Peter Pan Syndrome

[Sample]
"You can't fight the whole world, don't you know that? You've already lost a lot of privileges, now who's the loser?"
"The loser's the one who don't get up off the floor!"

[Verse 1: J-Zone]
Oh shit! Real life snuck up on me
I’m a new eye-glass prescription from being 40
Spent my twenties rocking shows Melbourne to Copenhagen
While my peers stood single file for assimilation
And it all just stopped...
Now here I am 36 still living like I’m 22 and loving it
The real world is knocking at the door
In my thirties treat it like a Jehovah Witness and don’t answer
(Man fuck that shit)
Rap career dead, can’t hide, time to get a job
No experience at all in a 9-to-5, employers talking ‘bout
What I been up to since I was 22?
Making rap records, niggas, trying to stay alive!
Now an artist pushing 40, living check to check
But each year my peers relate to me less and less
And then the world keeps spinning, ain’t nobody trying to wait for me
Hold up a call from an employment agency

[Interlude]
Agent: Old Maid Entertainment, huh. What is that?
J-Zone: Music company.... Made music, wrote a book
A: So... Have you ever had a job, like a real job?
J: Huh?
A: Have you even ever been on a job interview before?
J: Hell no
A: Umm, sorry. I don't think you're a good fit for the workforce

[Verse 2: J-Zone]
Yo it’s like throughout my thirties I was in a fucking coma
Man I should've learned to bartend or became a sperm donor
Never did like cops but I could suck it up and be one
Put in my 20 years get this pension and just be done
(Oops) the doors done closed on that
What else could a brother do to close this gap
Electrician or a plumber, maybe drive a Mr. Softy truck
(Word! Cause then you could just work in the summer)
I even tried to be a teacher who the fuck was I fooling
I just wanted summers off, nigga I never liked school
The medical field is booming, word, that’s the best one yet
So what did I do? (I went and bought a drum set!)
Saw all my peers get promoted, get married, get grown
I’m home doing paradiddles in my basement to a metronome
The odds of me starting this late and becoming the next Buddy Rich
About 1-in-166. Everyday, look at my peers
Address my fears then get the fuck off the page
Probably end up sticking women half my age, that’s a thought
'Cause yo, 40 year-old men in the club don’t get no love

[Interlude]
Woman: You're how old?
J-Zone: Thirty-umm
W: And you ain't got no kids??
J: Nah, I ain't--
W: Where's your 401(K)?
J: Huh?
(*buzzer) W: Hoh red flag. Um, when you plan to... grow up? Anytime soon?
J: I'm workin' on it!
W: Uhn-uh. No more grown-ass men livin' like little boys...

[Verse 3: J-Zone]
I hear windows of opportunity start closing
When you take too long to figure out where your life's going
And I’m stuck between making irreversible decisions
And wanting to kick it to 21 year-old women
Talk to chicks in their twenties, they label you a creep
But I’m a man. FUCK IT! That bitch is bad!
I can’t help it! it’s disgusting, I know I’m 36
I should be focused on marriages and building up a trust
And you’re Black at this age with no kids, chicks just smirk
They either think you’re gay or your dick don’t work
Stuffing kale down a juicer ‘cause I heard it makes you look young
But what good’s avoiding wrinkles when your money jingles
And a B.A. in the arts ain't practical, I tried to work a Starbucks
But that’s where everybody with a Masters go
And me enjoying life is just me, avoiding the inevitable
A lifestyle that’s credible
I take care of my grandmoms, but living with her has a stigma Why? Tell a woman that? (W: "Date’s over nigga.")
Then I hop on Facebook and watch my peers views change
Their kids are all in 1st grade and they start to look at you strange
But if I had an interest in a family and grad school cool, but I don’t
Gotta swipe hit accept and pay the cost, face the fact
My life ain’t like everyone else’s, or maybe I’m just selfish
And need to grow up, to mature, get a real job
A wife and a kid before time close the door
But the writings on the wall legible and plain to see
Maybe all this growing up shit just ain’t for me
(W: So what’s the plan B?) Pshh, I ain’t got one
They tell me I’ma end up fucked up, or swallowing a shotgun
Leaving my loved ones disappointed
Yeah I know the real world exists, I just refuse to join it