Holding Tank (Revisited)

Verse One: I got a one bedroom shack on the left side of the tracks The type of ghetto neighborhood where kids slang cracks Hang out like stray cats Smoke weed and play craps And try to make their papers stack My man did two years in Oriana, came back Took me to the side and hit me with the straight facts "Man, I know what I did was wrong, I can't change that But every dime that I lost I'm about to take back I can't play and leave my business neglected Now that I got my freedom I got to protect it" Yeah, fresh off a bid, what he said was expected I didn't like it but I had to respect it I wish his energy was legally directed Instead he'd rather be illegally connected But we been best friends since elementary So I ain't tryin' to see him in the penitentiary Confined physically, standin' still mentally His baby girl and mother sayin' that they missin' him Encouraging words and books I'll be sendin' him With hate in my heart for the fakes that won't visit him We've been here once and I can't take more of the same But I'll be talkin' to a wall if I ask the cat to change Verse Two: It was the kind of summer night that makes you stare at the stars Forget about the scars you've collected from the wars "So what you tryin' to do man? I'm tryin' to hit the bars" I'm not even a drinker but I hopped inside the car Allen creeped to 104, 104 to Kimberly Pulled into the parking lot right outside of Mistys And took a long pause before we broke So he could smoke He took a long pull and then he spoke "With my baby girl here, I can't see being broke." "Man I can feel what you sayin' but it ain't gotta be dope." "Easy for you to say. You already got a degree But man I'm sittin' here on a GED And nothin' out here for me But sellin' or slippin'" "Man you trippin'" "How you figure?" "You got to take a step back and try to see the bigger picture Look outside the block there's a lot more And anything in life worth havin' you got to work hard for." "You know it's more difficult than it looks And with a record it's expected that I wash dishes or cook I'd rather be a crook Than in the unemployment line There's people out here with these 9 to 5s Who barely got a dime." "True." I told him not to let the streets get him blinded I got a business book from school that I would find it So anyway legal he would have knowledge behind it Wall Street or State Street, just be business minded He agreed with my sentiments and said, "Cool." Told me people say they wanna help but never do I listened silently, responded and I said, "True No matter what path you chose man, I'm here for you No matter what path you chose man, I'm here for you No matter what path you chose man, I'm here for you." "Here for you. Here for you."