The Lynchings In Duluth

Song: The Lynchings In Duluth

Album: [Bonus Track] Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 28, 2012

ref: https://soundcloud.com/toussaint-morrison/the-lynchings-in-duluth

June 14^th, 1920

I guess you can’t say that you couldn’t see it comin’

Irene just turned nineteen

On her way to the circus on a Red Summer’s eve

In a small northern town by the name of Duluth

Mostly white, then- Mostly white, now. Truth.

After the show Irene ran to the cops

Said she’d been raped by 6 negroes behind the big top

The city lined up one-hundred and fifty

Of the circus workers Irene saw that evening

She picked out six, they hauled’em downtown

And lynched three of’em to an all-white crowd

They hung’em high, they watched’em die

The physician couldn’t find any signs

On Irene’s body of assault or rape

It gets worse, pass me a drink

-

Chorus

Who am I to you in any light?

Everything prologued to now, and this shit still ain’t right.

Act like you figured it out to help you sleep at night.

I wish Malcolm were around…

Our work’s never done

-

Somebody overheard police chief John Murphy

Say he’s gonna run every negro outta town

So, they fired all the black people from the circus-

Well, fast forward to right now

Minnesota’s number one in racial disparity

The schools have gotten so bad it’s embarrassing

For every twenty-some people of color to get pulled over

One white person gets the same hold up

It’s beyond words, honestly I’m all nerves

In case of emergency, I question who to call first

What’s worst: the discussion’s gone mute

Time passin’ is like an excuse to act aloof

Confrontation turned to Minnesota Nice

And we don’t talk about it ‘til it hits the headlines

No coverage on the Minneapolis northside

When they let the Metro Gang Task Force ride

Yeah, the future’s at stake,

Less than half of these students of color will graduate

They’ll gentrify the hood before they renovate

It gets worse, pass me a drink.

Chorus

They shot Fong Lee, they tazed Quincy Smith

The beat Darrel Jenkins and one out of three lived

I got homies on the force I trust on or off it

But you couldn’t pay me to buy the system’s promise

Some are born on third base, some are born on home plate

Some are born in a homeless shelter

Either you say “Fuck this game”

Or you play with what they dealt ya.

Good talk

Chorus

Lithium

Song: Lithium

Album: [Bonus Track] Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 28, 2012

ref: https://soundcloud.com/toussaint-morrison/toussaint-morrison-lithium

If I close my eyes it won’t be for sleep

If I come back, it won’t be for peace

My brother Steve asked me how you hustle harder without gettin’ your hands dirty

I told him “I don’t know, I haven’t planned past thirty”

I courted Death herself, we’re past flirtin’

But told her I can’t go Thanos or mass murder

It’s easy to see hype’s a fast worker

When the audience can’t see past the curtain

Suicide’s on the same side of certain

The only difference is the other doesn’t plan further

I stand firm in the pasture of last worders,

Anticipating fellow working-class servers to go berserker

Table turn the burners, state it firm with purpose

And give it to’em with a vengeance in a whirling durbish

Black everything, black Jack Purcells

A half-a-step away from goin’ Josy Wales

The liquor store turned holy grail

In a middle class heaven built on a homeless hell

And I’m headed to the bar to write, café’s closed

I don’t mind the pub coffee tastin’ luke warm and sinful

I sip slow, they say the end is close

I tell’em what’s the hold up, somebody get it goin’

I got peeps on meth cos’ they can’t afford the heroin

Shin splints walkin’ up and down Lake st.

Rehab and roof, he doesn’t care for it

Smiles, and says he’ll kill a man to make ends meet

I smile back, cos’ it’s my only move

Who am I to keep him from takin’ a nap in a burning room

No one said you had to give a fuck

But don’t act like the gutter’s what you want

-

Chorus

If I close my eyes it won’t be for sleep

If I come back it won’t be for peace

I came to do what I came to do

And that ain’t to prove to the likes of you

-

Ashley says I have a dissociative disorder

I check out at the moment’s it’s most important

So, for now I’ll let crazy call me crazy

Give’er my name, and tell her “Google me, maybe”

Nothin’ short of lighting fires at the gas station

I can introduce to new methods of rehabilitation

Introduce you to the darkside of the darkside of makin’

