[Verse 1]
Moves like a fist through the traffic
Anger and no one can heal it
Shoves a little bump into the momentum
It’s just a little lump but you feel it
In the creases and the shadows
With a rattling deep emotion
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean

[Verse 2]
Yes boss, the government handshake
Yes boss, the crusher of language
Yes boss, Mr. Stillwater
The face at the edge of the banquet
The cool, the cool river
The cool, the cool river

[Chorus 1]
I believe in the future I may live in my car
My radio tuned to the voice of a star
Sundogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edge of a thunderstorm
And these old hopes and fears still at my side

[Verse 3]
Anger and no one can heal it
Slides through the metal detector
Lives like a mole in a motel
A slide in a slide projector
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean
The rage, the rage of love turns inward
To prayers of devotion

[Bridge]
And these prayers are
The constant road across the wilderness
These prayers are, these prayers are the memory of God
The memory of God

[Chorus 2]
I believe in the future we shall suffer no more
Maybe not in my lifetime but in yours, I feel sure
Sundogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edges of the thunderstorm
And these streets, quiet as a sleeping army
Send their battered dreams to heaven, to heaven

[Outro]
For the mother’s restless son
Who is a witness to, who is a warrior
Who denies his urge to break and run
Who says: hard times? I’m used to them
The speeding planet burns, I’m used to that
My life’s so common it disappears
And sometimes even music
Cannot substitute for tears

[Verse 1]
I work down at Ashbury Hill
Minimum wage, but it pays the bills
Cleaning floors and leading hymns on Sunday
Catherine Davis, room 3-0-3
Sweetest soul you ever could meet
I bring her morning coffee every day

[Chorus]
She calls me Raymond
She thinks I’m her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
‘Fore your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
How she can’t believe it’s already 1943
She calls me Raymond
And that’s alright by me

[Verse 2]
She talks about the clothes
On the line in summer air
Christmas morning
And Thanksgiving prayer
And stories of a family
That I never had
Well sometimes I find myself
Wishing I’d been there

[Chorus]
She calls me Raymond
She thinks I’m her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
‘Fore your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
How she can’t believe it’s already 1943
She calls me Raymond
And that’s alright by me

[Bridge]
There’s a small white cross in Arlington
Reads Raymond Davis, ’71
Until she can see his face again
I’m going to fill in the best I can

[Chorus]
She calls me Raymond
She thinks I’m her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
‘Fore your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
How she can’t believe it’s already 1943
She calls me Raymond
And that’s alright by me

[Outro]
She calls me Raymond
And that’s alright by me

[Verse 1]
I said, “Grandpa what’s this picture here
It’s all black and white, and it ain’t real clear
Is that you there,” he said yeah, I was eleven
And times were tough, back in thirty-five
That’s me and Uncle Joe just tryin’ to survive
A cotton farm, in the Great Depression

[Refrain]
And if it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just tryin’ to save each other
You shoulda seen it in color

[Verse 2]
Oh, and this one here was taken overseas
In the middle of hell, in nineteen forty-three
In the wintertime, you can almost see my breath
That was my tail gunner ol’ Johnny McGee
He was a high school teacher from New Orleans
And he had my back, right through the day we left

[Chorus]
If it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just tryin’ to save each other
You shoulda seen it in color
A picture’s worth a thousand words
But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should’ve seen it in color

[Verse 3]
This one is my favorite one
This is me and Grandma in the summer sun
All dressed up, the day we said our vows
You can’t tell it here but it was hot that June
That rose was red and her eyes were blue
And just look at that smile, I was so proud

[Bridge]
That’s the story of my life
Right there in black and white

[Chorus]
And if it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just tryin’ to save each other
You shoulda seen it in color
Yeah, a picture’s worth a thousand words
But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered
You shoulda seen it in color

[Outro]
Shoulda seen it in color
A picture’s worth a thousand words
But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered
You shoulda seen it in color

I met God’s Will on a Halloween night
He was dressed as a bag of leaves
It hid the braces on his legs at first
His smile was as bright as the August sun
When he looked at me
As he struggled down the driveway
It almost made me hurt
Will don’t walk too good
Will don’t talk too good
He won’t do the things that the other kids do
In our neighborhood

[Chorus]
I’ve been searching, wondering, thinking
Lost and looking all my life
I’ve been wounded, jaded, loved, and hated
I’ve wrestled wrong and right
He was a boy without a father
And his mother’s miracle
I’ve been reading, writing, praying, fighting
I guess I would be still
Yeah, that was until
I knew God’s Will

[Verse 3]
Before they moved to California
His mother said, they didn’t think he’d live
And she said each day that I have him
Well, it’s just another gift
And I never got to tell her
That the boy showed me the truth
In crayon red, on notebook paper, he’d written
Me and God love you

[Outro]
I’ve been searching, praying, wounded, jaded
I guess I would be still
Yeah that was until
I met God’s Will on a Halloween night
He was dressed as a bag of leaves

