Another Year

[Intro: Shad] So in the end I guess the moral of the story is That the war continues within us Everyday [Verse 1: Shad] Another year in Toronto Another drunk in a bar Barf in a parkette Another dunk for Demar More junk of the hearts Beats in the trunk of the car On a hard drive I'm talking from The Junction to Scarbs Trump is in charge And they trump up the charges Told my man that maybe he should move up here But we get bumped to the margins Marved: Many kids starved Mumbling bars We're numb to the numbers Of people sleeping under the stars Can't argue that the lump isn't large now Greed is a sickness Far worse than that lung full of SARS We're number 1 in the charts Only one in the pews Planes and clouds in the skies Cranes downing the highs Crowding the views I wonder how much housing is used Downtown under construction Sounding loud and confused Down tempo and woozy Hard techno and trap Had— (Forgot the last line) [Verse 2: Ian Kamau] Another night in Toronto An autumn walk through the park Another heart fills with sorrow From another shot in the dark And yet, another tomorrow that we both didn't see A disagreement turned argument that we both didn't need I say you never consider You say that I never cared Your arms are crossed on the couch I'm gonna go get some air Beyond the park I cross Jarvis and Front until Yonge We're young, somewhat undone by the city we're from An empty plate with no meal A shining knife and a fork The smartest artists all jump on a plane to New York You tell me that I should settle As if staying's a choice But I've been using my music So you've been losing your voice I feel the constant control You feel the constant neglect You're scared of developers aiming at our neighborhood next And I feel the same people tasked with serve and protect How do we walk in the city where the police are a threat? If we object to the mention of being pushed to the edge They politely ignore us, say we're driving a wedge But our rent, it soars higher like the gulls by the lake They either build or destroy We either give or we take I get a text on my phone I see your name with a face With a wink and a smile When I arrive we embrace Your arms closed over my shoulder My hands woven on your waist Sweet and sour September Bitter moments to taste I hope that we never scar Though we are licking the wounds Sweet and sour, our city A thousand flowers in bloom In a glass covered garden Downtown in the park Your sweet and sour Toronto Helped me see in the dark [Interlude: Eternia] Dufferin Street Tandridge Crescent 34th Avenue 3rd and Windner Rugby Boulevard Bergen Line Jarvis and Gerrard [Verse 3: Eternia] Yo The tide rises in me When the moon is full I feel these lines bubble up and overflow in my soul I watch the wind when it caresses the limbs and tree branches Older than me The city chopped them down last week I could've cried My view from my window It kinda died Now I'm mourning at the altar of these days gone by I fill my glass up with could've been, should've been wine And got drunk off the illusion of time Entitled in the worst way Living like my life is my own We all thirsty, wonder why we don't feel whole Slowly emerging, the evidence we out of control It is our children that inherit this all I want children in the worst way Feel I should apologize though Like I'm selfish or small-minded for not wanting much more Or maybe it's too much to ask Broken, walking on glass Soaking up the curses and blessings of ancestors past A legacy that can last We don't see that too often All my thirty-somethin' peoples look around and feel lost And why is that? I had a thought but the beat came back I lost it, found in the music my senses get lost in Often Rambling with wisdom that's older than all your logic Words are not the ultimate Feelings distort the optics Spiritually led to follow wherever my heart is And it took me on some detours I still stay on topic You wanna hear something relevant, something obvious I'll tell you how my life got started Aborted options And this life ain't all there is There's more to this than trending topics I promise You ain't hear me though, right? Let me get off this Train I'm riding on I missed my stop Just so I rocked this Let my thoughts flow where the train go Dundas to Bloor and Royal York to the bus—73C Where my parents rest ain't the best But that's the option And everywhere I nest it feel like home when I get lost in this Thank you for listening, my spirit can rest now [Interlude: Eternia] Rectory Street Trafalgar Court Ewing Street Churchhill Street Bayshore Drive Baseline Her Womb [Verse 4: Shad] I remembered the— That last line just came back It was "Had snow before Snow could rap" That's where I'm at And I'll wrap the track Still feel a couple joints by him by the way Bottom of that playlist that I hide away OK, what was I trying to say? On the inside been making big strides: Giannis See the kid fly Not just making the Bucks or the big time Some give time Pour their hearts out Then sit and sip wine from this vine By the way I miss Vine Anyways, this is what it means to me to live Every day Guess I'm still singing the same song The one about trying The only thing I can say without lying I wish I knew a seed that could grow without dying I wish that I could Look you in the eyes and smile without crying Funny things is, I was trying to tell a joke this whole time I think that I've been trying to say goodbye Well I'm open to surprise Even open to demise Feet planted in the city Hands open to the skies Once I was baptized in the ocean in a storm In front of every force that wants to see me conform And in front of every crowd that wants to see me perform Every night, every morning I'm reborn Transformed in this war-torn Soul, mind, city, globe Before we all explode