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The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

The Official "Poetic Justice Companion" Thread


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Posted

As I said after announcing the winners of my "Poetic Justice" contest, I'm going to post as much info on my compilation as I can in this complimentary thread, in the hopes of both giving those who don't have the CD some sense of what it's like and simultaneously aiding those who do have the CD by posting all of the lyrics...

 

If one of the winners has a scanner, and would be willing to scan and post the cover artwork for me, that would be greatly appreciated. :) I don't have a scanner, and thus can't do it myself...

 

The tracklisting will be posted, followed by full credits, sentence summaries, and lyrics for each individual track. Hopefully, I'll be able to put up a couple of links to some Real Audio of the tracks in the near future, so people who have Real Player will be able to listen to them.

 

The "Wyvern Thanks..." section and liner notes of the CD will also be posted in this thread later.

 

Enjoy... :)

Posted

The tracklisting:

 

1) "Makeshift Patriot"- Sage Francis

2) "Basic Cable"- Aesop Rock

3) "A Murder of Memories"- Eyedea

4) "Ms. AmeriKKKa" - Aceyalone

5) "Body Pillow" - Slug

6) "It's of my Nature"- Scarub

7) "North to Broadway" - Offwhyte

8)"A Place Called This"- L'Roneous

9) "Brick Walls"- Qwel

10) "Hate in a Puddle"- Illogic

11) "Divine Disappointment" - Alias

12) "A Friend's Blues" - Murs

 

Note: all Real Audio taken from Hip Hop Infinity: www.hiphopinfinity.com

Posted

The introduction to the CD written in the liner notes (by yours truly):

 

"This compilation of various artists depicts the well-deserved punishment of Western civilization, brought about by the deterioration and ultimate corruption of American society. It is displayed through the perspectives of 12 different hip hop artists, each of which deals with a different topic in his own creative manner. Closer listening will also reveal several reoccuring themes and messages. Below are listed brief sentences describing each track, to aid the listener in uncovering the principal themes of 'Poetic Justice':"

 

(The sentences will be posted along with the credits of each track, as they are in the booklet. Unlike the booklet, however, the full lyrics of each track will also be posted. I encourage CD winners to try to decipher the lyrics themselves before reading them here, as that's always more rewarding. Still, everyone should feel free to read over the tracks.)

Posted

1) “Makeshift Patriot”

Written and performed by Sage Francis.

Produced by Shalem B.

www.non-prophets.com

- A depiction of the huge amount of patriotic propaganda in the American media, particularly in the coverage of September 11th. Patriotism as a guise for the destruction of civil liberties.

 

Lyrics:

 

Makeshift patriot

The flag shop is out of stock

I hang myself at half mast... [x3]

 

Makeshift Patriot

The flag shop is out of stock

I hang myself...

Via live telecast.

 

Coming live from my own funeral... beautiful weather offered a nice shine,

Which is suitable for a full view of a forever altered skyline

It's times like these I freestyle biased opinions every other sentence

My journalistic ethics slip when I pass them off as objective...

"Don't give me that ethical shit!"

I've got exclusive, explicit images to present to impressionable American kids,

And it's time to show this world how big our edifice is!

That's exactly what they attacked when a typically dark skinned Disney villain

Used civilians against civilians and charged the trojan horses into our buildings.

Using commercial aviation as instruments of destruction...

Pregnant women couldn't protect their children, wheelchairs were stairway obstructions.

Now I have to back petal...from the shower of glass and metal,

Wondering how after it settles we'll find who provided power to radical rebels.

The Melting Pot seems to be calling the kettle black when it boils over,

But only on our own soil, so the little boy holds a toy soldier...

And waits for the suit and tie to come home... We won't wait 'til he's older,

Before we destroy hopes for a colder war to end...

"Now get a close up of his head..."

 

Makeshift patriot

The flag shop is out of stock

I hang myself at half mast... [x3]

 

Makeshift patriot

The flag shop is out of stock

I hang myself...

While the stock markets crash

 

The city is covered in inches of muck

I see some other pictures of victims are up

Grieving mothers are thinking their children are stuck

Leaping lovers are making decisions to jump

While holding hands...

To escape the brutal heat, sometimes in groups of three.

The fall out goes far beyond the toxic clouds where people look like debris.

But all they saw after all was said... beyond the talking heads

Was bloody dust with legs looking like the walking dead calling for meds.

Now all the hospitals are overwhelmed. volunteers need to go the hell home.

Moments of silence for fire fighters were interrupted by cell phones.

Who's going to make that call to increase an unknown death toll?

It's the one we rally behind... he's got a megaphone...

And he's promising to make heads roll,

We cheer him on, but espestos is affecting our breath control.

The less we know, the more they fabricate... the easier it is to sell souls!

 

[Through a megaphone:]

(There is a new price on freedom,

So buy into it while supplies last

Changes need to be made... no more curb side baggage...

7 P.M curfew... Racial profiling will continue with less bitching

We’ve beautified over who to kill, so until I find more relevent scripture to quote

Just remember: our God is bigger,

Stronger,

Smarter,

And much wealthier

So wave those flags with pride... especially the white part)

[/End megaphone speech]

 

We’re selling addictive 24 hour candle light vigils in TVs.

Freedom will be defended... at the cost of civil liberties.

The viewers are glued to television screens... stuck! 'Cus lots of things seem too sick.

I use opportunities to pluck heart strings for theme music.

I'll show you which culture to pump your fist at, which foot is right to kiss.

We don't know who the culprit is yet... but he looks like this.

We know who the heros are, they’re not the xenophobes who act hard,

"We taught that dog to squat, how dare he do that shit in our own back yard!"

They happened to char our landscape and scar our financial state.

Can you count how many times so far I ran back this same damn tape?

While a camera man creates news and shoves it down our throats on the West Bank,

With a 10 second clip put on constant loop to provoke U.S angst.

So get your tanks and load your guns and hold your sons in a family huddle,

Because even if we win this tug of war, and even the score, humanity struggles.

