April 4, 1943 – January 11, 2017
You are about to listen to A Real Good Kid.
The album is 40 minutes long,
And is meant to be listened to in one sitting,
Straight through.
It is meant to be listened to
Without texting,
Without emailing,
Without outside distraction of any sort.
If at this time you are unable to devote 40 minutes of undivided attention.
I politely ask that you turn this off
And return at a later time.
It’s hard to describe how I feel right now.
People keep asking what happened to me.
(What happened to me?)
The answer is…
This…
My sister smoked ‘em, I didn’t see the point.
And everyone keeps saying, that I look just like you.
Life don’t seem so long anymore.
The day my daddy died,
I damn near quit the band.
The day my daddy died,
I held my mama’s hand.
I cried my tears then dried ‘em up,
Put my face inside my hands.
The day my daddy died,
I became a man.
The cops came, they did not take off their shoes.
People hug me, I smell like ten thousand perfumes.
Gave away the wheelchair, you’re gone but I’m still here.
January in Detroit is cold as fuck.
The day my daddy died,
I damn near quit the band.
The day my daddy died,
I held my mama’s hand.
I cried my tears then dried ‘em up,
Put my face inside my hands.
The day my daddy died,
I became a man.
The day my daddy died,
I became a man.
My dad: I love you a lot.
Me: I love you too.
My dad: Remind me to let you run away if you need to run places like the basement. I mean, that’s what it’s a part of… that… being an individual.
Me: Yeah letting people go.
My dad: Yeah.
Me: Remind me to let you go too if you need to.
My dad: Absolutely.
Me: I love you.
My dad: I love you so much. You gonna put that into a song?
Saw a butterfly, it was dead but it was gorgeous.
And all the robots are just walking down the sidewalk,
Kings of the little empires that they made up.
And I’m wide open
Yeah, I’m wide open.
Dusty got shot and then Osher got married.
Stewie’s still dead and commitment’s still scary.
I got a new woman but I treat her like my old one.
If I keep this shit up I know Ima be with no one.
And I’m wide open
Yeah, I’m wide open.
I don’t want to write no song about you.
But you show up in everything that I do.
Ooooooo.
Since you’ve been gone, ain’t got nothin’ to do.
I sleep until noon, I wake up and feel bad.
I think I miss something I never had.
Ooooooo.
I just wanna unwind, unwind,
Everything that makes me feel confined.
Sometimes I hate sunshine.
Sometimes I hate sunshine.
Put all your stuff in a box in my room.
I don’t want to write no song about you.
But you show up in everything that I do.
Ooooooo.
Now it’s a Cold War, who will call first?
Try to be productive at work, I just can’t
I miss you a lot but I ain’t coming back
Ooooooo.
I just wanna unwind, unwind,
Everything that makes me feel confined.
Sometimes I hate sunshine.
Sometimes I hate sunshine.
Put all your stuff in a box in my room.
I don’t want to write no song about you.
But you show up in everything that I do.
Ooooooo.
Yeah, yeah
All your love letters and a pair of Ray-Ban’s,
I’m growing my beard, moving back in my van.
And your side of the bed still smells like you, doe.
And these memories of us is brutal.
You know (you know) exactly how I feel.
We broke up but you be on my mind still.
And the worst type of sadness you could have,
Is when you miss something that doesn’t miss you back.
Put all your stuff in a box in my room.
I don’t want to write no song about you.
But you show up in everything that I do.
Ooooooo.
She would know exactly what to say.
Beginnings always hide themselves in ends.
At some point, I will be okay.
I got high when I met you.
I got high to forget you.
I feel pain.
I don’t want to,
But I have to.
Yeah I have to
If I want to move on, move on, move on, move on
If I want to move on, move on, move on, move on
If I want to move on (Move on), move on (Move on)
Move on (Move on), move on
If I want to move on (Move on), move on (Move on)
Move on (Move on), move on
Went to see some shaman in L.A.,
To hear some things I wanted to hear.
Everyone just wants to feel good.
Everyone just wants to disappear.
Call up girls that live in my hometown,
To help fill up the minutes.
Lit a match and saged my house down,
It didn’t make a difference.
So, I got high when I met you.
I got high to forget you.
I feel pain.
I don’t want to,
But I have to.
Yeah I have to
If I want to move on, move on, move on, move on
If I want to move on, move on, move on, move on
If I want to move on (Move on), move on (Move on)
Move on (Move on), move on
I know I got to move on (Move on), move on (Move on)
Move on (Move on), move on
Of something in the way.
I know who you are when no one’s looking.
Just by looking in your face,
I’m liberated.
Freedom never felt so jammin’ baby.
Drip, Drip, Drip.
Your eyes, your eyes are gorgeous
Your eyes, your eyes are gorgeous.
Avicii died and Lil homie calls me up and he’s crying (Drip).
I told him, “Ima be honest with you.
If you don’t get your shit together, you’re next.”
And the truth is, by the time you hear this song, I don’t fucking know if he’s gonna be alive or not.
This is all compounded by the fact that She and I do not speak anymore.
I mean, am I the only one here who doesn’t know what the fuck is going on?
I worked the last 10 years,
I’m a multimillionaire,
I’m 30 years old,
It’s supposed to all be good.
It is not FUCKING all good.
And see no one’s really sure how long we were there for.
Some say a few hours, others say a few years.
All I know is a funny thing happens when you look in someone’s eyes that long.
