Blue Scholars - Joe Metro lyrics

I reach beneath the skin of
The street with each step
Walkin' closer to my final
Destination of death
When I'm layin' to rest
I'm only savin' my breath
The Northwest fills the lungs
Heals the pain in my chest
Take six quarters out of the pocket
Drop it in the box
Hop the 48, off to pay homage
It stops often, I jot my observations
Watchin'
Citizens walkin' off of the Joe Metropolitan
Proletariats and wayward sons
With old Filipino men speakin'
In they native tongue
And the day is just begun
Greeted by the scent of a bum
Smelling something like beer, barf, and dung
A brother in repose in the back all alone


Marinatin' in a pair
Of half-broken headphones mumbling rhymes
Same time begin to pen mine
Appreciating God's design rewind sister
Reminds me of a smile in
The back of my memory
Wonder if I'll see her again
Will she remember me?
"I'm not tryin' to holler, I swear
I'm just weary of the way we hop a
Ride and just sit there and stare"
Prepare for my nine o' clock work meeting
A couple pale folks slide right
By with no greeting
But the people with my phenotype follow
With a head nod up
Because we acknowledge that the
Shit's fucked up
North of Martin Luther King
A straight war zone
Detours through the concrete, cranes
And bulldozers
No, the Hill is not over still
Every block got a coffee shop it's overkill
Focus, know the deal dope to see Kalil back
The medicine is good again
The feeling of leaving and coming
Back to your hood again
It's priceless, I write this
Our lives are in crisis
Most talk, but don't walk
The path of the righteous
Despite this I measure each step
Walkin' closer to my final
Destination of death
When I'm layin' to rest
I'm only savin' my breath
The Northwest fills my lungs
Heals the pain in my chest
Clutch the moment, a transfer in my hand
Still listening
Lookin' out the window to the
Gold and the green
And the sun might be shinin' but
It's colder than it seems
'Cuz the weather's dialectical: there's
No in between in walks an old soul
A First Nation native
Cat's chiseled like a totem pole
No words, as he stands and looks over us
He gets off and says, "Have a good day
You foreigners" i, crack a smile one
Time for the acknowledgement
Northbound, now we start to pick
Up more college kids
They try to study on the ride
To make up for the fact that they
Probably kicked it hard last night
And I ponder if it's time to
Save up and get a car
And pay for the gas that
We're takin' from the war
I'd miss all the colorful faces, the places
And spaces I've embraced with
The faith that I can rest and raise
Kids here even with these cats set trippin'
Bringin' '95 back again, same old conditions
From Reagan, to Bush, to Clinton
To the Bush the second
No matter the neighborhood in
The city you're reppin'
It's gettin' serious y'all
You can even hear the rebel call
Gettin' off
Leavin' hella pieces on the walls
Seen it all
Sittin' sideways with my townmates
Only place left where majority is brown-faced
Now we headed downtown to trade
Our labor for cash
I thank the navigator once and walk fast
I walk past the next round of
Cats to jump on it locked in deep thought
We ride around in silence
And cross Rizal Bridge i watch each step
Walkin' closer to my final
Destination of death
When I'm layin' to rest
I'm only savin' my breath
The Northwest fills the lungs
Heals the pain in my chest i remain blessed
Steppin' on rain with each step
Eyes heavy from the lack of
The cousin of death when I'm layin' to rest
I'm only savin' my breath
The Northwest fills the lungs y'all
You know the rest

You know the rest, you know the rest
You know the rest
It's like that y'all, that y'all
It's like that y'all, that y'all
And that's all