There's a desperate need of blood for what's been uncovered under the rubble,

Some of them dug for answers in the mess... but the rest were looking for trouble.

 

Makeshift patriot

The flag shop is out of stock

I hang myself at half mast... [x3]

 

Makeshift Patriot

The flag shop is out of stock

I hang myself...

Don't waive your rights with your flags

Posted

2) “Basic Cable”

Written and performed by Aesop Rock.

Produced by Blockhead.

www.dirtyloop.com

- The evils of television. In Aesop Rock's own words: "The classic love-hate relationship. Being conscious of one's attraction to a false reality. Falling on purpose."

 

Lyrics:

 

Television!

All hail grand pixelated god of fantasy, murder scape and perspective...

Fuck a sore channel changed digit, I sit with a nasty network intervenus plan

With a stable diet of my cable pirate. Yo,

The doctor is in, the doctor is on...

Born the bastard son of static radiance cloned to welcome in every home

Lead a blue screen, bruised dream canope

Victim of the cursed nursed Technicolor drunk support team

Ooo... I love all advertisements

Though accused by robot news casters who capture and pollute spoon fed hazardous fog to Joy luck catholic squad

Please take me, please calm me... please make me a zombie

Please, I want to donate my brain to the monstrous Panasonic profit

Now, twenty first century plagued...

Dispersed to wide eyed glamour addict patients, telecast patrons

Blue be the propaganda banners, well... sure I'll be a Marine

With a clean sword and blue uniform... (it only takes a dollar and a dream...)

And I abide great idiot box power supply, fuzz vapor, black out of New York

(hey honey, get the generator...)

I'm in a doom... doom generation, pacin', ancient electric secret

Never sleepin' to miss the AM oasis... (my name is)

A wired heart, sloppy obligation, turn my stilt into my guilt and have a chatter box

Blame frame adjacent station

Make reality scrambled and suck the life out of a hidden vandal and

Loving every minute of the gimmick,

Change the channel...

 

Plug it in, turn it on, prop me up against the couch

Lights out, I ain't ever gonna have to leave my house...

Satellite dish, get up on my wish list, turn me to a tyrant

Let my clean spirit dissolve through the appliance

 

Plug it in, turn it on, be my mother when she's gone,

Great! Wipe the spittle off my chinny-chin during the breaks...

If I gotta go blind I'mma do it for the love of all television kind...

And that's fine...

 

Make me a star, I wanna touch gold...

Hold me suspended in a dream, merely inches from the screen

Deleted passions sacrificed to one electron monster

Crucify my little future to the monitor

Damn it feels good... turn on, tune in...

Zoom in to hug the bug up in your family function (but the children seem to love it)

Yes mother, me and wild discovery and heard the static flock

To where I sleep by the glow of that magic box... big speaker

Stereo mastered often kill the freak seekers, eyes spiraling...

Tangled in the star spangled wiring

I can turn from toxicated visuals and all the kings horses,

Abort the loyalty to royalty... fuck the fortress!

Mmm... riddle me with glee,

Hoist the end-all teleprompter above my sleeping head (I'll be dead by morning anyway)

Color my values with mundane humor in thirty minute tickets

To feel the magnetic seal picket censorship

I want commercials twenty four-seven,

I wanna shop from my bed and set an example for all my overworked, underpaid brethren

I bond with a sick string correspondence

And lurking circuitry circus with allegiance pledged beyond the glass surface...

Adamant students within the fine school of possessed graduate catalysts

Channel zero addict, immaculate

It goes- big screen, little screen, any screen'll do...

Just let me hold the controller and I won't have to murder you!

 

Plug it in, turn it on, let my little eyes glaze

Twenty screens lined up along the borders of the maze

I wanna see the five day forecast, fourteen days in advance

So I can get my two weeks notice every time the sun dance

 

Plug it in, turn it on, silent flicks better than nothing

Let a once divine soul feel the functions of the hypnotist

The viciousness, ridiculous, peaking a dummy's interest

Touch the power button, meet your maker... ain't that something?

 

Plug it in, turn it on, say goodbye to Sunday afternoon...

Fix the antenna, sit back and let disaster bloom... it's a...

Beautiful sight, with a most ugly intention

But I taste it everyday and bathe inside the consequences

 

Plug it in, turn it on, never once have you talked back to me

Your majesty, I love you, I despise you

My everyday is sitcom, soaps, news, bad dramatization

Come along with me, my friend, for the most glorious sensation

Posted

3) “A Murder of Memories”

Written and performed by Eyedea.

Produced by D.J Abilities

www.rhymesayers.com

- The horrors of war, depicted through the analysis of the life of a Vietnam War veteran 25 years after the war has ended.

 

Lyrics:

 

(That's him in the corner of social oblivion...

Encompassed by the sweet sense of freedom

That only borders the aura of deep cerebral gouges

Buried in each beat of the heart he was once proud to home

If only his substance held a higher level of potency

He might be able to drown the portion of his mind

Which is trapped in the infinite horror of his 1972 through '74 tour

Through the flames of living hell...)

 

Sometimes gunfire is brighter than the sunshine

Sometimes a child's scream influences every dream

Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we've moved on

But no way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen...

 

It's now twenty-five years later...

He's on the brink of forty-three

Still searching for sanity, surveying the floor of his distorted sea

He remembers high school friends joking about the war

Never knew what mom was crying for... (Never knew what mom was crying for)

The other piece that shines in his mind was a divine first love

Sewn-made, beauty, brown-eyed queen he left behind

He remembers holding her tight, watching the sunset at shore

Never knew what she was crying for... (Never knew what she was crying for)

He got the letter in the mail by the middle of his summer

Wouldn't have had to go if it wasn't for his newborn brother

He was barely eighteen, murdering people even younger

And he still ducks and covers every time he hears the thunder

He still hears the screams, smells the flesh, tastes the death

Sees the blood, feels the pain, what's to gain, nothing's left

But the slug that remains in his right calf...

