Sage Francis - The Set Up lyrics

I set it up, you knocked
It down, lay the foundation
I built this house
I feel cracks underneath my feet
I feel cracks underneath my feet
The walls are breathing heavy
Sucking up the oxygen with no
Plans of leaving any
For as long as I’ve been hoarding
It’s taking me forever to gather
Up all my belongings

I get attached
And they're attached to people who
I’ve loved and lost
Even though I've got to admit
There are few who’ve run me off
But I’m under no illusion
How relationships get ruined
How I’m ain't shit to this movement when
I’m just stuck to a cross


Tossed into the underworld and
Given specific info
Forced to find another girl sick
Of living in limbo
But I have my songs to play so
I got lost along the way
And now I’ll never see the light of
Day thanks to the tinted limo
I was hopelessly romantic, emphasis on antic
Now I roam hopeless along the
Open coast of the Atlantic
Bought an overcoat that says "Francis
Showboat Captain" did my best to scrub it
Off because it’s utterly embarrassing
Every night I’d re-write my will
On a sandbar napkin
I’d crash after sticking it to
The window of my cabin
Once I awoke I’d notice it, read it
Then remove it
Just stunned I left nothing to
My loved ones but music
Muses abandon me while choosing
Family over continued support
For my intuitive thought
Who would’ve thought? I couldn't
Have thunk it
The worst thing I ever did to another
Person in this world is nothing
Only a few can claim that’s what I
Did when I could have done otherwise
Every single last one of
Them something-for nothing types
Made me pay the price at any cost
I’ve got buyer’s remorse
How many toxins will the doctors
Find inside this corpse?
Suicidal watch - it’s diamond studded
It tells me when my time’s up
I try to keep my eyes from it
It’s so swag, I flash it at the fashion shows
It walks with a limp it’s so pimp
And it smacks the hoes
Rappers used to brag about intelligence
It made me want to be smarter and I harbor
No regrets whether it sells
Or not is irrelevant
I would have sold coke if making
Dough was the sole motive
It wasn’t, but fuck being a broke poet
With unpaid debts
Begging friends for loose ends
If your so-called talent only
Results in loan extensions
There’s no defenses, or buyouts
You don’t get a per diem for good intentions
Do you on the side now
I promise that a job doesn't
Define you as a person
If your words don’t carry weight
It’s not the world's burden
And in no certain terms am
I suggesting that you shouldn’t
Set fire to the stage and
Let the curtains burn
Just be aware of the exit's
Keep in mind that the closest
One might be behind you, the entrance
I've been eyeing it myself in the event that
I can’t live better as an honest rapper
Without my past self being my benefactor

I set it up, you knocked it down
I set it up, you knocked it down
I set it up, you knocked it down
I set it up, you knocked it down
You laid the foundation, I built this house

Gambled away my better half in
Hopes of doubling up the dealer said
"double or nothing" I laughed i
Was shit out of luck
But what have I got to lose?
At least I’m whole now half man, half clone
The bad composite sketch of a
One hundred percent asshole
But it wasn’t without help
Many people did their part
To make me take the time
To Frankenstein was ripped apart
And put it together again
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t admit that this was a
Predicament they put me in
You want a piece of this?
Welcome to the eggshells
Come barefoot and pregnant to my kitchen
Y’all can help yourselves
To the feast and tippy-toe away if
You can’t take the heat
Or over-used clichés
Back in the days I’d leave you heartbroken
These days I simply reach into your
Chest and tear those scars open
Evaluate appreciation
Write you off for tax purposes
I’d rather be homeless than settle
In that worthless nest