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J​.​A​.​W​.​S.

by Wonder Brown

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1.
For Whom The Bells Toll If you save your soul, you lose See your faith is supposed to prove But to give thanks and hope don’t mean that you choose To give grace and know won’t mean that you do Who will save us all is a problem they’ve solved But who will take control doesn’t always call When your days are old for whom the bell tolls And your faith is gone, well that’s when it’s all been lost If you save your soul, you lose When your faith isn’t all a calling you choose To give thanks and know is the only true proof That to give grace and hope, well that is all you can do To give grace and hope, that is all you can do… Struggle Man Struggle Man Don’t get in my way Understand Ain’t no price that I won’t pay Everyday Every doggone day’s just another wonderful life And I’m on my way To knowing that this here’s a paradise And now we’re on our way When you’ve been asked to be the Bride Struggle, man, Is that you can’t be what you are not Understand That this struggle is all you’ve got.
2.
J.A.W. of Life Say goodbye, It’s just another wonderful life that all started with no water left to harbor in/tears flowing freely all around, but I’m hollow in/side, in stride the fact I’m swallowing the pride/my love’s boxed in and I’m following the line/pall-bearing all the pain and sorrow in/no form of faith to place wasteful wallowing/the why’s and what for’s in form of sullen whim/the cries of anguish, language hollering/for my pain to subside, and sigh, saying I’m tired of trying to fight, praying for my calling/calling Him for a new start, startling how I/could just kill all this time bottled in/bottling my lies to save face, like Solomon/bottle in my cries straight faced and falling in/line, where real men mourn that God’ll end the fight/against his own heart and call within for signs/these desperate times are always gonna send the light/another buried, another modeling the Life/where death is as common as water/when the Life of one ends, another begins again/the Life, started with no water left to harbor in’s a sign/to let go the flow and start again… She was just another wonderful Life that all started with no water left to harbor in/no father, a mother, two brothers, and something as sovereign/as a heart that robs her with feelings, still fostering/doubt, guilt, shame, pride that built up her posturing/wondered all these years what Life was like with fathering/but nevermind, there ain’t the time for wallowing/bothering a present with a past she had no problem in/cautioning herself that emotion wasn’t causing him/to hop on in and come back, run back a raucous in/how her mother kept him out the picture, now polishing/her cuffed up feet, now scuffed up, cobbled in/a shoe she ain’t choose, born to lose in his following/footsteps falling in, hoofs left hollowed in/the destiny of many of our youth left hobbling/proof probably pouring out of each pore, swore she had a reach towards water on a beach for swallowing/but all she felt was salt stored, hollow in a state left groveling/just another wonderful maroon ship harbored in martyrdom… Theirs was just another wonderful Life that all started with no water left to harbor in/her water broke after when they met broke, swallowing/two bottles of Heineken/chasing the vodka in/seeing each other at alcoholic’s anonymous/hoping for some kind of fresh start in a lotto win/just met a couple of days ago and decided then/they were meant to be together, meant for something more/than hording a street corner/nearest the liquor store/more than coincidence, more than an incidence of chance and circumstance/planned in advance, with inference of a purpose/still nervous/still learning, and if God heard this in his service/with wheels turning/not even sure if it’s how He surfaced/they kneel first to be a sign to these street churches/the real worship is/not in the heart of the city, but heart of man/and there’s no fear in following what you don’t understand/this broke man standing with a babe in his hands, that could be taken away in the blink of a glance/cause you’re not sewn to the earth, you’re sewn to his plans/and you’re not broke cause you’re hurt, you’re broke cause you can/be fixed, sewn back and worth more than they understand/yeah, with no water left to harbor in, you’re stuck in the sand/but you’re not sewn to the earth, you’re sewn to His plans/and there’s no fear in following what you don’t understand/yo, you’re not sewn to the earth, you’re sewn to his plans, and there’s no fear in following what you don’t understand, my man…
3.