The bullet laughs every time he cries, and it drives him mad

Trying to sleep, but the visions give him a cold sweat

The war's been over for two decades, but he still hasn't been home yet

And every day he waits and strains to supress his guilt

And forget the horror and the violence; the "kill or be killed"

Fists, they always clenched... teeth, they always grinding

Real life is lost and in a bottle he tries to find it

"It's not fair," he mumbles through a nightmare

Only in the fight for two years and wound up spending his whole life there...

 

[Hook:]

He was face to face with the devil for the welfare of his country

Now he's straining to live but his conscience won't let him

It ain't flashbacks, you have to understand the tragedy, see...

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war, but the war never left him, see

He left the war...

[/End Hook]

 

It's now twenty-five years later, he's on the edge of a park bench

He asked God for hope and found his source non-existant

He sits in the shadows, ‘cus his sun burns no more

Now he knows what mom was crying for... (Now he knows what mom was crying for)

I used to watch old man in the park

The sight slowly drove fright through my heart

Wishing I could help but not knowing where to start

I'd walk away, curse the world, gush some love and curse some more

Now you know who I've been crying for... (Now you know who I've been crying for)

He threw his medals in the river but they sunk alone

Put shades on his eyes to hide them from the warzone in the sky

He tried to slit his wrists about a month ago

But he's seen so much death, he's scared to life of suicide

If there was only some way he could escape this penitentiary...

Goals get bigger and he figures it'll chase away his memories

But the dreams only worsten... the scenes almost burst in

He recalls how training took away his right to be a person

Put a gun in his hand, left him to die for the land

The plan was the murder of man... (The plan was the murder of man)

Politicians have a dispute to decide to send in troops

But the truth is they just don't understand... (They just don't understand)

Now he's running out of time, and running out of energy

But 'til the last day he will fight for the murder of his memories

And although he never got rid of his dog-tags...

He still wishes they'd have sent his parents an American flag

(Instead of him!)

 

[Hook]

 

Sometimes gunfire is brighter than the sunshine

And sometimes a child's scream influences every dream

Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we've moved on

But no way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen

No way, nohow, do we ever forget what we've seen...

Posted

The Artwork.

 

Peredhil plays with the scanner until he figures out how to operate it - he has one of his sons do it.

 

The Cover and Interior left. 447 kb

 

The interior right (Under where the CD-ROM sits) 255 kb

 

The Back of the CD case (Note the nifty almost dragonic seal of approval.) :) 834 kb

 

I put these at my website storage area on geocities.com. Due to the way geocities works, I renamed them all to .txt files - but they should open in your browser. If you want to save them - rename them back when you save to the original .jpg extention.

I've exhausted my limited graphics abilities. :(

These could be cropped, resized, and oodles of other options I'm quite sure. If someone does clean these up, they could either repost them or send them to an Elder for posting.

Posted

Thank you, Peredhil, for scanning the artwork. :)

 

4) "Ms. AmeriKKKa"

Written and performed by Aceyalone.

Produced by Joey Chavez. Scratches performed by J-Rocc.

www.nugruv.com

- The personification of America as a careless woman, caught up in vanity and no longer able to "mother her young." A criticism of the lack of justice in American society.

 

Lyrics:

 

(All right, yo...

This song came about one time when I was on a plane

Going back to Los Angeles coming from somewhere else

And I sat next to this lady and she was telling me some things, you know?

I don't remember it verbatim, but I do remember some of the things she said

It was like this- yo)

 

Life as we know it is about to change

I smell it within the air... the weather is getting strange

Drugged up, sedated and numb from the pain

The sickness in America has spread to her brain...

She is no longer fit to make good decisions

She is completely blind and void of any vision

She parties hard and she keeps her conscious mind imprisoned

Therefore she's headed for the ultimate collision

She can no longer hide the scars on her face...

The innocence now gone is hard to replace

She has no shame, no remorse or any grace

She embraces the devil and she hates over race

Ms. America... the beautiful, the free...

Fallen within the cracks, I wish that you could see

She buried her misery, within society

It's obvious, you have no regard for me...

 

[Hook:]

Caught up... in the belly of America

Lost... in the stomach of America

Broken down... in the bowels of America

Sinking... in the garbage of America

Stuck... in the brain of America

Suffering... in the body of America

Lying... in the wicked spirit of America

Dying... in the old soul of America

[/End Hook]

 

Ms. America... you've been a very bad girl!

You nearly disgraced humanity in the eyes of the world

Vanity has took you over, you're not deserving

The mirror image of your reflection is quite disturbing

She makes so many promises she couldn't keep

She neglected to mother her young, so they don't sleep

They scream out for justice, and then they weep

When out to blame Ms. America, that's what you reap

The audacity of your inventions to rule us all

The tragedy of your intentions to fool us all

You should have gave into nature and to the law

It's only a matter of time before you fall

The things you should of worked out... in your first colony

Victim of your own advice and your psychology

You've destroyed all morale and the ecology

I'm sorry, but I don't accept your apology...

 

[Hook]

 

Homeless America... so much attraction

Has yet to take responsibility for her actions

We work around within the system and make adaptations

You can let freedom ring, within your faction

How can people still be hungry, when there's a surplus?

Suffering within your homes, you've made them worthless

Damn near police the state, you make us nervous

Even though some conform and join your service

Your presidency's the biggest joke... but we’re the laugh

We always smell the gun smoke, on your behalf

I think I should send a telegraph to your staff

America you're down and dirty, you need a bath

So tell your secret agents, don't be paranoid

This wasn't taught by Socrates or Sigmund Freud

This is simply God’s work, you can't avoid

Every nation ever built has been destroyed...

 

Caught up... in the belly of America

Lost... in the stomach of America

Broken down... in the bowels of America

Sinking... in the garbage of America

Stuck... in the brain of America

Suffering... in the body of America

Trying... in the good ol' spirit of America

Dying... in the old soul of America

Posted

5) "Body Pillow"

Written and performed by Slug.

Produced by Ant.

www.rhymesayers.com

- The disintegration of romantic relationships. Dealing with the common misconception of love being based on devotion rather than on a mutual relationship.

