Another Year

[Intro: Shad]
So in the end I guess the moral of the story is
That the war continues within us
Everyday

[Verse 1: Shad]
Another year in Toronto
Another drunk in a bar
Barf in a parkette
Another dunk for Demar
More junk of the hearts
Beats in the trunk of the car
On a hard drive
I'm talking from The Junction to Scarbs
Trump is in charge
And they trump up the charges
Told my man that maybe he should move up here
But we get bumped to the margins
Marved:
Many kids starved
Mumbling bars
We're numb to the numbers
Of people sleeping under the stars
Can't argue that the lump isn't large now
Greed is a sickness
Far worse than that lung full of SARS
We're number 1 in the charts
Only one in the pews
Planes and clouds in the skies
Cranes downing the highs
Crowding the views
I wonder how much housing is used
Downtown under construction
Sounding loud and confused
Down tempo and woozy
Hard techno and trap
Had—
(Forgot the last line)

[Verse 2: Ian Kamau]
Another night in Toronto
An autumn walk through the park
Another heart fills with sorrow
From another shot in the dark
And yet, another tomorrow that we both didn't see
A disagreement turned argument that we both didn't need
I say you never consider
You say that I never cared
Your arms are crossed on the couch
I'm gonna go get some air
Beyond the park I cross Jarvis and Front until Yonge
We're young, somewhat undone by the city we're from
An empty plate with no meal
A shining knife and a fork
The smartest artists all jump on a plane to New York
You tell me that I should settle
As if staying's a choice
But I've been using my music
So you've been losing your voice
I feel the constant control
You feel the constant neglect
You're scared of developers aiming at our neighborhood next
And I feel the same people tasked with serve and protect
How do we walk in the city where the police are a threat?
If we object to the mention of being pushed to the edge
They politely ignore us, say we're driving a wedge
But our rent, it soars higher like the gulls by the lake
They either build or destroy
We either give or we take
I get a text on my phone
I see your name with a face
With a wink and a smile
When I arrive we embrace
Your arms closed over my shoulder
My hands woven on your waist
Sweet and sour September
Bitter moments to taste
I hope that we never scar
Though we are licking the wounds
Sweet and sour, our city
A thousand flowers in bloom
In a glass covered garden
Downtown in the park
Your sweet and sour Toronto
Helped me see in the dark

[Interlude: Eternia]
Dufferin Street
Tandridge Crescent
34th Avenue
3rd and Windner
Rugby Boulevard
Bergen Line
Jarvis and Gerrard

[Verse 3: Eternia]
Yo
The tide rises in me
When the moon is full
I feel these lines bubble up and overflow in my soul
I watch the wind when it caresses the limbs and tree branches Older than me
The city chopped them down last week
I could've cried
My view from my window
It kinda died
Now I'm mourning at the altar of these days gone by
I fill my glass up with could've been, should've been wine
And got drunk off the illusion of time
Entitled in the worst way
Living like my life is my own
We all thirsty, wonder why we don't feel whole
Slowly emerging, the evidence we out of control
It is our children that inherit this all
I want children in the worst way
Feel I should apologize though
Like I'm selfish or small-minded for not wanting much more
Or maybe it's too much to ask
Broken, walking on glass
Soaking up the curses and blessings of ancestors past
A legacy that can last
We don't see that too often
All my thirty-somethin' peoples look around and feel lost
And why is that?
I had a thought but the beat came back
I lost it, found in the music my senses get lost in
Often
Rambling with wisdom that's older than all your logic
Words are not the ultimate
Feelings distort the optics
Spiritually led to follow wherever my heart is
And it took me on some detours
I still stay on topic
You wanna hear something relevant, something obvious
I'll tell you how my life got started
Aborted options
And this life ain't all there is
There's more to this than trending topics
I promise
You ain't hear me though, right?
Let me get off this
Train I'm riding on
I missed my stop
Just so I rocked this
Let my thoughts flow where the train go
Dundas to Bloor and Royal York to the bus—73C
Where my parents rest ain't the best
But that's the option
And everywhere I nest it feel like home when I get lost in this
Thank you for listening, my spirit can rest now

[Interlude: Eternia]
Rectory Street
Trafalgar Court
Ewing Street
Churchhill Street
Bayshore Drive
Baseline
Her Womb

[Verse 4: Shad]
I remembered the—
That last line just came back
It was "Had snow before Snow could rap"
That's where I'm at
And I'll wrap the track
Still feel a couple joints by him by the way
Bottom of that playlist that I hide away
OK, what was I trying to say?
On the inside been making big strides: Giannis
See the kid fly
Not just making the Bucks or the big time
Some give time
Pour their hearts out
Then sit and sip wine from this vine
By the way I miss Vine
Anyways, this is what it means to me to live
Every day
Guess I'm still singing the same song
The one about trying
The only thing I can say without lying
I wish I knew a seed that could grow without dying
I wish that I could
Look you in the eyes and smile without crying
Funny things is, I was trying to tell a joke this whole time
I think that I've been trying to say goodbye
Well I'm open to surprise
Even open to demise
Feet planted in the city
Hands open to the skies
Once I was baptized in the ocean in a storm
In front of every force that wants to see me conform
And in front of every crowd that wants to see me perform
Every night, every morning I'm reborn
Transformed in this war-torn
Soul, mind, city, globe
Before we all explode