A question was raised to me the other day "Why it seem you always have joy?" Well, I'd like to take time to set the record straight.. All the joy I've ever known Has disappeared - in the motherfuckin thin air Like it's never even been there My joy left me y'all [Chorus] God's rain water flow through the same gutter That we, walk today gotta stay brave brother Keep your lips stiff, keep your fist clenched At times you gotta kick your way through this bitch [Verse 1] And I can't stop feelin empty smiling A wise man once told me that every cloud has a silver lining I wanted to believe him but it's a trick to find 'em When the people around me continue dying Granddad was in the twilight of his life When he closed his eyes tight and opened his wrists wide What make a tenth round finer with the winning score Decide to eat or throw it's hollow for the whistle blow Maybe I'll never know But I inherited this poetic soul so the symbolism's yet to show Was life so obscene that death's more serene? Or was an old author tryin to write his own closing scene? Nothing stings like knowing that the woman that gave me this life Is being eaten from the inside I thought we never make shit right I wish I had of viewed it once clear before you were done here That's two in one year that I let leave here Loving me without sheding one single tear Either I'm one of the strongest people left Or y'all just tow me for even tryin to steal breath [Chorus x2] And God's rain water flow through the same gutter That we, walk today gotta stay brave brother Keep your lips stiff, keep your fist clenched At times you gotta kick your way through this bitch [Verse 2] They say shit's strapped but you are by yourself, ain't ya? Damn straight, I got a jail cell mantra Been boxed up but I never been settled in Him got tough started developin leather skin I learned to make that face that tells predators It's better to re-assess just who you bout to wrestle with I'm on a run like the first kick drum of the beat Clear my lungs, spit blood on the street They tellin me we got nuttin to fear but fear itself But I fear I have no human fear left Some day a runner wanna peel back this catharsis And really feel life again and ask what my challenge is I been kickin and bitin for so long and When they throw me a rescue rope I'll be too weary to hold on And see the light, so I sing through the tears And the key of life, the way a wounded ego might [Chorus x2] And God's rain water flow through the same gutter That we, walk today gotta stay brave brother Keep your lips stiff, keep your fist clenched At times you gotta kick your way through this bitch My joy left me y'all She don't show her face around his past Every time she come she get chased off So she stay distant [Verse 3] If it run from the square he wouldn't know the sun was out I hate every word that come outta his fuckin mouth Ladies treat him special, don't know nuttin bout him If saw what his wife see they wouldn't fluster bout him He can't do shit right but rap and make babies And babies need daddy at home consistent But rap keep daddy on the road religious So even in my two loves my soul's so conflicted My son came into this world innocent He deserves everything that he needs to live in it And this home I made for him is broken I'm hopin his love for me will never grow thin It hurts daddy to no end to know when You're cryin at the hospital I'm out tryin to rock a show I made a vow that we'd never be broke again And I'd never be a burden on another friend So when I'm sweatin on my farewell stage And wrote my last hook in my last rhyme book When I get my last line of approval from my family This is the man that I have to b