 

Lyrics:

 

Then there was this one night when I took the time

To examine a napkin in a Chicago hotel room

I wasn't alone, it was a night after a show

The space was full, energy was consumed

There was a girl... emphasis on the ‘L’

She was noticing the detail as well

The two of us found something with each other previously undiscovered

Hell... is for the lovers

And the daylight is bright, always makes me squint

But it feels like magic when it touches my face

Suffocate myself, overwhelm myself

And let the sun rays abandon me floating through space...

 

[Hook:]

And she still wonders why I'm so insecure...

She giggles because I sleep with a body pillow

Intentions are never nothing short of pure...

But there's a price to pay when you try to live a little

[/End Hook]

 

And as attractive as that napkin ever could've been

My how it unfolded... hold it to the wind

Try now to be a rock, but she's caught under the skin

Ex-lover and a best friend, just like the rest of them

Then there was this one night...

I watched someone bite the tip of a cigarette, to hold it in between her lips

Never met nobody like her...

Please brace yourself, danger! Danger! This might hurt...

The playground feels a lot different when the sun's out

She wasn't messing around, she came in with the guns out

Screaming about the ocean: "anybody wanna go with me?!"

Never knew punk rock could be so pretty,

Now... catch your breath and then catch the ball

And sit by the phone so you can catch the call

Writing catchy one liners on the bathroom stall

Here I go, wouldn't you know, still learning to crawl!

 

[Hook]

 

I've always dug the way you love the way your tattoos intimidate men

I guess I'm one of them

Standing right next to you from way over here

Ex-lover and a best friend (Ex-lover and a best friend)

 

Then there was this one night...

I noticed a tree that stood by itself about an hour up north

And I could picture her holding onto the limb

Wearing a summer dress and a grin, swinging back and forth

Talking about the breeze and how easy it is to

Leave all the worries in the back seat...

Teach me please! I need the abilities to live!

Silly me, I tried to measure it by what I could give!

But she didn't need anything, just a pair of ears

Some strong fingers, and someone to share the tears...

Read the fear... feeling it, inadequate

Now let's make believe that I can handle it!

 

[Hook]

 

And I still get to talk to you every now and then...

Definition of over doesn't have to be the end

It's good to see you grow, girl, shake my hand

That's all I want... from my ex-lover and my best friend...

 

(That's all I want... I got your back,

Don't ever fucking question that...

I got your back, always... always,

I still got your back...)

 

[Hook in Background x2]

 

(Say... could you lend me like, fifty bucks...?)

Posted

6) "It's of my Nature"

Written and performed by Scarub.

Produced by Elusive.

www.llcrew.com

- Temptation in human nature, told through the stories of "the fly and the black widow" and "the fox and the scorpion."

 

Lyrics:

 

"Oh, so is that how it works?!"

Was the black widow's reply to the fly

Crossing her eight legs, she could tell he was a shy type of guy

By the way he scoped her outward figure when he figured she wasn't looking

It's when she was...

She winked an eye just to give him something to buzz about

As he goes about bragging about the contraption on his back that allows him to defy gravity Not really interested, the black widow wasn't hungry for the technicality...

But pretended that she liked to listen... now he's only visited her two times, but

He never stepped into her den so he has no idea of the many men she put in the same position

Their bones would have told of her secrets...

Positioning herself on a bed of webs, she stretches out her legs and she gests that he come and rest his wings

They can lay their together and talk about... all types of things...

And he likes how that sounds as he steps down into her grounds...

 

He had been warned... not to lay down with spiders since first born!

And had sworn that he wouldn't even think of a thing...

But he thinks he's about to get down and put it down for the rest of the swarm

Refusing to acknowledge that such a relationship is out of the norm

He's a horny devil he is... should've hovered more over his action

I know it's hard to fight your attractions

But recognize when your just lacking the ability to come out on top and walk away

They talk the day away into the night

Finally, he shoved her in the right spot and too his plot thickened

And he was ready for sticking her with the 'fact of his matter'

Her fangs started to chatter with excitement

The delightment of having dinner in bed went straight to her head

As she wraps her legs around his face he mistakes the taste of death for something of his liking

Poisoning and paralyzing his every move...

She sooths him with a song:

 

[Hook:]

It won't be long, you can be strong but you still won't be able to change what's going on

And no it's not wrong, it's of my nature

Your fate here lies in my palm, and there's nothing you can do but stay calm...

My dear, stay calm...

[/End Hook x2]

 

Her kiss of death takes his every breath

Draining him of life until there's nothing left!

In a whisper he asks:

"I trusted you, why did you decieve me like such?"

His lips she touches with her fangs before biting his head off:

"Because, it's of my nature."

 

You see, his intentions were to spend the night

She intended to spin a web

The moral of the story is spend your time using your head

Because at the end you can either be fed, or pass the time dead

Depending on your nature.

 

Now see this kind of reminds me of the story of the fox and the scorpion...

See there was a flood and

Only the fox and the scorpion were left behind

And seconds before the fox was about to jump in the water to swim to the other side the scorpion said:

"Wait! ... don't leave me behind."

And the fox turned around and said: "what do you take me for?"

And the scorpion was begging and pleading to allow the fox... to allow him to climb onto his back

And swim to the other side

Now the water was rising and rising and rising and...

And the fox said: "... O.K."

And so he allowed him to

They hopped into the water, the scorpion was on the fox's back

And they made it about halfway and the fox felt a sting on his shoulder

... and his body started to numb...

... and he started to... he started to slow down and then

Once he realized what happened he said: "You fool!

Now we're both going to die, what did you do that for?!

We could have made it to the other side and we both would have been alive and free!"

And the scorpion said: "I know, I know, I know, I know...

But you have to understand something...

It's of my nature."

 

[Hook x2]

Posted

7) "North to Broadway"

Written and performed by Offwhyte.

Produced by D.J Whitelightning. Scratches performed by D.J Norman Rockwell.

www.galapagos4.com

- A clear depiction of social inequality through the description of a bus ride from the ghetto of Inglewood to the wealthy district of Broadway.

