Never Lettin Go (Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)

(Album: The Life And Times Of Jonny Valiant - 2013)

1995, I saw my first friend
Get buried in the ground; we was traumatized
We was just smoking out up at Timmy's crib
Now we at his funeral and his momma cry
I got two years and then Charles died
Both of 'em gone from a homicide
All of sudden murder wasn't so uncommon
The innocence that we had was gone inside
Before we quit high school, selling drugs was cool
Now all of sudden hitting licks for the drugs was in
My close homeboys from the robbing crew
Put me in the middle sticking up my friends
No wonder why nobody didn't trust me when
The door busted in, they tied up and gagged
And the guy with the gun that's behind a mask
Is some dude you used to sit behind in class
Let's ask hoodie guy a bunch of time he had
To sit down, found guilty, his youth was stripped
He called me collect when we ususally spit
A bunch of dope ass rap, cause the music shit's
The only future that boosted our optimism
But the time was ticking as we lose our grip
Years of boozing, and using, abusing drugs'll
Prove you on how we used to live in this...

The street life, those street lights
Don't seem bright no more
The devil's got a hold of ya soul
And he's pulling you below [*Humming*]
Caught up in this street life, those street lights
Don't seem bright no more
The devil's got a hold of ya soul
And he's never letting go [*Humming*]

Back in the day she was kinda fine
But drugs took a toll on her pretty face
That along with hard times combined
These days you'll find her website online
She quit stripping and now she getting paid to escort
It's fucked up she was the girl from next door
Now you can see her ad right next to sex toys
And all you gotta do is hit the local sex store
It made a lot of people lose respect for her
But check yourself cause only God can judge her
She blamed her family her step-father touched her
She tried to tell her mom but her mom's to drunk to
Really give a fuck and the thought disgusts her
She sat back and watched her daughter suffer
So her trust in love and life lost it's luster
Anyway I hope you rocked a rubber
If you fucked her though
Cause shit gets thick like the fur on the neck of a buffalo
When you piss and your dickhead hurts
But you gotta let it burn like an Usher song
And try to play it off like nothing's wrong
I know it won't be long
I see my homie Scoob and said he said "What ya know?"
He said that you gotta reap what you sow
So many people try to swim against the undertow in this...

The street life, those street lights
Don't seem bright no more
The devil's got a hold of ya soul
And he's pulling you below [*Humming*]
Caught up in this street life, those street lights
Don't seem bright no more
The devil's got a hold of ya soul
And he's never letting go [*Humming*]

We was young and dumb and full of bad ideas (bad ideas)
So for the past five years (past five years)
I be looking back like, "Shit! How the fuck I make it?"
I'm just glad I did (glad I did)
Slick called me up and told me, "Black got killed,"
I was like, "For real dawg?" in disbelief
Somebody shot him up a couple years back, he lived
Now he's gone for good I pray he rest in peace
It's terrible knowing that you will never see
Your friend's face again
I guess that's why protection is a necessity
You can expect to see your life expectancy be that long
When you let the streets become your second home
They ain't have a choice; accept your role
Hoping that they get to see the next episode
Someone'll shoot you in the head and won't sweat it
They cold-blooded never lose a wink of sleep
And the cops don't care neither it's squat to them
Your dead body's just another crime scene to sweep
And I ain't never been a gangsta but thanks to Gwinnett
Growing up I done seen some things
I just hope that the friends that I named in this song
Are watching over with their angel wings while we living this...
Street life!

The street life, those street lights
Don't seem bright no more
The devil's got a hold of ya soul
And he's pulling you below [*Humming*]
Caught up in this street life, those street lights
Don't seem bright no more
The devil's got a hold of ya soul
And he's never letting go [*Humming*]

Caught up in this street life, those street lights
Don't seem bright no more
The devil's got a hold of ya soul
And he's never letting go