I remember sitting on the roof top Theorizing 'til my head was sore Climbing over fallen tree limbs, checking What the Mississippi swept ashore A young whippersnapper on a street Corner hollering, "We gotta end the war" Now I be, this character is me A bit of all of the things I've been before Skinny shorty with a coffee can Hunting slimy creatures in the mud and the dirt For what it's worth, I'll let 'em go at the request of ma dukes Almost caught a snake once, last second I got spooked Slithering, shaky, I stay fidgetin' Use to pier jump into polluted Lake Michigan Now, I'm hanging off a bridge 40 feet higher Above the murky water, shit I thought I'd be wiser, nah Tiddlywinks and newspaper tug boats At 27 I be singing all my love notes I've been afraid of rejection since back in the day Prolly why I never ask her to stay I quit smoking and then I started smoking again I gotta find a different way to learn to cope with the bends Extend a hand to the foe, bumping folk tunes and wu tang Lost my hops but still got a nasty hoop game A minimalist preaching to you that less is more A bit of all of the things I've been before A screen porch dweller soaking up the thunderstorms A bit of all of the things I've been before A romantic with my bleeding heart ripped and torn A bit of all of the things I've been before A late nighter feeling hungover every morn A bit of all of the things I've been before A deity, and a downer and a friend of yours A bit of all of the things I've been before Now I be, the character is me A bit of all of the things I've been before I think that I've learned the simplest things last Every situation ain't a riddle or ink splat As a teacher I can spot the shittiest mishaps And know just what to say to make a miserable kid laugh A warrior, a worrier, performing like a Mourning bird, chirping to the chords of a Wurlitzer Shifting from power to paranoia like Greek Gods Waxing on the dreams caught and glory that we've lost But I've yet to live my better years I still need to see the stars from the southern hemisphere Author stories and compile a thick book Spend the summer dawns pulling trout off a fish hook Look, I get caught up in comparisons Got accomplishment amnesia and forget 'bout where I've been But the triumphs, melancholy and the barriers I've breached Form a fine collage and that character is me I am just a drop of rain Falling to the quiet stream The flowing rivulet that'll Wash it all away, wash it all away I am just a grain of sand Seated by the ocean blue On the golden beach that Sprawls across the way, sprawls across the way I am just a single brick In a wall that towers high The edifice that you can Off it far away, off it far away I am just a lonely star Burning in a crowded sky On the night that stunned the world All across the way, all across the way