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This Guy I Know prod. TGIK (2014)

by Zack de la Rouda

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1.
Begin 03:16
CHORUS: When we get where we’re going we’ll be where we’ve been. If this wagon gets broken we’ll fix it again. We just gon keep flowing down in that river we swim in. Don’t have no destination, don’t have no middle or end. We don’t know where to begin. I don't need know where to begin; I’m rowing my boat flowing with the current of river. I’m open to the omen of moment and follow it only hoping that I’m going where I’ll get. That’s a given. Honed in on my goals. I got em set, and I’m headed direct like a homing pigeon; better the yet the pony express. In fact I’m so fast I was there and back already. I’m ready for whatever. Don’t lost in the maze, carrying the weight like a Chomolungma Sherpa probably hurts a little bit, but it gonna bring you strength. Every summit that we wanna send we gotta work to get it so I’m following in the steps of Edmund Hillary. (Everest!) If it’s heavier it’s better. It’s an opportunity for exercise, physical or mental. Fiddle with the pencil, let a little bit of divinity trickle through your headphones. I’m just a vessel for the message. CHORUS We just tryna maintain and continue cause every day is the same thing but it’s different and all we have we’re the path that we’re walking on now. I’ll be damned where the finish is. What i’m asking is, who’s walking parallel? Forks in the road, gotta deal with the hand you dealt cause when the chips are down even if you’re in or out you’re still living. You should be very proud. I’m blaring loud on the horn telling y’all y’all keep on keeping on. Gotta stay strong even if it not happen how you want cause life’s not a fairy tale that we’re being told. Hold steady You could move mountains; even if you think you’re not ready, don’t doubt yourself. I figured out the code. I’m gon tell you: love is the common denominator for everybody. CHORUS
2.
Welcome back. From the Garden of Eden, it’s Zack de la Rouda. God’s still talking to me, man, so I offer the truth to you: I’m going off like a bomb, a shot, or an alarm clock, honoring trees - the authorities calling it treasonous - but I know they’re deceiving us, and the wolf that you wanna be feeding wins. Ain’t it so easy, kids? Love is alive - your heart’s beating, isn’t it? Look up in the sky - ain’t the breeze blowing it? Your feet muddy as mine - ain’t the keys to wisdom always be within us? Breathe a minute. Meditate: if it’s gravy, eat a bit of it. Is it illegitimate to enjoy living even though we need resistance to the evil system? Nah, I call BS. I could not believe this is the only reason we’ve been given the gift of the present moment to exist in. If we want freedom we should probably be focusing on getting it. Can’t come up short of the distance. Gotta work hard in the picture I’m envisioning. Tell me, if you dig with a shovel or your fingertips, and you really feel it you could sing it with me: CHORUS I am a grass leaf I am a rock on a hill I am the glass beach I am a pocket of air I am the vast sea right at the bottom of it I’m on that massive peak high on the spine of the summit We feel the heart of the world We wanna offer our help And where its falling apart We wanna rebuild I been talking to god Cause i been walking by hell I read the bible by walt It's called song of myself Moving along. Knife, ax and a saw. Shelter, water, fire, food in that order. I got my back to the wall when I camp. Moonlight guide for the path that I walk and the coal burn bright when its kept in my palm. Gone all night through the dark till the dawn, not gonna pause even if i really wanna. Got a goal set and i'm going for the gold. I don’t know yet but i hope i’m going home. Never gonna give a percentage less than a hundred got a good work ethic. that's what lesson one is Look, lately i been running from problems But i'm gonna conquer them like a conquest, sure as any prophet. All i really wanna be is honest when i come through like a promise. We could all be marathon runners. What was it you wanted? Never forget about your tomorrows. You gotta stay up like a top or you gonna hit bottom. This is a song for myself that i'm gon sing when i’m struggling under the thumb of big brother and the government. See if you follow this: to quote Muhammad from the Book Of Islam he said that Allah what you call god cause it’s “allah dis.” CHORUS
3.
Alarm Clock 04:28