Decisions that’ll resonate you long after you cremation

This is happening, there’s no damage controllin’ it

The diagnosis doesn’t match the dosage

Save your street credit, I work for the hopeless

Rock-bottom-state-of-mind rollin’ stoners

Turn the volume down and the noise to dead

I can hear you ‘less you speak over the voices in my head

You wanna chat about divine logic

First, explain to me 4-year olds on anti-psychotics

Chorus

Royce White

Song: Royce White

Album: [Bonus Track] Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 28, 2012

ref: https://soundcloud.com/toussaint-morrison/royce-white

Real talk, hands down fists up

Black power to the people in the district

I’ma take it there, the place ya can’t go

Where they fight day to night, Ginu and Afro

My skin’s hardened, but I’m not six man

I speak a frequency similar to a low pitch blast

I’m the Avenger off screen you don’t see. Vision.

Get Milwaukee, go buck, go Bizzon

Feel it before your hear it, listen before you fear it

I’m in your city down your block and I ain’t even near

Been outta town cos’ that’s how I’m getting’ down

Gotta leave when you gotta breathe, fight for it or drown

Money underneath and on the table couldn’t pose a done deal

When your whole city’s talkin’ sideways and uphill

They sayin’ “I can only imagine how it must feel,

Born on the border”. The life of a Dunpeal

Either you run scared or come real in plain sight

I walked the opposite direction when they joined the flight

Had to leave town just to get my aim nice

It’s got me feelin’ like Royce White

Chorus

We got to- we got to- we got to

Find a way outta here

There must be- there must be- there must be

Some way outta here

Minneapolis- Mi- Minneapolis…

Raccoon City gritty, but I’m live on arrival

Even with no umbrella, the sound’s goin’ viral

Movin’ like a cyclone, coursin’ through your iPhone

It’s goin’ somethin’ like elections in Cairo

Unprecedented, for the people, for the rightful

We serfs in the streets like Teen Wolf and Styles

Hated, triple excommunicated

Hijackin’ your buzz bandwagon at the gas station

I ain’t waitin’, if I got the shot, I’m gonna take it

Worse that could happen is the press writes Nathan

I make no amends, the slate’s out my hands

You could clean it if you wanna, either way I ain’t goin’ to bed

I been packin’ for the road I have to answer

And the future that can’t happen ‘less I step from where I’m standin’

No goodbye, I’ll see ya soon. I made the choice tonight.

To relocate the faith, I’m on that Royce White

Chorus

I’m back to the future, while I got the present wrapped up

And soundin’ like Hall & Oates with Oakenfold and Daft Punk

They don’t want the conference, they want their stats up

I never played for less than the title of champion

You play the numbers, we play Cool Al Lover

And get Ravishing Rick Rude to your mother

It’s funny, I laugh it up while y’all can’t understand

The sponsor’s the only winner at the battle of the bands

Buzz all you want to, give it an updo

We ‘bout to run the school, you can keep the lunchroom

I’m used to the scrutiny I can’t avoid

Although it had me cursin’ at your writers worse than Will McAvoy

This city’s buried under 6 inches of cold blood

I’m goin’ 35 south and can only go up

They say I’m doin’ wrong, claimin’ I’m nothin’ nice

But I know I’m goin’ right, you know what it is

Chorus

Coffee & Chemo

Song: Coffee & Chemo

Album: Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 21, 2012

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/coffee-chemo

They marched from the hills to the streets just to unclaim the ground

Politician said “baby you take the lead, I’ll follow long and won’t make a sound”

The fire died beneath the same bed of rain where your despairs drowned

And I looked you in the eye and said “no matter what I’ll be around”

Wouldn’t that be something

Wouldn’t that be something

Well, the sunny day scorched the ground, the crops didn’t grow for weeks

I showed up an hour late with a new excuse and a different story

It’s a shame we aimed and came to change the game to somethin’ so nice

While you were fightin’ against the end of your world to win or lose your life

Baby, you will be something

You will be something

Still wanna paint the city with your favorite Crayola colors

And play pretend through a never ending summer?

See who can run the fastest and can count to the highest number

And find the best hiding spot apart from the others?

Do you still wanna go to the lake and swim to the floating dock,

Then make a dash for the television for cartoons soon as you wake up?

Stay up late and tell scary stories while it’s pouring and storming

Then ride bikes through puddles in the morning?