Chorus: We won’t last forever, but we all gon’ try anyway Cause no matter the weather, we always wait for rain To wash away what we better let go down the drain I wonder why we never did paradise everyday… Verse 1: Let me that cold play in my chest/deep breath, blowing smoke with no regrets/pair of dice on the rearview rolled double six/trouble t. rubble when I take time to reminisce/ashes to ashes, this dust is what numbness gets – out there is a hustle/with no time for where the Hubble sits, I’m faced with blatant struggle/this day-to-day dance with hate in hopes love’ll/help me turn over the ignition/left hand at ten, and the other grappling the suspension/sad day in hell when I master this addiction/to hold on close, falling faster in this condition/it’s a cruel, cruel passion/that let’s me pry my parachutes mechanism in this chasm/right before my lesson lastens/as if I woke from this dream with no recollection it happened/who could say what paradise is/when the only next is a pair of lifeless eyes?/similar to the scare when night hits/and the moon and stars are as bright as light implies/lightyears away today, as distant as the God that I fear might sway/the unknown taking hold of my so-called soul/so, so deaf to the sounds of a heartbeat’s pulse/when I only imagine what’s make-believe/like the future and past outside its vagueries, and wonder why/I’m always begging please, and not to die/still blessed to breathing when I dot this i/what’s left only gives reason not to try/adhd’s and ocd’s distraction lies in a begging man’s passion for prize/wondering if Heaven’s got its asking price… Chorus: We won’t last forever, but we all gon’ try anyway Cause no matter the weather, we always wait for rain To wash away what we better let go down the drain I wonder why we never did paradise everyday… Verse 2: The only Heaven that I know is better role/step inside these Adidas and find a severed soul/worn down by the woos of a lesser foe/wool covered several times before I’d get the memo/wake up from the nightmarish life where this/idea of evil could only be seen by who fights fairest/demons in every scene, and I’d perish/before I find the true terrorism is my wherewithal/open my eyes, and find the careless fall/mistaking my kindness for non-confrontational/watch friends victimized by oppression’s all/and realize my calling’s to love more intentional/that’s why I gladly seek the Passion’s physique/and withstand the pain that happily lashes at me/risen from ashes that flagrantly speak/out of hatred for the way we were meant to be free/still, the days never cease/with or without the evils that men do dangerously/Please, take them from me/cause nevermind what we do, I hate what I see/wanna be an agent of Peace/so in the past, I’ve laid at His feet/and now it’s time to receive the paradise I see, and everyday patiently be Me… Bridge: When I was alone in the face of death, and I was saving every breath for something worth me/eternity was the place I slept, all along my feet just crept naturally/and I never wanted to die, cause nothing ever felt right inside nor gave me no peace/until I saw the look in your eye, I never knew that Paradise was You and Me…
4.
Sunny Babe 03:46
Sunny Babe Verse 1: From your hoops to Hulu hips With two dips of coconut, you strut like “who knew this?” Your Zulu kiss, your kufi coolness The screws that I miss are the holes that you fix In the ways you confess your savoir sex-appeal I die to my pride when I’m eyeing your “dress To kill” Any notion of past The ocean that’s vast is the water I tread for a treasure that lasts Amidst all that I couldn’t compare The way that everything you are is more than the average man could bare Steady grinning, {you} found me in the back ready to listen Peaking out of the shadows cast heavy on how I’m living “Hello,” you said in a vocal tone similar to Nina Simone Your poems sound as sweet as her songs And the heat rose from your toes peaking In hopes of a glance at the passion our eyes meeting would know. Refrain: So glad I think I found the Truth in You I’m glad I think I found the Truth in You {This is love and Your love is the best} Verse 2: Exchanged the ten digits And tamed within the limits The game that what makes this strange fruit get finished To the core, push the limits For some more of what’s endless Do that once or twice to the reggae in the distance Suddenly, you can’t quite figure how you got to this point With a knot in your throat, singing up in this joint Time to go and though you barely even held her hand You can still taste her thoughts, touched by her plans She’s on your mind ‘til that new day arise She’s on your mind ‘til that new day arise {She’s on your mind} You’re on your grind with your “eyes on the prize” Moving on with the routine of your life, To your surprise you get that text And your mind worries a little less Cause that’s a sign that what you felt wasn’t ridiculous On your “grown man” with a schoolboy crush Trying to be true to the soul like Trugoy does. Bridge: I’m ready for a romance I’m ready to do it all the way I’m hungry, said my grace Deep in love, that’s what it’s gotta be If I said I didn’t live for it Then I would be lying to you Verse 3: Now, see, I’d call you a queen to my kingdom But that would only be magic cause the passion would have tragical meaning I’d call you a moon to my earth But then the light from your eyes would soon fade and truly never be yours I’d call you the stars beyond Mars But why would I ever let another outshine spiritual guidance inside I’d call you my heart from the start to the finish But then part of that story was the ending.
5.