CHORUS: I’m an alarm clock, tryna wake you up. You could tell me to quit, but you don’t want me to stop. I’m an alarm clock. I gotta wake you up. I get so turned off. It’s a labor of love. I couldn’t stop rapping even if I wanted to, enough slacking I could see I got a job to do. I try to stay humble even though it’s obvious, god brought me down to earth to be an oracle. a fortune teller talking bout the future like i’m doc, my delorean parked around the block with marty in it. hardly written i’ve been handed these lyrics from down on high. i been tryna write the chronicle of we’re gonna rise to the challenge, i see it coming like a calendar my people bout to rally like the calvary of camelot round babylon i spy the finish like a marathon or sweden we won’t be defeated like sinise in forrest gump you thought i’d given up? i just evolved like us all became an eagle from a scorpion now i’m talking to the audience, tryna wake ‘em up nobody wanna hear it like alarm clocks going off CHORUS i’m so loud they tell me to tone it down i tell ‘em no one gon listen if i whisper so i shout i have to talk about it, it actually is accurate factually like gravity apple to the ground, let me ask around what do we think that we have figured out? we’re better than everybody cause cities let us live like crowned kings? that’s astounding. we wanna conquer the galaxy but i’m doubting it we gotta stay grounded, let’s go back to equality when we lived in harmony in the garden of eden and move onward. make our modern knowledge ecological i’m not pol pot but cities are the problem plain and simple. i paint a picture of a sinking ship. before we’re swimming in the drink, think we should reconsider civilization… i can’t be fake. to escape from the land of the snakes we gotta get awake CHORUS try to take it one day at a time gotta stay sane while ya playing the game, it’s a grind yeah i feel pain but they ask me, i say that i’m fine cause it’s choice that i made like a frame of mind to quote werner herzog the poet musn’t avert their eyes mines wide bearing witness to the worst of crimes i fertilize seeds planted verbally move you vertically in other words i could get you high what you dreaming bout? speak about it tell me every scene realize it we should make it real in reality stop sleeping like the princess and the pea you know we’re all slaves till each prisoner is free and if that seems like a tall order from the top office know if you not a part of the solution it’s a problem i acknowledge hard work is nature of the job i’m an alarm clock i gotta wake y’all up CHORUS
4.
Madness 03:08
I’m trapped with the madness and I have to admit it. Don’t get it twisted, I’m not passive. I’m pissed about all of the bad shit. And I’m destined for happiness…! And I have to admit it. Don’t get it twisted - I’m not passive I’m too blessed. Ay, it’s Zack de la Rouda, y’all, blast the computers. When I rage on machines it’s the battle of the universe. Smack to the face like a sack of smelly buddha - Michael J Fox, get you back to the future. Crack to the user. I attack the abuser, when I rap it’s a wrap like a package from the UPS I spit facts when I hit ‘em with the truthfulness So were you listening? Tell me what the dude just said… When i maneuver my movement is super crucial I smoothly approach an obstacle and squash it like’s nothing I’m ruminating on thoughts most scholars couldn’t comprehend You don’t understand? Tell me what else on the earth is new. The government got the upper hand? I don’t give a fuck Let’s occupy again This time we’ll annihilate the snakes in the lion’s den CHORUS Like, bad things happening I stay mad about it I don’t do a lot to fix it but it rap about it That sounds silly and it really is feel me though - What’s a better reason for a kid to try to spit it a flow? I wanna wake the game up, what you me play me for? I’m david dunn to the hate: unbreakable I ain’t drop a tape in a year-plus? Save it bro My songs rock like Zox, you should take me home or else wait for a change like a train to come. shouts from Rhode Island to Ohio on the radio station’s where I should be Y’all should put me on cause I’m living on a farm off-grid Hot spit, fire-breathing, blazing hot like nitro (glycerin?) I don’t even like rhyming any more. Pray take the weight away, let me lift a light load. Despite my best effort i’m outta my dome…! CHORUS
5.
