Darkside Imperials

Song: Darkside Imperials

Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released June 24, 2014

ref: https://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/darkside-imperials

I got it on lock like Rickson Gracie in the late 80’s

My saliva alone has been known to make babies

Pulled up the Honda civic to race your Mercedes

Cos’ the streets and I go back like the late 80’s

My sneaks, the color of edamame, hombre.

I go Westlaw in the court- Kanye

Flow tighter than biker shorts- Francais

Cobrakai in this mufucka- sweep the leg

You could make a personal attack and I’d never feel it

I don’t have a heart, I fake orgasms and breathin’

I rock a v-neck and still get street cred

And go Eddie Gordo on these ladies- feet swept

I’m colder than Ann Coulture in the cold season,

Cursin’ at the homeless after a Tea Party event

So, after party on ‘til you find somebody

And if you don’t- find another party.

I got too many tie-ins on this side of the fence,

So when you shout “Come at me bro!” you get the whole Rebel Alliance.

Even on the I.R., I’d still make a title defense

Cos’ my team don’t play “Price Is Righteous”

My country’ll eat your whole culture like Galactus

Digest the damn thing down to static

Retell your history to students on the campus

Paintin’ my countrymen as captain protagonist

They tell the stories as if they had to happen

And had no other choice but to aim and let’em have it

Break their flagship, make bank off the damage,

Rape the land, and pave it back to old standard.

I’m born outta legacy and circumstance

Tryin’ to squeeze a little bit’a glory from the necromance

Every villain used to follow the law until

The law turned around and called’em a criminal

-

Chorus

Everytime I come around, they ask me where I’m from

I point one finger to the sky at my homeland afar

Now, if ya have to ask- it ain’t your side I’m on

I don’t need votes to count- Baby, I’m a Deathstar

(How’s it sound) Cime pays in America, crime pays in america

(How’s it sound) Cime pays in America, crime pays in america

(How’s it sound) Crime pays in America, crime pays in america

I like my women liberal, and my aim conservative

-

Image over truth, illusion over everything

I work it like magic- Jesus and David Blain.

I used to be a rockstart sleepin’ in my car

On tour, turnin’ water into PBR

A derelict wonderin’ where the beat went

Impaired with debt, both feet in the red… sinkin’.

Below and beyond delinquent, outta love

Flippin’ tracks into bandcamp power-ups

It was 7, but now it’s Sinister 6

After Wylie left, and both of our paths cross stitched

On the track, grippin the reins in vein with the power glove

Bouncin’ fire off the wall with the flower touch

Got these sub bosses actin’ bossy while I’m bossin’

While I’m switchin’ lanes, with my girl Daisy, on the ostrich

My issues are black & white- Hartigan

Fuck your politics, my blade is non-partisan

-

Chorus

Tokugawa Nights

Song: Tokugawa Nights

Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released June 24, 2014

ref: https://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/tokugawa-nights

If you my people stop dreamin’, put you’re arrows in the air

Tonight we gonna make this an imperial affair

I don’t got much time, girl don’t worry ‘bout your hair

You can fix it in the car, if they care then they care

Bright Edo lights in the distance

Neon imprints on the sky, so close I could kiss it

A capital coddled by the city limits

And I’m bound to break’em all, let these cops try and fix it

Listless or interest, I passed the 5^th mission

Cue the sequel, this last level’s almost finished

Your opinion’s your own business

Me not replyin’- that’s an act of forgiveness

Thank me while you can feel it

The game needs me like Disney needs a villain

Your savior’s on the bench- now, it’s time for you to fill in

Trust me, the opposition don’t rest until they make a killin’

We rollin’ without credits, but still get continues

I like our odds: two in a million

Bank, character, soul- name it

If it’s worth your time, baby- then they wanna claim it

I’m not your everyday do-gooder

They got a different name for me in your neighborhood

There’s more than one way up, but more than one way

I could teach the steps for every time I’ve danced that route

Don’t need an answer now, but think about it for the ride

If the shogunate gets compromised, you’ll have to pick a side

They won’t ask it twice or have to mask the crime

Of standin’ you in line with every sunflower samurai

In opposition to the empire- you know me, right?

My blade sings like an unholy quire.

Once we land, I’m connectin’ with the homie, Mitsuyoshi

You’re on your own, unless you wanna roll with me

You said somethin’ about searchin’ for your father?

I’d be down for that adventure for a lil trade and barter.

The path grows narrow, the days get darker

The lines blur between arrival and departure

Your skin becomes an armor as the blades get sharper

And these Neo-Toyotomi wanna see me on a target for their archers

I just don’t have the patience

For cats that want my body and my head in two different places

Before we fall apart

You tell me where you wanna start.

-

Chorus

Runnin’ free,

While this world’s on its way downhill

Might as well venture out our fill

All blade, no shield. All blade.

I’m just a flame in this oil spill

Movin’ as I may, burnin’ on and climbin’ until

The sky gives up the clouds

No, no- I’m not askin’. I’m telling you now.

-

You need to stop drawin’ lines where the codes already broken

You’re in the wrong ride if you’re trying to find order

I’ll die in a fiery explosion before I resign to boredom

There’s no life in waitin’ for support from

A higher-up. Baby, I’ma fire up

Your engine and those senses until we’re flyin’ numb

These sub-bosses actin’ Godly

But they feel me even when they sippin’ milk of the poppy

Awfully reckless, pushin’ speed like a chemist

A wolf dressed in wool- Dr. Threadson

I’ma sellsword to pay back my student loans

And if I have to sell my piece, then I’ma go Kenshiro

Fist of the Deathstar. Leavin’ town never felt so gooooood…

And I knew it would.

