Royal Ruckus > Summer of the Cicadas > Track 27
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Intro
“I have my integrity and I have my mistakes.” Moving forward on the second disc means owning both.
This is the second half of the *Reflections* pair, with music by Grizzly Beatz. Jeremiah Dirt returns, and ManChild joins us. I run through the things I’ve done and the things I haven’t, without arriving at a particularly tidy account of myself.
Dirt’s verse has its own distance between belief and behavior. ManChild keeps turning “never” over until the word starts sounding less dependable.
The chorus brings the responsibility back to the person in the mirror. ManChild leaves us with a question: “Never say never, are you sure now?”
Videos
No Behind the Cicada Ruckus commentary video found for this track on the Royal Ruckus channel.
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Lyrics
Chunjay, Chorus:
I got my mistakes I don’t know about you
I have one set of eyes and my own point of view
I hold onto integrity now that I see
There’s only one person, can take this from me
I got my mistakes I don’t know about you
I have one set of eyes and my own point of view
I hold onto integrity now that its clear
The only one can take it from me, is in the mirror
Chunjay, Verse 1:
A lot of things I am and a lot of things I’m not
A lot of things I planned out never carried out the plot
Never smacked a woman, never been an abuser
Never used smack or meth never been a drug pusher
Never hired a hooker never been an accuser
I’ve written dope raps but was a wack beat producer
Never cussed in my songs but I cuss every day
Never been an agnostic but I struggle to pray
Not one to play, but I’ve been divorced
A couple failed relationships but marriage endorsed
I’m a mixed bag of things, successfully broken
A failure and a champion, always in motion
I live by the ocean, once jumped off a cliff
Taken back words spoken, I can’t roll a spliff
I have my integrity and I have my mistakes
But of those two things, they’re each mine to make
Dirt, Verse 2:
I was arrested, convicted, thrown in jail
But remained free, my soul prevailed
God visits the prisons with his face unveiled
Throws the Gospel into hard hearts like molotov cocktails
I never knew Christ’s love like that
Even though I consider myself a believer from way back
My intelligence reigns supreme
But never seems smart enough to evade Devil schemes
I read the Word like it’s God’s freestyle
But never remember the verses while in the world’s Wild Style
I’m alive but never not dying
Seeking the Truth but never far away from lying
I’m holy, set apart
While never seeming to stop stumbling in the dark
As my misgivings always running amok
I’m not many things but one I am is never giving up!
Manchild, Verse 3:
Never never would I ever pen a letter to the ledger
With a less than better effort like whatever man it’s clever
Never sipped a drop of water after trekking cross the desert
Check the method this is pleasure pain connected on the record
Never…Never would I mother may I ask permission
Man I’m on a mission you can keep the terms and the conditions
Never counted costs I ain’t a statistician
Never called my style free anytime I’m pad and penning
Sometimes I lack the vision never see it all
Trouble climbing on me never see the need to keep it off
Never held the notion life is easy ya’ll
Never knew the loudest voice around was mine and he can talk
Never mind the never mind and checkered past
Saw it slip away and never figured we could get it back
Never would I claim to know the point to you and yours now
Never say never, are you sure now?
Credits
Music: Grizzly Beatz
Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, ManChild of Mars Ill, & Jeremiah Dirt
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: Grizzly Beatz Lyrics and Vocals: Chunjay, ManChild of Mars Ill, & Jeremiah Dirt These source credits are attribution information, not a lyric-scope blocker; they do not specify legal ownership shares.
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