Kaus, Mr. Ridley - How I'm Livin' Lyrics

Thinking back to high school when they called me a loser
Music in my eardrums, mind on the future
Envisioned how I'm livin' today
Manifested my reality and got it no delay
They all used to say I, would never see the day, I
Would sit up in my room while all the other kids would play, I
Would study sound, hear a beat, write a poem
Fantasize about the day that I would meet a microphone

And about, fifth or sixth grade is when it happened
Noticed that my sneakers were a second hand contraption
All the cool kids were dressed up in the latest fashion
Then I glanced into a mirror, and what I saw was unattractive
And of course that's the time I had my very first crush
C.H., her initials next to mine, in a tree I would cut
But I guess that's just part of growing up
Stop playing on the ground and start playing for a
And I remember everyone in my class
Who said I wasn't committed or that it wasn't a craft
Or that the people wouldn't get it, they'd reply with a laugh
Cause I was inarticulate and unfamiliar with math
But the path that I pave is now impressing the cats
Who wouldn't listen to a youngin' who was kicking' his raps
They wouldn't give him no daps, and now they're fascinated look
It's my favorite kind of story, after all, I wrote the book

Thinking back to high school when they called me a loser
Music in my eardrums, mind on the future
Envisioned how I'm livin' today
Manifested my reality and got it no delay
They all used to say I, would never see the day, I
Would sit up in my room while all the other kids would play, I
Would study sound, hear a beat, write a poem
Fantasize about the day that I would meet a microphone

Now that I'm a little older, all that bullshit behind me
Got a whole new pile of feces but it never gets beside me
Cause a life led stressing is a life that is wasted
All the beauty that you could have smelled, love you could have tasted
But far be it from me, to judge you to your face kid
Sometimes it takes a minute to see the damage that the race hid
Cause all that runnin' leave you with a broken heart, some bruised ribs
The way to heal is slowing down, find satisfaction from within
See I went left and had to climb a different obstacle
Focused on my breath, knew I could rhyme and it was possible
Threw critics in my pocket and I tightened up my belt
And in spite of every block I played the hand that I was dealt
It ain't random that I felt this kind of passion from within
That only comes from blank pages that are clashing with a pen
How fast I could have been your everyday and average person
But I would rather change the world with every word that I'm rehearsing

Thinking back to high school when they called me a loser
Music in my eardrums, mind on the future
Envisioned how I'm livin' today
Manifested my reality and got it no delay
They all used to say I, would never see the day, I
Would sit up in my room while all the other kids would play, I
Would study sound, hear a beat, write a poem
Fantasize about the day that I would meet a microphone

Thinking back to high school when they called me a loser
Music in my eardrums, mind on the future
Envisioned how I'm livin' today