You start to see their face unravel.
You start to see their most beautiful and their most disgusting parts.
You start to see that those are actually the same thing.
You start to see them disappear.
You start to see your mother.
You start to see them, see you.
You start to see tears, and you ain’t sure who they belong to.
Let ‘em fall:
Drip, Drip, Drip.
Your eyes, your eyes are gorgeous
Your eyes, your eyes are gorgeous.
My dad: I don’t remember you ever running away anytime from school, from classes. You must have. Do you?
Me: Yeah.
My dad: Did you get caught? What happened to you?
Me: I feel like I’m always running away.
I stand next to what I hate just for the thrill.
Spent the first quarter of my life, on a million dollar bill,
Cuz I can’t stop staring at the fire.
We’ve got our crosses and our buildings, built ‘em tall,
And my book’s another brick inside the wall.
We sure make ourselves feel busy, but we don’t do much at all,
Except sit around and stare at the fire.
And the protestors have gathered in the streets.
Opposite a block full of police.
But they both have the same problem, with God as you and me,
It’s that they can’t stop staring at the fire.
Watch it burn, burn, burn.
Watch it burn, burn, burn.
Watch it burn, burn, burn.
Watch it burn, burn, burn.
Went to an ashram a million miles from here.
An old man on a blanket appeared.
He waved me to come closer, and he whispered in my ear,
“Son, you’ve got to stop staring at the fire.”
But all my ego trips come in flocks.
And they tell me, “Kid, it’s really not that hot.
Take your anxiety and your guilt, just throw it all on top,”
Now, I can’t stop standing in the fire.
Oh, watch me burn, burn, burn.
Watch me burn, burn, burn.
Watch me burn, burn, burn.
Watch me burn, burn, burn.
Oh, watch me burn, burn, burn.
Watch me burn, burn, burn.
Watch me burn, burn, burn.
Watch me burn, burn, burn.
(If you)
If you ever get tired of being perfect.
Do you ever get tired of being perfect?
I got on a flight, the plane’s brand new.
We can make it to New York in an hour or two.
Look down on the city, from heights high as these
Everything’s perfect.
And my friend tells me that I’m too nice.
Her voice trails up, I know she wants advice.
I recycle some quote I heard Dylan write.
It said, “Everything’s perfect.”
When I wake up before you and just watch you sleep that’s
(perfect, perfect)
When you tell me later you were dreaming of me:
(perfect, perfect)
When I walk down the street and the trees know my name:
(perfect, perfect)
People I don’t know around an open flame that’s
(perfect, perfect)
A grandmother’s fingers around a granddaughter’s hand:
(perfect, perfect)
People speaking languages that I don’t understand that’s
(perfect, perfect)
When you stare into my eyes and I’m thinking you’re the one that’s
(perfect, perfect)
When my mama tells me that she’s proud of what I’ve done:
(perfect, perfect)
When the winter ends in the city that I’m from that’s
(perfect, perfect)
When I open up and then get hurt by someone that’s
(perfect, perfect)
When you trust somebody and they don’t let you down that’s
(perfect, perfect)
When somebody you love dies but you still feel em around:
Do you ever get tired of being perfect?
Can you feel it?
Yeah.
Puts me in the past
Too lonely to be happy
But too afraid to ask.
Yeah.
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle.
Too young to settle down
Too old to be in bars
It’s hard to take it easy
It’s easy to be hard.
Yeah.
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle.
Forgive me, I am building my ship as it sails.
How do I become who I wanna be while still remaining myself?
People love the old me
I don’t know where he’s gone
Too tired to be famous
Too vain to be unknown.
Yeah.
(Hey!)
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle
(Here I am, here I am again)
(Here I am, here I am again)
Here I am again,
Stuck in the middle
(Ahh!)
(Outro)
(Here I am, here I am again)
(Here I am)
(Here I am, here I am again)
(Here I am)
(Here I am, here I am again)
(Here I am)
(Here I am, here I am again)
(Here I am)
My dad: One more
Me: And then I’m out.
My dad: And then last one.
Me: You want another song?
My dad: Mmm
Me: Okay
My dad: Yeah… I would like another song
Me: Alright
It’s so cold in the D.
She asked me if I think I’ll ever see her again,
I say, “Hopefully.”
And maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
My heroes all died young, they hung themselves with fame,
And these lunatics molded me.
I got a tattoo, it’s a joke I keep a secret.
I need everyone to notice me.
But maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
I think I’ll die young
With all my broken dreams.
I’ve got it figured out.
This is the golden key:
Everything is how it’s supposed to be.
Everything is how it’s supposed to be.
We messed it all up, now the world is getting warmer,
L.A. will be out at open sea.
Meanwhile, I’m falling down, my heart is getting colder,
I hurt everyone close to me.
But maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
I think I’ll die young
With all my broken dreams.
I’ve got it figured out,
This is the golden key.
The day my daddy died,
I was down the street.
I lost my only friend,
People don’t grow on trees.
But maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
Yeah, I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
Yeah, everything is how it’s supposed to be.
I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
My dad: Well, here we are. This is Sunday morning October 2nd, 1988 and this is for Sahjo and Mira. Sahjo I talked to last night and she wanted to see Michael so there he is! Let’s see if we can get him. Michael, look up here. Here you go, Michael.
Me: (Indistinguishable baby noises)
My mom: Yeah, okay.
My dad: Anyway, he is a real good kid.