Do you still feel the same when you hear someone say they’re sick of it

And have the sudden urge to tell’em what sick really is?

Does time become tangible as handlebars you’re reaching for

But can’t get a grip tight enough to steer the course?

Can you see the best in us and where we always seem to pass it up?-

The opportunity to be it and put it in the hands of blind luck

Can you show me where I’m crackin’, and when I’m takin’ it for granted,

Where the advantage is taking a leave of absence in this urban apparatus?

Can you show me what it means to have a next breath to breathe-

Show me how to build staircases and bridges out of broken dreams?

Show me what it means to live, what it means to hold your keep,

Tell me how to push this car and make it run on make-believe-

‘Cos when it all falls down, and where the rage comes ‘round

In a hospital room with a view through a window above town

You’ve seen more than I might in my lifetime twice crowned

So, thank you for sharing a moment of your time at the coffeehouse

This much (I know, I know, I know)

You will be something

And in amazement (I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go)

Down the road to save the city

This much (I know, I know, I know)

You will be something

And in amazement (I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go)

Down the road to save the city

It was Patricio, me and the Milwaukee kid

The mornin’ after the show with Fresh Cut Collective

Feels like the crack’a dawn, but it’s almost noon

Full tank in the ride, but I’m runnin’ on fumes

Picked it up the pick-me-up

Soy milk, sugar, medium medium

No question,  I’ma get it done

Came to write and not give a damn where I’m leapin’ from

And there we were, seems perfect strangers

Have more in common than when we make arrangements

Paced with pavement, dates, and sense of placement

Between the luxury tax and hospital payments

I’d stay here and never look back

Recklessly abandon the past and everything I can’t,

Won’t and will not. No sleep, I’m up-

No sleep ‘til what’s done must be done

This is for the ones that believed when the sun

Wasn’t shinin’ our direction for months

This is for the people that put legs under our table

When we were ground-level and done

This is for Wylie, the family, the kickstarter backers

Urban Home  and Adam J Dunn

This one’s for Lu, you rock on girl

You’re my evangelion.

(MKE, as I am, take me

As I am, take me- la la la la

MKE, as I am, take me

As I am, take me- la la la la…)

Jane

Song: Jane

Album: Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 21, 2012

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/jane-2

Over ten years of school

Over one-hundred G to boot

In debt to everyone and everybody

But for all that’s gone and spent

You’d do it all over again

To become the RN you became

On call from dusk ‘til dawn

The hospital will rest for none

Doctors quick to let you know what you ain’t

But for every patient you see to

Recovery to funeral

They praise your name as a saint

And they cry

And ask why, and ask why, and ask why

-

Chorus

Oh Jane

I heard you saved the world

And they say you’re gonna do it again

Call my name

When ya ain’t so sure

I’ll help ya make a stand

-

Only if the daycare stayed open

Until sundown or even ten

This overcast anxiety wouldn’t be

But you can’t let the personal

Affect your work and who you help

This ain’t the place to bring the outside in the building

The show must go on

The pain must be treated

Chemo to coffee, ER to cardstore

Ain’t really got nothin’ but time

Your company is more than fine

We’ll make it last until we have to say

Goodbye

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

-

Chorus

Oh Jane

I heard you saved the world

And they say you’re gonna do it again

Call my name

When ya ain’t so sure

I’ll help ya make a stand

Oh Jane

I heard you saved the world

And they say you’re gonna do it again

Can’t complain

When life ain’t so sure

To have someone like you in the end

-

This city doesn’t have a halo

It has a cloud

And we never had tomorrow

All we got is right now

Can you do what the meds can’t do?

Day to day to clinical to clinical…

Can you do what the meds can’t do?

Give some comfort to this life that’s almost through

Chorus

Fuck Cancer

Song: Fuck Cancer

Album: Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 21, 2012

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/f-ck-cancer

Sparked up outside the hospital

Still hooked up that oxygen tank

Could careless for the chemo schedule

Let alone what the rest of the world thinks

Cancer’s your hell, but this is heaven out here

Fifteen minutes from the clinic with a pack’a fresh air

Got the brakes locked in place to the wheels on my chair

And the nurse ain’t comin’ ‘til I hit the button.

Yeah, Jesus who?