 

Lyrics:

 

*The rocky road that winds through Joyland amusement park in the Jones’ latest venture is paved with good intentions...*

 

‘70-900, South’ begins the ride of the excursion

But the virgin ride beginner’s grim, and while I’m there

Not one single hood in Inglewood doesn’t turn his head to stare

At this 5’5 philipino kid waiting to pay his fare

So I’m slightly impaired on the fate of the number 8

And by the time it arrives this shit’s 25 minutes late

Wary I get on hasty, the unnecessary eightsy

Makes in colder, beholder, the body odor extra strength

I take the wig, catch my common, slip into this limbo

To distract bombs in my window, I observe the city at length

Garbage stacks next to shacks shackled and locked

Go on for 30 fucking blocks, but one village is switched

The bridge port image is glitched, yet we can distort

I hear that here some get beaten for sport... still I recline

Sun in midday shine makes it’s departure briefly

Beneath the tracks of the midway line over Archer

Upon returning it’s grand sense, the next stretch of activity

Vividly blends in with pill-sent festivities

We’re past 18th of trade-off chaos, nothing but lacks-all Maxwell

Where bargain hunting meddlers and porno peddlers dwell

And I can’t define it clearly, but an eery presence is felt

So when I realize what it is, just passed Roosevelt

I’m cowering my reflection in the window...

It’s ‘you’ I see, still purchasing expensive textbooks at ridiculous fees

Meticulously, however, our thoughts remain astray

As it seems that I’m forever headed north to Broadway...

 

[Hook:]

I let my gaze astray

As it seems that I’m forever headed north to Broadway...

[/End Hook x2]

 

I catch the scent of ghettos, and greek town joints might look all luxurious

Although the neighborhood’s mostly industrious...

Not alike the factory of fun, coded and faded villains at the hollow

Galapagated building of Chicago

The vision of vice grips and high risers damn near ready to fold

So many stories untold but only 16 exposed

Swirling and hurling to the side when two worlds collide at Clyborn

That hark was suddenly in Linkin Park

To pristine, to 15 blockaderos... fine women and pseudo-rebels

They’re choked, saturated and soaked in foolishness

Kiddies all on my block, the cluelessness disguised as snobbery

Patronize that fucking highway robbery for real

What goes down behind closed doors in Boystown ain’t my deal

But this is where I’m exitting, I flex the string

The city’s a sad story of it’s own ignorance

Deliverant deliverance and lost magnificence in a way

But I can’t waste time dwelling on matters of principal

‘Cus my locale’s still further north from Broadway, so I’m out

Peace!

 

[Hook]

Posted

8) "A Place Called This"

Written and performed by L'Roneous.

Produced by D.J Zeph. Scratches performed by D.J Zeph.

www.oceanflr.com

- Using a dream of an oppressed authoritarian society ruled by an overlord as a metaphor for the American system of law. Depicting laws established with racist intentions.

 

Lyrics:

 

*The lesson of today!*

 

(Damn... I had this dream...

It was... I don't know man, it was out there...

... but it was right here.

I don't know how to describe it...

Hmm...)

 

Long ago I dreamt of a place called this

I thought my mind shift I was blinded by some twisted shit

You see there was a wicked overlord

That regulated over blackboards

No one ever saw him

But his henchmen stalked the land and damaged

The minds of my own kind, blind to the ways

Of the overlord that overforced the acts that passed led

By the mentally dead, forcefed this propaganda

Demanding stand tall - man do as I say, or crawl

This is your reality - echoed through my sleepy dream

People scream, silent cries, echoed by - homicide

Rates, increasing, no ceasing the silence

Violence is a mental thing, the pendulum swings

But something wicked this way comes, murmurs through the slums

Some claim to be a player, but in this game, we all pawns

All spawn, by the overlord

We overcame on a petty four-score

Of ancient folklore, but the overlord kept plotting

Take, and I'll give you all the rotten things I've gotten

'Cus it's hot, in this hell on earth

Where you ain't worth a nickel

And you can't even see the shit that makes your cells go sickle

While fickle fuckers who don't follow strive for dying quick

L-imination tactics practiced by those wack ass henchmen

Yeah them... you tell them I got plans for when it's finished

Cause this ain't just a dream, and a place called this exists

This ain't just a dream, and a place called this exists

This ain't just a dream, and a place called this exists

A placed called this exists, a place called this exists

 

A placed called this exists... not only in the mind...

(not only in the mind)

But within the definitive lines of our cities...

(of our cities)

And their guidelines... structured through time..

(structured through time)

By the blind, who thought they had been given

Divine... rights of passage...

(rights of passage)

But see the fight continues...

And yet it's only getting massive,

Now,

 

Probe for a sec while we detect the sites of evil

The grass ain't even greener cause the barriers are see-through

And we do, those deeds that heed or cause all of our flaws

And the overlord ain't fictitious, the overlord's our laws

Or their laws, that tear all of us, in this perilous

Plot that got some peoples heated but you'll never read it

In the paper, the caper's much too deep to leak to y'all man

I seen it all, mirrored by the blemished image of 'created equal'

Or religion mixed with government

A puzzlement, incentives intent to kill minds

Build ties through lies and they can't stop, won't stop

Look at all those black cops flocked on the block just to mock

Those locked, in concrete cages

You should've peeped the stages

This ain't just a dream, and this shit is quite amazing

Now some ain't even fazed by today's mental plague

But I guess it ain't contagious...

The symptoms of racist behavior, racist behavior

These are all symptoms of racist behavior

Racist behavior, racist behavior

These are all symptoms of racist behavior.

 

(A place called this... exists...)

Posted

9) "Brick Walls"

Written and performed by Qwel.

Produced by Meaty Ogre.

www.galapagos4.com

- A direct argument acted out between a person who supports hip hop culture and another who shuns it. Shows the lack of cultural acceptance in society.

 

Lyrics:

 

Yo, check out this tape

"Is it rock?"

Nah it isn't... but I really think you'd dig it if you'd give this shit a listen

It's my heart and soul!

