Reflection

[Verse 1: ATO]

And now you're questioning the decisions I'm making lately
Said that's rich coming from someone who barely gave me a penny
If you were here you'd understand my reflection
'Cause standing over there gives you an ill-informed perception

Of who I am, who I'm meant to be and the couches between
'Cause when you wake up is when I'll be living the dream
I've embarked upon this journey alone
Now I'm four years within the unknown but yet so lyrically grown

Shit
How did my life become like this
It's all a puzzle, drinking, I can find the answer in the bottom of this bottle
Life's a struggle
So we work just to work more
One the last floors has us falling through a thousand more
When the rich take less to the grave than the poor

My mum's calling my phone and I'm on the road
I take the call, she's low, saying she's been diagnosed
With the same shit that had me wear a black suit and tie
When my mother's mother said goodbye back in '99

There's a thin line between love and hate
And I see people cross the border every day
And I see people hustling to find change
In the pursuit to find change

All I know is
Ato, come home
Ato ain't ready, Ato needs to get more
The hourglass's pressure ain't resistant
Thoughts of pessimism
Despite all these feelings be the rhythm to the way I'm living

And if you find a diamond in the dirt
A broken bridge by a river, or a sinner by a church
Trust I know life is too short
To not give time to a possibility without hope

[Chorus]

Young guy, you don't know why
Living in the city where they leave you by the roadside
All I know in the place where I've grown is
I don't wanna be like him

Young guy, you don't know why
Living in the city where they leave you by the roadside
All I know in the place where I've grown is
I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna

[Verse 2: ATO]

Think about you, drink about you
I tried with you, but you pushed me away
Way deeper into yesterday
Hold up where you going, you best not be playing games
One fight away from changing this picture inside this frame

See when you go is not back to my usual
Young artistic nigga in the city with that pencil full of pain
Into walking in the rain
And the raindrops they fall heavy for me
It's funny, feel like it's Gods way of tryna speak to me

Well that's what I feel
Feel what I imagine is real
Just a flower in this field
Tryna find my way between
The pretty lady's finger and thumb
And she's God
Cause she controls the feelings I've got

But I've got so much on my brain these days
I feel the waves getting far too big to handle
[Fail] to turn this shit the other way
Sail back to the harbor like your average Joe and play it safe
But that's not life it's not what I chose

The Romans made these roads that I refuse to follow populated with people that don't see past the tip of their nose
In the process lost a place called home
Lost myself
Lost my girl
Feel as if I'm alone staring at the park

There's a billion people that feel the same
Life is how you see it and I see it as a frame
The picture that it holds becomes clear on your final days
Pray it's never my choice to choose to give the brush away

[Chorus: ATO]

Young guy, you don't know why
Living in the city where they leave you by the roadside
All I know in the place where I've grown is I don't wanna be like him

Young guy, you don't know why
Living in the city where they leave you by the roadside
All I know in the place where I've grown is
I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna

[Verse 3: ATO]

That's when I realized I'd rather have real enemies than fake friends
Be true to me than lying cheating on Sunday, say Amen
I keep spinning the world on the tip of my fingers
[Stressing] the waves
Causing tsunamis
Killing them masses
Watching em pray
Twenty four hours a day

Just to test em
If I stop it, wonder who calls it a blessing
Wonder who sees the disaster
Wonder who can see the lesson
But my left hand keeps on spinning it
I'm out of control
My eyes reflecting the cadence with no intention to close

And now you're questioning the decisions I'm making lately
Said that's rich coming from someone who barely gave me a penny
If you were here you'd understand my reflection
Cause standing over there gives you an ill informed perception
Of who I am, who I'm meant to be, and the couches between
Cause when you wake up is when I'll be living the dream

(Ato, have you been up all night?)