Before (feat. Ian Kamau & Aisha Fukushima)

I don't know what I'm doing I just play I play chords like a church song That scale I was raised on And the memories hurt some I can't shake it it's in me still All of the pride and shame instilled Accents, I was raised to feel True meaning when our words just fail I know we are scarred and the love is real My Amharic's not what it used to be Get excited when a few words come to me It's like playing these black keys I can't call the notes, but it's therapy We long to connect I guess, even when home is a wreck And stretched across continents, we left and left I'm always leaving, but dreaming to stay All of these relics and keepsakes Adorn our necks like lost faith Of crosses that we don't pray to Just to celebrate what made you Cry out loud, let the rain heal For a home that isn't so pain-filled What we can't see but we may build Dreams get made like they're make-believe Make-believe And I may conceive a world in my mind that I may achieve I may achieve What I reach up for as I'm falling down Down, falling down Though my closest friends, they are still around Around my way it's the same, I guess Homeless hunting for cigarettes Kids on the court trying to see who's best Arms raised up, we don't know who's next We don't know who's next Please help us live And if you choose to give a damn I will show you who I am Just to show you who I am So these days I get up early Stroll from Yonge to Berkeley Hold my chest from the biting cold Every moment it writes our souls And we don't know the path But it's our path to stray I might go, I have to say Just how much a laugh can say A laugh can say