They say he’s in the building- must be in the bathroom

Not gonna let the doc boss me ‘round

If they try, I’ma lift up my gown…

Awww yeah

Me And Steve

Song: Me And Steve

Album: Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 21, 2012

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/me-and-steve

We’re gonna steal away

And fly on bikes down Espanola all day

Won’t fight the change

We’ll let it ride, see if it can keep with our pace

It ain’t the price of anything

This moment’s already ours

Tell me the place and I’ll be there, It ain’t a question of where,

I’m floatin’ in the highest gear, ain’t no cop or stoplight gon’ slow me down

Yeah, school’s out for summer- we outta here

I can see clearly now it’s here

We gonna do it ‘til Wisconsin is outta beer

And you can find me long boardin’ down the hill

These jabronis lookin’ like they about to spill

Textin’ and rollin’: opposite of trill

Tell your friends I could have Steve swoop’em

I only got room for you on the beach cruiser

Bus’ it. Nice shades, low skirts

King Kong’n on my chest screamin’ “no more homework”

We Peter-Park’n in the streets- no covert

Newly graduated ego with a growth spurt

Aim for the fence swingin’ no choke-up

Either hit the sheets or hit the streets- go buck

This day was only mean for us

Go bike or go rust

Chorus

Me and Steve

We gonna ride our bikes

Down to the beach and go hang

Take it how you please

Join if you’d like

Bring your woes, worry, and faith

Ain’t no clock gon’ tell me the time

Ain’t no school or boss gon’ tell me what’s mine

Chorus

Can’t love, can’t hurt

But you been eyein’ me since the first midterm

So, what you gon’ do about it? Go cold, love?

Passive ‘til it passes- so Minnesota.

We in the big picture, now blown up

I ain’t goin’ H.A.M. ‘til I finish my okra

Hold tight, we run red in the streets

I’d make time for you, Arab Spring or finals week

No status update, headlines are cheap

Plus it’s way too nice out to tweet

We layin’ in the sun bumpin’ ODB

Homie, you can’t teach how it’s supposed to be

Fallacy or dream, the other can’t compete

When you make it a reality, no need to sleep

Hop in the ride, one way to South Beach

I’ll introduce you to my main man Steve

Chorus

Get Popular

Song: Get Popular

Album: Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 21, 2012

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/get-popular

I heard them girls say that she ain’t black

And most definitely sho’ ain’t white

“So, what are you!?!” they ask with little to no tact

As if they deserve a reply

Man, I couldn’t abide- I had to step to interject

And said, “Look, personally

Whatever we are dudn’t need to be defined until

The next census- 2020!”

Bein’ racially ambiguous

Felt like a game show sittin’ down at lunch

At a table with kids that look most like you

While your white friends were like “Man, you didn’t come through!”

The feelin’ ain’t appealin’, but it gets better with time

And soon enough it’s in your heart as an elated sense of pride

Black and brown people on and off the block

Identify, c’mon let’s rock

Couldn’t help but hear you over there

At your locker cryin’ this ain’t fair

Well, baby don’t you knock it- this school ain’t half of the problem

But I just happen to have the cure

You heard them other girls hate on your hair

So, you went and bought a straightener

Well, let me break it down, this doesn’t need be straightened out

Those other girls are wishin’ they had yours

-

Chorus

Let’s get

Popular

Next step

Drop the world

-

Rebel jacket, hoodie underneath

Lookin’ like the love child of Storm and Wolverine

Between classes, ya strut spunk with flare

But tell me why you always hide the curls in your

High school’s a jungle, I’m barely survivin’

In the cafeteria, there’s nowhere to hide

Sit by your lonesome or cling to a crew

Out of all the seats, I pick the one next to you

Pinky swear that’s a promise

I know what it feels like to be a work in progress

When it came to black hair, your mom was a novice

Did her research and bought all the right products

Problem solved, but nonetheless a problem

Bein’ a novelty’s become oddly common

You wonder why they put us in a pigeon hole?

‘Cos they afraid of what they don’t know, oh!

Ya held up class in AP History

Said where’s the date outside February

We talk about plantations, slaves, and every shade of face

Darker than white that paved the way

To where this country is today?

