When the factories closed, Dad went to middle management
It was just a 9-to-5, but it felt like abandonment
Just to feel alive, there was the knife handle gripped
Gently stroked the thighs before she started panickin’
Sold all her life, lookin’ in a cracked mirror
Everything fuzzy – lies makin’ that clearer
She was airbrushed, but longed for a brush with air
Price of living on the top: saw that there was nothing there
Stayed in the suburbs, but lived sub-urban
Purred when she posed, but still lacked purpose
Though looking at the servants, felt better by comparison
Second child worse off – family’s the embarrassment
Not a case of parentin’ that failed to stop the trouble
More a case of starin’ in the face without the struggle
The open field appeals, but you always need to hold a fence
Cuz without gravity, there’s nothing you can grow against
Chorus:
This is for the struggle
Dedicated to the struggle
Everybody’s gotta hustle
Now for the challenge: ‘Discover who you are’
But maintain the balance: ‘Don’t go too far’
Cuz the other side is greener, but that is just a lesson
When the food that doesn’t feed you seems to feed on your depression
Everyone is guessin’, but the few with certitude
Always seem to want to lead the rest of us in servitude
And if you ask for further proof, they always pull the weakest link
Everybody’s done a study – tell us what the people think
So she starts to reach the brink, ‘bout the time she reached the sink
Never wakin’ from the dream, though she can’t ever sleep a wink
With the razor poised in air, feeling all the poisoned air
Tears streaming down her cheeks, wonders if the boys’ll care
But she shaves her arms and legs, beating back the throbbing dread
Wishing she could do it, but she’d rather be a mom instead
So she puts the blade away and lies there numb
Pain locked in the closet for another day to come
Chorus
Everybody hurts, but we overcome
Though not everyone knows where the hurt is from
Way I heard it from him, that was her choice
Way I heard it from her, that was God’s voice
They observe relative to their prospects
Whether suburbs or the projects
Yo, we all project from our background
So it’s always hard to let the past down
And I’ve been let down hard in the past
Two-sided story when we sawed it in half
Not a magic trick, just a tragic mask
We could all use a hand but we’re too scared to clasp
So we gotta hold out, hope we hold on
Through the triumph and tragedy we go on
So long, till we meet again
And if you believe, this won’t be the end.
