A Ballad For The Fallen Soldier

(Album: The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse - 2002)

This here's a ballad for all the fallen soldiers (This ain't music)
I'm 'bout to show you how a hustler's life (This is life man)
And a soldier's life parallel
And the one thing they got in common is a mother's pain
(Forget about music for a second)
Picture a split screen (Forget musicians)
On one side, you got a hustler getting ready for the block
(Human beings)
Other side, you got a soldier getting ready for boot camp
(People, it's life)
They're both at war, stay with us

Did you ever notice, before you think?
Life goes fast
So don't you worry, about what you see
It will pass

You lost him mama, the war's calling him
Feel it's his duty to fall in line with all of them
He's a soldier
Rose through the ranks as the head of your household
Now its time to provide bank, like he's supposed to
Now just remember why he's gone 'til November
It's part of him growing up
His shirts soaks up your tears as he holds ya
Your heart beating so fast, speeding his pulse up
Yeah I know it sucks, life ain't all rosebuds
A couple of speed bumps, you gotta take your lumps
Off to boot camp, the world's facing terror
Bin Laden been happening in Manhattan
Crack was anthrax back then, back when
Police was Al'Qaeda to black men
While I was out there hustling, sinning with no religion
He was off to war, killing for a living

Did you ever notice, before you think?
Life goes fast
So don't you worry, about what you see
It will pass

Days turn to nights, nights turn to years
Years turn to, "How the fuck we make it in here?"
My barracks average couple fights a day
Get you locked in a hole, won't see the light of day
And I feel like I'm just writing my life away
I never thought shit could end up quite this way
There's a war going on outside no man is safe from
I'm here for the good fight, only the fakes run
I'm here for the purple heart, if I can't take one
For my team or my siblings, what's my reason for living?
I love my niggas more than anything else
This war's about my family, me needing the wealth
You don't understand how useless as men we felt
'Til you become a five-star general
Shout out to my niggas that's locked in jail
P.O.W's that's still in the war for real, for real

Did you ever notice, before you think?
Life goes fast
So don't you worry, about what you see
It will pass

Your baby boy is getting grown
So your baby boy is moving on
(I've gotta chase it) I'm gon' chase it
(And I'm gon' make it, yeah) I'ma make it
Your baby boy is getting grown
So your baby boy is moving on
(I'm gonna make it) I'm gon' make it
(Even if I gotta chase it) You gotta take it
Woo, yeah

Mama say prayer, your son's becoming a man
This wars taxing to 'em like Uncle Sam
He ain't gon' always make the right choice understand
Every choice that he make, he makes it for his fam'
It's death before dishonor
And if he's gone, you should honor his memory
Don't cry, we all gonna die eventually
But if he's locked in the penitentiary, send him some energy
They're all winners to me, what's up Emory?

Did you ever notice, before you think?
Life goes fast
So don't you worry, about what you see
It will pass

Yeah, DJ Clue?, Desert Storm
The Blueprint, Part Two
Time for bonus coverage, c'mon