it’s difficult to encapsulate the #5 song. i would say the movie ‘the road’ comes closest. the world was 2 years n2 the Great Recession. i had unintentionally lockd myself out of havn ez access 2 my child. he was 8 yrs old, and even tho i was usually thousands of miles away, i was driven 2 make sure he knew he was my priority; and that i could, somehow, b ever-present when he needed me; especially with the world on fire. as i’m sure my son can attest, the lyric n this tune is EXACTLY how i talk 2 him. n philosophical, militaristic cadences. lol. every utterance is serious, breathless, curmudgeonly, loving, and funny as fck if ur just a bystander. but essentially, my message to him was/is...”i will giv u all i hav. the world is shit. keep up.
signed w the deepest love.
pops”
and he has set my mind at ease, by luvn me enough 2 luv himself; and to giv a damn about the space he takes up and the village that surrounds him.
mixd by Melissa Mattey, who paid me the most wonderful compliment by not only looking after my 1st four records, but telling me when she thought i was good. and on this, the #5 n the countdown, ‘It’s A Mysterious Hustle’, she told me it was the best she’d heard from me.
lyrics
no, the world’s no place to raise a child
you’ve ben droppd n2 the wild
you’re here now, the clock is winding down
let me show how to work your way
thru the crowd
it’s a mysterious hustle
you gotta figure out this hustle
to overcome the place where u come from
it’s a mysterious hustle
you were born n the middle of a puzzle
just a step n front of fire-breathing dragons
the world’s a blur of twisting limbs
y the hurry? with so much n front of them
see the old man? he makes no such attempts
he creeps slowly, chasing the golden dim
of lights behind him
it’s a mysterious hustle
you were born n the middle of a struggle
a 100 yard sprint, from the beginning and from the end
it’s a mysterious hustle
sociopathic bubble bath, it’s no place to raise a child
it’s a race to the bottom of the pile
where all the junkies collide and bend
in a field of equal-sized tents
entertaining lies n small print
where you’ll find what was said
and what was really meant
(stay close to me)
now, i’m faced with the very real task of saving u
but the best thing i’ll ever do is protect u
remember, they’re all lonely
even tho they’re cheek to cheek
(spoken)
if u follow the beaten path
it will keep u tied to the past
and you’ll live with the anguish
of never gettn it back
these are the rules
and they r always changing
as hard as this life is, it could b just the playoffs
some people put their lives n the hands of god
bet on yourself. just in case your life
is n the hands of the odds
credits
from fifti,
released February 8, 2020
mixd by Melissa Mattey
supported by 20 fans who also own “it's a mysterious hustle”
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