the dog s confused she just paces around all day she s sniffing at your empty room i m trying to believe when i sleep it s really you visiting my dreams like they say that angels do i came here for the long haul now i leave here as an empty fucking hole oh do you believe in heaven like you believed in me oh it could be such heaven if you believed it was real is there something you can do with yourself as i sift through the debris while i empty every shelf and flounder in the muck that i ll be drowning in so soon you can t watch me from the banks then turn to say you re swimming too come here for the long haul now i leave here just an empty goddamn hole how do you believe in heaven like you believe in me oh it could be such heaven if you believed it was real how 2

666 sixteen year old kids huddled around the grocery lot he punched out my teeth so you said so did the evidence the blood and the dent on the car door from your head and this is where i bring you with every laurel i ve hung from your neck it will be the noose that hangs you yes it will be the noose that hangs you cause i was lonely here and it s lonely still in the rugged country where the weeds grow fierce quicker than the crop i keep running from in this rugged country i m the rugged one i m the rugged one i m the rugged one i m the rugged one and this is where we lost you despite every effort to bring you back yeah the hope s the one that haunts you and the home s the rope that s wrapped around your neck and it will be the noose that hangs you yes it will be the noose that hangs you and it s a heavy hand where i wear your death as a wedding ring in the rugged country i tend to your man in the home you had oh in this rugged country i m the rugged one i m the rugged one i m the rugged one i m the rugged one1

i wanna churn like amish butter i wanna move out of your way i wanna find what s there in your stomach if it s the same dark and it s too late what if it s the same dark coming the same dark what if it s the same dark coming the same dark oh fuck it all then i spent the summer trying to be sweeter i spent the summer staying in i ran a mile and then another spent my nights by hospital beds what if it s the same dark coming the same dark what if it s the same dark coming the same dark well then fuck it all fuck it all2

show me show me show me how you do that trick the one that makes you love someone the world wants us so numb and alone show me show me show me how you do it the one that makes the winters warm the one where summer never comes i don t wanna run away with you i wanna live our life right here i just wanna fall asleep by you when we wake it means one thing da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da my great great great great great great grandma and your great great great great grandpapa didn t need a ring or a broom didn t need a past or a bloom nothing old nothing new nothing borrowed nothing blue they re dancing in the deepest ocean see not even death could stop them i don t wanna run away with you i wanna live our life right here i just wanna jump the boat with you when we dance the ocean waves da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da show me show me show me how you do that trick the one that makes you love someone the one where summer never comes1

don t you know i ve always been this way i look to you through the work week and i love a man in uniform cause he loves me like a slot machine from the valley of loose women in the cruel light of morning call out my name like something from the bottom of a well oh how i want how i need how i cling to your sleeves til they re like lacerated sails but in the night i am someone else don t you know it s always been the same a pure woman is hard to find to come by these days and i know the looks of urge and scorn and i know the role i m meant to play the role of the other woman who will spend her life longing call out my name like something from the bottom of a well oh how i want how i need how i cling to your sleeves til they re all fucked beyond repair but in the night i am someone else yes in the night i am someone else oh in the night i am someone else

i love my name my mother thought of that name the story that she tells us is that she was walking down belmont avenue and it was the middle of the day she was by herself and she was pregnant with me and she said that she just heard a voice in her head and it was just i guess me talking before i was born and telling her what my name was so sometimes i like to think i named myself is the name that i signaled to her that was what my name already was

i like to make you wash your mouth before you talk about me keep my name out your mouth cause you can t handle the fleek don t cut your tongue on my syllables bet you need a syllabus to teach you how my vowels sound it s a long i baby but your tongue too lazy needa fix your face and say your grace before you pray to me in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name somebody better come get they cousin shawty honey sweetie i swear that wasn t what my momma gave me let me speak more slowly in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name in my name it is our duty to fight for our freedom it is our duty to win we must love each other and support each other we have nothing to lose but our chains

it is our duty to fight for our freedom it is our duty to win we must love each other and support each other we have nothing to lose but our chains

