Romancing The Shogunate

Song: Romancing The Shogunate
Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released June 24, 2014

ref: https://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/romancing-the-shogunate

We fought a long winter,

I can’t tell ya I don’t have any scars

The cabin fever stole the light out of my eyes

Now I see in the dark

As we travel into Spring, tell me now

Could you be my Jin?

And I’ll be Foo, walkin’ round Edo

With you

-

Now, I’ma only tell’em once to keep their green eyes off me

After that I can only let the sword do the talkin’

Homie, you know this blade cost me

Two hot grueling summers of an apprenticeship to Musashi

Yeah, you smirkin’ like it’s simple

But tell me have you seen all 300 stairs outside of the temple?

Try runnin’ all’a dat at dawn between breakfast

And sparrin’ with your classmates to see who gets first dibs

Mmhmm, I saw her put it on Haomaru San

For double-dippin’ on the Takuwan

Back when me and Jubei we’re still rockin Gakurans

Stick fightin’ for the school day, underneath that Tokugawa Sun

I crushed on her for a few weeks that summer

Until my focus drifted so much I had to cover my heart

And put the sword first

But lookin’ back- Man, I wish I would’ve told her.

-

Chorus

Hold up,

Whattaya think

Of me and you takin’ a long walk

Down to the bridge by the creek where the birds sing to the wind thru the trees

On and on

Morning and after dark

We could gone

Makin’ a break together ‘til we reached the shore

-

Sensei told me to get my mind right

Or he’ll get it right for me. Hell, I’d rather die twice.

I’ve seen that old man take out a shinobi so fast with no hands

You’d think him and death were close kin

Couldn’t tell if he was serious or dead pan

When he said her father secretly totes the Number 2 Head Band

I mean, I’d seen beef like Ken & Ryu

But this was on some other ish, like Galford & Hanzou

Family names fightin’ for family gain

And a few more paragraphs on a history books page

All in all, I dug her, but she wudn’t worth the risk

I brought it up with Jubei, he said, “Homie, join me on this pilgrimage”

A sucker for adventure, I went with it.

We planned to journey for a few years, then join the shogunate

A different man now, a decade later

Ran into her again, I didn’t wait, I said.

-

Bridge

-

Chorus

Equity

Song: Equity
Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released June 24, 2014

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

Over and over we go until the finish

I look you in the eye and ask ya if you’re alright

You tell me to shut up and say

There’s no talkin’ on the job

Again I’m stuck in the middle

Of your judgment and me tryin’ to be civil

It’s about time you see just how I feel

We’re switchin’ sides

-

CHORUS
Let me see what you can do on top

I don’t mind workin’ from the bottom up

Keep the heat, don’t let the fire go out

Don’t let me ask you “Is that all you got?”

-

Singin’ with a view and don’t care if the world hears

The neighbors are two minutes from callin’ authorities

I can’t help but smile to watch you shout

And burn up all those carbs

It’s not rocket science, nor a riddle

That you’re thrivin’ on a side you ain’t been to

For awhile. And it’s my pleasure

To introduce you to mine

-

CHORUS

-

I been thinkin’ about it

Sittin’ the driver’s seat on this road trip

Drivin’ us both through the night

Grippin’ your steer wheel as long as I can hold it

You know me well, and the way that I ride

You’ll never get a lick’a sleep on the passenger side

With me givin’ my all, and you takin’ my everything

I declare we switch it up in the name of equity

You see me up here goin’ harder than Dethklok

And puttin’ in more work than a Taiwanese Sweatshop

Gridlocked- sooner or later I learned

The beast with two backs goes both ways; Billy Shakespeare

Your turn, impress me- pony up

Manual or automatic, amateur or hit the clutch

Gran Tourismo or RC Pro-Am

It doesn’t matter, give it what you got, gurl. Go ham.

-

CHORUS

Infinity War Vet

Song: Infinity War Vet
Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released June 24, 2014

ref: https://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/infinity-war-vet

Fresh off the victory. Baby, I’m back home.

Got you that autograph you watned from Blackbolt

Wudn’t on the front line for the initial burst of flames

Cap had me assigned to the 3^rd wave

But I’m back. Surprised I’m alive as I.

Mom wants me to hang up the uniform tonight

And get a job not riskin’ my life and takin’ flight

Outside of the troposphere. Eh, we’ll get it right.

