small even tho
I M A phenomenal girl
I still let U give me A whirl
But Y? When I think back, U R not the best
And that's what I learned
from this spelling test.
32 letters that I wrote 2 U
Cuz the words don't say as much as they do.
11/16/08
B What U Can't B
Sometimes you're the eyes and ears, when u can't hear or see
Sometimes u gotta shout louder, when u can't breathe
Sometimes u gotta be things u think u can't be
Just so u can stand up and declare urself free
It's funny that the people we love will tell us no
Ridicule our dreams, telling us to stop, we'll never go
Just so u know, those same people can strengthen the flow
Those are the same people saying I'll never make it
Just settle down, they say, and be complacent
But adjacent to those voices is a voice all my own
Saying, "Amz, u own the whole world, baby you're grown,"
Take them all with grains of salt, they piss and moan
Cause they look forward to Percaset and methadone
A dead-end job, and babies at home
Gossip all day long on the goddamn phone
And I feel so alone
Cuz once I was told that's all there is for me
Thank my stars I'm trying to live past that infinity
Cuz what I see is a new life
And I can see it from here, standing underneath the street light
Nobody thought little old me would ever get the beat right
But everyone can see how
I've come into my own now
Forget about the old crowd
I'm standing on my own now
I don't need haters no how
I'm giving em a beat down
And then I'll come to your town
And show you how it goes down
Cuz nothing or nobody is keeping me from being
You can take away my eyes, it won't keep me from seeing
You can stop my heart, it won't keep it from beating
So never mind what they say
Cuz while they fail, I'm achieving.
Sometimes u gotta shout louder, when u can't breathe
Sometimes u gotta be things u think u can't be
Just so u can stand up and declare urself free
It's funny that the people we love will tell us no
Ridicule our dreams, telling us to stop, we'll never go
Just so u know, those same people can strengthen the flow
Those are the same people saying I'll never make it
Just settle down, they say, and be complacent
But adjacent to those voices is a voice all my own
Saying, "Amz, u own the whole world, baby you're grown,"
Take them all with grains of salt, they piss and moan
Cause they look forward to Percaset and methadone
A dead-end job, and babies at home
Gossip all day long on the goddamn phone
And I feel so alone
Cuz once I was told that's all there is for me
Thank my stars I'm trying to live past that infinity
Cuz what I see is a new life
And I can see it from here, standing underneath the street light
Nobody thought little old me would ever get the beat right
But everyone can see how
I've come into my own now
Forget about the old crowd
I'm standing on my own now
I don't need haters no how
I'm giving em a beat down
And then I'll come to your town
And show you how it goes down
Cuz nothing or nobody is keeping me from being
You can take away my eyes, it won't keep me from seeing
You can stop my heart, it won't keep it from beating
So never mind what they say
Cuz while they fail, I'm achieving.
11/15/08
When You're Down
When you're down to your very last dime, it's a sign of the times
When you can't pay your bills on time, it's a sign of the times
When you're standing in the back of the bread line, it's a sign of the times
When you're pretending the men on TV will make everything fine,
it's a sign of the times
The Times is telling you the truth, you dismiss it as lies
They're trying, from old through the youth, and you criticize
The people admitting they don't know are really the wise
The ones standing on the street corners have stars in their eyes
It's hard to have faith when faith has become so vindictive
If you want to believe something, it better not be contradicted
One god, one religion, one brain, hate the rest, so predictive
It's bigotry, not the army, into which we're conscripted
To think for yourself is a freedom no longer allowed
"Freedom is not free," is the inanity some have espoused
They're right, we're having to fight our own ways through the crowd
Just to regain the freedoms our own Constitution endowed.
I remember how my ancestors came to this nation
As poor foreigners, those who would give the U.S. an ovation
For letting them try their luck here, so try contemplation
Before you decry the evils of mass immigration
We're not given hope, we're not given pain
Those are the things we can lose or gain
The darkness we feel will begin to wane
When we realize the cycles are always the same
Who can say whether this life is all we have left?
But before you utter life's last breath
Be sure to make time for your own happiness
Be sure to make time for all the rest.
When you're down, you're not down. Open your mind.
Dig a hole through the ground and continue to shine.
When you can't pay your bills on time, it's a sign of the times
When you're standing in the back of the bread line, it's a sign of the times
When you're pretending the men on TV will make everything fine,
it's a sign of the times
The Times is telling you the truth, you dismiss it as lies
They're trying, from old through the youth, and you criticize
The people admitting they don't know are really the wise
The ones standing on the street corners have stars in their eyes
It's hard to have faith when faith has become so vindictive
If you want to believe something, it better not be contradicted
One god, one religion, one brain, hate the rest, so predictive
It's bigotry, not the army, into which we're conscripted
To think for yourself is a freedom no longer allowed
"Freedom is not free," is the inanity some have espoused
They're right, we're having to fight our own ways through the crowd
Just to regain the freedoms our own Constitution endowed.
I remember how my ancestors came to this nation
As poor foreigners, those who would give the U.S. an ovation
For letting them try their luck here, so try contemplation
Before you decry the evils of mass immigration
We're not given hope, we're not given pain
Those are the things we can lose or gain
The darkness we feel will begin to wane
When we realize the cycles are always the same
Who can say whether this life is all we have left?
But before you utter life's last breath
Be sure to make time for your own happiness
Be sure to make time for all the rest.
When you're down, you're not down. Open your mind.
Dig a hole through the ground and continue to shine.
11/9/08
Woman's Worth
They've always been trying to limit her
But from the days of World War 2 and Rosie the Riveter
To the day when a woman could be President
We have shown that a woman's worth can be well spent.
They may try always to keep her down
But from the days when Lucy showed that women can clown
To the day Tina Fey's the hottest act around
We have shown serious women do not always frown.
They may always tell a woman "no."
But from the women raising babies on Cheerios
To the women running companies as CEOs
We need to show em what a woman's worth. Make em know.
But tell em, though, we aren't like you
Don't treat us like one of the guys, or call us "dude."
We've paid our dues, after all these years, it's true
But we are still not getting compensated the same as you.
78 cents to the dollar, girls are guaranteed from birth
78 cents to the dollar, for living and working the same earth
Looking at our history, that disparity hurts
I guess 78 cents to the dollar is just a woman's worth.
But from the days of World War 2 and Rosie the Riveter
To the day when a woman could be President
We have shown that a woman's worth can be well spent.
They may try always to keep her down
But from the days when Lucy showed that women can clown
To the day Tina Fey's the hottest act around
We have shown serious women do not always frown.
They may always tell a woman "no."
But from the women raising babies on Cheerios
To the women running companies as CEOs
We need to show em what a woman's worth. Make em know.
But tell em, though, we aren't like you
Don't treat us like one of the guys, or call us "dude."
We've paid our dues, after all these years, it's true
But we are still not getting compensated the same as you.
78 cents to the dollar, girls are guaranteed from birth
78 cents to the dollar, for living and working the same earth
Looking at our history, that disparity hurts
I guess 78 cents to the dollar is just a woman's worth.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
