I thought that maybe you would let me know If I’m not what you want let me go go go oooooh oooooh ah ah ah ah never gonna bring me down don't care what you say right now oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ooooooh ooooh ah ah ah ah living in a state of mind where I can't be defined oh oh oh i'm a free machine 1st verse: first of all, listen, I'm gonna tell you this I represent myself, if the self exists if you're compelled to fit me in your little pretend identity box to help dismiss my words...do what you choose to do, it's cool I'll keep moving in pursuit of truth and you'll just be an echo of a time before I let go of the fear of the accusers, now I use the fuel 2nd verse: we're all looking for meaning in our life we can find it easily being in a tribe but we need to realize when connectedness turns collectivist and messes with the freedom in our minds we've all got privileges as individuals and disadvantages that go beyond the visual i'm not a victim or inflicted with original sin i'm just improving the condition i'm in 3rd verse: I'm a drop in the ocean every thought and emotion has a cause that is woven in time like the ocean is in the drop freedom is the poetry of gods built up and broken in the moment of a thought noticing the nihilism lurking trying to resurface but I learned to keep holding it off 4th verse: we all have difficulty dealing with uncertainty planning with the randomness can feel like an absurdity but trying to get rid of it will burden me inadvertently trading my freedom for that security and there is a paradox in being free as you become aware you're not is when you seem to be when that inherited narrative stops there we can spot our own machinery where we can watch the scenery I’m breaking free Into the crowd I beg you please Don’t let me down

we all got a struggle, falls on some more than others hardly a comfort when you're under it trying to undo it, wondering why you were the one it comes to and if you'll succumb to it it may seem irrelevant but pain is a relative thing there's no way to measure where ya never been better to give the compassion they might not be getting forget who's ahead on it when i'm at the end of my rope on the scent for anything resembling hope tending to anyone else needing mending prevents my descent down into the hole into the depths of despair still I can find a breath of fresh air if the door's open a little bit the hope can enter in to show me the best that is there why can't we see sometimes the shapes between the lines the darkness can tear us down beauty's hiding all around just to be alive I don’t wanna hurt nobody Just wanna live my life Can’t we just enjoy ourselves Toni-i-i-i-ight life ain’t perfect not gonna be neither am i We all can see but I think we’re gonna be alright i don't think that paradise is near but i won't be paralyzed by fear there are times we're gonna face the darkness and basically we don't know where it might appear but beauty is a constant moving through the cosmos seems impossible what humans have accomplished quantum computers with a conscience experiencing love, making music in the process a baby born every minute it’s fortunate cause resources are limited but resourcefulness is a force that is in us of course it is infinite if you stop and notice it taking stock and ownership of our own lives and how great we got it makes you wanna find the strength to keep on taking on the endless obstacles that nature's gotta throw at us why can't we see sometimes the shapes between the lines the darkness can tear us down beauty's hiding all around just to be alive X2 I don’t wanna hurt nobody Just wanna live my life Can’t we just enjoy ourselves Toni-i-i-i-ight life ain’t perfect not gonna be neither am i We all can see but I think we’re gonna be alright Everybody out here wondering why it feels like we’re running out of time but i know that somewhere in my mind I built the world that is reflected I built the world that is reflected

