Alive (8-3-2016) [Live in Indianapolis]

(album: i was born in detroit on a very very very very very very very cold day - 2018)

Sexism shrouded in chivalry
Little men with big egos try to belittle me
They got me in a pickle
But I've been freeing minds with riddles
Ever since little league
Literally
People sit behind their little screens and doubt me
Meanwhile life in my hometown goes on just fine without me
Every time I go back, with a little more money, and a little less time
Promises made to be fulfilled next time
People don't have no patience so they try to test mine
That's OK
I got my notebook, I got my voice
I gotta be free, I got no choice

That's an interesting sentence: I gotta be free, I've got no choice
You know, I still go in the dressing room before the show every night
Put a little gel in my hair
I'm still tryna be cool
But the funny thing about that is
Everyone knows when you're trying, so you never actually do
And the even funnier thing about that is,
Everyone else is trying too
So I wonder: if I drop the guard, if I cut the shit for just this one moment
Would you?
Would you?

People we never met made all our rules
And we feel strong when we bend them
Men in suits start wars
Kids in camouflage end them
I'm supposed to entertain people
but I'm not supposed to offend them
Fuck it

There are more valuable things in this world than attention
[?] attention, when a cheer ends
You don't know what to do, so you cheer again
See I could say, "cheer."
Or I could say, "Don't cheer!"
Isn't that weird?
You don't hear words
You hear inflection, and intention
Which means somebody saying "I hate you"
Might really be saying "I love you, I need affection"
A change in perspective
Brought to you by yours truly
An outlook on life
Brought to you by parents they didn't pick in war movies
Tour groupies
I was born goofy
And America tried to straighten me out
Towards Porsches, fortresses, porches, bowls full of porridge
Who'd've thunk a crooked line could be so damn gorgeous?

The eyes of the beloved that's you
Met a little girl the other day she asked where I wanna be,
What I wanna be in a year?
I said, "Alive."