Dedicated (1999 Demo)

[Verse 1: Mike Shinoda]

I have a dream of a scene between the green hills

Clouds pull away and the sunlight's revealed

People don't talk about keeping it real

It's understood that they actually will

And intoxicated and stimulated MCs

Staring in the trees, paranoid, are gone in the breeze

Watch them flee, hip-hop heads

Take a walk with me and what you'll see

Is a land where the sand is made up of crushed up wax

And the sky beyond you is krylon blue

And everybody speaks in a dialect of rhyme

And MCs have left materialism behind them

[Pre-Chorus: Mike Shinoda]

Meanwhile, I just grip my mic

And hope me and my team make it through alright

Because say what you will and say what you might

But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night

[Chorus: Mike Shinoda]

Because this is dedicated to the kids

Dedicated to wherever music lives

Dedicated to those tired of the same ol' same

And dedicated to the people advancing the game

What's real is the kids who know that something's wrong

What's real is the kids who think they don't belong

What's real is the kids who have nowhere to run

Who are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the sun

[Verse 2: Mike Shinoda]

I've seen a lot of ****, I've talked to a bum

Out on Sunset Strip, he asked me, "How would you feel

If everybody acted like you didn't exist?

You'd lose your grip, probably eventually flip"

So let it be known, the only reason that we do this

Is so you can pick it up and just bang your head to it

While MCs fight to see who can be the commonest

Be floating overhead like a space odyssey monolith

Over seeing the game, over being part of the same old thing

It's all gonna change in a hurricane of darkness and pain

And acidic rain and promises that you won't do it again

[Pre-Chorus: Mike Shinoda]

Meanwhile, I just grip my mic

And hope me and my team make it through alright

Because say what you will and say what you might

But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night

[Chorus: Mike Shinoda]

Because this is dedicated to the kids

Dedicated to wherever music lives

Dedicated to those tired of the same ol' same

And dedicated to the people advancing the game

What's real is the kids who know that something's wrong

What's real is the kids who think they don't belong

What's real is the kids who have nowhere to run

Who are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the sun

[Bridge: Mike Shinoda]

Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside

This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide

Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside

This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide

[Chorus: Mike Shinoda]

This is dedicated to the kids

Dedicated to wherever music lives

Dedicated to those tired of the same ol' same

And dedicated to the people advancing the game

What's real is the kids who know that something's wrong

What's real is the kids who think they don't belong

What's real is the kids who have nowhere to run

Who are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the sun

This is dedicated to the kids

Dedicated to wherever music lives

Dedicated to those tired of the same ol' same

And dedicated to the people advancing the game

What's real, everybody who doesn't feel safe

What's real, everybody who knows they're out of place

What's real, anybody with nowhere to run

Who hides in the shadows, waiting for the sun