Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse

A strangled smile fell from your face
It kills me that I hurt you this way
The worst part is that I didn't even know
Now there's a million reasons for you to go
But if you can find a reason to stay

I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake
I know that I've let you down
And if you give me a chance
Believe that I can change
I'll keep us together whatever it takes

She said "If we're gonna make this work
You gotta let me inside even though it hurts
Don't hide the broken parts that I need to see"
She said "Like it or not it's the way it's gotta be
You gotta love yourself if you can ever love me"

I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake
I know that I've let you down
And if you give me a chance
And give me a break
I'll keep us together, I know you deserve much better

But remember the time I told you the way that I felt
That I'd be lost without you and never find myself
Let's hold onto each other above everything else
Start over, start over

I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake
I know I've let you down
And if you give me a chance
and believe that I can change
I'll keep us together whatever it takes

Alive by Hawk Nelson

To everyone in the world, who's left out on their own
To all the boys and girls with disconnected souls
See the dream awakening before your very eyes

We feel alive inside for the first time,
We've got to run not hide, from the former lives
We gotta take it, make it, never gonna fake it
This time we're breaking free, and making history

They say the dreams that we're chasing, are just a dead-end road
We don't have to embrace the lies that we've been told
The only thing we're missing is a whole new state of mind

We feel alive inside for the first time,
We've got to run not hide, from the former lives
We gotta take it, make it, never gonna fake it
This time we're breaking free, and making history

One day we will see through our tears and our pain
When we stand with the shame in the light
There's a hope that we know,
And we can't let it go
We've got to hold on tonight

We feel alive inside for the first time,
We've got to run not hide, from the former lives
We gotta take it, make it, never gonna fake it
This time we're breaking free, and making history

Every Ghetto by Nas

"Every Ghetto"
(feat. Blitz)

Uhh... yeah... uhh...

[Verse 1 (Nas)]
Blessings in life to the children
They say life is like 5 days
Words of a old man with silver hair in his wheel chair
His eyes were bloody while describin' what lies before me
Said evil bitches and jealous men would try to destroy me
It occurred to me, this old nigga's words couldn't be realer
I'm on top now, slightest drama, I'll have ta kill ya
Cuz animals sence weakness, sharks smell blood in water
Ishmael, Moses and Job, moved a divine order
Shit is plastic material, havin' no life
I crash whips and leave it no matter the price
As long as I survive, coppin' the five
Circle the block where the beef's at
And park in front of my enemy's eyes
They see that it's war we life stealers
Hollow tip, lead busters there's no heaven or hell
Dead is dead, fuckers
And your soul is with God
Your mind keeps lurkin' to earth
Watchin' your own murder reoccur

[Chorus (Repeat 2X)]
For ever struggle, every strip, and every ghetto
For every nigga toned in the pain and heavy metal
For every child that's born
And every nigga gone
And for every brotha breathin'
Live to see another mornin'

[Verse 2 (Blitz)]
It's Blitz nigga the streets glory many die for me
Got knocked refused 3 to 9's, went to trial for me
Basically I'm just reality loaded with vast stories
Of lust, greed, and contempt no street is exempt
Extended clip shots hoods barricaded for 6 blocks
I sip shots, watchin' em hustlers pitch rocks
All you paintin' pictures of my pain
Illustrate the city in vain
Fallin' deep into the pits of the game
This is for the sickest state of mind
In these fatal times, vesh crimes
Nickel play the nine and niggas for the dime
Hear the sounds of them baby's cry
Still I'm sayin' why do we reside
In the ghetto with a million ways to die
Stayin' high to relieve the pain
Breathin' in the game, exhalin'
Guilts and the shame, misery and strain
What the fuck will tomorrow bring
Look at anthrax, I stand back through
Hopin' I make it tomorrow

[Verse 3 (Nas)]
My skin is a art gallery, right
With paintings of crucifixes
Hopin' to save me from all the dangers in the music business
Was once a young gangsta hangin' with youth offenders
But since I tasted paper it started losin the friendships
Watchin' kids freeze in winters, they still poor
How could I tease them with Benz's and feel no remorse
Drivin' past them in the lively fashion, diamond colors clashin'
Red stones, blue stones, red bones and black ones
Fuck did I expect with bucket seats in a Lex
And spendin' time in Chuckie Cheese with Little Des
Got guns when I'm with my daughter
Hate to bring a violent aura in her presence
She knows what daddy taught her, it's lessons
Black princess it's a ugly world
I put my life up for yours, see I love that girl
Could you believe even my shadow's jealous
My skin is mad at my flesh, my flesh hates my own bones
My brain hates my heart, my heart makes the songs
Though my songs come from the Father
I'm lonely...
Hold me, it's gettin' darker

[Repeat Chorus 2X]

Revelations by Masta Ace

Lyrics to Revelations :