better listen up kids de la rouda put the truth in the track if you’re pissed at the the system you’ve gotta act if you’re fed up with the way we got set up in the matrix then you gotta fight like neo at the end i’m all about direct action i’m not tryna get caught i pay taxes but i talk about it and it put in a rap for the people on the battlefield trapped in the trenches not defenseless pocketful of rocks and a camera mob of followers and henchmen hardened killer instinct taking down a tower with a monkey wrench it’s powerful punishment time’s all cyclical bet you thought your life was linear you couldn’t be more incorrect all of us are criminals guilty of the crime of not being good samaritans and we’re beyond convicted CHORUS on the attack armed with a strap bomb all set who got a match? but i do gotta ask who got a match? give it to me set it to the fuse get back anybody tryna make a move gets clapped this is how its going down, boom, that’s that mattress man got they flag slackened, flapping half mast get it straight we gon hit ‘em where they can’t attack back cue the laugh track, black backpack, bomb all set, y’all nature got the last at-bat ask your kids or your grandkids what i spit is legitimate it’s about mitigating damage i’m raw intellect mixed with academic evidence i’m going off like a cannon smart like the internet. we gon finish it anarcho-primitivism isn’t for idiots but y’all be ignorant the clock keep ticking can’t argue with it, get with it, or get offended CHORUS
6.
Poetland 03:22
we say hello from the same state as longfellow and edna st vincent millay the northeast rocky coast where the weather be cold as othello but the heart warm welcome to maine where we all put print on the page and we offer motivation and encourage each to mix wonder and love with ink pens till we learn something worth teaching we reach out and touch people when we speak from the stage and we each air our pain like it's laundry we take comfort in solidarity, it’s like a posse a safe space where we all meet so i offend you when i talk then i offer my apology with my arms open for a hug tryna cultivate a community of trust a willingness to simply sit and listen is enough if there’s poetland residents present represent then give it up CHORUS what you know about poetland spoken word so potent it’s no doubt we could throw down lyrics always profound bang like a gavel up in poetland slam like pinatas to the ground up in poetland blow like a spark to a powder keg in poetland poetland this is where i am i said, power to the poet that's a resident of poetland you know it fam me i'm from DC by way of VT via BK in NYC but even when i was a little kid in UT i had never ever seen such beauty as in Maine so i moved here, can't complain the local poetry scene was totally welcoming to me it's so sweet that you know i got love for PV and RV, remain at peace, don’t train y’all speech cause we gon keep kicking it until forever wordsmithing as the temperature dipping like a constellation we be non-complacent and we’re thankful that we’re making powerful change it’s like a renaissance cop that gratitude attitude never stop say what you’re feeling like you're very honest power to the poets up in poetland proud to be a resident of poetland you know it fam CHORUS i put on for my city portland where i stay if you wanna come kick it i'm transplant but i'm gon stay that i'm gon stay living in the capital of maine and the written word hope you heard listen good i'm that boy from the district and i do miss it like the point of statistics but i'm settling like a coin in the wishing well in vacationland, making stanzas
7.
CHORUS: When it rains, it floods, and when it snows it could freeze for months, so till the sun set we sweat like oxen: work harder, get stronger. When it rains, it floods, and when it snows it could freeze for months, so we work when we can; you could understand: chop wood, carry water. The days getting shorter. It’s getting damn near too cold to bathe in creek water. We harvest the garden crops, plant garlic bulbs and haul mulch cause we all we need a cover for slumber through winter… The Earth is my mother: I give her as much love and respect as my brother and sister. In the autumn I’m humble and conscious of the gifts given to us by the season we recently lived through, I trust cold’s coming: the time of the year when we holed up in the cabin with a pile of blankets - as snow falling and fire is blazing we keep warm just trying to stay in god’s graces. Thaw’s coming! It’s good cause we need it. Get the buckets out for sugaring season. It’s so sweet! Find me at the shack with the family, wild venison stew from back in January cooking up. Finally content as I can be. Mentally centered, moving more zenward. Work harder, get stronger: chop wood, carry water. CHORUS The days lengthening. It’s getting warm again to go and bathe in the stream. I’m jogging at dawn, been waiting for the frost to be gone. I’m feeling sprung cause the summer coming after the spring. Got the seedlings started in the greenhouse, put ‘em into the ground - say thanks for heavenly things. We give praise with the greatest of ease. Pick the weeds from the rows: there are few finer things than wild greens. Go with the flow; sway with the breeze - pray when we get to the gates they gave us the keys - hope along the way we can help to make peace cause the world just need one thing: love. Be about it! Reach for the clouds. If you work hard you gon reap a bounty. You don’t need to leave the county. Live humbly. What I read: really nothing but the Tao Te Ching, trust me. The rule of thumb gold as a crown: what goes around comes around. The rule of thumb gold as a crown: what goes around comes around CHORUS