Someday, but right now I’m takin’ a deep breath

Gonna watch time go by on a park bench

People watchin; it’s so underrated

When you go from a Skrull Invasion to facin’ eradication

Major lazers aimin’ at your safe haven

Raisin’ Hades on earth, thinkin’ what in the blue blazes

Is next these days. You don’t wanna know

In the meantime, enjoy the after-glow!

-

CHORUS
But heroes eventually die

I heard her cry

Just before I closed the door

And exited the light

Love is easy

when it’s worth it

But feels like without it

You’d be worldless

But most these motherfuckers don’t deserve the planet

Passionate for nothin’ that they do

Pose it out

I am what I am

I’ma do me

I’m goin’ in

Try and stop me

-

I felt it comin’ before the sky turned purple

Before Attilan was floatin’ above the borough

Secrets go full circle

And there was always somethin’ about Reed Richards that made my blood plasma curdle

An illusion producin’ illusions

We were walkin’ wounded before we even knew it

Spoon fed delusions while the end was nigh

My anger management counselor tried to convince me to go hero-for-hire

Shit. I’d rather apply at the Hand

But instead I got coffee in Chelsea with Danny Rand

Homie told me anything can happen, have a plan

And if you follow someone’s lead, follow Cap over any man.

Wudn’t a fan, but Danny meant what he said

I wouldn’t trust anyone if I couldn’t trust him

The dude protectin’ the streets while the city that never sleeps slept

Suited up, homie. I’m goin’ in.

-

CHORUS

-

The hood, the rad, the lovely

Before I left, it was the drunk & restless ‘til it got ugly

Freelancin’ mercenary D-Grade work

Leg breakin’ for bookies, tryin’ to hit the pay dirt

Paychecks went to Jameson, half-hazard

Drank faster than my healin’ factor could factor.

Flyin’ thru the night sky with no purpose at all

It never felt so free to be at no one’s beck and call

I thought about leavin’- y’know- for good.

Find a new solar system with a sun. I looked

But couldn’t help but think about Sakaar and Titan

How every last one of those species went down fightin’

For a piece of breathable land to roam

For a rock floatin’ in space they call home

And then I thought about you

‘Nuff said, you know where I’m goin’

-

CHORUS

Running Down The Hallway

Song: Running Down The Hallway
Album: Edo

Artist: Toussaint Morrison

Written by: Toussaint Morrison

Released June 24, 2014

ref: https://toussaintmorrison.bandcamp.com/track/running-down-the-hallway-feat-sodey

I was doin’ 15 in my Ewings

Late for class, no hall pass

Principle Sherman hot on my tail

I was runnin’ down the hallway

Sodey caught up to me

We hit the staircase passin’ by some goody-two-shoes

They was like, “Y’all are gonna get in trouble”

We laughed, and kept runnin’ and they was like

-

CHORUS

OOOOoooooooo

A stone cold loose cannon and a bat outta hell

OOOOoooooooo

Got your social status locked down without the bail

-

I was in the audience, 18, watchin’ Bao Phi

Compete at the poetry slam. In disbelief

I’d never heard words in such vivid deliverance

Address love, poverty, and white privilege

In the same breath, my brain went

Somethin’ like “ahh shit, he’s like an Asian Malcolm X”

The moment came and went, suffice to strike back

Woke up in a sweat, I wanted to write like that

Articulate the anger, the distrust

The feelin’ that they sold us their hate as their love

It’s not in grasp, but within future plans

I held my stance steadfast. It’s in my hands.

I knew this muse wouldn’t fly without me

I gave the premonition a mouth and two feet

Made it move on and off the stage loudly

Pushed the doubt as far back as my mind allowed be

And maybe Malcolm X was a black Bao Phi

And maybe I needed to hear it for me to speak out free

From the social risk of pissin’ off my white friends

Or anyone who’d take offense to what I said

In the end, you only have your time to lose

Don’t get confused, I’ll die writin’ if I have to

Raised in the school of unapologetics,

Ink, rage, Bao Phis and Malcolm Xs

-

CHORUS

-

Now wait-a wait-a minute, did somebody say “crackstacks”?

Not usually politically polite, but hold up

Where I’m from, we call it “Riverside Plaza”

Cos where I’m from is Riverside Plaza

But all forgiven, how ya livin’? What’s ya mantra?

(Sodey)

Racoon, catch me at the gates guardin’ my galaxy

These space cops got their laser cannons pointed at me

If ever in a pinch, I call Sodey for backup

For now I’m just a Lone Star steerin’ thru meteor traffic

(Sodey)

-

CHORUS