The Four Loves (Second Edition)

[Verse 1]
My biggest brother is the one to blame for how I bumped that Warren G
F-bombs and all everybody's always warning me
I rap because of him--he's like a second dad at times
At practice time is what made him the proudest dad alive
And brother number two
Mr. Oxford Genius but my Puma sneakers missing, bro you got 'em
Death bed to married man
Gearing up for round two
There'd be no C.S. Lewis music out without you
And daddy's stubborn heart is from his father and his mother
Ain't a man that's named McNease that hasn't fallen to a struggle
I know your heart's been broken since you lost your little brother
But you got three sons that look just like you offering you cover
And mama, you're second to God and everybody knows it
They can cut the apron strings, but they can't cut the bond that hold us
You broke your back to keep your babies warm in winter
And [though?] we're big enough to leave we still need patient words of wisdom like

[Interlude]
This is the love that made me grow

[Verse 2]
I grew up in a town that never understood my fragile mind
Sometimes the prophet gets no honor in his span of time
I gravitated to the outcasts and the fractured kinds
Graduated, left as soon as I could pack the ride
I found the open arms and batten-down-the-hatches type
Rich, broke, gay or straight or bi
Or both black and white
This huddled mass is culture-clashing through the black of night
And I admit it, I was wrong and never had the right

[Interlude 2]
This is the love that made me bold

[Verse 3]
I was lost til I found what I was hoping for
Enchanted April found a way to make an open door
Whites Bridge to Bay Tree
[?]
Five years old both as close as souls could ever sit
Ten times smarter than the smartest that I've ever met
The consequence I got my head on right because of it
[And soon] the lights'll take me right back to the cause of it

[Interlude 3]
This is the love that made me whole

[Verse 4]
I'm nine years old
Frozen November
There's an altar call and all of us forgotten to remember
I told you that my life was not my own, so front and center I repented
And I beg you spare some mercy for a sinner
The tears down the face of a nervous little boy streaming
Hit the carpet where they mixed with all the saints before me
I heard 'em singing that the sins of man are washed beneath
The flood of deep forgetfulness and then the voices ceased
That's when my head went under
That's when my debt was covered
Ain't been the same since the second that I left the water
(second that I left the water)
Heard 'em sing amazing grace
How sweet the sound that saved a wretch who made his great mistakes (huh)
And your lessons are still lost on me
From please pass the cup now to "lama sabachthani"
Cause I denied you when I said I couldn't possibly
But you said an altar call is all you want from me

[Outro]
And this is the love that saved my soul
This is the love that saved my soul