8.
"Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow. Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life." - Hermann Hesse we would live forever in the hands of the gods we got the same struggle unfathomable odds so we stay strong and remain humble even though we may stumble keep the keel even if though waves rough i’m calm in the face of a major struggle with a cake-eating grin as i'm paying double i ain't never met an enemy yet that hypothetically won't turn into a friend or lover so no i don't wonder the world is too wonderful everything we want will surely come to us there's no problem what is so obvious to me is we get trapped by what we commonly believe what we were taught to teach the professors as an axe in a classroom chopping little-kid logs into of average cubes life in the lumber yard we slumber hard as society is crumbling we have to choose if we gon live forever "A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail. A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live." - Hermann Hesse the old oak live forever he gon give incredible gifts conituously basket ash live forever he gon keep giving freely all the splints that we sit and weave sugar maple live forever she give sap that we boil down to syrup and drink apple gon live forever she gon feed you when you need to eat for free that’s pretty sweet the trees live forever i love trees
9.
I Love Trees 04:23
CHORUS: we don’t want have no problems that’s why it’s no beef when we eat we don’t wanna have no trash talk neither i probably shouldn’t speak what i think some time it’s all you could do to keep breathing that’s why i puff weed cause i feel free when i chief like a chieftan god damn i love trees i get spiritual with it when i kick clerical check it double there no errors in the figures i’m the opposite of careless with the lyrics that i’ve spitting i really hope you’re hearing what i’ve written i’m serious yes y’all, i’m being honest i got faith and i’m very proud of it with a bowed head i give thanks and praise humbly gaia is great so i say honor your mother and father sky and the other spirits we need more love, so if you have it give it up chant down babylon zion getting lifted up load the bowl, put the fire from the lighter to the spliff or blunt and hit the stuff get it stuck up in your lungs so it pumps through your veins like blood to your head i’m a little buzzed from the powerful buds i could be walking through the clouds and i’d hit it again cause when will i stop blissing? never cannabis can help us listen better CHORUS i wake up late, i work out, then i go to work my job is lame and my boss is total jerk the morning commute is horrible so could you blame me if i say i’m tryna blaze mota first? if you tryna smoke up i say great that’s the type of activity i’m tryna have take place honestly i kind of had a wack day but this sack of AK got me placated, ain’t it my favorite thing guess i’m stoner if you tryna label me i could smoke to the dome till i’m comatose, lay with me we’ll watch netflix cause i hate tv now i’m saying crazy things to people that they can’t believe like a fake id look how i insane i seem rattling on about how we’re all enslaved by cities we want freedom we gotta bomb babylon my friends laughing at me, “come on, zack, settle down” CHORUS
10.
The Maker 03:26