I've got hope for the future but I carry the load of the truth cause winds of hope can blow towards delusion against the wind I walk slowly into it to feel the breeze on my face just enough to calm my angst feels like my heart's been broken everytime I had a hope that went beyond what's safe now I'm dealing with the consequence of happiness being tied up in accomplishments exploring what’s more important I'd buy my own lies but I just can't afford it they tell me to be positive but honestly I got a little problem with pretending it’s impossible to reach a point where you can know you lost and quit the optimism, but I know for sure I gotta go for more shot at this I can't run away I keep coming back even when I don't know why why why why I can't run away when the world's falling down all around, my head's up high high high cynicism lives on my tongue, hope is on my breath trying to figure out which is the right one is anybody's guess know I’d never say that I'm done till nothing is left so maybe hope is survival, these songs are life or death when I was a little kid my smile came really quick had my eye on the bigger picture I had a vision what my life would end up like then the time just kept on ticking realized that my smile was a better fit while I never had fought one battle then I sit and watched it all unravel every dream that I ever had i worked till I had it there right in my hand the moment I felt the excitement then BAM it was gone, always on the wrong side of random like maybe I got there by accident or maybe it was my fault to ask for it but the moment I thought to give up the child inside me sings at the top of his lungs like X2 I can't run away I keep coming back even when I don't know why why why why I can't run away when the world's falling down all around, my heads up high high high high cynicism lives here on my tongue, hope is on my breath trying to figure out which is the right one anybody's guess And I know I would never say “I'm done” till I got nothing left maybe this hope is survival, these songs are life or death I thought I could leave it behind there’s no way that I could run away and hide I see it when I close my eyes there’s no way that I could run away and hide

I’m on the outside looking in thinking about what could have been too much safety can be dangerous wish I understood that then regrets of holding onto secrets sacrificing myself finding someone to make peace with striving to move up but every ideal is a judge looking down the path ahead and find that my feet wouldn’t budge self inflicted failure is addictive till you hit the bottom and gotta risk it or you missed it gooooo ahead and criticize me do it whatever way you like woooooooah tell me I inspire you either way i’ll be alright you can break my heart, but I know, you can’t take it away underneath the scars i found my light now, nah nah nah nah you can’t make it fade i know the cycles of life are gonna get us and things won’t always be okay but you can’t take my soul away i put myself out there in front of everyone hoping I connected to some other people when I’m done the criticism hit i was listening a bit interested in if I simply missed something legit so i just ignored the rest more or less especially the compliments i got it’s probably for the best if you lift me up you can also tear me down don’t want this because i need to keep my feet here on the ground gooooo ahead and criticize me do it whatever way you like woooooooah tell me I inspire you either way i’ll be alright you can break my heart, but I know, you can’t take it away underneath the scars i found my light now, nah nah nah nah you can’t make it fade i know the cycles of life are gonna get us and things won’t always be okay but you can’t take my soul away walking through the fire getting stronger from the flames alriiiiight blood of a warrior marching through my veins allllll niiiiight you can’t break me, you can’t break me, you can’t break me down you can’t break me, you can’t break me, you can’t break me down oooo, na na na na, oooh na na na na, oooh na na na na, oooh c’mon gooooo ahead and criticize me do it whatever way you like woooooooah tell me I inspire you either way i’ll be alright you can break my heart, but I know, you can’t take it away underneath the scars i found my light now, nah nah nah nah you can’t make it fade i know the cycles of life are gonna get us and things won’t always be okay but you can’t take my soul away

Studying the world that's in front of me Trying to find the meaning that's underneath Can only see what the other people see Seems like we always got the need To keep repeating 'seeing is believing' What if what you're seeing is even more misleading In between perceiving and meaning Is the ego that filters out things we disagree with Maybe I'm scratching the surface Interpreting shadows cast from a world Going past chasing after some purpose Without a path out I'll have to be first You got to take some chances You’ve drawn so many lines You got all of the answers “Maybe some are right” You got to know there's more You gotta calm ya pride You got that open door “Let's see what we can find” I've been waiting for the morning sky In the dark my fire was my only light Shadows dancing on my walls inside Of a world that passed me by...until tonight Come on with me, see the sun Even if you think there's none It may seem crazy To almost everyone And I know I know I Gotta go I go I Leave the cave behind Stepping out of the prison that I've been in Since I entered in the world as an infant..(go!) Never did it hit me that all I knew was empty Without all of the layers and dimensions (whoa!) So much beauty in the nuance you watch simplicity disappear like the dew drops In the morning sun...and the truth often is at the extremes in a few lost souls...where censorship isn't so the light of conventional wisdom is bent like a prism sending it splintering into an infinite sense of vision You've gotta take some chances You've drawn so many lines You've got all of the answers Maybe some are right You've gotta know there's more You've gotta calm the pride You’ve got an open door Let's see what we can find I've been waiting for the morning sky In the dark my fire was my only light Shadows dancing on my walls inside ~Of a world that passed me by…~until tonight Come on with me, see the sun Even if you think there's none It may seem crazy To almost everyone And I know I know I Gotta go I go I Leave the cave behind want to go back to explain that this amazing world beyond that cave exists when you point out the chains and show the mistakes they look at you like you're dangerous it's hard to transcend the conflict when it seems your identity is dependent on it I can't really judge that hard my escape from the cave is just getting started I've been waiting for the morning sky In the dark my fire was my only light Shadows dancing on my walls inside Of a world that passed me by...until tonight Come on with me, see the sun Even if you think there's none It may seem crazy To almost everyone And I know I know I Gotta go I go I Leave the cave behind

