Last Day of School

Song: Last Day of School

Album: Lesser Restoration

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released April 7, 2017

ref: https://open.spotify.com/album/2xDGe5lTRyhXybig0em0P5

Oh, I

I used to believe

In their definition of free

I’d go to class

And days go by

While they taught someone else’s history

But when I left

For good this time

I found my story right here in this street

And when I came to tell ya

That I found the truth

They told me that God awful bad news

-

Chorus

They said a young man was

Shot down yester-eve

Another number and a non-white face

Well, hot damn, what’s come over me

My heart is beatin’, but I can’t feel a thing

Inside-out, it’s all empty

They teach us lies ‘til we dig our own graves

But not now, not me

Not ‘til I make the city sing your name

-

It’s tougher to buy your principal’s bullshit than a bullet

Discount ammunition at Walmart ain’t hard to sell

We both know there’s no part of a 16 year old

Bleedin’ from a hole in his chest that can be saved by the bell

I’m in it, I’m in it, from standardized lives to colonized minds

Who’da thought middle-age from brown males would be the age’a 8 and 9

They called a new principal to save ya school and make a scholar

But I wouldn’t trust that slave driver to save a dollar

Security and c-o-p’s God-complex’ll make ya holla

But hell forbid you teach how the rich stay rich and light a fire for the rest of the class to follow

A paper trail, all the way from the bottom to the H.M.I.C., intern to the top of the office

Of a school board flunkin’ a demographic to jobless, impoverished, or droppin’ dead

Droppin grades, poppin lead and droppin pens

I dropped the school and now I’m droppin’ ed. and droppin’ debt

Born upon a ledge and all they wanna do is push- push me off of it

But don’t get wide eyed and surprised when the precinct lieutenant is callin in

Chorus

United Crushers, we fight, fly, and die amongst us

Collide at lunch rush, a cafeteria of misguided assumptions

And the roof we’re under dudn’t do much but give in and catalyze the plunder

White principals tryin’ to find a resolution for the racial tension they never had to suffer

Books on books on books of A.P. U.S. History,

But somehow the syllabus always dodges John Brown and Garvey

It’s Malcolm X Day, no class for me.

I’m just kickin’ it with Driss and Abdulaziz

We were 10, with middle school dreams of becomin’ police, firemen, presidents, controllers

Of our destiny until the floor boards gave in and the curtain dropped down and exposed a joke

Of a system hegemonizin’ at-risk young minds, inner-city and all over

From becomin’ future Assata Shakurs and Billy Powell Chief Osceolas

This is money, politics, and race in motion

Somebody stop the car, we need to figure out where we’re goin’

No one’s exempt, we’re all in it over, and under

Givin’ all of everything just to avoid another…

Chorus

-

Bridge

Oh, I

I used to believe

In their definition of free

I’d go to class

And days go by

While they taught someone else’s history

But when I left

For good this time

I found my story right here in this street

And when I came to tell ya

That I found the truth

They told me that God awful bad news

-

Chorus

It was a young man, like you

On any eve

Wrong place, wrong time, everything

Leads up to this legacy

Of little pride and so much shame

But right now, you and me

Have the chance to steer our fate

So, no one dies in vain

Baby Gots Venom

Song: Baby Gots Venom

Album: Lesser Restoration

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released March 10, 2017

ref: https://open.spotify.com/album/2GXxP1jw8K59NFwqxTeFkf

Packed up the bottle, burned another down

It’s time to see if my luck is any better in the next town

Scorned my lover, I wouldn’t let her in

I got these walls that I built long ago, and they’re thick

I’m an exit. Moments flow through me.

Nobody’s tool except my heart when it’s pulling

I tried to cut it out once, but I couldn’t find a blade

Sharp enough to cut through the walls I already made

There’s no trouble in the discomfort of the act

It’s the comfort in not lettin’ you love me back

The fear of givin’ you a world you no longer want

A world that celebrates the light as much as the dark

My past sits with me most mornings at the breakfast table

Next to an empty chair that sits next to Banquo

That sits next to the idea you can only dream careful

When sittin’ next to your worst fears and people you won’t let go

I don’t know who I am

Can’t expect you to know better

But if ya can, hold my hand

While I’m out here tryin’ to get there

-

Chorus

When in doubt, don’t try to figure me out

My past’ll make ya momma run for the hills

Trust when the gravity hits ya, I’ll be right there to lift ya

I can take fire without givin’ hell

So long to that stranger ya knew

Salam to the new night

So long to your red, white and blue

Salam to the good fight

-

Finished the bottle, let another burn

Right now, I’m good. I’ll figure out my luck in the next world

My lover’s gone. The scorn was too much

For her to understand scorn goes hand in hand with love

And I’m no yoga in the park

I’ll take your ideals out for a good swing dance in the dark

Y’see, light’s an illusion: She’s deadly and gorgeous

So, now I only take direction from the local blind swordsman

If blood can coexist with the poison in my veins

Then there’s no wall that can’t be given a door frame

I keep it locked, not to keep you out.