with a sharp knife on my belt i embark on a walk down a path marked out by ancestors hand carved by machete tramped down by regular use i put my boots in their footprints it's heavy. i’m so conscious of the energy transfer between craftspeople and their products this is why i'm modest that’s why i honestly acknowledge 10,000 hours on the path to master from a novice put in time like a clock jot rhymes non-stop like flies or clouds in the sky i’m gon rise to the top of the mountain then shout it to valley give praise to the maker, thanks for the bounty everything we take was created by somebody and i’m grateful for what god gave to my family kudos to the crafter, honor the creator it’s a simple equation, we gotta equalize the balance hats off the gardeners, the builders and the bakers come on y’all raise up the rafters it’s a toast that i’m making, lift up your glasses and take a sip from the chalice CHORUS: thanks to the maker praise to the maker kudos to the crafter honor the creator hats off to the gardener, the builder and the baker the record sample like a taste from a ladle thanks to the maker praise to the maker kudos to the crafter honor the creator the people who would wake up and see the planet as a place to make even more beautiful who will be our saviors so let’s give thanks to the maker kudos to the crafter honor the creator the people who would wake up and see the planet as a place to make even more beautiful who will be our saviors i carved a knife handle, i weaved a packbasket i wrote another song, you know i been back at it with a pair buckskin moccasins on you make a house, root celler and some garden beds CHORUS with a sharp knife on my belt i embark on a walk down a path marked out by ancestors hand carved by machete tramped down by regular use i put my boots in their footprints. it's heavy. i’m so conscious of the energy transfer between craftspeople and their products this is why i'm modest that’s why i honestly acknowledge 10,000 hours on the path to master from a novice
11.
Night Moves 04:11
from the moment that we met i coulda swore to god i heard the son of aphrodite licked a warning shot it struck my heart i fell in love on the spot since then been walking on clouds tryna calm down nah, i’m not doubting the providence i just wanna stay grounded with common sense cause only god knows what it’s got planned for us so we could stay strong even when we stand alone but i guess i got caught in the undertoe knocked me off my feet like i was struck with a thunderbolt your eyes shine like a light when i'm lost in fog so now yours is the courtyard that i’m running toward ask would you give me shelter from the storm? i’d build a boat for you we should set a course i’d make a home for you and i hope you’d let me share it with ya last night had you in my thoughts the night moves like a typhoon i can’t sleep so i rise like a tide pool the bright light from moonshine at high noon illuminates the room even though i got the blinds pulled i write a poem for a friend of mine when at best we’re pressed for time and the pressure is too high and at worst my words hurt like a knife wound then i’d feel quite stupid man it’s funny how despite contrary proof we stay cautious even when we spy truth we’re standoffish wonder what could i do? in the face of such awesome odds we often feel small but if you could lead a horse to water opportunity like a ripe fruit you can’t drop it cause it ain’t every other day that it’s gonna come knocking it can only show you the door you gon have to walk through it i woke from another odd dream again to this old bob seger song on the speaker set as rain poured from the thunderstorm i sat counting seconds wondered how far off it is i started talking to the walls again man it’s funny how the night moves i wanna properly apologize for speaking from the bottom of my heart instead of following my head when i give advice and do the opposite
12.
All Caps 03:11
i'm not mad i'm just passionate i'm not a rapper i rap a lil bit at the crib like a bassinet i make tracks like a train or a rabbit change what i'm after i make 'em clap like a castanet i put in work like a master chef actually, self-made, out of date, discredited. confederate, devil's advocate bit veteran bad as a television newscast relevance and i'm hell-bent for the hell of it i coulda had money, coulda had power, or fame if i wanted it they worth nothing to me, i'm not gonna struggle for status, what i wanna get is not for sale it can't be won it gotta be earned i'm doubly sure that it's gonna be coming cause i trust the earth i don’t stop working root of the fruit, seed in the spring i be coming up i set out to make progress a taoist so i'm all about the process, an optimist obviously confidently i could climb from the bottom to the top of the tree but i'm not gonna. watch me, i'm coming clean yeah i preach and i'm proud of it cause this is where i wanna be talking to the people in the audience about the big picture and how to fix it so if you're doubting me quit it i don't need to hear it i done been fed up with negativity you could be a part of the solution or a part of the problem pick how you gonna be living said are you gon on walk the path of the popular chase the dollar and ignore the indigence would it break your heart take your soul tear you apart when you