see she s telepathic call it black girl magic yeah she scares the government deja vu of tubman we go missing by the hundreds ain t nobody checkin for us ain t nobody checkin for us the camera loves us oscar doesn t ain t nobody checkin for us ain t nobody checkin for us they want us in the kitchen kill our sons with lynchings we get loud about it oh now we re the bitches look at what they did to my sisters last century last week they put her body in a jar and forget her they love how it repeats look at what they did to my sisters last century last week they make her hate her own skin treat her like a sin but what they don t understand but what they don t understand but what they don t understand is but what they don t understand see what they don t understand see she s telepathic call it black girl magic yeah she scares the gov ment deja vu of tubman and she she she she she don t give up yea yea yea yea yea she don t give up she don t don t don t don t don t give up no no no no no she don t give up rosa was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight ella was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight audre was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight angela was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight sojourner was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight assata was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight rosa was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight ella was a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight see she s telepathic call it black girl magic yeah she scares the gov ment deja vu of tubman but what they don t understand but what they don t understand but what they don t understand see what they don t understand and she she she she she don t give up yea yea yea yea yea she don t give up she don t don t don t don t don t give up no no no no no she don t give up3

when he was sick and maybe was around people that he had now forgotten he loved them the same that s also one of the things i miss about him it just felt like his whole being was weeded down to just who he was in the center and that was just always loving

chicagoans create this sense of heaven in the midst of tragedy in the midst of injustice in the midst of pain life goes on all of the sudden because what else can we do but move forward you know the bucket boys are still playing on 87th the cd man is still walking up and down 79th the kids are still going to school the kids are still playing outside that just shows our resilience

meet me in outer space we could spend the night i ve grown tired of this place we could start again when you look at me what do you see what do you see in my place i ve been awake for 9 274 days your plastic pictures tinted mirrors tell me nothing about myself i ve been complacent with the stories and the lies you tell my heart so i m leaving on a jet plane don t know even if i ll be back again meet me in outer space we could spend the night i ve grown tired of this place we could start again meet me in outer space we could spend the night i ve grown tired of this place we could start again meet me in outer space we could spend the whole night up there i can t breathe i can t speak down here we could start all over again

lately i ve been missing you crazy and when i need you the most that s when i cry for your ghost tell me that we got our own shit mine s is mine nobody else s wish i could take back each cigarette bargain god for your birthdays i hope that you re happy you go ahead to make a place for us lately i ve been missing you crazy and when i need you the most that s when i cry for your ghost you are the library burned but they can t take the lessons that i ve learned i heard it a hundred times but i could never tell it right wish i could be by your side lately i ve been missing you crazy and when i need you the most that s when i cry for your ghost how is the view can you feel it when we miss you the wind blew the hat from my head was it you was it you you always played too much you still play too much you make a place for us and when i get there i ll have to say so much

i know it s late but the question what type of love do i deserve it was really weighing heavy on my mind i deserve love in a phone call to just see how i m doing love that doesn t want me to change my appearance for a family barbecue i hope i look in the mirror and see love on my skin i deserve love i don t have to question at 3am good morning

i m an alien from inner space they can t read my mind all in my face no one knows i d rather spend my days alone on my pillow i don t care what they say i ve been waiting for so long call me by my name they keep telling me i m wrong we are not the same i don t belong here i don t belong here i m feeling high my money s gone can t find my home i wanna go to my own private planet i ve been dreaming of little moon in my head i be moving on up and away up and away just cause i m born here don t mean i m from here i m ready to run and rocket to sun i m way up i m way up just cause i m born here don t mean i m from here i m ready to run and rocket to sun i m way up i m way up i m an alien from inner space they can t read my mind all in my face no one knows i d rather spend my days alone on my pillow earth s getting old so color me gone i m ready to run and rocket to sun and it ain t so bad so don t look so sad just cause i m born here don t mean i m from here just cause i m born here don t mean i m from here i m ready to run and rocket to sun i m way up i m way up just cause i m born here don t mean i m from here i m ready to run and rocket to sun i m way up i m way up