Lil' Shugah 03:18
Lil’ Shugah Yeah, I’ve been with Miss Brown, but your Miss Brown Wonder/this town ain’t big enough to hold me down/so you know on this ground/it’s only right I found love when I had enough/ready to get down, and gone for the last round/perpetually packed for the background/pushed you away just in case the day came to cast out/a higher calling on my back sounded right at the time/but I was blind to the fact, how/I was down-for-the-count cause you were down despite my flaws/and waited around when the night’s crowd applause/left you in awe, then left me alone/but simple and plain you were next to the throne/at the right hand of God’s, when I was down on all fours/applause or none at all, you were right for the cause/opened my eyes to see the steps at the doors/came to me a package deceptively large You’re my Lil’ Shugah To have and to hold I want you to know That life wouldn’t be so sweet without my Lil’ Shugah To have and to hold I want you to know That life wouldn’t be so sweet without my Lil’ Shugah… You’re my Lil’ Zilla now/Small Wonder that I’m getting down/always giving when I’m settled in the kitchen, ‘bout/to eat something fresh, trim with simply enough/created to give freely when the giving is tough/she’s like some soul food, you see/so easy-does-it when it’s Sudoku to me/trying to solve the puzzle of this broke dude, for free/was something I gave up in my old youth, in need/of the hope you believe/I prayed so many nights/for the pain of the past to be vacant from my life/and rise the next day, awakened by the light/of the blessing I can now say I’ve taken to be my wife…
6.
Intro: Keep Shining Clicka Klackah Grab a spray can and smack a wack rapper Hook: Like a gun to a bullet Better think twice now before you step to it Run-DMC to Rick Rubin That’ll rock your socks off when you get to groovin’ Off with your Adidas and your Pumas Take a deep plunge and feel your lungs fill with sewage Hip Hop’s been losing Before it’s too late, grab your spray can and spew it Verse 1: Like a clack to a klickah, boom-ping-pang-pow after cocking back quicker/blast off that rap-cat stigma/then realize later I’m just a laughed at ginger/that got a soul and voice to behold/and got ’em scared dancing when there’s a choice on their own to go/see, the choices are yo’s but only when you fit the bill of the boys in the royal blue and gold/no, I ain’t talking ‘bout the cops when they’re all just some pawns/like Lee Harvey Oswald/yeah, their full nelson got y’all fighting in the fox hole/to make sure we got oil/put on your boots and fatigues/and see just what I mean when they’re scooping your spleen/off the sidewalk/still using white chalk/to brainwash your minds and ultimately watch your grind halt/sorry Chuck, but the real Public Enemy/still wears a suit and tie and puppets what’s a friend to me/the real N.egroes W.ith A.ttitude/never had to hold a gun to watch us bleed for acting fool/yeah, the Black Star keeps shining/but only cause the garbage beyond us keeps dying/it ain’t just hip-hop that’s almost dead/it’s every single one of us who’s neck deep and still in bed… Verse 2: Economy down, crack sales went up/we front as heroes, but Heaven knows the hell in us/just like Johnny Appleseed, a dough boy that chiefs reefer/smokes with Joe Blow on the low Sharon Peters/not your average Tom, Dick, or Harry either/Johnny boy got money, boy, but John Doe to your Derek Jeter/and Mary Jane got his brain on lock/Johnny blaze, he’s insane with the pot/merely in spots of suburbia, so hurry up, the hustle game is really mean/stay away from Mikey, cause Mikey’ll eat anything/ratted everybody out, even fell for Billy Jean/boo-boo, the fool drools, chasing the silly dream/Johnny got a one track mind like Suzy Q/Sally Sally, mo Mally, banana-fana, hooty-hoo/who knew that John-john slept with Plain Jane/Joe Blow’s main/found his niche, but wasn’t able to slain Cane/cause he snitched on his main man… Hook 2: Don’t wanna believe in the stories That they tell you on the block’s corner So you keep living your life like There ain’t nothing wrong with the news they report ya Until one day when you’re forced To Wonder just how their Theory Hazit And that’s when you hear the chamber Now you’re in danger of facing Clicka Klackah…
7.
K.ill O.’Reilly Verse 1: Used to let ‘em know with the hooty-hoo/packed a fruity loop in a pez dispenser of Scooby Doo/ask the Idiots who used to skip to the lew/tossing Third Bass when I’m off my rooty-poo/told y’all put ‘em high like a doobie do, Brother/shady enough that I might truly do ____/time for me to go ahead and get on my go-round/checkered past square-dancing at the ho-down/pitched a perfect game and they still don’t know how/that there was a day that the brother carried the four-pound/never did, only divied out the product/dipped in the freshest, and shimmied round your daughter/hung with sets that had no patience for who’s harder/where Lil’ Wayne’s got duked adjacent to June Carter/to prove who Cash rules in American History X/dreams that legends couldn’t conceive who the misery hexed/generational curses that epiphany blessed/perversions of the truest form, where