uncouth out of necessity

i am the poison that i drink
i am every lie i think
intoxicated on the promises i have made like a dripping sink

better save my breath for breathing
when skeletons are speaking
if i live through the moment then i might actually learn something

but my mouth may be the death of me
and my actions act out fatally
that i have no place among those who live loyally

friend is just another word
for the one who knows your weakness
and will exploit it when it's easier than memory

i would like to start anew
but not with you
you wouldn't want me to

what you want is honesty
because what you need is distance
i gave you the first, you to me the second, and all in one fair instance

now one is the weapon that cut my own hand
the other the noose that strangles itself
entangled and twisted, another's a clown

my story isn't new or cliche
derived from older works like a preachy passion play
but it stays in hearts and minds like some cancerous decay

now dark is the room that surrounds this oft-lit screen
the screams of air-conditioning deflate any sense of serene
and in dreams i see no peace in a light that gleams instead of beams
from the voices of my brothers who have caned like cain and ripped the seams
of any future, i confess a corpse can be a zombie
but your brain is junk food and i don't want none of your spilled guts on me
so lay off with the play-offs like this is some kinda fantasy league
and pay offs pretending mending fences isn't still all about building walls
making nice though i know you thought twice before givin' "your bro" a call
that's why it took you three weeks to finally pick up the phone
but only five seconds to rip years of friendship to the bare bones
while your holmes sits chain-smoking the death of a salesman in walkabout uniform
polishin a pay-check like a badge of honor while declaring the need for my moral reform

so there's a storm brewin if you haven't noticed

and i got one week to get my thoughts so focused

because goals are more than flagpoles and hocus-pocus

i'm talkin' the real deal that steals from geniuses and makes them feel dumb

and then is the one the geniuses turn around and steal from

that decides for once i won't go numb but heel face turn while you burn rubber and run

'cause i've learned a lot in my absence and i hope you have too

but from appearances all you've learned is to forget to be you

but to be true, appearances are deceiving, so i'm needing some kinda clue

what i don't need is a friend who's always on the attack

what i don't need is more drama that says "we're tight" when we're slack

what i don't need is a once leader who turns to scabber like jack

(must we be remindin, though, that in the end davey brought jack back)

what i do need is to lift my eyes and run for the prize

stop bein surprised but simply surmise that some things you say are lies

to love myself and others because life's better and meant to be lived that way

not because of some rhymes devised in a classroom to fool youths away from rude truths on some sunday

to know i was made and have been called for more than just these teenage antics

to recognize that behind the young lies always hide such adult semantics

to look ahead and not turn back, to be amped up and yet not frantic

no need to panic, i love you brother, sister, mother, father, anybody

i've just realized i'm worthless if i keep living like i am a nobody

so somebody out there if you agree than keep this as a soul study

you want life, you must lose it

'cause every status quo must be abused if

it ever violates a life, that's why i choose this

life, liberty, and the pursuit of truth

more than a nation or a movement or a voice of the youth

uncouth out of necessity because the norm has left us doomed and duped

i am the poison that i drink, but the living water is my messiah

i am every lie i think, so i've decided to set my thoughts much higher

sobered by the reality of a world in need of rain, sometimes you must first set it on fire

but in the ashes there is beauty, and the shoot from the stump of jesse is my desire

'cause last words always stain the lips of corpses

so yes, my mouth will probably be the death of me

whether goodbye or hello, i hope that of course it's

love that i'll always speak out honestly

it's usually out of turn, but it's uncouth out of necessity