Here we go again, the moment that it hits ya it’s now over with I tried, failed, I’m throwing in the towel now I’m more convinced …they must not get it just forget it, I regret i ever let myself get in this mess looking for acceptance, it’s pathetic can’t quite put my finger on -why they won’t sing my songs maybe if I explain why everything they think is wrong they’ll see the error of their ways embarrassed the way they made a mistake when they didn’t shake with emotion when my logic stared in their face Ok, I was right how come I am all on my own (my own…my own…my own) staring in the mirror trying to dodge every stone that I’ve thrown (I’ve thrown…I’ve thrown…I’ve thrown) ducking down down to the dirt trying to find out who deserves to be the excuse that i’m using first falling in the trap of looking at the world around me no no no no no no, couldn’t be about me won’t somebody come and take it all away but now there is no one left to blame won’t somebody come and take it all away but now there is no one left to blame… Stopping the music, not gonna do it Anymore, forgot what a nuisance It is when you want to communi- cate, but wait, you’re talking to humans how can you have all these emotions in between the things you think and anything resembling logic and not even know it? starting to resent it hard to prevent the pent up feelings of contempt from entering a little bit and i’m tempted I’m better than ‘em anyway then I pay attention to the sentiment embedded in their melodies, telling me truths more eloquent than anything intelligent that I could ever say Ok, I was right how come I am all on my own (my own…my own…my own) staring in the mirror trying to dodge every stone that I’ve thrown (I’ve thrown…I’ve thrown…I’ve thrown) ducking down down to the dirt trying to find out who deserves to be the excuse that i’m using first falling in the trap of looking at the world around me no no no no no no, couldn’t be about me won’t somebody come and take it all away but now there is no one left to blame won’t somebody come and take it all away but now there is no one left to blame… i didn't see the line of good and evil running through my mind if you only look for evil in the hearts of other people then it might consume you It might consume you there’s no one left to blame nah nah nah nah nah nah no one left to blame nah nah nah nah nah nah no one left to blame nah nah nah Ok, I was right how come I am all on my own (my own…my own…my own) staring in the mirror trying to dodge every stone that I’ve thrown (I’ve thrown…I’ve thrown…I’ve thrown) ducking down down to the dirt trying to find out who deserves to be the excuse that i’m using first falling in the trap of looking at the world around me no no no no no no, couldn’t be about me won’t somebody come and take it all away but now there is no one left to blame won’t somebody come and take it all away but now there is no one left to blame… i didn't see the line of good and evil running through my mind if you only look for evil in the hearts of other people then it might consume you It might consume you there’s no one left to blame nah nah nah

