If I'd stayed back home Never spread my wings Let you build that house Let you buy that ring If I'd put down my dreams to put you first I could've been her If I'd dyed my hair If I'd lost that weight If I'd worn that dress And let you change my name I'd still be wakin' up in your T-shirt I could've been her If I'd shut my mouth, faked that smile Probably could've made it work for a while Cried in the dark instead of screaming There wouldn't be red wine stains on the ceiling If I'd buried my feelings Pushed down the hurt and let you cheat I could've been her But that wouldn't be me No, it wouldn't be me To let you get away With every word you'd twist And every bed you made If I'd just hung around, not knowin' my worth I could've been her If I'd shut my mouth, faked that smile Probably could've made it work for a while Cried in the dark instead of screaming There wouldn't be red wine stains on the ceiling If I'd buried my feelings Pushed down the hurt and let you cheat I could've been her But that wouldn't be me That wouldn't be me If I'd just gave up The standards I have Let you hit your knees And beg me on back If I'd just sold my soul for a love that cheap I could've been her But that wouldn't be me That wouldn't be me

I hear you just got married Took a month long honeymoon And you were all smiles at the wedding You cried when you kissed the groom I got no invitation I guess the mail man didn't bring it to me But I see the whole thing in slow motion Every night as I try to sleep My buddy John said you looked real pretty And you acted like you were in love He said the preacher asked for objections And he thought about standing up I told John he must have been crazy 'Cause you were just about to say "I do" He Just gave me a wink and said all he could think Is it could've been me with you It could've been me Standing there with you Could've been me And my dreams coming true But those dreams move on if you wait too long It took me to now to see, it could've been me I don't guess I ever told you That I went out and bought you a ring I even carried it around in my pocket Waiting to say the right thing I pulled it out the other day But the diamond had lost it's shine Well I know how it feels 'cause my eyes grow dim When I think you could've been mine It could've been me Standing there with you Could've been me My dreams comin' true But those dreams move on if you wait too long It took me to now to see, it could've been me I know I called just in time Bit too late You know dreams move on If you wait too long It took me to now to see that It could've been me Standing there with you It could've been me And my dreams coming true But those dreams move on if you wait too long It took me to now to see, it could've been me (Could've been me) Could've been me (Could've been me) Could've been me (Could've been me) Could've been me

My name is Jerry Lee Lewis, come from Louisiana I'm gonna do you a little boogie on this here piano Doing mighty fine, I'm gonna make you shake it I'll make you do it and make you do it, until you break it It's called the Lewis boogie, in the Lewis way Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day Well, down in New Orleans, the land of dreams The best doggone place, son, you have ever seen The cats go wild, do a boogie that's hot My boogie woogie makes you want to stop and do the bop It's called the Lewis boogie, in the Lewis way Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day Aw, oh, boy Well, now let's cruise on down to old Memphis town That's where that Presley boy said, "You ain't nothing but a hound" But now you take my boogie, it keeps you in the groove Then your sacroiliac begins to shiver and a move It's called the Lewis boogie, in the Lewis way Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day Oh, boogie woogie when your hips start rockin' honey And your knees start knockin', Lewis boogie, Lewis way Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day

"Vipassana is a science of mind and matter How the mind is influencing the body And later, how the body is influencing the mind" Yesterday? Forget it Tomorrow is? Nada The present is right here, through the breath, watch it Atheist Jesus piece, hangin' on a cross We sit and discuss God on lawn chairs About how we got here What it is, what it isn't, shit Fate versus faith, scrimmaging with coincidence Leave out the marketing, hold up on the business end Focus on the genuine, and everything else, you can shed the skin I was a couple moves away from being dead In that ER overdosing, eyes bleeding red I fell in love, made an album, got a buzz Lost it all, sobered up, and guess what? Now we meet again And now I'm back, finally just laughin' Expectations are resentments waiting to happen Studying the dharma, karma, vipassana practice Bahá'u'lláh, Buddha, God, to the mountaintop and I'm traveling Learning, yes, reflecting on what matters People, impermanence, lack of attachments It's space and time, a couple of man-made distractions The measure of a spirit that no human can ever capture Church, this booth is my Vatican I don't control life, but I can control how I react to it Student of the breath, brick beats and balancin' Desire versus truth until I finally find happiness I was put here to do something before I'm lying in that casket I'd be lying on the beat if I said I didn't know what that is The world's a stage and we play a character, I found him It took me 20-something years and a bunch of shitty soundchecks I'm not gonna be content 'til I find gratitude Regardless of my sales or the record deals they're handing you If the next generation takes our legacy and samples you We'll have a bunch of mp3s and misled kids to pass 'em to I use my veins to create the color I paint from Delve into self 'til my heart becomes my paint brush I told my mama I'm not stoppin' 'til my name's up Thinking those comments on that blog is gonna save us Searchin' for everything but God to validate you Get insecure and then we start blaming the haters Used to look to women to fill a part of me that was vacant Truth, the only thing that I ever used in moderation So I stare into this paper instead of sitting at a cubicle Take all the ugly shit inside and try to make it beautiful Use the cement from rock bottom and make it musical So the people can relate to where I've been Where I'm going, what I've seen, what I've heard From the guts, fuck the glory Just a person on a porch putting it all into recording Many in my past and many that came before me I just keep walkin' my path and blessed to share my story

