[Verse One]

Look at the ashtray fillin’ up
Like smoke in my lungs
Just another sunset
Watch the night fade in, yup.

Teenage boys tryin’ to holler down the street from me.
At young women I see ‘em from my balcony.
Puddles of broken asphalt.
Reflect against the windows of a limousine.

Heavens sake, at this age I know
It ain’t a hard thing to find a woman to come lay with me.
But I don’t want a dam thing if she
Here for the ego boost and false sense of self esteem.
The desire to touch for the sake of status erase all sanctity.
Too many times I watch light die in a shallow girls eyes
Trying to make myself think she ain’t make-believe.

I write this down at the blues spot and I see you lookin’ warm as bakery.
Something about you cookin’ like you could take the cake for me

Look like you got enough years to be past all the bullshit.
Cried enough tears to know life’s hard, but you wont quit.
If you permit I will give you this word like cold water upon your lips

[Chorus]

Everybody got needs.
Do you ever lonely?
Everybody got needs.
Do ever feel guilty?
Everybody got needs.
Do you ever feel thirsty?
Everybody got needs.
Do you ever feel hungry?

I can’t lie. I won’t lie.
It’s been long time since I touched a vibe
I can’t lie I won’t lie it’s been a long time since I testified.

I want to know your story.
I want speak your name.
I want to touch your thigh.
I want to fade away…




[Verse Two]

Struggle gave you poise and method.
Confident and coy when I pause in the middle of my sentence.
Just to breath in your essence.
Your presence locked and loaded like a weapon.

I should mention how you move through the world with autonomy.
Honestly, single mother goddess artistry.
Equipped with a career and humility.
If you wanted me it would be want and never need.
You proud as a panther sleek.

I’m weak when you ask what I do. I skip the details
direct the conversation back to you.

We below the surface now.
Outside of the venue the moon is out.
We hear the music wash through the crowd.
Everything seem brighter now.

In your younger days, in your danger phase.
With men you made mistakes.
You pray your sister don’t do the same.
And I see your pain tremble through your glance.
As you touch my face.

And I don’t see no claws and I ain’t no prey.
But I see the symmetry of your jaw.
And the strap of your bra on your shoulder blade.
So I say, “Hey, I don’t live too far away.”



[Chorus]

Everybody got needs.
Do you ever lonely?
Everybody got needs.
Do ever feel guilty?
Everybody got needs.
Do you ever feel thirsty?
Everybody got needs.
Do you ever feel hungry?

I can’t lie. I won’t lie.
It’s been long time since I touched a vibe
I can’t lie I won’t lie it’s been a long time since I testified.

I want to know your story.
I want speak your name.
I want to touch your thigh.
I want to fade away…

[Verse Three]

Your fingers walk my bookcase.
Hours later I can tell there is something in your mind you ain’t ready to say.
In the kitchen we laugh at my miss matching plates.
You look for your socks
Tie your hair up.

My hair is a mess, throw a shirt on my chest when I make you guac.
It’s sunrise by the time you say,
“Never again will I become a prisoner to my own love life.”

Romance is like theme park ride that I bought a ticket
for that wasn’t really worth the price.
I learned, if you can’t love yourself, you can’t love your life.
I love my life, I ride for my son, that’s do or die.

My grandmama taught me about people with a gift to see,
I see that gift in you.
I see you through her eyes intermittently.
I see that blue in your heart flickering.
Your art collects all the hemorrhaging.

But don’t be a fiend, a glutton for your own suffering
Not her name, not your art, not your pain, not one specific thing will set you free
But baby boy understand that you got the keys.”




[Chorus]

Everybody got needs.
Do you ever lonely?
Everybody got needs.
Do ever feel guilty?
Everybody got needs.
Do you ever feel thirsty?
Everybody got needs.
Do you ever feel hungry?

I can’t lie. I won’t lie.
It’s been long time since I touched a vibe
I can’t lie I won’t lie it’s been a long time since I testified.

I want to know your story.
I want speak your name.
I want to touch your thigh.
I want to fade away…

[Extended Narrative]

She kissed me once more as morning passed into daylight
and said goodbye.
I said, “We been here before.”
She said. “Take it one lifetime at a time.”
And then told me

“You can’t do everything all at once.
Everything is already happening all at once.
You are one part of everything all at once.
Do everything you can to be the best part of yourself and show up.”

And I was like, “Whaaa?”

Then she said, “And to answer your question, of course.

Sometimes I feel lonely.
Sometimes I feel holy.
Sometimes I feel angry.
Sometimes I feel crazy.
Sometimes I feel hungry.
Sometimes I feel lovely.
Sometimes I feel ugly.
Sometimes I feel so clean.”