BUILDING BLUEPRINT

Next level lyrical insight is a moment away.

Lyrical Analysis of...

Sing About Me Part 4

///verse 13
march now and something shifted in the temperature of things
not the weather, something social, something with the strings
of the blocks particular politics, the rings
of connection around amara, who she brings
to what, who shes seen with, who that means, the kings
and pawns of the bronx social chessboard and the slings
and arrows of being fourteen and visible, the stings
of attention you didnt ask for, and someone clings
to the wrong detail and suddenly the whole thing springs
a leak,
devontae. i shouldve clocked devontae.
older, sixteen, ran with the kids from burnside who stayed
out past midnight making decisions that decayed
their futures in real time and devontae had displayed
a specific interest in amara that shed waylaid
politely, then firmly and I was the thing that betrayed
his patience or so the story goes, the tirade
of male ego dressed in the language of the block, the charade
of respect when what it really was was, afraid
of losing something he never had, retrograde
possession and I didnt know the depth of what Id wade
d into standing at 161st with a book
marcus called me friday at 9PM
Marcus: "yo where you at?"
Me: "walking to meet amara by the park"
Marcus:" Which park?"
Me: "franz sigel. she said she wanted to walk"
Marcus: "jonah. listen to me. who told you to meet at franz sigel after dark?"
Me: "She texted me"
Marcus: "Did she call you?"
Me: "no she "
Marcus: "Jonah call her right now"
Me: "marcus what are you "
Marcus: "call her. right now while im on the phone. do it.
///i dial, it rings, she picks up
amara: "hello?"
Me: "hey, were you ,did you text me to meet at franz sigel?
Amara: "what? no. im at my cousins in yonkers, I texted you like an hour ago that I couldn't come out tonight, you didn't see it?"
Me: "I "
Marcus: "dont go to that park, bro. dont go. turn around right now."
Me: "how did you "
Marcus: "devontaes boy reef was in ramons bragging. they got your number from, i dont know how
just dont go "
///internal
and I was already at the entrance to franz sigel
i was already there
and I turned around
and they were already behind me.
///verse 14
i dont remember all of it in sequence ,the brain
does something with trauma, reorganizes the chain
of events into something survivable, the pain
arrives edited, what I remember, the refrain
of devontaes voice "you thought you was gonna maintain
out here with her? you thought you was built for this terrain?"
and the cold of the ground when I went down, the drain
of the sky above me, lil tjay still playing the same
song from the apartment window three floors up, the mundane
cruelty of the city continuing while the domain
of my specific body was under, and the rain
starting, february cold returning in march, the vein
of something ancient running through the borough, the contain
ment of violence inside the ordinary, the explain
able and unexplainable simultaneously, the main
thing I thought, on the ground, was "amara"
the main thing I thought was "the book"
the main thing I thought was "okafor."
architecture. load bearing. what holds.
i held.
i held.
///verse 15
i got three brothers. i should explain the architecture
darius is twenty two, works sanitation, the rector
of our household in the practical sense, the projector
of stability in a frame that needed it, protector
by nature, not performance, the collector
of every bill, every problem, every defector
from peace that arrived at our door, the inspector
of every person I brought around,
of bad energy before I could name it my director
when I couldnt direct myself
kofi is nineteen. different.
kofi is the one the block sees, significant
in the way the block measures significance, the brilliantine
cool of him, the way he moves, the discipline
of his reputation, guess kofi never raised his voice
in my memory, not once, just the choice
he presents you with by existing, the poise
of someone who knows what theyre capable of, the noise
he doesnt make is louder than what most people deploy
and then theres marcus. not blood. but.
///internal
they came to the hospital separately
darius first, he sat down, looked at my face
didnt say anything for a full minute
then said "you know who?"
I said "devontae. burnside."
he nodded once. stood up. left.
kofi came in after. looked at me.
said "you good?"
I said "yeah."
he said "okay."
he left.
///verse 16
i dont know exactly what happened saturday night
and im not going to pretend I do, the right
to that story belongs to the people who were in it and the light
i have is secondhand, what I know, by the slight
of monday morning, devontae from burnside had a different profile
on the block the kind of profile that required a lifestyle
adjustment, the kind of message the bronx sends meanwhile
in the language the bronx speaks when words arent worth the trial
darius came home sunday quiet, ate dinner, said grace
marcus had a busted knuckle and a look on his face
of someone whod located something in himself and placed
it back where it belonged, kofi was kofi, erased
of evidence, present and accounted for, his case
resting permanently in the unspoken, the space
between what happened and what gets said, the grace
of the Bronx when it handles its own, the embrace
that dont look like an embrace to anyone outside the place

Lyrics added by Jonahh

LYRICAL GRADE

RHYME DENSITY

0

RHYME LENGTH

1 syllable

2 syllables

3 syllables

4 syllables

5+ syllables

Word Cloud

What is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is like a report card for your lyrics. It contains a lyrical breakdown and analysis of all the words, syllables, and rhymes in your song.

Learn More >