There’s somethin’ bout the slowin down to give it all up & breathe in, breathe out I walked down to the water to wash my tears away Ended up I dove right in & cleansed my sins & now it’s a brand new day CHORUS: What if there’s no rules & what if there’s no truth What if all we’re believin’ is a story that we choose & What if what they told you don’t ever come true You better come up with ya own script to live your life through Church bells ring at random times but it’s still a holy moment when I hear them chime It grows still in my mind & it’s all fine, yeah it’s all divine --got me meditatin-- CHORUS We lookin’ forward to the end ‘til it’s starin us right in the face And all those things that seemed “so important” don’t matter no more no way --people listen to me— CHORUS There’s somethin’ bout the slowin down To give it all up & breathe in, breathe out Slow down Look around And don’t forget To breathe

CHORUS: ya keepin the mold, ya under control, ya sellin ya soul believe what ya told, forget what ya know ya sellin ya soul tho ya stifle ya growth, ya still gettin old ya sellin ya soul now where you gon go, when the curtains close & ya sold ya soul Learn that we gotta keep learnin Get that we gotta give back Feel how easy it is to get knocked off track Realize where we came from ain't exactly where we at but it brought us thus far & it ain't so hard to look back Look back on what folks went thru to get us to this place Ya better show some respect ‘cause ya know who's next Ya better stop jus takin up space CHORUS The cards won't fall, if you don't play You'll never get your due, if you don't pay And ya word don't mean shit, if you got nothin to say So wake up now, y'all, time to stake ya claim I'm tired of tryin, tired of buyin all this bullshit they sellin me tellin me i got to be somethin other than myself and see Yeah, i could be a pretty good plenty o'thangs but none of which could touch jus bein me & i'm good with that So thank you very much CHORUS

Every day when I wake it feels the same way I thank God but I’m caught in shades of gray Ain’t no good no more, I’m feelin heavy & sore And I can’t remember what I’m fightin for I feel like… Too much trouble, too much pain Too much in the way of makin change Too much worry, too much fear Too few of us really know what’s goin on out here And it’s no wonder…no wonder I feel like… Every day, every day it’s the same thang No matter how hard I try to play that game (can’t win for losing, y’all) Every day, it’s the same old thang Feels like I’m waiting for the weather to change Every night as I lay, I pray the same thang I ask God to help me find my way There’s got to be some good in store, I know I seen it before Lord, help me remember what I’m fightin for I feel like… And I can’t remember… Lord, help me remember what I’m fightin for.

Dig just a little You gotta dig just a little ‘til we get down to it Ease it on through Don’t force it There’s no way, no need to Ain’t no tryin You gotta give it all up And before you know it you'll end up with more than you had before CHORUS: Play with me As we in, we out, we play off the music We come to the point where we cease to be we breathe Relax, now listen Surrender resistance It ain’t givin in It’s givin up goin it alone CHORUS This is a ritual to see how deep we can get before we let go and float back to the surface Be with the stillness Just take it all in ‘til your soul fills with song & give it back again CHORUS

Clouds are rollin through the sky but it ain’t got nothin’ to do with what’s inside The sun shinin down on me I’m kissed by the softest breeze There’s a gorgeous forecast brewing inside me Raindrops melt into my skin Grateful, I draw them in I think I’m due for some puddle-divin Come storms a-raging Y’all don’t faze me Do your best I been through much worse yet Now the sky is clearin & the time is nearin for the sun I’ll take it I feel a storm comin on You can keep your sunshine You can have your tan-lines It’s skin-thin & I been contemplatin Things aren’t really as they seem Porcelain smile & plastic sheen Beneath it all it’s dirty dealings If wisdom was power like ignorance is bliss perhaps we’d see we deserve much more than this But ain’t no use complainin ‘cuz things gon keep on changing I’ma shun your sun I got a tempest here to tame So, come with the thunder Bring on the rain I’d rather deal with the real than play this useless game & I feel a storm comin on

Thank you he said to me And the way he said it was so disarming As if it wasn’t only me he was addressing but everything As if he crafted the words for the whole of existence And as he released them I basked in their resonance The echo was immense And as I awaited the world’s response Something arose from the silence Thank you I said to him Thank you I said to everything And I been sayin it ever since

Oh I’m perfect chaos I’m a beautiful mess I’m what they call a work in progress But I stand tall or not at all Cuz life’s too long to crawl but my time’s too short to fall Even when I CHORUS: Don’t have no reason to get outa bed I rise up shining, for the LOVE…yeah Gotta rise up, through the chaos Find beauty in the mess Come on – Get up, Stand up Show ‘em what your made of What you give is what you get Keepin it together can get so hard Sometimes I try just lettin it fall apart Let it fall apart, come tumblin down Then work up from the wreckage Build it back up from the ground & even when I CHORUS In the midst of the rubble Havoc all around Somehow silence finds me & whispers LOVE profound & Oh – the release My mind is clear, heart filled with peace & I can finally see That this is all I’ll ever need CHORUS

