Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 17
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Intro
Krum’s lighter runs out of fuel. He’s trying to let go of the past, and even that won’t cooperate.
He made the beat for “Burn It to the Ground” and takes the second verse. I take the first, Joey the Jerk the third. In the aftermath of the breakup, my verse wants a clean start and admits the poor choices I’d rather burn up than keep repeating.
Krum gets caught looking through the pictures on his phone. He knows the advice about forgiving and forgetting. Forgiving himself is harder.
Then Joey arrives and specifies that he’s not an arsonist. It’s worth establishing that before three rappers spend this much time talking about matches.
Videos
Behind the Cicada Ruckus (commentary)
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Lyrics
Chunjay, Chorus:
Pull out the match book and grab the gas can
Change your outlook this is your last stand
Rearrange the thangs this ain’t no sleight of hand
Burn it to the ground is next on the plan
Chunjay, Verse 1:
Seriously, Harry, we gotta burn this all down
Way too many things that need to meet the ground
Heaven scrapes the pavement like the homie ManChild
Don’t care if I’m reviled, blessed be the one in exile
Call me Athanasius, it’s me against the world
Not hittin that temptation and I’m coming unfurled
Was whining bout a girl now I’m just walking away
There is a silver lining, I’m sure I’ll see the day
Are you Yoko Ono? ’cause you broke up the band
Got me drinking like a hobo eatin fish out of a can
So I trust you’ll understand when I light up the whole area
Pushin for purity like beer in Bavaria
I made some poor choices and I’m burning ’em all up
Can’t let that mess define me so it’s more like a tune-up
Confess it, got divine peace, sort of a clean-up
Burn the whole thing down before a big build-up
Krum, Verse 2:
Pull the match book on how the past look
And all the feelings that I never let show
They told me move on to write a new song
And burn it down, but it’s hard to let go
Livin in these memories on a loop playin everyday
Everything that happened was prolly my fault anyway
The mirror’s full of fingers pointin all that I felt
Forgive and forget—the problem is forgiving yourself
Scrollin thru the pictures on my phone like a prison
The trash can beggin to eat ’em and start livin
My pride is in control and I been playin it cool
Plus every time I pulled my lighter out it ran outta fuel
Joey the Jerk, Verse 3:
Yo! Far from an arsonist, feel the heat as we start to bust
Leading the fleet like Optimus Prime time like mysogynists
On BET, we three emcees who’ve seen between the lines
With enemies on both sides so let the fire shine
Brightly burnin’ down the town and if I get a little charred
Let me come back more resourceful like an evolved Charizard
Ashes to ashes with batches of bad matches
The flash is fantastic like burning battery acid
Spectacular magic can happen when you burn the bad that’s trapped in
I ain’t talking bout rappin
Talking supernatural action when we burn it down…
Joey the Jerk! On the microphone!
Killin’ emcees, like I been doin, for the last 375 years! Alright!
Credits
Music: Krum
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Krum, Joey the Jerk of LA Symphony
Album-wide credits
Additional Credits
Production: Flatline, Chunjay
Mixing, Engineering, Co-Production, Mastering, Additional Scratches, Everything but the Kitchen Sink: DJ Sean P at TWLVS in Fort Worth, Texas
Vocal Production/Consultation: Krum
Pre-Mixing: Flatline, Chunjay, Krum, Shedlyn/Chris Felix, Annex, Grizzly Beatz, David Mathewes
Background Vocals: Flatline, DJ Sean P, Chunjay, and Friends
Executive Producer: Chunjay
Lyrics and music copyright 2017 Neopolis Media in partnership with Invisible Library Records. All rights reserved. M. Walker & J. Bennett Artist rights (BMI).
Guest/co-writer FYI: Music: Krum Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, Krum, Joey the Jerk of LA Symphony These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.
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