What Remains

Mom, I know you think I'm too cold for love
 Too old for hugs, who stole the rug?
 From under our feet, you used to watch me on the street
 Through the window in the kitchen where you cooking up a feast
 How we rarely speak now sit and eat in hurt, silent
 I wanna ask but life and when you stopped smilin'
 But, I'm on the road again this weekend
 You got a weary look like you just been weepin'
 Is it stress? Debts? Work and no sleep?
 Your once alert eyes now lined with crows feet
 Shhhh... I just wish that you'd speak
 Bout the life that you seek, 'bout the life that we had then
 You raising two kids, who asking where dad went
 You made a brave face and, packed up our bags then
 Moved us to America, you still jet lagged
 Worked hard, no relaxing, they laughed at your accent!
 Damn you soldiered through everything life's force brings
 ...but I wanted more things
 Cause Cory's got Diadoras, Rob's got gold rings
 I'm rockin' kicks you copped from a grocery store bin
 So I stole from your purse, don't know what hurt worse
 The fact that I stole or you couldn't buy me new shirts
 That's life you'd say, you made no excuses
 So I stencil in your hurt, these words will see you through it
 If it hurts or it aches, if it burns or it stings
 Is it worth all the strain, all the tears that remain
 Through the years when the pain comes to claim what remains
 Cause it must be love. You trusted love
 If it hurts or it aches, if it burns or it stings
 Is it worth all the strain, all the tears that remain
 Through the years when the pain comes to claim what remains
 Then it must be love. You trusted love
 Khalil, it's been a minute since we talked
 I'm sittin at this bar in Michigan sippin' a scotch
 Thinking 'bout our mothers and the men that they raised
 How we stumbled into manhood, on a road that's unpaved
 Some say with age comes wisdom. I think not
 Cause as I get older I just shake delusions off
 This ain't booze talkin' homey, I hope you doing good
 You took me under your wing like an older brother would
 Damn, I should have been there when your whole world shook
 Heard the cancer's eating her bones, I wondered 'bout your outlook
 You shrugged it off, or so it seemed and remained normal
 Stayed strong for your fam, your pain remained dormant
 Mourned in your own way, you? You here lifeline
 Patched your spirits back up. Respect death's design
 That's life I guess, you make no excuses
 So I stencil in your hurt, these words will see you through it
 When the fan's and the shows and the girls go away
 Take a look around, what remains is the day
 Put it in a song just to give my life away
 To you, for you, to you, for you
 When the sun and the stars and the moon fades away
 Take a look around, what remains is the day
 Put it in a song just to give my life away
 To you, for you, to you, for you
 Why we hurt those we care about, just to protect them
 In the name of love, unsaid words become weapons
 You say I don't communicate, just stay mum and stare
 I'm so selfish, I'd rather talk to drum kicks and snares
 And you're tired. Losing patience in this negative space
 ...see what I'm saying
 Silences, shoulder shrugs, we froze each other out
 For weeks on end, had me sleeping on the couch
 Till we both got sick, and you got up out the house
 Babygirl, it's been August since you left
 I ain't a changed man yet, I got no promises left
 To all the women that I love, who love me back though I fail 'ya
 Who understand a calm sea never makes a skilled sailor
 That's life I guess, you make no excuses
 So I stencil in your hurt these words will see you through it