I been a long time coming…to this time I been a long time coming to myself One day I’m gonna get there One sweet day Oh, I know one day I’m gonna get there Gonna get home Gonna get back home CHORUS 1: Move on…stay strong Eyes up…ear to the ground Steady pace…got no time to waste ‘Cuz it ain’t over…’til you say it No, it ain’t over…’til you say it’s over I heard the call comin through Much as I declined it kept on ringin true & It shook me stealin my safe space & It took me a while to see… there was no other way CHORUS 2: It said, “Listen to the silence – what do you hear?” But I never take the time, I’m so full up with fear It said, “Look at yourself – what do you see?” But I can’t see past all those things I’ll never be It said, “Be in this moment – how do you feel?” Then I felt the pain… ‘Cuz it’s always darkest…before the dawn & Often true joy is sufferin’s spawn S’gonna take some time All that trouble to go to To really get down to it ‘couple thangs I got to do CHORUS 1 & The only way over is over The only way through is truth & The only way out is in & The only one can save you is you Yeah, the only one can save you is you The only one… You.

"mind feed" No news is bad news Bad news is good news So long as we're entertained maintained/constrained/restrained to where thought is a novelty & freedom is feigned We suffer from public memory loss We pay for disinformation, disillusion, distraction Feed us fear & fantasy Keep us frustrated, frozen, futile inferior, insecure & Sell us quick fixes so we keep forgettin If ain't entertainment news, it's "reality tv" Got us trippin so far from reality We can't stand our lives, our friends, our families They're not "real" enough & they jus won't shut up Plus the plot's not exciting, so we blow lil dramas up Get sucked into trifling Terrified of "the real thing" Real Life, Death, Love, Pain & all the rest don't come in 30-min segments w/commercial breaks to remind us it's not real & we're not yet satisfied It's the sum of moments in a lifetime. "body need" Ask your doctor. Trust your pharmacist. Insurance got you covered. Not for Well-Being but Dis-ease. Healing. Process. vs Health Care. Profit. Something is wrong when health inversely corresponds to wealth We pay more mind & money to disease than well-being Meanwhile keepin us sick keeps somebody rich It's better business if they don't find a cure You don't even have to be sick They'll convince you you are You need help, medicine, a fix What's medicine anymore when pharmaceutical companies (like Merck) create diseases (like osteopenia) to sell their drugs (like Fosamax) They tell you what's wrong with you Now, just take 2 Call 'em in the morning but you may not get through Just sign here They'll bill you & If you can't afford good "health care" Well...Sorry You may not deserve it (or so your income connotates) This is a business stocks, shares, interest rates. "earth bleed" We're parasites on this planet She's all we got Yet we refuse symbiosis & act like it don't affect us that we shit where we eat piss where we sleep cut down all the trees now we can barely breathe & The biggest things we see are these buildings With little mind paid to the waste that we leave now, we, fully enslaved to fuel the greed, are deaf to the dance around us declining the breath that grounds us swallowing more, faster, better, harder, cheaper while time laughs at us cuz we need our jet fuel our Nikes and our war But to consume w/out consciousness is to destroy w/great consequence Amidst the BP spill we still hearin "drill, baby, drill" like GREEN's only as good as the pockets it can fill Concern for global economy displaced cognizance of global ecology It's insanity - Where’s our humanity?

new book, new page gotta keep it movin, a brand new day feel the beat flow & flutter away out the window, thru the street, the whole damn day CHORUS 1: now get up, we bout to get down shake ya load off & jump around feel it click & shift, flick & flip, lick & slip through ya mind and if you missed it take a breath, relax, & rewind and get up, we bout to get down shake ya load off, we gon go to town we been in too deep for far too long jus slip it in the slot & bump this song we got it poppin jus right, now we can’t go wrong once we get it goin, it’s all night long CHORUS 2: so get up, we bout to get down only one way to respond to the sound ya better roll it, shake it, pop it, break it, swing it around ya need to move, show & prove, this is the way we get down so get up, we bout to get down get ya shit tight, we gon go to town we gon chase down the sun-down, turn around cross to the other side & watch it rise i been stressed all day, now the night is mine i'm good to go…i got plenty of time CHORUS 1 / CHORUS 2

I want my life to be a beautiful picture for me to look at as I wait in line for me to watch as I wait in line for me to gaze on as I wait in line CHORUS: As I wait in line…’til I die Can’t nothin’ change the way I’m walking just got to lay my feet down left, then right just gotta keep my steps in time just gotta take it all in stride CHORUS Now I’m not worried ‘bout what’s on the other side just tryin’a pass the time in line just tryin’a savor my time in line just tryin’a treasure my time in line CHORUS I got to grant myself permission to just be me What’s cloudin my vision learn to see Confront my deepest fears & break they hold on me And listen to my soul-song to put my mind at ease to find that inner peace to set my spirit free I want my life to be a beautiful picture for me to look at as I wait in line for me to watch as I wait in line for me to gaze on as I wait in line CHORUS