Oh girl, this boat is sinking There's no sea left for me And how the sky gets heavy When you are underneath it! Oh. I want to sail away from here. And god. He came down down down down down down down down And said (down down down down down down down down) Nothing (down down down down down down down down) He rolled up, asked him what he was sippin' on He said lean, You want to hit it, dawg? That's the same stuff Weezy's sippin' huh? And tons of other rappers that be spittin' hard, Yup yup five a bone When he passed him that Styrofoam the Easter pink, heard it in a rhyme before Finally got to see what all the hype was on And then he took a sip, sittin' in the Lincoln thinkin' he was pimpin' as he listen To the system Little did he know that it was just as addictive as bass Not the kind of hit from the kick drum Hot box, let the bass bump Take it to the face, gulp Months later the use went up Every blunt was accompanied by the pink stuff But Goddamn he loved that feelin' Purple rain coated in the throat Just so healin' Medicine alleviate the sickness Liquid affix and it comes with a cost Wake up, cold sweat, scratchin', itchin' Trying to escape the skin that barely fit him Gone, get another bottle just to get a couple swallows Headed towards the bottom couldn't get off it Didn't even think he had a problem Though he couldn't sleep without gettin' nauseous Room spinnin', Thinkin' he might've sipped just a little bit too much of that cough syrup His eyelids closed shut Sat back in the chair clutchin' that cup Girlfriend came and a couple hours later said his name shim but he never got up He never got up, he never got up We live on the cusp of death thinkin' that it won't be us It won't be us, it won't be us, it won't be us Nah, it won't be us Oh girl, this boat is sinking There's no sea left for me And how the sky gets heavy When you are underneath it! Oh. I want to sail away from here. And god. He came down down down down down down down down And said (down down down down down down down down) Nothing (down down down down down down down down) He just wanted to act like them He just wanted to rap like him Us as rappers underestimate the power and the effects that we have on these kids Blunt passed, ash in a tin, pack being pushed, harassed by the feds The fact of it is most people that rap like this Talkin' about some shit they haven't lived Surprise, you know the drill Trapped in a box, declined record sales Follow the formula violence, drugs, and, sex sells So we try to sound like someone else This is not Californication There's no way to glorify this pavement Syrup, Percocet, and an eighth a day will leave you Broke, depressed, and emotionally vacant Despite how Lil Wayne lives It's not conducive to being creative And I know 'cause he's my favorite And I know 'cause I was off that same mix Rationalize the shit that I'd try after I listen to dedication But he's an alien, I'd sip that shit, pass out or play Playstation Months later I'm in the same place No music made, feeling like a failure And trust me it's not dope to be 25 and move back to your parent's basement I've seen my people's dreams die I've seen what they can be denied And "weeds not a drug" - that's denial Groundhog Day life repeat each time I've seen Oxycontin take three lives I grew up with them, we used to chief dimes I've seen cocaine bring out the demons inside Cheatin' and lyin' Friendship cease, no peace in the mind Stealin' and takin' anything to fix the pieces inside Broken, hopeless, headed nowhere Only motivation for what the dealer's supplying That rush, that drug, that dope Those pills, that crumb, that roach Thinkin' I would never do that, not that drug And growing up nobody ever does Until you're stuck, lookin' in the mirror like I can't believe what I've become Swore I was gonna be someone And growing up everyone always does We sell our dreams and our potential To escape through that buzz Just keep me up, keep me up Hollywood here we come Oh girl this boat is sinking There's no sea left for me And how the sky gets heavy When you are underneath it Oh, I want to sail away from here And god. He came down down down down down down down And said Nothing