The Four Loves

[Verse 1] My biggest brother is the one to blame for how I bumped that Warren G F-bombs and all everybody's always warning me I rap because of him--he's like a second dad at times At practice time is what made him the proudest dad alive And brother number two Mr. Oxford Genius but my Puma sneakers missing, bro you got 'em Death bed to married man Gearing up for round two There'd be no C.S. Lewis music out without you And daddy's stubborn heart is from his father and his mother Ain't a man that's named McNease that hasn't fallen to a struggle I know your heart's been broken since you lost your little brother But you got three sons that look just like you offering you cover And mama, you're second to God and everybody knows it They can cut the apron strings, but they can't cut the bond that hold us You broke your back to keep your babies warm in winter And [though?] we're big enough to leave we still need patient words of wisdom like [Interlude] This is the love that made me grow [Verse 2] I grew up in a town that never understood my fragile mind Sometimes the prophet gets no honor in his span of time I gravitated to the outcasts and the fractured kinds Graduated, left as soon as I could pack the ride I found the open arms and batten-down-the-hatches type Rich, broke, gay or straight or bi Or both black and white [This huddled mass is culture-clashing through the black of night?] And I admit it, I was wrong and never had the right [Interlude 2] This is the love that made me bold [Verse 3] I was lost til I found what I was hoping for Enchanted April found a way to make an open door Whites Bridge to Bay Tree [?] Five years old both as close as souls could ever sit Ten times smarter than the smartest that I've ever met The consequence I got my head on right because of it [And soon] the lights'll take me right back to the cause of it [Interlude 3] This is the love that made me whole [Verse 4] I'm nine years old frozen November There's an altar call and all of us forgotten to remember I told you that my life was not my own, so front and center I repented And I beg you spare some mercy for a sinner The tears down the face of a nervous little boy streaming Hit the carpet where they mixed with all the saints before me I heard 'em singing that the sins of man are washed beneath The flood of deep forgetfulness and then the voices ceased That's when my head went under That's when my debt was covered Ain't been the same since the second that I left the water (second that I left the water) Heard 'em sing amazing grace How sweet the sound that saved a wretch who made his great mistakes (huh) And your lessons are still lost on me From please pass the cup now to "lama sabachthani" Cause I denied you when I said I couldn't possibly But you said an altar call is all you want from me [Outro] And this is the love that saved my soul This is the love that saved my soul