I’ve seen cruelty resembling hell from people who felt they were helping and did everything well projecting their demons onto everyone else so the abuse was like a secret that they kept from themselves the moment they hurt you leaving you scarred they play the victim, seeking virtue from being a martyr the more you believe the persona you’re flaunting is who you are the shadow lurking under it will be even darker i only knew strength in its most brutal form learned to repress the impulse the moment it’s born brought down my sails to get my boat through the storm but surrender brings the closest vultures to swarm my harmlessness was making me proud but mixed with resentment it makes a dangerous crowd kindness from weakness tends to fade with the power manifesting as aggression on display by a coward daylight shining down all around me to show me where my shadows roam so i can face them on my own daylight trying to find the strength inside me to step into the darkest night and come out on the other side when my righteousness peaks in its confidence the shadow hiding behind it sneaks into my consciousness like a trojan horse trying to trick me to get in through my open doors to see if he can conquer it exploiting my void to poison me that strength in my veins is a joy I can’t avoid the schadenfreude got me toying with the thought I gotta join him destroying every bit of the little kid that’s loitering can’t suppress the best in me yet turn the strength against the shadow till he senses my threat peace needs strength to keep aggressors in check but when it’s excessive there’s no peace left to protect hold the shadow close to find the pieces to maintain to integrate it in a way that puts a leash on it to tame it so in the darkest night i keep shining when the daylight comes my shadow is right there behind me x2 daylight shining down all around me to show me where my shadows roam so i can face them on my own daylight trying to find the strength inside me to step into the darkest night and come out on the other side won’t you let me sing you a love song find you in the dark hiding under the rubble that comes from the struggles that have broken me apart

something was hiding deep under his smile like a filter that he built up as a means for his survival he saw people like creatures in the wild who could never be his equal so he treats them like a child she had eyes that mislead you for a while confidence hid her trauma and she seemed so in denial holding anger repeatedly recycled through a lens that only sensed an endless stream of different rivals seems their paths seldom could have crossed like momentum would repel them, keep them held up in their box and they’d never feel welcome there to talk cause he thought all of his feelings and she felt all of her thoughts Baby we’re just shooting stars Flying through a concrete sky Trying to get through the dark Before we’re lost in time Pulling each other along the way Trying to see the light beyond the pain Before we go Gotta keep hoping that we might As long as we both can sing our song walls can be broken seems like as long as we both can sing our song he started speaking like he’d been keeping a secret something about him sounded like she needed to defeat him but she couldn’t see that the words were a cry for freedom that didn’t mean what they seemed to her hanging in the air like smoke from a cigarette second hand pain that both sides are living with choked up his eyes spoke life to bitterness as sentiments in her own mind grew more venomous ya know it’s kind of intimate when ya both holding a grenade without the pin in it dependent on each other to trade without the triggering for a bit the others pain seems now legitimate regret flashed quickly on his face but inside of her own prison couldn’t give him an escape product of a marriage in between two traitors misdirected anger and miscommunication Baby we’re just shooting stars Flying through a concrete sky Trying to get through the dark Before we’re lost in time Pulling each other along the way Trying to see the light beyond the pain Before we go Gotta keep hoping that we might As long as we both can sing our song walls can be broken seems like as long as we both can sing our song things got so heated in between them that both of them had to flee the scene just to regain their composure moving apart, they started feeling even closer like secretly a seed was sown that seemed to keep on growing words echoing, repeating like a pulse through their heads, through the pain and the ego that results what if he isn’t evil and repulsive and is smart enough to see things that she didn’t even notice? and his feelings became more approachable why did he get angry that she was so emotional? the weaknesses each of them exposed to the other, sent them on a path to reach some kind of closure a conflict created and propelled by projecting on each other what they hated in themselves and when their paths crossed later you could tell attraction filled the room up like fate knew how to help Baby we’re just shooting stars Flying through a concrete sky Trying to get through the dark Before we’re lost in time Pulling each other along the way Trying to see the light beyond the pain Before we go Gotta keep hoping that we might As long as we both can sing our song walls can be broken seems like as long as we both can sing our song