give me today my daily bread help me to walk alone ahead though i walk through the darkest valley i will fear no love oh my smile my mind reassure me i don t need no one woke up this morning with my mind set on loving me with my mind set on loving me woke up this morning with my mind set on loving me with my mind set on loving me i m not lonely i m alone and i m holy by my own i m not lonely i m alone and i m holy by my own ye the bad days may come the lover may leave the winter may not hey the map of your palms the temple you be you re all that you got ye the bad days may come the lover may leave the winter may not hey the map of your palms the temple you be you re all that you got though i walk through the darkest valley i will fear no love oh my smile my mind reassure me i don t need no one woke up this morning with my mind set on loving me with my mind set on loving me woke up this morning with my mind set on loving me with my mind set on loving me i m not lonely i m alone and i m holy by my own i m not lonely i m alone and i m holy by my own my cup is full up what i got is enough nobody completes me don t mess with my stuff my cup is full up what i got is enough nobody completes me don t mess with my love surely surely surely surely goodness and mercy shall follow me shall follow me shall follow me

said your name in an empty room said your name in an empty room something i would never do said your name in an empty room said your name in an empty room something i would never do im alone again when im by myself i can be myself and my life is coming but i dont know when you were burning now youre black and gray you were burning now youre black and gray something i would never say im alone again when im by myself i can be myself and my life is coming but i dont know when toute ma vie est avec toi toute ma vie est avec toi moi jattends toi tu pars toute ma vie est avec toi toute ma vie est avec toi moi jattends toi tu pars3

i let that beast in over and again i ve seen his eyes flashing i d swim across the inky sea for that object of my affection of my time again oh for my time again helpless i was cast into the night feel like i d been wading to that green light through waters so dark and still just running down the empty pavement from my time you ll follow me follow me into the city follow me follow me unreal it s unreal i m not waiting for some fate to find me you ll never find a love so right just digging in the dark with your soul bared or you ll suffer of the deepest blue dropped into the wakeless water endless journey to the bottom all those things that you ve forgotten are from my time you ll follow me follow me into the city follow me follow me unreal it s unreal i m not waiting for some fate to find me love is illumination held on i see you the color blends through the fog love is illumination held on i see you the color blends through the fog i m here i m safe i m here and i m safe i m here and i m safe i m here oh for my time you ll follow me follow me into the city follow me follow me unreal it s unreal i m not waiting for some fate to find me

you told us that we were too young now that nights closing in and in the half light we run lock us up safe and hide the key but the night tears us loose and in the half light were free strange how the half light can make a place new you cant recognize me and i cant recognize you we run through these streets that we know so well and the houses hide so much but in the half light none of us can tell they hide the ocean in a shell the ocean in a shell our heads are just houses without enough windows you say you hear human voices but theyre only echoes theyre only echoes theyre only echoes only echoes we are not asleep we are in the streets we are not asleep we are in the streets we are not asleep we are in the streets5

gonna make a record in the month of may in the month of may in the month of may gonna make a record in the month of may when the violent wind blows the wires away the month of may its a violent thing in the city their hearts start to sing well some people sing it sounds like theyre screaming i used to doubt it but now i believe it month of may everybodys in love then the city was hit from above and just when i knew what i wanted to say a violent wind blew the wires away we were shocked in the suburbs now the kids are all standing with their arms folded tight kids are all standing with their arms folded tight well some things are pure and some things are right but the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight i said some things are pure and some things are right but the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight so young so young so much pain for someone so young well i know its heavy i know it aint light but how you gonna lift it with your arms folded tight first they built the road then they built the town thats why were still driving around and around and around and around and around and around and around and around 2009 2010 wanna make a record how i felt then when we stood outside in the month of may and watched the violent wind blow the wires away if i die in the month of may let the wind take my body away yeah wish i may i wish i might dont lay me down there with my arms folded tight start again in the month of may start again in the month of may come on and blow the wires away come on and blow the wires away start again in the month of may start again in the month of may come on and blow the wires away come on and blow the wires away gonna start again in the month of may start again in the month of may come on and blow the wires away come on and blow the wires the wires away3