i was young once. eventually everybody must grow up inevitably what you look for is gon come so never fear bottom goes back to the top like a ferris wheel now i know what’s what even though i maybe don’t seem to know much still waters run deep, riverbeds flood and your cup runneth over before you know it, you better drink deep think big, reach up let the wind in the willows teach us when i sleep on the pillow i need to trust with my roots in the dirt the truth in the earth will be coming up let me sum it up, growing up never done childhood go so fast from a young’n to an old woman or man just like that time goes past, can’t buy it back it all is a process, watch this i’ma resurrect myself again like i’m lazarus stop with the gossip come and talk to me honestly we could compromise on the conflict probably we’re on the same side which is comforting why do i fiend for a fight like a puff of weed i’m calm in good company giving love to the audience is lovely of course it calls for all sorts, takes all kinds of kinds to find the one source follow signs and find the truth in all forms, i’m still tryna talk to you if y’all want to build still what’s the real deal what went wrong how do we heal pain i’m trying to try you were far away today and i (didn’t ask you why)

Dan Peters: Look at me now I slept through the winter but now I’m awake, yeah, now was down yesterday but now i’m back buzzing around got that gleam in my eye cause you know that i finally found this place, i cant stay here forever, but look at me now yeah, look at me now Zack de la Rouda: spring sprung and i’m thankful up with the summer sun wet from the rainfall i sip a little water as the day start thinkin thoughts but they ain’t nothing i’m just humming like a great song stop and sniff flowers? i could spend hours in the afternoon relishing everything cause it’s infinite after all when you’re in the garden then nothing is ever actually wrong it’s all a part of a symphony it’s incredible to just exist if you want a better world better follow your bliss it’s common sense symbiotic we gotta give to get responses think about it it’s obvious mama says from valley floor to the mountain top do the work and put your trust in the processes all i’m tryna do is be in a world where every flower full up with proboscises who want a buzz? goodness grief

Dan Peters: How did we get so used to empty? the tv seems so friendly the buildings and the boxes tunnel vision and every “ism” why isn’t the moment enough? why do we need all this goddamn stuff? i don’t wanna be an alien, no, i don’t wanna be a tourist, i don’t want to inhale or have to drink something just to feel alive one eye sees the darkness, one sees light Zack de la Rouda: i’m inconsistent with it third eye splits my vision tapped between the rocks and the rivers and the system track progress with an asterisk moving backwards half the time acting happy but i’m actually out my mind tryna find a way to combine all these opposing ideals i’m tryna be the change i wanna see but still just chill i don’t know if i should watch my weight or pop a pill if it’s hell or its heaven that we’re in what’s the deal after working all day i’m very close to the end of my rope frayed knot tied up and i choke puff smoke get drunk stay numb try not to crash one question that i wonder though i have to ask Dan Peters: How did we get so used to empty? the tv seems so friendly the buildings and the boxes tunnel vision and every “ism” why isn’t the moment enough? why do we need all this goddamn stuff? i don’t wanna be an alien, no, i don’t wanna be a tourist, i don’t want to inhale or have to drink something just to feel alive one eye sees the darkness, one sees light Zack de la Rouda: something like janus with the madness i see the future and the past, feel it like an actress healing like a shaman, speaking to the masses said we don’t need possessions like lennon imagine i brandish the microphone like hamilton shout out to lin-manuel miranda, i’m a fan of him i view it from a vantage perspective with compassion, zoom in with the lenses see it clearly like i wear a pair of glasses teaching classes giving knowledge, always learning more academics i’m a diamond in the rough lookin polished climb to the top and then shout to the bottom that the mountain is a mirage - honest - promise - ponder Dan Peters: How did we get so used to empty? the tv seems so friendly the buildings and the boxes tunnel vision and every “ism” why isn’t the moment enough? why do we need all this goddamn stuff? i don’t wanna be an alien, no, i don’t wanna be a tourist, i don’t want to inhale or have to drink something just to feel alive one eye sees the darkness, one sees light

Zack de la Rouda: i’m waiting patiently though time is moving slow slower than ever still before you know the cold weather come we’ll remember the summer and the places that we used to go let me know if you ever think about it if you figured out if you want to be with me or to be alone 8 below zero on the summit of the mountain when i looked into the valley and i thought that i could see my home it’s wherever you are when challenges come, hold it down like the keel of a boat really though, go where the river wanna flow, if you don’t then you know that you maybe gon sink like a stone you never know where the path that you on goin to but im tryna walk with you, A to B you go your way, i’ll go your way too or i will wait here patiently Dan Peters: so here it goes, check it brother, what a gift you are sometimes they don't shine but they're still gold bars that the gods give you to give to the people, let your art lift us up from where we are cause i know sometimes some times are hard, when the present is a maze we're amazed to see in hindsight how we got from A to B or when we drop the binary - that's a sight to see but you wanna know who's walking parallel? you got me, and your mother, and your sister and your brother, with father sky above we give love to one another we all get down but it all comes around how do i know? i'm informed by love. open it up, let it in, in the form of the work that we do. yeah, me and you. sometimes time's slow but i can wait and then we'll get to it