Chorus

I'm Into It

Song: I'm Into It

Album: Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 21, 2012

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/im-into-it

Just got your text, I’m about to head down

Even if this bus doesn’t show up- I’m en route

It’s been awhile since I seen your side’a town

But you know I’d make the trip if ever you gave a shout

Breathin’ heavy, runnin’ thin ground

Girl, I heard ya singin’ in-patient want s out

You’d rather swim for life than drown

And chalk dry land up to another lost-and-found

But I’d be lien if I said I didn’t miss the way you curse aloud

And can silence crowds

With the simple raise of your eyebrow- lights out, smiles down

Reroute the whole thing to right here, right now

Clutchin’ another one of your last menthols

Debatin’ Samurai Champloo as the best of

All time couldn’t hold a candle next to

Runnin’ town with you until the sun couldn’t catch up

-

Chorus

Alright hold tight

Put that phone down, focus both eyes

I know the way it feels, no sleep, all fight

The next day comin’ slow like a cold knife

We ‘bout to go Big Easy

Pause, reset, get into it

Keep it simple: snare, cymbal and kick

C’mon pause, reset, get into it

Keep it simple: snare, cymbal and kick

Pause, reset, get into it

Keep it simple: snare, cymbal and kick

Pause, reset, get into it

-

The day your school of graphic design ran outta lines

I grew tired of schoolin’ professors in PoliSci

Funny how tough love will teach you how to fly

Survive the crash, but not how to put out the fire

Like slangin’ on the side to cover the utilities

We were too good to go without the volatility

Even though all you did was keep it real with me

And I was feelin’ it, it didn’t change that I wasn’t ready to deal with me

Yeah, just like the Sentry brought the Void

I had to deal with the other side’a the coin

A self-sabotage/barrage of startin’ noise

To find a way of gettin’ the dark and the light to join

The gettin’ there is all part of the joy

Even though I still do biz with the Barbaroye

All I wanted was my friend back

But knew it’d be a long route, high road before you could respect that

Chorus

Before it hit the ground when it went down

And it was lookin’ so far gone

I knew you’d have my back, both sides, and front

And it was on like Voltron

Before it hits the ground when it goes down

And it’s lookin’ so far gone

I know you’ll have my back, both sides and front

We make it bond like Voltron

Chorus

It's Gonna Happen

Song: It's Gonna Happen

Album: Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released August 21, 2012

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/its-gonna-happen

Dr. Wylie and I used to throw keg parties in our dorm room

Roommates stealin’ overhead speakers from the campus

Wudn’t but two weeks ‘til I dropped outta school, again

Stuck to theatre, track & field, and rappin’

Wasn’t much for battlin’, but more for sarcasm

Clashin’ wit with suburban women who thought the city was tragic

But comin’ where I’m from, Riverside-Fuckin-Plaza

Longfellow hood, lower-middle class proper

Walkin’ home from schools starin’ at the factories

That exploit the poor huffin’ silicon for fifteen an hour

Your life for someone else’s profits

The origin of the sociopath starts with economics

I headed back to school. Black decathlete

Studyin’ old-dead-white-men plays and rappin inbetween

Rockin’ shows at venues, freestylin’ at frat parties

Impressin’ everyone except myself- quandary

I ain’t the type to celebrate a W with light kicks

Won’t consider it victory if it’s less than six-hits

Put’em out with that roundhouse-super-art finish

Disgraced to go back to trainin’ mode and live with it

The aim is to do better. Never satisfied

For those who keep runnin after they pass the finish line

Block out the noise, block out the world, none of it matters

And listen to me now… it’s gonna happen

-

Chorus

Some people are like moments

That ya can’t get by

Just when you least notice

You’re on the other side

-

Toured the country on a dime and a deathtrap some people called a bus

Folks swore they could see their dreams and aspirations watchin’ us

I fell in love with small towns I never thought I’d pay the mind

Headed home with hangovers, but let my heart stay behind

Slowly lost the pulse, foldin’ by default

With each tour came the cost of a few morals and broken laws

So when I ran into Jake outside’a the Dinkytowner

We came together like Luke Cage and Doctor Strange fightin’ the Hood at full power

All five rings thrashin’

Threw the victory after-party at Avengers mansion

Kickin’ it, laughin’ at jokes that used to be about me

Until the mixtape piper started getting’ rowdy rowdy

But after the ruckus died down, the liquor slowly vanished

Dr. Wylie cut the music, but one woman remained dancin’

She pulled me in close enough I could count her eyelashes

Then she whispered in my ear… It’s gonna happen

Chorus