the angel of 8th ave. - Gang of Youths

Our father had a lot of painful memories A bunch of shit he never shared But when he died I went out looking for them For all the things he never said Thought he was born in 1948 But was born a whole decade before Thought he was brought up in New Zealand But he was born and brought up in Samoa We thought that he was only half Samoan That his mother was a German Jew But I went and found his birth certificate And he lied about that too Our father's love was unmistakable and He gave us everything he had I guess the man pretending he was half white To give his kids a better chance My sister, she lives out in New York City Been there since I was 17 I think she hates it but like most New Yorkers She just can't bring herself to leave She used to love to watch our father cooking And imitate the things she'd seen And now she makes the most amazing things And she also sings better than me And when he died she had her husband stayed To keep my mother company And even though it fucked them up a lot They did a better job than me And I wish that we could see them every weekend And she could cook her famous meals And I wish that I could hang out with her husband More than a couple times a year Our brother Wesley is a quiet man and He is the second of us four And he inherited our father's hands but He looks like me a little more He has a love that's unmistakable and He's seen police brutality He lives in Auckland with his wife and dog And he stands a shade above 6'3" Our father left him with a cousin and He got into trouble frequently Me and my sister only heard of him In 2018 Our brother Matthew is a baker and he Stands a mighty 7 feet He was brought up in a Māori family And speaks Te Reo fluently He didn't know about our father 'till I, I guess he was about 18 And he did some time for something awesome And he's the sweetest guy you'll ever meet He came to meet me at a festival And he told me everything he knew That our father left him at the hospital But if he forgives him, then I should too La-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la I know our father had his reasons But that can't never make it right or fair I hate myself for stealing all his love when My brothers thought that he was dead So as I dig through the collateral The secrets hid throughout the years I know I'll hardly ever answer them But it's a way to keep him near La-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la-la-la

Hey, did the killer in your party, the intruder in our union kill your rage? Where's your sense of adventure? Has the power and the danger been restrained? I'm not asking you for answers. I'm not asking of you things that we can't change. But you're brave and burned and [?] I'm asking you to shock yourself awake. ' Cause a soul will not cater to our reason or the passing of the seasons in our way. I'm not buying what you're selling us, not taking what they're throwing in my face. So don't shut me out again. So don't shut me out again. So don't shut me out again. Hey, I'm not ending in no contest. I'm not bending nor will I equivocate. Or like weaker of our genus we evolve from every terrible mistake. Hey, can't you see? Can't you see me take off my winter clothes? Those bastards fear us radicals the most. ' Cause a soul will not cater to our reason or the passing of the seasons in our way. I'm not buying what they're selling us, not taking what they're throwing in our face. So don't shut me out again. So don't shut me out again.