Dan Peters: sitting round here time and time again dealing with these old demons once again how easily we lock it up, we fence it in holding out, holding out, we hold it in… (x2) Zack de la Rouda: i got so many thoughts in my brain i ain’t even really tryna share ‘em with you often i self-censor self-consciously it’s a awful bad habit and i’m probably paranoid, but i got more quiet as i grown older almost like the silence is simpler than acknowledging the obstacles you could cry on my shoulder if i wasn’t so tired all night been fighting with the monsters insomnia leads to exhaustion sleep for a week then i wonder where the time went i want peace but i feed off conflict the pattern is a rut that i’m stuck in and i’m tryna do the opposite if i’ll be honest, i’m tryna be focused all my bad thoughts are products of depression i haven’t been strong enough yet to admit that to myself but i’m think i’m getting close to finally learning from the lessons what’s the point of life if not to cultivate connection? nothing more righteous than a true pursuit of friendship the grass not greener the problem is the fences (the problem is the fences) Dan Peters: sitting round here time and time again dealing with these old demons once again how easily we lock it up, we fence it in holding out, holding out, we hold it in… (x2) Zack de la Rouda: and i got so many walls in the way i ain’t even really tryna scale ‘em with you it’d be way less effort to just wait forever we'd be safe and comfortable but that ain’t what we here on Earth for hold the mirror up why do we avoid the work ? why are we subordinate? why do we confirm to their coordinates? why’s the world headed for another world war again? i don’t even know i guess i’m going through the motions hold it all together like a yoga pose it’s hard like a heart of pine or older oak some like it hot enough to cauterize an open wound some folks cold like a frozen moat i’m in the middle yo sitting on the fence don’t know if to go left and just end up as depressed the right way’s wrong like a riddle yo the pot said the kettle’s cold, and the cat played the fiddle for us there’s where the grass is greener but i’m tryna get my pasture cleaned i’m past repeating myself but i’m thinking that the fence is what’s wrong in the first place for real

if this is what i think i guess the messages i’m telling myself are unhealthy but i can’t resist the bad habits are the most ingrained the comfort zone is comfortable that’s why the call it it aw shit i’m going forward though the past is haunting me like it often is i caught a glimpse of what mental health probably is but i lost it quick i took a breath and started over from the top again. props to me don’t question what is coming next watch and see follow nobody with nobody following don’t fall asleep! the second time it’s even more difficult to roust from out your dreams, so i’m not about to ease up, please trust we need to stay awake feeling invigorated jumping in a freezing lake don’t wait or you gonna miss the mist on the mountain it’s no time to sleep but i’m drowsy we need to stay awake feeling defeated day-to-day make me waste away like i’m tired all the time i make believe i’m making changes and i’m afraid i’m in the same place i was in when i was seventeen, my god been treading water when every river headed to a falls i’m fed up with it all if i’ll be honest i ain’t even really ate for days fallen off dandelion coffee sipping on that store bought with a word of caution from the mouth of a narcissist if you give up on your dreams you won’t ever be at peace it really doesn’t matter if you good or bad at anything cause you gotta give love up to receive better late than never as far as learning lessons goes when it gets too heavy let it go if you wait forever you won’t change for the better cause of entropy get it in your memory no sleep

Dan Peters: Let’s talk about what’s good! We’ll focus on the sun Get wet in the rain again, playing games just like when we were young we’ll get together and we’ll do something better than when we were sittin alone and thinkin separate was better if you’re feeling down and spinning around i wish you would come talk about what’s good Zack de la Rouda: we’re alive, right? you already got two gifts in the morning when you opened up your eyes you got problems? we gon fix ‘em and if you’re lonely then we’re gon visit we all got a part to play, a song to sing, life’s an opera stage, and i wanna see far but i constantly confuse where we are with where i want to be, there’s no stopping me we gotta see what we got is a gift, i give thanks like i’m bowing my head i’m bout bliss, it’s a game and i’m counting my chips we gotta play for a little bit - i’m going out on a limb when i say it’s a beautiful day, i’m going out on a whim i’m going down for a swim you could come for a walk around if you know what i’m talking about Dan Peters: Let’s talk about what’s good! We’ll focus on the sun Get wet in the rain again, playing games just like when we were young we’ll get together and we’ll do something better than when we were sittin alone and thinkin separate was better if you’re feeling down and spinning around i wish you would come talk about what’s good Zack de la Rouda: let’s talk bout the good parts, look at this: i got food in the fridge and the house got a roof on, and my car gon start at least i got car even if its falling apart i got uber got a bus to the job that i got at least i got a job too bruh i'm calm like a buddha my heart in my palm like a wu sau the horse and the cart getting threw out now look around if you got nothing, want nothing if you want what you got, then you won something i want love and a couple of friends, not one dozen you might wonder but one doesn’t check too much, regret too much, keep flowing through the rapids be peaceful but don’t be passive i reveal when i’m rapping you know a lot of real good things happen

i’m always writing i’m always motivated nah, i’m lying - i’m always in denial i’m like a little child i always end up wanting what i can’t have and then always be complaining i’m always lost. always on the path though. i am always mad stoned, keep that on the downlow. im always amped though i act calm: camouflage - always with my atlas on, look at how how i carry on. the globe on my back but i’m always strong. stone-face poker game, fold like origami. i’m always on edge i sieze an opportunity to forgive an offense… i always am a mess…. i confess im buried under pressure i am stressed im always count my blessings, i am blessed i’m always tryna open and compress im always vocal cause you know i always gotta get it off my chest focused on my steps, it’s true what they say that you meet god on the road to self i’m impressed i reflect always check myself, i’m a wreck already i come correct lil niccolo makavelli i’ll at the deli talkin bout the settlements the type to always rock a keffiyeh on hannukah hella pissed always with the eloquence what i mean like cruella is i always get too deep, i’m irrelevant i’m always giving speech that’s compelling though i only spit on beats that are very dope got these lyrics in my head for forever yo it’s like the ink in my pen is indelible