humanity’s best/couldn’t compare to the revelation of God/where the closet came clean to believe/in a redeeming quality/yeah, I once hollered show me the Hollywood/’til Jesus let me get a taste for what the salty should… I’ll write it and we’ll do it LIVE… Chorus 1: Now who’s a Humble Beast, trying to Reach the people Coming up short when I brandish the weapon that’s lethal Your Lampmode’s like no match to the light When the King’s Kulture can’t keep it real long enough to be right Don’t even get me started on who’s Flame retardant Crossing-over for the mass appeal of a market Mixing business with art can’t be found in your parchment This here’s the Inside Edition, It’s time to K.ill O.’Reilly Verse 2: Dance in the devil’s shoes/mic check who you stepping to/wrong side of the track, black side of the crescent moon/coast to coast repping homicide/I don’t kill rapper’s hope, that’s something death will do/check your calendar/death devours and speed-powers over these manatee sea cow-ards/cute/now leap out your boat slowly/oh you know Jesus? We’ll see when you don’t eat/days and nights to 3 am/munition flow the 4zero cal. and/shhh, listen, BANG/that’s the sound of the police’s peace/shooting down a downtown sixteen year young’s dream/his mother’s forever wondering/what he could’ve done with that scholarship money/redefining “peace out” when I see you last/your teeth gnash but Adam Lanza ain’t even gasp/so kiss a saint, diss a rapper/make him dissipate, or evaporate/like a midget bladder pissing paint/what’s a matter with your FACE!?!?/I know how you feel/passing them faces, no one’s real/dragging your weightless feet to lunch meal/by yourself in the back/trapped and tempted to buy yourself a new black/and mild/bittersweet child/you’re not alone in your depression/you’re surrounded by the demented/Walking Dead is filmed on your campus/in your corporate cubicle and church-sides mansion/no wonder how the pastor’s Charles Manson/Wonder Brown has y’all dancing scared/Know the Truth and die for it if you dare… Verse 3: Dissonant for all you hypocrite/I’ll use theo-logical as a synonym when/you’re out of touch like Hall and Oates, riddling/20-something A.D. but still HD illiterate/you think the devil inside you has given in/well you’re in for one helluva ride still living in/the form of Casper that can’t master what’s simpleton/after what you can’t touch as if still listening/to the allegories of Thor/or Zeus in Athena that you ain’t even think to explore for/your proof that you and your troop troubadour/pseudonym for your lust to control who speaks on the floor/let’s just call it like it is/you’re a political profiteer, not a prophet in this biz/well this here’s a coffin to you kids/that need to dead that noise before you lost what ain’t been fixed… Chorus 2: I’m just a Humble Beast, trying to Reach the people Coming up short when I brandish the weapon that’s lethal My Lampmode’s like no match to the light When the King’s Kulture can’t keep it real long enough to be right Don’t even get me started on who’s Flame retardant Crossing-over for the mass appeal of a market Mixing business with art can’t be found in your parchment Their truth is Fox News to me It’s time to K.ill O.’Reilly…
8.
Coffin Grin 06:22
Coffin Grin Verse 1: Lost in the shuffle of your Broadway rebuttal/selling yourself out to the posh life, and puzzled/how it all falls fast when you cautionly cuddled/up to nobody special, while everybody’s struggle/crawled into your Yoohoo/who you know wasn’t the apple of your Juice Crew/coo-coo-cachooed ‘til that caboose went choo, choo, choo/chugga cause you thought you were too fool proof/for Cocoa Puffs, next time a Fruity Loop/ask God what happened to the Jujy-Fruit/Jesus, thought you knew/guess it was worse that that trap was also boobied too/threw you for the loopty loop/skipped to the lump in your throat when you stooped for few/and fell short/next time you reach out to touch someone, Son/ know what the hell for… Chorus 1: Father, where your daughter been? Step away from the altar ‘fo you give a false offering Looking back at the past got you salty Just imagine the cost flossing your Coffin Grin… Bridge: Seems like a Sunday morning, overcast and hanging low Another Passover portion, the kinda cold that stole your soul Still wonder where your joy been, ain’t been seen since she had to pass go A Coffin Grin won’t tell her story, while we’re baptized and laying low… Verse 2: Hanging at the cross, like some brothers on the corner/is a common misconception of a common disorder/common sense tells that two intersect/to border four parts of your “neck”/but fall short for the fifth part/the common ground you bought on borrowed time/similar but the not the same to your bottom line/something called collateral created to call yours mine/mine like numb to collective common eye/crossed from too many calling themselves “common-like” one minute/the next they’re screaming “God’s divine”/elect, scheduled as special from God’s design/appointed to reveal what’s been allotted time/Good God, that’s a sign/that there’s certainly not much common between your god and I… Chorus 2: Father, where your Son been Step away from the altar ‘fo you leave your wunderkind Got your reflection often wondering If Heaven comes knocking on your Coffin Grin… Bridge repeats
