Sarah & the Scraped Knee

Sarah scraped her knee running up the street
So we went inside the house
Alcohol burns, you live and you learn
But some things, but some things she don't need to find out

I feel my back against the wall
I feel like Atlas shrugging at the weight of it all

'cause what can I do?
Sell drugs or rap, pick one of the two
Pick one

Pick one, pick one
Pick one, pick one
Pick one, pick one
Pick one

I need advice, I need a guide
The Counsellor sighed, so did I
I can't describe, how he makes me feel
Like why did I show my face in the first place?

There's nothing in this world that is stronger than black fear
My whole personality's destroyed by black fear
Mix that with the fear of failing junior year
Plus the sound of my mom straight up crying in my ear
'Cause the worst thing her black son could do is be weird
Or queer

This is
This is why
This is
This is why I show my second face

Just like Sarah and the Scraped Knee
She doesn't need to feel how I felt at 17

She doesn't need to see
How I scraped these
She doesn't need

To be the mascot of diversity
At Temple University
There will always be a black and white barrier
Between you and me

I'm still scraping my knees

The first face: is easy, is the one that you see
The second face: is a lie for my family
The third face: my true self, I keep it on the bottom shelf
It's completely broken from stereotypes and everything I've felt