[Chorus: Nasty C]
They say how you win some and ose some, we have to let the good ones go
That’s why I pour a little liquor every time I let the good times roll
And yeah I roll (Just to forget that it hurts)
Just to forget that it hurts
They say how you win some and ose some, we have to let the good ones go
That’s why I pour a little liquor every time I let the good times roll
And yeah I roll (Just to forget that it hurts)
Just to forget that it hurts

[Verse1: Nasty C]
It’s easier to forget you when my energy is drained
See I’m expected to make the hits and then never feel pain
That’s not easy mama, you left me at a very young age
Never made it to make deposits in my memory bank
It’s like poison Ivy you never got to see your seed grow
But I never forgot about you, even though it seems so
I gotta be discreet, my ride-or-die got re-poed
So till I cross to the other side, this song will be my peek-hole
Beast ass negro
Whole country had to see a boy
Turn into young king teen C.E.O
They kids see a hero, these pricks see Bibo
I’m nearly at the Ts though, I mean you better believe hoe
My fam’ will never lose me if they keep the TV on
The fact that I’m away just gets so hard for me to speak on
Even with the beat on, even when I see your
Face in the cloud and get high and try to get, my reach hold
I clouded my mind with the lines just to hide the pain
They never told me that a soul was a price of fame
Where’s your hardest weapon, they disown you
West, right away, you fight yourself
Getting lost, well dishonesty is not a thing
You lose a lot of friends, you win a lot of foes
The more you draw attention, that’s just how the dice rolls
Whenever the dice rolls, it’s gettin’ lit, puff pass
Anything to keep my mind floating over this rough patch!

[Verse 2: Erick Rush]
I’m pouring out liquor from the bottle
Straight into my mouth, foot heavy on the throttle
I’m suicidal, only you and I know
Told me; “shoot our rivals”, but I’m idle
I haven’t touched the Bible in a while
My niggas gone a while, you niggas going why you
I never thought they’d try you
How come the good gotta die young
How come my baby die before his trial
And they wonder why I keep my mind numb
I got a lot thinking to hide from
Then at prison by 25 was the outcome
I’m 26 now, how come
I’m searching for the sign, but I found none, hey I found none
I stopped searching for the sign then I found one
But still I’m halfway up, since they let me down
In a halfway house since I left the ground
I’m thinking about the people that I left in town
Pray to God you stay alive until I get back ’round
Cause they still shooting niggas; “get back down!”
If you really gotta do it, nigga get that pound
Be surprised what they do to you to get that crown
Just pour some liquor for the dawg
In case I get put down, don’t forget

[Verse 1]
I heard ’em
Laughing it out, tagging ’em out
I heard ’em
Claimin’ they back, sayin’ they vouch
I heard ’em
Saying they love ’em inside and out
And I’m hurtin’
‘Cause I never know what they talkin’ about
They walk as pair
Hand in each other’s, backing each other
I’ve never known how that feel, but I’ve had a dream of it
I long it, really want it, I need it
Don’t I deserve it?
A sisterhood, loving companion
Am I not worth it?
Somebody that’d shield me
Gossipers tryna kill me
I don’t feel like I fit in
My friends don’t know the real me
I gotta keep my guard up
These questions make it harder
They ask me about my sister like I was making it all up
I’m young and misguided
These things are bruising me
I lose against life so much, it feel like it’s losing me
Confused by puberty
And these dudes is using me
People always say they loyal
But that’s not what they prove to be
Wouldn’t feel like I’m totally losing if I had you with me

[Chorus]
I need you
I need you
I need you
I need you like I need water
Need you when things get harder
I need you like how I need mom and dad to go get their daughter
I need you
I need you
Said I need you like I need water
Need you when things get harder
Need you like how I need mom and dad to go get their daughter
I need you, sis
I still need you

[Verse 2]
I need somebody to talk to
One I can loan my heart to
I need you to need me
So I can play that part too
Selfish how it all sounds
I’m aware but I’m not proud
I’m giving my pride up for somebody I can hold down
I’m stuck in the shadow of what seems a myth
I’m fiending for a sis
You ceasin’ to exist
I’m lost in the abyss
What kinda evil shit is this?
I’m tryna to figure out my life
And they want me to slit my wrists
Okay, look
God, if even have a sis
It would help knowing I’m not just running circles in the mist
That she’s out there thinking ’bout me ’cause I’m worthy to be missed too
I can be patient, but I cannot be this for too long
Alone and expected to be strong
Give me what I’ve been praying for
Or a sign that I’m wrong
Let me know if I should wait for you
Or if I should move on
With my tears I wrote this song
Still broken ’cause you still gone
I need you

[Chorus]
I need you
I need you
I need you
I need you like I need water
Need you when things get harder
I need you like how I need mom and dad to go get their daughter
I need you
I need you
Said I need you like I need water
Need you when things get harder
Need you like how I need mom and dad to go get their daughter
I need you, sis
I still need you

In a world of make believe, full of smokes and mirrors, let us have a native New Yorker, who seen it all, have the last word!