Momma told me not to let a viper in the house

Baby gots venom, I’m still her huckleberry

It’s the vanity that makes this samurai wary

The jagged parts of my life are the only parts that I got

And they’ve made good for buildin’ a city around the heart

You wanna be right and get what you want

Ya wanna sure thing and a pleasant surprise

I can’t promise it all, but I’ll give ya good love

And a full heart cos you the Triforce of my eye

-

Chorus

When in doubt, don’t try to figure me out

My past’ll make ya daddy grab his pistol

Trust when the gravity hits ya, I’ll be right there to lift ya

I can take fire without givin’ hell

So long to that stranger ya knew

Salam to the new night

So long to your red, white and blue

Salam to the good fight

Favourite Game

Song: Favourite Game

Album: Lesser Restoration

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released May 19, 2017

ref: 

Katie, it’ll take more than salvation

The world shifted 4 inches but I never felt the wave hit

This planet’s swallowin’ itself, we can’t claim it

And I’m sure now more than ever it’s not what we take with

Let alone who your God thinks you should be datin’

The after-life can wait, right now this world needs savin’

If you didn’t have so many definitions, I’d kiss ya

Hard. Until your knees wondered what hit ya.

So, Katie, heaven or hell, please tell me my destination

Jesus has patients, but he sure isn’t waitin’

We used to watch cops, everyday, regulate their God-complex

Walkin’ with Abdullahi and Muhammad around the Plaza

But all praises be to Allah, if we get there

Talkin’ to my grandfather over his grave, with a warm beer

Because Katie, you got more walls than most

But it won’t stop me from speakin’ thru’em like mailin’ letters to prisoners post

-

Chorus

For all we know and all we don’t

Everything was meant to change

Tomorrow’s comin’ round and today is goin’ out

It’ll never be the same

But I know, I know, I know, I know

For me, you will never fade.

-

Kyle, I dig your hat, I dig your style

I’m mildly obsessed and I don’t care to fight it

Ever since I saw you at Bon Apetit with Steph

He’d introduce you as Cecil and then say you lost the bet

And there it was, back then it seemed so species

You planted a tree at the extinction of the Cenospecies

I watched it grow until I had to graduate

And attend a funeral after The Blend dug its own grave

I tried talkin’ to Dotty, but she was already pilled up

Rantin’ that rap can’t save you, but credits her life to hip-hop

Got it

Took another Lexapro and she popped it

But amongst the metro I too slowly let go

Your voice and cadence are few of the things I withhold

Long live the tree that blooms all seasons in your garden

Long live the hands that give it water, long live the otter

Chorus

It’s not my place to put your name out in the open

But want to say what I couldn’t, during visiting hours at St. Joseph’s

Playing Go Fish at the inpatient lounge

With enough sedated rage to shake the foundations off the ground

The weight in your veins, the colors that came back to your face

The truth that saved this page from a eulogy for an early grave

To say “I love you” doesn’t come close to the zip code or continent

Where my heart lives for your livelihood

I wanted to be a monolith, but the ceiling still fell

And there we were, playing cards in rehab while we could still feel

And I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more,

That I couldn’t find the words until I was starin’ at this coffeeshop’s floor

Curses, bad luck and adversity lose all currency at your entrance,

as your will flexes beyond the permanent

I never met your father, but if he’s anything your made of

I’d day happy to be half that man. Say love.

Chorus

New Orleans

Song: New Orleans

Album: Lesser Restoration

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released May 19, 2017

ref: 

Chorus

New Orleans

New Orleans

I am your son, risen like the dust

I have returned, do with me what you must

-

Would you take me back, as a broken man

With poison in my heart and open hands

I am your blood, you are my soul

Spent most my life running from those I love,

Spent most my life away from your arms

In the northern plains, beyond the suns embrace

Where blood runs cold and death entertains

To smile while you kill and bring evil to grace

I’ve done thing time cannot erase,

I’ve seen too much and envy the blind some days.