"Do you play your own instruments?"

Well... not actually, but we got the sample from...

"Yeah well, whatever, it's all crap to me!"

I know, but this is different... I'm gifted and it's some phat shit

"Rap is ignorant, stop acting like you're black kid"

Yo, can I at least pop it in so we can find out...?

"I said no! I don't allow that nigger shit in my house, get a job!"

O.K, I catch your drift... this shit is just my passion

"I don't give a fuck what it is, you put it in, and I'ma smash it

I said no, that's why... don't even ask again

Keep it up and find yourself fucked up just like your black friends!"

Yo, it's doper then most rock shit

"Yeah right"

At least it's honest... Ya know you're right

To like this shit you need some soul, so you ain't on it

You ain't heard of Outkast? Then how've you lived a rock riff

Cop some Pharoahe Monch tickets and whisper 'mosh pit'

"Yo, you're still hear? I thought I said to hit the road?!"

Yo, fuck you 'Helen Keler'

Do the twist until your hips explode

 

[Hook:]

My God speaks to hip hop prophets through rock riffs

'till white boys drop beat boxes in mosh pits...

[/End Hook x2]

 

Yo, check out this piece:

This shit is clean!

"Is that so...?

If it's on a building, it ain't art"

Well what about the Sisteene Chapel?

I bet if you tried to give graff just half the chance you'd dig it

"Yo, that shit is ignorant, and all it is is vandalism

Go to school and get paid to paint, not playing all night"

Oh, so if it don't pay it ain't art, and if it does it's all right?

I don't get it...

"It's wrong 'cus you can go to jail you dipshit"

Oh, like they fed Christians to lions... how is this shit different?

"People can't even read it, how's it art, I thought so!"

'Cus art always lives like Basciot, ask Picasso

"Tell it to the judge when you get up in jail dummy

Don't even bother to call me or your mom for bail money"

I ain't asking you for shit, just 10 minutes to peep some flicks

If that's too much to ask you ain't got eyes to see this yet

If you ain't seen movement you just missed impressionism

When Dondi flicks rough as Van Gogh the lessons given

"I didn't ask you to express yourself, give up your cans kid"

Fuck you 'Helen Keller'... I'll hit the bricks, you hit the canvas

 

[Hook]

Posted

10) "Hate in a Puddle"

Written and performed by Illogic.

Produced by Blueprint.

www.weightless.net

- Self acceptance. Coming to terms with the hatred one feels while gazing at their reflection in a puddle of rain, and questioning where that hatred stems from.

 

Lyrics:

 

I hate when it rains... 'cus in puddles I encounter this guy

Unable to give a rebuttal, but swift as the pain floods his eyes

Wondering why he's a gift with no purpose...

A priceless one-of-a-kind piece that's worthless

Grounded with no surface

And when he shows one... it's a facade

'Cus inside he fights feelings that he was a mistake by God

I see his confusion and self-deception...

Questions of relevance and intelligence

He holds an illusion of self-acceptance

that he shows to those outside looking in

He's outside looking into his own life; looking for strength

To carry on as a pawn in this chess game of existance

In his mind he wants to go on to the dawn and leave the stress that came with existance

Hoping in death he'll find life...

'Cus as he lives, he roams the dark trying to find light

He's made his heart so hard he doesn't even cry anymore

'Cus he's confronted sorrow frequently

His heart's been broken frequently

It's like he's lost some part of him and just hasn't found it yet

So in his search, he's left with nothing but questions and regret

All he wants to know is how one day, he's content...

And the next day he's crying 'cus his life isn't what he thought 'life' meant

He just wants to be happy... with his love and all

But too often I get messages through telepathic calls

He's asking me through a puddle: what more must he endure to continue?

But for some reason he knows he must endure to continue...

 

[Hook:]

When I walk past puddles, my reflection calls begging me

To answer his questions about life and his perceptions

And tell him why I hate him so much

And you wonder why I hate him so much?

 

Now when I walk past puddles, my reflection calls begging me

To answer his questions about life, and his perceptions

And tell him why I hate him so much

Damn, I wonder why I hate him so much...

[/End Hook]

 

Why did I hate him so much? I wanted to ponder on the question

What in my mind caused me to despise my reflection?

I didn't know... I just knew when I saw him, how I felt

And hated the fact that he had to play with the cards that he was dealt

He's come in contact with some ill things that can't be explained

Life's extracted his energy to where the pain can't be contained

So to me he comes, shedding tears like skin

Intimate with some... only the ones he calls friends if they even exist

He only exists in pain

It's like his life's a myth and he's been blessed with the gift of shame, I mean

From birth to love he's been betrayed...

He's an unknown in how to cope with that pain and dissapointment

He's come to know as his clone

He feels he stands alone in this world of puddle images

And he awaits the time for when... time finishes

He tries to elevate thought... but he's still chilling in the basement

Awaiting the rebirth of his soul as it fears it's spiritual placement.

 

[Hook]

 

God I pray you can give me a purpose, or help me find it

'Cus on this narrow path of self-damnation, I can't find it

Is there something I need to know? Some way I need to grow?

To get out of this rut... God give me some self-trust

Love is something I'm looking for... but I found it, or have I?

I wanna live, but can I... or do I have to die to?

I try to have life, but my life seems kinda worthless...

As I'm staring at this puddle...

 

God I pray that you can give me a purpose or help me find it

'Cus on this narrow path of self-damnation, I can't find it

Is there something I need to know? Some way I need to grow?

To get out of this rut... God please give me some self-trust!

Love is something I'm looking for - thought I found it, or have I?

I wanna live, but can I... or do I have to die to?!

I try to have life, but my life seems kinda worthless...

As I'm staring in this puddle...

 

[Hook]

 

[in spoken word:]

I sit alone in dismal silence

Peering into the eyes of my reflection

Wondering if his thoughts are adjacent to my own

What visions of eerie savagery and passionate purity lurk in the mind of he who I mirror?

Looking at him, I am disgusted...