9.
10.
Apocalips Now Verse 1: You see they labeled this young boy a drowning man/swimming in something you can’t see from the ground you stand/heard their screams when I reached a rousing hand/empty dreams when they preached how to be a man/with one hand in the cookie jar/make sure you give it all/while they take for the sake of looking hard/at the cold hard facts that I should be more/than meets the eye, transformed from a heathen’s scar/blood of lamb in this beating heart/son of man standing for something that can’t redeem in part/covered hand dampened by the bleeding, marred/forsaken, forgotten, and fiending for a preemie’s start/what’s the worth of a premature, new beginning/see, it’s either-or in your neither-nor need for sinning/point the finger and I’m preaching your dreams of ending/as if Saul hadn’t blinked for one more need to be repenting/follow me now/cause where we’re going the rabbit hole’s a little bit bigger, so your mouth can swallow your crown/wisdom long in the tooth of those martyring clowns/vision gone without proof of a heart to be found/not even a trick up the sleeve/sickness found in the slight of hand that a man’s fingers slipped in between/the busy-ness of greed, silliness in me/for wanting to place the blame on what’s killing me in deed/indeed. Chorus: Apocalips Now Bleeding from your Apocalips Now Preaching with your Apocalips Verse 2: As time goes/dealing with the highs, low/while I refine the ingredients of my prose/oz.’s and pints, gallons and kilos/last meals before the Gallows call fiends home/until then I’ma snap necks/who preach aspirations of life after death as assets/no need for your archaic religions/theologies imposed as a prison/Jesus came to dead that vision/but if you ain’t willing to hang it up, you ain’t willing to listen/the church ain’t no better than the heathens they’re screaming at/check your bibles if you ain’t into believing that/Lord, wanna call out the hypocrite/Lord, wanna fall out like Benny Henn did, flipping it/preachers stealing money from the people/with a gift of gab no more prophetic than evil/Catholic and Protestant fronting as if God’s in it/only to build up its conglomerate/6 billion people outside of the steeple/with their own mouths to feed, while the meek inherit the feeble/yeah, I’m just preaching… Chorus 2: Apocalips Now Bleeding from your Apocalips Now Preaching with your Apocalips Now Bridge: The devil lies within you To do like Leviathan do And that’s why you need to save your soul Oh, the devil lies within you To do like Leviathan do And that’s why you need to save your soul Or so that’s what they say Preaching with your Apocalips Now…
11.
Darke Bros. 03:01
Darke Bros. Verse 1: This a Darke Bros. revival/this Arkham Asylum/the dark knight’s nightmare/don’t play with the child/I don’t tell dark wing duck tales, I tell tales of Darke trials/spark fires in the forest if you forfeit/send your S.O.S. smoke signals/I’ll send your warship solar/heat-seeking sonar missiles/aiming at your bones fin’ to poll our digits/now that what I call a freeze frame/and that’s called a double entendre for you pee-brains/let me open up your mind, I’m a doctor/with this dark audio I do hip hop proper/my clockwork morbid, sort of savage/good for laughs of lashings of the old ultra Alex/you don’t wanna battle these mad men/ladies and gents, the Darke Bros. will turn you to past tense… Chorus: When the Sun goes down, Son goes down I ride for my kin, and die for my crown When the Sun goes down, Son goes down Brother for life, no death in the darkeness When the Sun goes down, Son goes down I ride for my kin, and die for my crown When the Sun goes down, Son goes down No need for the sun, no sweat when we spark this Verse 2: Hi, I’m Anakin/nice of you to finally show up/the Darke side of the heart is a hard path if you won’t touch Hell/puncture braille for book of Eli/when your light can’t suffice dominated by the sea-tide/your whole coast been tsunami-fied/y’all knee-high before you find your bourgeoisie sign/don’t think revelation isn’t for peons/underscoring man’s philosophies for eons/promises eternal need not apply after/we’ll see where your bones lie when the rapture doesn’t happen/y’all still ain’t done nothing, so pardon moi/if I turn my back and Jadakiss your morningstar/acting like this is a war, well you’ve been warned/dotted line sign, dot the i and hold your cross bizarre/cockeyed, got ‘em looking at you sideways/wondering how you make a living ever since IV’s were given/y’all intravenously dripping/as much venom as you can/while these spotted lambs keep living/and since the pulpit has become infected/especially, overrun by an audience elected/especially, talented tenth inspected/especially, seal of approval from mass appeal ingestion/nevermind the web that y’all spinning/not to call y’all youngin’s out is to be sinning/you keep spitting, we keep prescripting/the Darke ages and Dog Days coming for your religion/ladies and gentlemen…
12.
13.
J.A.W.S. 01:53