My way my way my way.......home never get too far away my way my way my way.......home sometimes it’s hard to say we got a love that cuts the deepest when scars intersect like puzzle pieces falling in love is easy but it seems we're destined to confront our demons like "woah"...... it's like we're standing here talking to our past, revealing the battle between healing and concealing it's appealing to cover up the feeling before we have to deal with it standing behind my defenses forget how green my side of the fence is get so tired of the miscommunication losing patience I can be tempted into a mindset attempting to fight preemptively preventing me from the sting of anything you say that can get to me emptying wounds till there's room for the empathy toni-i-ight i’ll testify I’ll testify toni-i-ight i’ll testify I’ll testify we've been racing through the dark to fix our broken parts you've got my love. won't let you feel alone I may not be the type to shout it don't let there be a doubt you got my love and when I'm lost you are the way home everything changes with time man can't step into the same river twice the moment the interaction happens we're different than our past, only names'll survive ......so we started to drift apart, part of it was our need to shift priorities ignoring our scars in the midst of the bliss of devoting our hearts to the kids should have been smarter than this took for granted the bargain that the spark had been lit and the farther it gets the eyes start wandering it's hard to resist but truth has always been the anchor to keep us from hitting the rocks when in danger hearing it can be painful but I'm thankful everyday you and I always find our way home toni-i-ight i’ll testify I’ll testify toni-i-ight i’ll testify I’ll testify we've been racing through the dark to fix our broken parts you've got my love. won't let you feel alone I may not be the type to shout it don't let there be a doubt you got my love and when I'm lost you are the way home you’ve got my love you’ve got my love my love

the moment I found out that you were coming was so excited but knew that under the surface I worried the pain that I buried when younger could one day return with the love ...but soon you were moving inside of the womb, on the ultrasound you'd light up the room heard our voices while we spied smiling wide, then hiding like you were trying to communicate the same kind of excitement that I have that might have desire for quiet combined with it too nine months to get you ready the contractions hitting every minute seems a bit too heavy quickly heading to the doctor sit there with you, kissed the belly just to tell you I can't wait to meet you see your face and the way the family fits together when I saw you it just got better tears came down and quickly every bit of pain disappeared like it was never here * My whole life Been looking back On what might have been Now I have tomorrow again When I wake up every day Gotta work to find a way I can be better for you I’ll make mistakes like anyone Try to fix them when they come I can be better for you See my life, life, life, life Pass before me in your eyes I can be better for you Better for you, yeah I can be better for you Every night when you get in bed you reflect upon the things you did that day, you take your fingertips link them with mine and bring them to your face as you begin to trace the shape of your smile and lay their awhile like you're connecting with that place and I know you remember everything in a way that i've never seen but you only really ever seem to stop and think about whether things are negative for a second before you reconnect the feeling to blend in with the best ones give you a kiss good night and I'm left finding my breath hiding behind all the stress cause my heart is beating inside of your chest but you wake up full of excitement and possibility I hope that maybe the light you've got is still in me, still in me My whole life Been looking back On what might have been Now I have tomorrow again x2 When I wake up every day Gotta work to find a way I can be better for you I’ll make mistakes like anyone Try to fix them when they come I can be better for you See my life, life, life, life Pass before me in your eyes I can be better for you Better for you, yeah I can be better for you

always had my mind on the future helped me survive and get through all the times that i felt that i might be consumed just as soon as this life gets kind of abusive as a child hiding my bruises like maybe when I’m older I can fight if I choose to getting used to waiting evading today maybe this way I’ll see improvement truth is i’m stuck in my ways even as I got older and my luck seemed to change don’t need to struggle every day to get by, and i got somewhere that’s safe to stay, and a little love to keep me sane no longer does my hunger turn to pain there’s not really much to complain about so why am I under the rain i know that I survived the storms that passed so I could see the sun so why does the rain keep falling down can’t find a cloud up in the sky not even one so why does the rain keep falling down can hide and go inside and hope a brighter day will come but what if it’s here right now kind of funny in a way, I have everything and nothing at the same time life called my bluff and then i played my cards, hardly was enough i had to pay twice upping the ante if only they would just understand me can’t be running around all over town hunting down my suffering like some vigilante caught up in the movie of my life reviewing it, even though I knew there’s no rewind there’s always something new that I could find to improve this movie, this is how i use my time lost in a daydream even though the world that I’ve got is amazing if i can just breathe the rain that i’m feeling will be washing my slate clean i know that I survived the storms that passed so I could see the sun so why does the rain keep falling down can’t find a cloud up in the sky not even one so why does the rain keep falling down can hide and go inside and hope a brighter day will come but what if it’s here right now X4 Oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh i know that I survived the storms that passed so I could see the sun so why does the rain keep falling down can’t find a cloud up in the sky not even one so why does the rain keep falling down can hide and go inside and hope a brighter day will come so why does the rain keep falling down can hide and go inside and hope a brighter day will come but what if it’s here right now

