Show Lyrics

Mars ILL - Afterlife
(from the album Backbreakonomics)
© copyright 2003

Afterlife

Verse 1:
I live the high life with lowlifes who want life to go/
Down the middle of the marketplace where souls are bought and sold/
In Rap Olympics, forfeit when the starting pistol sounds/
Make my words like safety nets so I can catch heads on the way down/
Found limits the breath that I breathe in this life that I lead/
It's where the city's smog infested skyline infects my lifetime/
Bring sentences to life like, "See spot run across the freeway"/
You can catch it on the Fox News instant replay/
I start the finished product minus the first sign of a blemish/
Trek towards the infinite if I can break this line of scrimmage/
Skywalk through clones attacking me, myself and Samuel Jackson/
To live life firsthand 'til the second hand is reversed/
Blurt words written down, world wishing I'd curse them out/
So they can call me a hypocrite and disrespect what I'm about/
Flirt with disastrous methods, lessons pressed on earthquakes/
Make soundtracks for your life with every move that I make...

(Hook)
My life moves and it changes and it grows/
My life, I fight for life throughout the highs and lows/
My life is sacrifice, open wounds and broken habits/
My life, come here, take a second look at it/
My life moves and it changes and it grows/
My life, I fight for life throughout the highs and lows/
My life is just a token, a tool for you to see with/
It's my life, but here, you can take it if you need it...

Verse 2:
I got my mind on money that I buried inside the backyard/
Slaves to the industry push the plow, get their backs scarred/
I'm thinking how to snatch your shotgun before you shoot it/
The mountains are all snowcapped but the beaches are all polluted/
I still walk the narrow path tightrope style, eyes open to the trials/
While most of ya'll stay in denial/
Hold on like a child to what's real, the rest falls by the wayside/
Trace the hands of time to touch the face of El Shaddai/
But some of ya'll don't play right, you bite backs and attack life/
My back to the wall, eyes glued to the eyes of Christ/
That's right, fan base is where open ears can listen/
Bump big business, my fast ball shatters the competition/
Win at least the division for the vision and still insisting/
That we can gain the power, run the labels and make the decisions/
My life, write songs for you and the people on your block/
It'll blast on 88 whether the majors want it or not/
Just breathe. Breathe in the pain that comes with the growing/
Kiss the ground I walk upon and thank my God for the whole thing/
Take the bull by the horns because I gotta do something/
A nation of manchildren is now under construction...

(Hook)

Verse 3:
I've slap-boxed with my brother and broken bread with whose buying/
Crouching tiger to hidden gratitude, impossible for me to see/
The divine schematics or divide the triune through mathematics/
Stand with a mic in my right hand with the left clutching a crucifix/
I haven't felt this worn down since I last listened to Ludacris/
But I'm born new every morning, look in the mirror asking "Who is this?"/
See the battle scars I've earned, oh yeah, I remember now/
I'm the one who builds 'til walls are torn down, so what now?/
The crowd disperses, dry wit falls off my person/
Manifest destiny, show my faith through action in remixed versions/
Dress the wounded with compassion no matter who's the victor/
Expose the world to the Son's light and I hope they all get blistered/
A mystery of life lived and you can't know until you live this/
'Til you fall on your face everyday and ask Him for forgiveness/
Hide my rage where I can't find it 'cause it always keeps me blinded/
I'm still living my life and this here is just a reminder...

(Hook)