He lacks beauty in all external areas and internally he seems so confused

Perplexed with this conundrum of life

He proceeds to function or cope, looking at it realistically...

Esteem he lacks, in all areas of existance

Reason unknown...

What is the cause of this lack of self-acceptance?

I mean, it seems like he needs constant assurance

Some type of ritual proof that he's even worth the oxygen he breathes

The... light that shines upon him

Is his living in vain? ...Does he have a purpose?

Answer...

Eternally unknown.

Posted

11) "Divine Disappointment"

Written, performed and produced by Alias.

Scratches performed by D.J Mayonnaise.

www.anticon.com

- A criticism of religion in American society from the persepective of God. Poetic justice.

 

Lyrics:

 

*Paradise of fools!* [x4]

 

My frustration...!

Into what I created has me feeling discombobulated

I hated the boredom so I reinstated entertainment

For my well-being, now it seems I made the wrong decision

My project had appeared easy but had no direction or precision

Beginner's luck...

Only up in recent times do I feel stuck

I'm the only one to blame for things that ran amuck,

I built up... a universe that is now building me, you see

Technological advancement is the Creater now in all things to be

Decided. Having not even once touched my hands...

My quote-unquote "followers" now constantly fill the stands

On the so-called "Sabbath Day"

For years it's been this way...

But these people can't figure out whether it's the first or last day to pray

They seem to think that I'm forgiving them all...

Which means they have a scapegoat

If they happen to drop the ball

I've been coined... various names

None of which to me are flattering

They look to me for a guidance

But to me they do not matter in my eyes!

There's nothing I can do to help this situation

When they have internal conflicts with their whole congregation

They gather every week and speak of me in song...

These beings I created in this project gone terribly wrong!

 

[Hook:]

You all pray that you know me...

But you really don't

Ever forgiving you say of me

In reality I really won't

From the day I gave you life, to your last annointment

You have all been nothing but divine dissapointment

[/End Hook x2]

 

So I'm now stuck to figure out what I should do at this point in time

These creatures seem to think that there's an afterlife

So they spend their whole life benign

They killed another creature years ago that claimed to be my son

So now they mold ideals after him and claim that he's 'the One'

The one that will save them, lead them to a new breath

I hate to break it to them...

("I have nothing for you after death")

So carry on if you wish unknowing, thinking breath is wind blowing

Magnifying light bulb is the sun and tears of rivers flowing

Think that every bad thing that happens to you is at my will...

Like bankruptcy, adultory, and the reason why others kill

Go on to be mislead, as you have your entire life

Think that I'll somehow reward you for all your pain and strife

I can't control destiny... where'd you come up with that notion?

There's no cure for AIDS... so don't even bother with that potion

I didn't create the disease to punish others, I didn't even make it

So if you have that frame of mind you go ahead and break it!

I'm sick and tired of feeling responsiblity for all of you ungratefuls

Unwilling to share with the starving while you enjoy all of your platefuls

Even if I had the power to help you... I wouldn't even bother

So stop thinking that I love you and stop calling me your "Father"!

I didn't plan on you evolving into this mess with which I deal...

Asking for my forgiveness when you (lie, cheat and steal)

What the hell do you want me to do?!

Try and save yourself!

I cant help your marriage, chlldren or status of health

My problem's far away from all your so-called devastations

Like this oncoming war between the so-called "United Nations"

I regret making all of you... you make my blood pressure climb

I wish I didn't make you... but even I cant turn back the hands of time!

 

[Hook]

 

*Paradise of fools!*

Posted

12) "A Friend's Blues"

Written and performed by Murs.

Produced by Justin Martin.

www.llcrew.com

- The things we hold dear and the reasons we choose to live, despite all hardships. The friendships that motivate us all.

 

Lyrics:

 

Now when you're young, death can make you aware of your mortality

At times we feel invincible, lose sight of reality

Until it takes a loved one... residing in our circle

And it'll hurt you 'cus you'll miss'em, first your close now your distant

And it hurts, just to know that they can go at any instant

Gotta love'em by the minute, now you realize this...

It's that it takes a loss to appreciate the gift

So celebrate the occasion... just breathing is amazing!

To see the Sun rise and set at a day's end

The chance to fix mistakes that we regret making

Find joy in the simple things! No time for complaining

The Sun will shine it can't always be raining

I know it hurts deep but you must maintain it

I've seen it in my homeboys Terry and Tyne...

They lost so many yet they keep so strong

To lose a parent or a sibling and have a will to keep living

Takes so much strength... so I admire y'all

And one day hope to find out what inspires y'all

'Cus I'm still mad asking why it happens at all

Some say that God takes'em and they lean on mythology

But I choose to believe that it's divine lottery

I can't believe God's looking down waiting to slaughter me

I can't live in fear... and I can't live here

forever... So I treasure every moment.

 

[Hook:]

And it's friendship... that I value the most

That kinship... the ones we hold close

And dear, and fear the most of losing but keep true with

The memories brewing 'cus life keeps moving on...

[/End Hook x2]

 

We came together like family, like it was our first death

Unexpected... so quick, so sudden, the worst yet

Didn't get to know the girl til kissed after her first breath

We loved her like a sister as for there her first steps

Got the call out of town, so alone I first wept

Deep pain in the same place from where this verse crept

Never slept in that bed again...

The memory was too tragic, looked up and screamed "goodbye!"

You wouldn't be present at the wake, in your casket

Now you ask if things changed since you left... not really

We're still playing games, B.Sing, acting silly

See she don't talk to her and... she don't like me

And will we work things out? That's not likely...

I mean where will we start?

Do we mend friendships or let things fall apart?

Will we still be in touch?

Honestly, I don't know... but you'll hear my heart forever.

 

[Hook]

 

And it's friendship... that I value the most

That kinship... the ones we hold close

And dear, and fear the most of losing but keep true with

Though not a lotta brewing

Blow a blunt while you boozing

Love your friends that your using

Gotta love'em 'for you lose'em

Stand strong when you do it

Tough times, live through'em

Don't give into'em

Stay gold pursuin' and

Doin' what you doin'

'Cus life keeps moving on...

