Roosevelt Roosevelt

Song: Roosevelt Roosevelt

Album: Fast Times At Trillmont High

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released June 18, 2013

ref: http://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/roosevelt-roosevelt

Another trip down to the principal’s office

I’ll probably see you in the next one- no problem

Just not in this building, cos’ they’re cuttin’ me out

Over the poem I dropped in English Class. No doubt

I told’em ‘bout the prison ration, graduation too,

How less than half of us are expected to complete school

The office ain’t go show the kids the article from the Tribune

So, I took it straight to the classroom

How does it feel to be expected to lose?

Oh, nobody told you? Now who’s playin’ who?

Ignorance is a bitch, but it won’t stop you from textin’ her.

Life’s a trip, we just assume that we’re gettin’ where

We need to be. Sold on a future that was never sure

Tipped your temper, now you wanna mute the messenger?

Well, go’on kid, I was never here.

I’d kick rocks before I’d let’em steer

And set the gear to the wheels on this bike.

Click “like” if you wanna, but it won’t help ya get right

Suburbanites lookin’ at the hood like it quit life,

And expulsion ain’t scarin’ no one from the fist fight.

They say knowledge is power, but so is this switchblade

My first classmate got shot when I was in fifth grade

Na, you don’t want me in the class today

I’d probably start a riot that’d be on the front page

-

Chorus

Because we don’t make the news ‘til the school’s shut down

And the buildin’ goes up for lease

And we don’t make the news ‘til our classmates get shot

Somewhere between here and the street.

Now, tell me how does that feel?

How does it feel?

How does it feel?

-

Somebody tell me how did it get here

To where five outta seven public high schools are  close to foldin’

Cos they can’t get their numbers up for enrollment

You tellin’ me that this building’s built for 2000 and you only got 800

You better up the stats before the student base is bouncin’ and the city pulls the plug on fundin’

Your principal wanna slow dance around it, but I’ma take it straight to the school board luncheon

Your racial disparity is nationally known

But you can’t save the building by taggin’ it with “Wellstone”,

“Title 1”, “90/90/90”

It’s other words for sayin’ “here’s the curve… we’re behind it”

It’s above my paygrade to watch my language

What’s being non-white and poor have to do with education

You gonna tell’em? Or is that why you were payin’ me?

Matter fact I’ll lay back and let the paper speak

Chorus

Now, I’ma take it back to a time of better weather

I’ma take it back to the time of LeVesseur

Matter fact, I’ll take it back to Ferlando Valentine

Scratch that, I’ma take it back to Thaddeus Fly

I was in the bleachers, coke-bottle glasses

Low fade, but still couldn’t pass with the black kids.

Basketball defined the kings of Minneapolis

Little did we know, it was all a distraction

By the time of graduation, friends got shot down

Or just dropped out,

hooked on that good-good, lost and not found

Candidates for syndication “Where Are They Now”

I’m talkin’ life after high school, life after hype. Who’s

On their way up and who’s still pickin’ fights

At the party talkin’ garbage cos they need to let their pride loose

Them glory days won’t last to suffice

Welcome to the post script, put away that notebook

I’ma put you up on game. Homie, focus

You’re in a jungle only a few make it out of

You’re from the city and for that you should be proud of.

You think I’m talkin’ nonsense and pure balderdash

But when tomorrow hits you like Sting’s Shoulder Splash

Where will your soapbox be for you to shout from

Who will you call when you can’t control the outcome

Stand bold, no matter what the hour is,

And be strong. They expect you to be powerless.

Stand bold, no matter what the hour is,

And be strong. They expect you to be powerless.

Roosevelt, Roosevelt, What, What

Roosevelt, Roosevelt, What.

Roosevelt, Roosevelt, What, What

Uh-huh, we cold as hell…