about

This album is dedicated to the Struggle, the beauty of life in all its facets, the raw truth that lies in wait behind the veil of our constructs, the experience of Life that needs no correlations to religion, creed, caste, ology or ism, but the obligation of humanity as one...

This album is a declaration of war against oppression - whether it be physical or "spiritual," whether from friend or foe, unafraid to call out against the lies of ex-compatriots, unapologetically expressing what needs expressed, unafraid of what needs changed...

This album is an elegy of the past, a farewell to the future, and an embrace of the present - the redemptive quality of the now as a measure of faith, that who we are is more a representation of who we be, and not who we were or what will come to pass - that there is no greater moment than right now...

If I do nothing else with my life, let me speak of this world for what it is, and in so doing I will give you Just Another Wonderful Struggle

credits

released March 15, 2013

All tracks written, played, produced, mixed, and mastered by Wonder Brown

Beats by Theory Hazit, Toni Shift, Qlas Beats, TomatoFish, DJ Sean P, and pumpkinFoot

Additional Vocals from: Theory Hazit, MC Forty, JustMe, Sheisty Khrist, and CasMetah

Featuring:
Scott Williams - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, and additional percussion
Jeffrey Allen - keys, and piano
John Bertke - percussion
Sidney Hilley and Russ Tate - vocals

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Wonder Brown Cincinnati

Part of the Scribbling Idiots collective, Wonder Brown steps outside of the confines of genre to represent the diverse influences of 21st Century art. An accomplished poet and spoken word artist, Brown has been featured in compilations, music videos, and video games, as well as sold worldwide. If Wonder has relayed just another wonderful struggle, then J.A.W.S. is just as much ours as it is his. ... more

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