Posted

The "Wyvern thanks..." section of the CD:

 

Wyvern thanks... First and foremost, all of the M.Cs and producers/D.Js who appear on this album, and whose talents continue to inspire me and motivate me to put together compilations like this. Thanks also go out to Yui for her artwork, Canid for the "Almost Dragonic" logo, Xradion for his suggestions, and the Dope for his MP3 help. Shout outs to BPO, Canid and Dope for listening and learning to appreciate (or at least accept) my favorite genre of music. Respect to all of the creative people up at the Mighty Pen, WotTS, and AoA. This one's for the poets.

 

 

That's about it! :) I'll be searching for some Real Audio/MP3 versions of some of the tracks and posting links to them on the track listing at the top of this thread, so be on the lookout. Also, I may make another little complimentary post or two pointing out some interesting facts about some of the songs, as well as posting lyrics and audio to a brand new (and excellent) Sage Francis anti-war track, "Hey Bobby." Finally, I'm really interested in hearing feedback from you guys, whether it be on the CD itself (whether you actually own a copy or just read the lyrics), the contest, or any questions you might have on any parts of this project... Be sure to post them in this thread!

 

Thank you for reading!

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Here's the new anti-war track by Sage Francis, "Hey Bobby", as promised... This track was not featured on "Poetic Justice" as it was recorded and posted on the net the day after Bush declared on Iraq, but it certainly would be on "Poetic Justice" if I had had the chance to put it on there. The track can be downloaded in MP3 format via the following link:

 

http://www.inhalerproductions.com/Hey_Bobby.mp3

 

"Hey Bobby"

Written and performed by Sage Francis.

Produced by Joey Beats.

www.non-prophets.com

 

Lyrics:

 

By the time the flags rotted off of their antennas,

they were questioning who the real threat is.

Big Brotherly love is the 21rst Century's plague.

No matter how bloody the glove, question evidence displayed.

 

Don't forget what two plus two equals.

Don't let them upgrade your math no matter what they have as proof of evil.

Remember when they went after the Jewish people?

You don't recognize that same black mask as see through?

 

Attack of the eagles. If they don't fall dead

before they reach me, I'll be damned if I don't shoot one in its bald head.

F*ck what we're force fed. All I ever wanted

was a warm bed and a house that wasn't haunted.

 

I'd rather die for a cause than to die just because

we exhaust natural resources forced into wars,

restoring wasteful ways, keeping other countries poor.

"Monkey see, Monkey do" I wonder what those f*cking monkeys saw.

 

Keep rethinking the still-frames in your mind,

and guarantee they will change with time.

Your outline is pixelated with poor resolution while

downtime is simply wasted. You were born execution style.

 

Head first in a trial. I'll second the motion

'Til the jury's bored to death and puts your neck in a notion.

The situation's volatile. A naked problem child

is trying to find the right clown costume to make his father smile.

 

So he bombs while he tries to tell jokes.

This ain't a false alarm, can't you smell the smoke?!

You're in the line of fire where they buy and sell votes.

Our sense of liberty doesn't ring true, stupid, that's why the bell broke.

 

Trench coat Mafiosos propel rocks

at recruitment officers and rebel against cops

'Til they hurdle infinite circles in small cell blocks.

Turtle upon turtle 'til they're all shell shocked.

 

This so-called president got elected in a court room.

With the war efforts of pops he inherited a fortune.

We "talk, talk, talk..." so the veterans of war assume

the revolution stopped...

 

[Hook:]

"Hey, Bobby...the Masters are back.

They're up to no good just like the old days.

They played dead when you stood over their grave, Bobby.

They played dead when you stood over their grave.

 

"Hey, Bobby...them bastards are back.

It's our turn to stand over their grave.

I'm a do it right this time...I'm awake...

I'mma wait until their skin decays."

[/End Hook]

 

You can't roam a lost land as the last existing dinosaur.

There's no escaping ass kickings in these times of war,

Replacing apples with hospitals...where doctors are hostile,

Killing two pterodactyls with one fossil.

 

I got you... If they don't fall dead

Before they reach me, I'll be damned if I don't shoot one in it's bald head.

F*ck what we're force fed. All I ever wanted,

Was a warm bed... and a house that wasn't haunted.

 

Thumb through novels to have your fingerprints match,

The description of criminals committing innocent acts of compassion

for tired civilians crawling with pistols,

We fired million dollar warning missiles!

 

Force the issues in the back of your head where eyes roll.

Brain wash yourself out of that mind control.

Or act a fool like you're told.

But we won't see no type of justice 'til that bitch removes the blindfold.

 

This ain't a "Love it or leave it," it's a "Change it or lose it."

I won't sing the anthem of a nation who never faces the music,

Chasing an ever-elusive caveman

In space ships that makes trips to the futures that are name-brand.

 

Faking progress...but we ain't advanced

Enough to change the posture of our ape stance

They've got the key to the city but they prefer the break-in entry.

Duck and weave, I'm shedding light in their shadow box to make it empty.

 

[Hook]

 

Attack of the eagles. If they don't fall dead

Before they reach me, I'll be damned if I don't shoot one in its bald head.

F*ck what we're force fed. All I ever wanted

was a warm bed...

 

There's nothing scarier than the human stories I tell ghosts,

Chilling accounts with my tongue frozen to bed posts.

The catharses of carcasses whenever threats are close,

Shows a heartlessness that doesn't register on stethoscopes.

 

Sell your hopes for a homeland security chart,

'Til your sense of self is broke and no man's pure in the heart.

Preventive detention for the folks who never left home.

Tensions have grown into a 24/7 red zone.

 

Scare tactics... have got you under control,

The fear factors of a color code. The uppers know

They can't hold you down without having anchors attached.

"It's all the same." Naw, balls and chains on ankles don't match.

 

So drag your torso back to the off road.

We may have lost the fashion battle but we ain't lost the wardrobe.

Go window shopping for your next free meal,

Cus when we start the revolution all you'll probably do is steal.

 

[Hook]

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