Chorus

I awoke one morn to a love no more,

so I went and drank fire ‘til the world made sense

The 8th Devil of Kimon stood at my door

And said walk with me and make recompense

Side by side, we float beneath the stars

Turned from the light, breathing without pules

The 8^th Devil grinned and let go my hand

Alone I was in this hell again

Alone I was

And so I ran

Chorus

Bury Your Son

Song: Bury Your Son

Album: Lesser Restoration

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released May 19, 2017

ref: 

Grabbed my bags

Brought all my devils with me

It’s time to see if this story ends any different in the city

My ride’s full

Blew a kiss in the cold

It’s all I have left to give her to hold

Here we are, all alone on the road again

Restin’ my fate with the sun, that she’ll point me in

The right direction

Anywhere but here

Ran outta time to give and

Feelings to feel, cos I’m

-

Chorus

Cold from the inside

Consoled by the midnight

They treat ya wrong ‘til ya don’t mind

But not me, I raise a fist and look’em forthright

-

The sun has resigned

She’s no longer with us

I close my eyes, push the pedal

And let go

The sky grows dark

Along with my convictions

I’m a dangerous man

Because they told me so

What’s your name, dear?

Who’s your savior?

When trouble comes, you grab your gun

Where do you aim it?

Excuse the questions

Precautions in my veins

When you’ve seen worse than death

It’ll make ya

Chorus

Daisy

Song: Daisy

Album: Lesser Restoration

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released October 18, 2016

ref: https://open.spotify.com/album/2XqScl3khh6lbj9cJPuw2J

Daisy,

The last time your mother hit ya,

You flew off the bed, I told her to stop

I couldn’t let my silence be complicit

And watch her take out her misguided anger on someone so young

Said she was goin’ to go to counclin’ for it

Manager her emotions and take accountability for’em

Eh, that never happened

I took the rage as misplaced for lack of bein’ proactive

But there was that one night, she yelled so loud

I swear to God her eyes turned red, and for a moment I saw hell

She’s an angry woman, a liar and a cheater

And if the next guy is half the man I am, he’ll stop her before the next time she tries to beat ya

I mean it, we’re silly humans, and we think about what we think

It’s not important. Daisy, I’ve seen the end.

It’s beautiful and only measured by our action.

As for me, I’m doin’ better than expected

The view of the river from living room is a blessing

I know you wanted freedom so many damn times

And tried to escape your mother’s place day & night

Some mornings if felt simple,

Wakin’ up to you starin’ out that window

Escapist for life, you made a run for the river

Neck and neck with a dream of a life worth livin’

Baby, the equation’s so basic, don’t get it twisted

Without respect, there can be none given

And Daisy, now that I’m on the other side of the glass

My advice the next time you make a run for it: Don’t look back

Now, let me tell ya somethin’ ‘bout ya daddy: Mildly the same minus the angry part

Never struck ya but still willingly claims the dark.

I’m a venerable rebel, my friend. Salam.

They wanna see my skin tone get cold in a kennel

Welcome to the boss level, full of Irish goodbyes and East Detroit hellos,

Lower Eastside stilettos. Mastered the art of lettin’ go

Some say it’s gotten quicker than the fists of Kenshiro

I just do the work and let the rumors sound off,

It’s elevator music while I ascend another mountain

New Orleans proud son, Milwaukee town punk

Made a soapbox from a gutter, to shout from

Daisy, tell me , is it strange it feels weightless

Smiles no longer vagrant, veins for train stations

Pushin’ pushin’ that sweet venom from artery to hand

Don’t hate to break it to ya, I’m a bad bad man

I didn’t ask for permission

I didn’t ask for forgiveness

I didn’t ask for opinions

Took what I needed and kept goin’ passed the finish

And the next time she hits ya

Know it’s meant for someone different

And if ya ever make it out that window,

Run Daisy Run, do like ya daddy did it

Go on ‘til ya can’t go on

And I still haven’t stopped

Go on ‘til ya can’t go on

Until the wheels roll off

Go on ‘til ya can’t go on

Sun down to sun up

Go on ‘til ya can’t go on

First of Her Name

Song: First of Her Name

Album: Lesser Restoration

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released May 19, 2017

ref: 

She’s a mystery

I don’t wanna understand

She’ll make ya question

From just a glance

And I don’t

Dance the fence or

Think at all

When she says

Meet me in my world

Meet me in my world

Where the light goes to die

And drown in the unknown

Beneath an unfamiliar city that feels like home

And that’s when

I saw death

Around the corner

And she grabbed by the hand and said

Walk with me in my world

Walk with me in my world

Beneath the burnin’ clouds

And starless dsky

A city that’s always dark

You can never tell the night from day

Her eyes light up like cars on fire

Some say you can see from miles afar

Voodoo magic glows through her veins

And she says if this is poison…

I don’t want the cure

If this is darkness…

Save me from the light

If this is your hell…

Then I’ll call it home

Cos everything you’ve taken

I take back as my own

My own