i need to understand the world that i’m running into even if it leads me deeper to uncomfortable truths working back through the layers it’s a wonderful view but every now and then you’re bound to stumble into taboo taboo is a dangerous turf to defend even when you’re explaining it perfectly it gets translated in their heads in a way that it makes sense within their framework of beliefs but some of them may do it purposely turning strawmen into stakes made for burning me motivated by certainty if I disagree with anything they say that makes me a racist, it worries me that it’s become unsafe to diverge, I see my family could get hurt from this chase for the purity this place is absurdity everyone thinks the same about everything while praising their diversity where do I go when my truth can not be told like my mind is a disease quarantine where do I go when virtue is on patrol and i just disagree quarantine i’m not your enemy, nah just trying to find some freedom oh great, everybody’s woke now you can all pretend to be offended by a joke find someone thinking different, quickly hang him from a rope how dare they not celebrate the emperor’s new clothes! ever since I can remember my mind made me an outsider so i didn’t fit told me I was a genius, i tried to resist because it gets lonely all alone inside of your head i wanted to be like other kids but didn’t want to get lost while I was finding that bridge decided not to hide the thoughts that I have cause the sacrifice has a price that’s twice as big so i spoke my mind despite what they said my whole life but now i might be quiet instead cause how many death threats do I need to get before I consider that one of them might be legit? where do I go when my truth can not be told like my mind is a disease quarantine where do I go when virtue is on patrol and i just disagree quarantine x2 i’m not your enemy, nah just trying to find some freedom where oh where do I go

sometimes I need escape from living to survive i just need some space where i can close my eyes woke up early in the morning, yawning, wanna close my eyes without warning, saw the phone blinking, caught me by surprise rushed to check it, probably wasn’t wise but i saw that it was coming from my father’s lovely wife the message said “your father had a stroke had to go to the hospital and since he hasn’t spoken” frozen, noticing how powerfully our beliefs shift when parents show you their mortality and i don’t know what challenges lay ahead, wanna stay in bed but my kids are crying out to me good morning, time to be a father a little more behind it when mine is in the hospital and sometimes it feels impossible and lost in all this i got hostile and i got into a fight with my wife, as the words flew across the room wished i could pause all of this, i’ve got a lot to lose sometimes I need escape from living to survive i just need some space where i can close my eyes all i need, all I need is a moment alone here in my mind so i can be, i can be home in the rest of the world outside i just need to be lost, into the deep thoughts time begins to end and silence sings its song to me til I come back again such a lucky man, stuck in traffic, feeling like I might combust and have a breakdown, what’s the matter? must have had a hundred little things frustrating me, but nothing happened, just been adding up feeling weighed down, just now had enough don’t have it rough, there’s much bigger problems than I have want that thought to calm me, but it’s not really distracting probably is a can of worms unconsciously that has me worried bubbling up, responsible for having turned me maybe i’m just feeling unproductive like i haven’t done enough constructive since I had some luck hit even though my daughter and my son are growing up with all my knowledge and my love so they’ll never know a “what if”? but am i an example in their eyes if i can’t go and decide to give my talents a good try? it’s a challenge getting balances just right but i need a moment now before the next round in this fight sometimes I need escape from living to survive i just need some space where i can close my eyes x2 all i need, all I need is a moment alone here in my mind so i can be, i can be home in the rest of the world outside i just need to be lost, into the deep thoughts time begins to end and silence sings its song to me til I come back again