Includes unlimited streaming of Immense
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 7 days
9 remaining
Purchasable with gift card
$10USDor more
T-Shirt/Apparel
Gildan Ultra Cotton
ships out within 7 days
Purchasable with gift card
$15USDor more
lyrics
The things I took in High school included:
Calculus, Music Theory, AP Bio., AP Chem., Photo & Lit. Mag.
Marijuana, Alcohol, Ecstasy & Speed.
I balanced studying with partying
& graduated 14th in a class of almost 1600.
I've always been pretty good at the balancing act.
The things I took in College included:
Philosophy, Sociology, A.M. Chem.,
Psilocybin, Ayahuasca, Amphetamine, & Cocaine.
I graduated with a degree in Philosophy, which qualified me to ask
"Why...Would you like fries with that?"
Unsatisfied with a minimum wage paycheck
I took to selling the drugs that I did,
But the things in life you take, sometimes,
will take things from you.
Steven was 19 when I asked him to go to Staten Island to do a drug deal for me.
The people I contacted did not have the product they promised
but they did have a need for the 5 grand in Steve's pocket.
And 4 small pieces of high velocity persuasion
that left him laid out on a street corner
in a pool of my decisions.
At his funeral, his mother asked if I would speak for him
because Steven always thought so highly of me.
The weight of her words
balanced with the weight of my guilt
finally broke me.
And she held me tight and brushed back my hair and said,
"Everything is gonna be okay. It's all gonna be okay."
I could barely breathe, much the less tell her this was all my fault.
I'm not always perfect at the balancing act.
Sometimes, when I fall of the balance beam,
other people feel the impact.
The next to go was Thomas,
one of the few people I truly believed could fly
if he could just set his sights to it.
He died on a rooftop with a needle in his arm
and his wings spread out wide
because angels were never meant to stay on Earth for long.
Next came Lydia,
A crack addict before she left the womb.
She survived 2 days on a respirator
and more than 10 years in my mind.
Sometimes, angels aren't meant
to even touch foot to the Earth.
Then came Amir.
He told me that I drew lines
when other people drew straws.
Amir drew lines on CD cases with $100 bills,
his image dark
his thoughts dark
Amir was never taught that
razor blades are not made
for mirror or flesh.
And I know that you won't rest in peace my friend.
But at least now,
you can rest.
Just last week I lost Dave.
A man that I have far more in common with than just a name.
We chased dragons together after school.
He finally caught one
and it killed him.
Because the things you take in life
sometimes, will take things from you.
You can take 2 to ease the pain.
But it will only tease you.
It will only feed the pain.
It's no longer a game
when your life is a name
on a shuffled deck of funeral cards
whose only suits are hard drugs and soft hearts.
I know friends who have left last messages on dressers
or shoved their messes into bottles
and I want to make a message in a bottle that says,
"DON'T TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED."
Because the things in life that are taken from you
will take you too much time
to get over.
Poet Douglas Kearney and composer/producer/drummer Val Jeanty link up for a a compelling LP that feels like the written word come to life. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2021