I shouldn’t have to tell you this one’s the big one.

Just try ‘n keep up.

-

Chorus

Runnin’ free,

While this world’s on its way downhill

Might as well venture out our fill

All blade, no shield. All blade.

I’m just a flame in this oil spill

Movin’ as I may, burnin’ on and climbin’ until

The sky gives up the clouds

No, no- I’m not askin’. I’m telling you now.

You’re honor isn’t made for a buy or sell

They’ll rewrite your history unless you write it for yourself

I wouldn’t blame ya for stayin’ on the track

I’m pickin’ up a blade and I’m takin’ it back.

I’m just a flame in this oil spill

Movin’ as I may, burnin’ on and climbin’ until

The sky gives up the clouds

No, no- I’m not askin’. I’m telling you now.

Origins

Song: Origins

Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Translated by: Jeff Brunnette
Released June 24, 2014

ref: https://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/origins

Japanese: 俺は道がにぎやかで、明るい光街に生まれた。毎日生きる事が楽しかった。だが生まれて4年後、父が逃げて、母は妹とと俺を車で光る街を去った。 何週間も運転し続けた。天気が寒くなり、雪がが降り始めた。到着した新しい場所は静かで、誰も笑顔もない、最悪に日差しはどこにも無かった。 ほとんど毎日寒かったので、ほとんど毎日ゲームやってた。それであｒ誕生日にお母さんがテレビにつなげる灰色の箱をくれた。その箱はテレビにビデオゲームと言う映像をうつした。 俺の空想がはるかに広がり、その物語と主人公達に夢中になった。夜は目をつぶり、テレビで見た街の中を歩く。いつかそこへ行くことを誓った。 ゲームの故郷を調べたら、箱に読めない文字があった。お母さんはこれは日本語であり、遠い場所で作られたと言った。 ある日、俺はこの笑顔もない、雪が振る街を去った。荷物つんで、灰色の箱と別れ、新しい光町にー長い間遊び続けた物語の故郷、やり過ぎで英雄と敵が夢の中で英雄戦ってる。江戸を探しに行った。

ある日、この雪が振る街から離れた。荷物つんで、灰色の箱と別れた。江戸を探しに行った。

English: I was born in a shining city where the sun was brightest and parades filled the streets. Every day we celebrated life, and rarely took it for granted. However, four years after I was born, when my mother left my father, she packed my sister and I in her car, and we left our home in the shining city.

We drove for what felt like weeks. The weather grew colder, ice began to fall from the sky. When we finally reached our new home, there were no parades in the streets, no one smiled, and worst of all… the sun was nowhere to be found.

I stayed inside most days, because most days were too cold to play outside. So, on my birthday, my mother bought me a gray box that plugged into our television. The gray box produced images on the television screen called video games. I played them for hours.

My imagination had swum out so far, that I had gotten lost in the stories and characters of the video games. I’d close my eyes at night and wander the cities and places I saw on the screen. I vowed to venture out and find them someday.

Searching for the origin to the games, I discovered letters on the packaging I couldn’t quite read. My mother told me the writing was in Japanese, and that the games were made in a land far away.

One day, I decided to leave my new home where no one smiled and ice fell from the sky. I packed my things, said goodbye to my gray box, and set out to find a new shining city- the city responsible for the games and stories I had played for so long- the city that had produced the heroes and villains dueling amidst my dreams. I set out to find Edo.

A 2nd Devil

Song: A 2nd Devil

Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by Toussaint Morrison

Released June 24, 2014

ref: https://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/a-2nd-devil

Chorus

We’re goin’ higher,

higher,

higher than the heavens above

Workin’ with fire,

Fire,

Fire from the hell below.

-

It came to me while I was workin’ sidework,

Rollin’ silverware, thinkin’ “What’s my time worth?”

Before my thought could finish,

My girl sent a text sayin’ “We should end it”.

Initially, I didn’t know what to feel

She said my plans to leave for California gave her questions

I took a deep breath, took down my shield

Said, “Best of luck with St. Paul, see you in the next one”.

Press on, and that’s one less bag to pack

Cos’ once this Honda hits the road, there’s no lookin’ back

Music is my mistress, Wylie is the magic hat

And Los Angeles is my spacecraft to crash

Just a waiter in a restaurant dreamin’

Lettin’ his mind wander while he’s cleanin’

Workin’ with the means of a blind swordsman

I won’t need to see the light to know I’m closin’ in

-

Collide with the night ‘til ya losin’

Collide until you’ve lost it all.

And when you’re almost at the bottom

Check your pulse if you’ve still got it

And you’ll know where anything worth its weight is from

-

Chorus

-

Can you stand still while you’re self-esteem shakes

Wait in the cold now, for your future’s sake

There’s no clean slate in makin’ a clean break

So I pack no more than I need take

Y’see, my future has been callin’ out my name

And I’ve been driftin’ like a ghost for so many winter days

That the outside and the in are startin’ to feel the same

I’m bankin’ on pennies from the sidewalk, cheap praise,

Lack of morality, impulse, bad tippers

And a deathtrap with four wheels to get there

Never without those who clicked share

And the kickstart for Wylie and I to even sit here

The world’s a hardened sinner spinnin’ outta spite

It can beg the question of where to draw the finish line

So, I close my eyes longer than I can afford it

I won’t need to see it to know I’m movin’ toward it

-

If diamonds and lights weigh more than your pride

Then go’on, swim big in that puddle

But dive in the deep, where every step takes a leap

No good comes without trouble

-

Chorus