[Verse One]
At times I don't know who I be
And when I look in the mirror its like I don't know who I see
Am I even moving at all?
Cuz I swear I can't tell if my life is improving at all
Every time I got a pen in my hand
I forget every time before that one has been in my hand
And I write for the moment, get it tight how I want it
Get the right lawyer on it cuz I might wanna own it
I tussle and I fight, I hustle and I write
I struggle every night with every muscle in my mic
I'm in this rap race trying to eat the cheese
But y'all don't know my name like Alicia Keys
My face ain't familiar, neither is my music
If shit don't soon change I be the one to lose it
I drink a little liquor tryin' to heal my nerves
Cuz y'all don't listen here and feel my words
But something's wrong with y'all, ain't nuttin' wrong with me
And happy in my life is what I long to be
And happy in my life is what I'm gonna be
What you see in me is what I was born to be
From the day that my moms first birthed a child
She didn't need the world to make it worth the while
So I don't need no magazine to reach the pinnacle
Screw a review and you can eat the interview
Cuz that's what y'all seem to tend to do
Them cats you cover all seem identical
Through it all I weave like the park was here
And shine underground cuz it's darkest there

[Chorus]
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song

[Verse Two]
Y'all industry niggaz should be feeling ashamed
Y'all like "he ain't still in the game, he's stealing the name"
Oh wait just a sec that's straight disrespect
Take shit and get and don't be late with the check
I'm on the underground trying to scrape and scrounge
And sure it feel good to take a break and lounge
All these ups and downs like a roller coaster
Life is a bitch I'm trying to hold her closer
I'm killin' every nigga in sight
The bigger the dog, the bigger the fight
If you really say you know me then you'd figured I might
Try to use my anger as a trigger to write
I put it down simple on the paper or pad
Try to take a stab at what is making me mad
I jump on the track and I ride it through
And do it for the people that are tried and true
But y'all so fickle y'all love me today
And tomorrow love another cat and shove me away
But most ain't committed to do it how I did it
In the way that I did it, in the way that I spit it
It's like my burst of truth and it might hurt the booth
But first the proof, it gave birth to youth
Rap's like trying to take a piss in the wind
I'm just glad to know that some of y'all are listenin' in

[Chorus]
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
[Verse One]
At times I don't know who I be
And when I look in the mirror its like I don't know who I see
Am I even moving at all?
Cuz I swear I can't tell if my life is improving at all
Every time I got a pen in my hand
I forget every time before that one has been in my hand
And I write for the moment, get it tight how I want it
Get the right lawyer on it cuz I might wanna own it
I tussle and I fight, I hustle and I write
I struggle every night with every muscle in my mic
I'm in this rap race trying to eat the cheese
But y'all don't know my name like Alicia Keys
My face ain't familiar, neither is my music
If shit don't soon change I be the one to lose it
I drink a little liquor tryin' to heal my nerves
Cuz y'all don't listen here and feel my words
But something's wrong with y'all, ain't nuttin' wrong with me
And happy in my life is what I long to be
And happy in my life is what I'm gonna be
What you see in me is what I was born to be
From the day that my moms first birthed a child
She didn't need the world to make it worth the while
So I don't need no magazine to reach the pinnacle
Screw a review and you can eat the interview
Cuz that's what y'all seem to tend to do
Them cats you cover all seem identical
Through it all I weave like the park was here
And shine underground cuz it's darkest there

[Chorus]
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song

[Verse Two]
Y'all industry niggaz should be feeling ashamed
Y'all like "he ain't still in the game, he's stealing the name"
Oh wait just a sec that's straight disrespect
Take shit and get and don't be late with the check
I'm on the underground trying to scrape and scrounge
And sure it feel good to take a break and lounge
All these ups and downs like a roller coaster
Life is a bitch I'm trying to hold her closer
I'm killin' every nigga in sight
The bigger the dog, the bigger the fight
If you really say you know me then you'd figured I might
Try to use my anger as a trigger to write
I put it down simple on the paper or pad
Try to take a stab at what is making me mad
I jump on the track and I ride it through
And do it for the people that are tried and true
But y'all so fickle y'all love me today
And tomorrow love another cat and shove me away
But most ain't committed to do it how I did it
In the way that I did it, in the way that I spit it
It's like my burst of truth and it might hurt the booth
But first the proof, it gave birth to youth
Rap's like trying to take a piss in the wind
I'm just glad to know that some of y'all are listenin' in

[Chorus]
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song
Try and listen
Keep movin' along, keep bringin' it on, and keep singin' the song

Real People by Common

"Real People"

