Don't Tread On Me

(album: Toothpick - 2016)

She used to walk around needy for love
Giving it up like a thief in the cuffs
She'd try to hide it like weed in the trunk
I'm living it up, don't judge me, playa, I'ma
Independent chick on my own hype
Getting presidents like a vote might
And I don't get it, why you care I hit the city naked?
I'm getting benjamins, shit, I'm a Diddy record
But underneath she was broke
Breaking down when they'd leave her alone
She had a need in her bones
Feeling empty in her soul she would
Look up to the moon and cry, she would beg for a better life
And then the moon talked back
It said, 'I see a lot of courage in you right there'
It said, 'You're strong'
And she said, 'I can't do this alone'
And it gazed in her soul and it said

I've been watching you, baby
I've been watching you
I've seen you fall and seen you catch the blues
And I know you're down
And I know you're out
And baby, I can see how
You feel like drowning
But babe, you've gotta get up
Oh, you've gotta get up
You've gotta get up
I said you've gotta get up

You've gotta get up off your knees there, lady
I know you're praying up to me, near daily
Saying things, like, oh, please save me
But no, I don't think you need me, because, baby, you are
A light bulb in a dark, dark world
You're like a match in the black of a cavern
Or to attackers, the flash from a magnum
Tell 'em, 'don't tread on me'
Tell 'em to get off, baby be free
That ain't something they can't take from you neither
Your freedom is up waiting for you
Caught in the ether
I said baby you are
A light bulb in a dark world
You're like the glow when the power is blown
Through a window from the moon
And I see it 'cause

I've been watching you, baby
I've been watching you
I've seen you fall and seen you catch the blues
And I know you're down
And I know you're out
And baby, I can see how
You feel like drowning
But babe, you've gotta get up
Oh, you've gotta get up
You've gotta get up
I said you've gotta get up

First you gotta feel it in your soul
Then you feel it bubble up in an emotion
Then you feel it down low, real low, in the floor like
In it there's a rhythm, 4 x 4, can you feel it?
Second, gotta show it when you move
Like you're walking to a drum doing your own dance
You hear the slapping of the snare and them high hat flares
And a trumpet all singing that you're home, then...
... you tell 'em
Nah, don't tread on me