think of it life’s difficult but when we work hard for a goal we appreciate the benefit tonight's pivotal live it up we gon raise hell for the hell of it CHORUS if they say we gotta leave then i dont wanna go what they wanna teach i dont wanna know if they tryna make peace then im tryna start a war a rebel with a cause but i think that i forgot what it was but i dont wanna know you could put me at a party talk kamikaze naw you can't stop me i be making points over joints they retort i rebut it's an orchestra the ole opry or when i'm out a bar i can bend an ear for an hour or more - it's not boring i don't give a damn if they heard it before i drone on like obama i got 'em all snoring yeah i poke fun at myself cause i think i got lost i been calling for help i figured out how to be honest and, well, i'm embarrassed how often i yell (i’m sorry that i yelled.) i sorta felt bad but im much happier now, and i’m glad that i held back still a rebel if you gotta ask if you feel what i rap sing with me all caps CHORUS
13.
give thanks and praise cause living is amazing what we have been given is a great thing life so sweet, all the people that we're seeing we're embracing we could feel the love radiating coming from the sun that's above and the fire that is raging inside the mind, this is crazy, hands to the sky if you like what i'm saying go on and stand up, y'all could sing with me, sing CHORUS: i got a gratitude attitude, i am a happy human i am a glass half full type fool, got an optimism aptitude nothing that i have to prove, i'm feeing awesome on this afternoon yes, it's a heavenly avenue that we travel through i'm tryna capture snapshots of the view green trees that could help us breathe clean, blue water river flow go let us drink deep give thanks and praise to the power that be, take a moment to think we are actually free, now you see, i got a gratitude attitude, i am a happy human i am a glass half full type fool, got an optimism aptitude nothing that i have to prove, i'm feeing awesome on this afternoon i got a gratitude attitude, i am a happy human, i'm asking what about you? if you pissed off cause the system is a constant struggle to exist in gon lift you fist bruh you know that i'm with you i have always pledged allegiance to rewilding i'm fighting for resistance even if society is slavery maintain positivty it's crucial because if you get stuck you can't do a damn thing, that's why i'm chanting, there is one thing that you really got to keep up CHORUS if it's not then awful, then it's awesome (this is obvious) why we stay blind to the light? let the darkness lift. you could cry about your problems, or try and really solve 'em but throughout the whole process stay cognizant that if you aren't starving and your heart is hearty, you are more blessed than you could understand; every person has a purpose. if you haven't found yours yet just gotta be searching for it. keep taking those steps toward your personal legend. it's all karma, remember? don't you go and forget it! it's all good even when it ain't: it's hard work but we feel joy when we push through the pain. CHORUS

about

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SONGS OF MYSELF
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"Songs Of Myself," after Walt Whitman, was the original working title for this album entirely produced by T.G.I.K., a.k.a. This Guy I Know from Chicago; many of these songs were written intended to contain words of encouragement for myself and others who slog through The Struggle. Many of these songs talk about civilization, society, politics, and god; I maintain that my music is non-denominational. I offer these songs humbly to whomever may still be listening with the modest hope that they may be valued and appreciated.

I'll be back in the woods this summer. Those who know how to reach me may be able to do so.

Thank you all,
with only love from,

Zack de la Rouda

credits

released June 21, 2016

produced by T.G.I.K. aka This Guy I Know

soundcloud.com/thisguyiknow
tgikmusic.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/TGIKREMIX‎

all lyrics and vocals by Zack de la Rouda
(except: spoken word pieces from "Live Forever," by Hermann Hesse)

www.facebook.com/zackdelarouda

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Zack de la Rouda Portland, Maine

i write songs and rap about weird stuff like love self-actualization civilization depression anarchism and taoism i like to eat from the garbage even though it's kinda hard to find organic stuff there i spend a lot of time alone somehow i am still releasing music ... more

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