[Intro]
Yeah, yeah, you know how me and 'Ye do

[Verse 1]
Real People walk in the streets, the streets is talkin'
Often it's beef this city never does
People walk and talk in they sleep
Cold sweats and wet dreams
On how to get green our faith is all in a jeep
Black souls raw and they deep
Hypes tryna talk with no teeth
Shorties sayin' ball or retreat
A lesson we all speak at one point or another
Whatchu expect from one who smoke a joint with his mother
Anointed hustlers in a fatherless region
Through the pain wish they know that God was just teachin'
We want decent homes
So dreams we say out loud like speakerphones just to keep em on
It's like a colored song that keep keepin' on
I guess knowin' I'm weak is when I'm really bein' strong
Somehow through the dust I could see the dawn
Like the Bishop Magic Juan, that's why I write freedom songs
For the real people

[Verse 2]
I wonder is the spirits of Bob Marley and Haile Selassie
Watch me as the cops be tryna and pop and lock me
They cocky, plus they mentality is Nazi
The way they treat blacks I wanna snap like paparazzi
We're the children of a better God searchin' for better jobs
We could cop ghetto cars tryin' not to catch a charge
They say the dope game is sour
Now they doin' homework that's when they follow you for hours
Come to your crib and devour all that you work for
Must be more than paper these niggaz hurt for
Through the purple haze I circle days I rhyme that work for pays
Tryna reverse the slave's mind and insert the brave mentality
Heard that it's drama at home
Can a dude break free and still get honored at home
I was told by a chief it's the games nature
When you're glowin' some will love and some will hate ya
It's real people

[Verse 3]
Black men walking wit white girls on they arms
I be mad at em as if I know they moms
Told to go beyond the surface, a person's a person
When we lessen our women our condition seems to worsen
The weary cursin' the sky
Talkin' to themselves givin' the version of why help and hurt in they eye
I live across from it, some of it I do be in
I be showin' niggaz lives
Like UPN
It's real people

Yeah.
For you and yours
Good music
Forever
Yeah
Rock on
We keep on
Uh.. Yeah
Yeah, yeah
The real...

Breathe by Pink Floyd

"Breathe"

Breathe, breathe in the air
Don't be afraid to care
Leave but don't leave me
Look around and chose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be
Run, run rabbit run
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race toward an early grave.

Trade Winds by John Masefield

IN the harbor, in the island, in the Spanish Seas,
Are the tiny white houses and the orange trees,
And day-long, night-long, the cool and pleasant breeze
Of the steady Trade Winds blowing.

There is the red wine, the nutty Spanish ale,
The shuffle of the dancers, the old salt's tale,
The squeaking fiddle, and the soughing in the sail
Of the steady Trade Winds blowing.

And o' nights there's fire-flies and the yellow moon,
And in the ghostly palm-trees the sleepy tune
Of the quiet voice calling me, the long low croon
Of the steady Trade Winds blowing.

Living Tenderly by May Swenson

Living Tenderly
My body a rounded stone
with a pattern of smooth seams.
My head a short snake,
retractive, projective.
My legs come out of their sleeves
or shrink within,
and so does my chin.
My eyelids are quick clamps.

My back is my roof.

I am always at home. I travel where my house walks.
It is a smooth stone.
It floats within the lake,
or rests in the dust.
My flesh lives tenderly
inside its bone.

Your Poem!!!!

Write a poem.....whatever style, order, theme.....due the day we come back.....make sure it is something you don't mind sharing..............

Tradicion by Victor Hernandez Cruz

Let the water rain into the forest

So that the vines holding up the guiros

Can flourish

Craft attack the vegetable kingdom

And make the lines that will sound

In Baltasar's ears

On the day of the astologers

Along with the guitar of the fourth dimension

Those that know themselves within: dance

Those that know themselves within: song

Those that know themselves within: relations

Those that know themselves within: food

Those that know themselves within: Religion

Those that know themselves within: Prayer

Those that know well the place of their tongue

The shape of their sound

Can go then and make everything disappear.

A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

With Age Wisdom

At twenty,

stooping round about,

I thought the world a miserable place,

Truth a trick,

faith in doubt,

Little beauty,

Less grace.

Now at sixty what I see,

Although the world is worse by far,

Stops my heart in ecstasy,

God,

The womders that there are!

Archibald MacLeish *****************

1. When he is young, why does he think that the world is so bad?


2. Why does he change his mind as he gets older?


3. The name of the poem is "With Age Wisdom" -- what do you think "widsdom" is? How is "wisdom" different than "knowledge"? Would you rather have "wisdom" or "knowledge"?


4. What are some of the "wonders" that you can think of? Explain why they are wonders. Write a four line poem about your wonder.

Figurative Language

What extra meaning or visual is added by including this figurative language? Read my posts below....analayze...

Problems with Hurricanes

A campesino looked at the air

And told me:

With hurricanes it’s not the wind or the noise or the water.

I’ll tell you he said: it’s the mangoes, avocados

Green plantains and bananas flying into town like projectiles.

How would your family feel if they had to tell

The generations that you got killed by a flying

Banana.

Death by drowning has honor

If the wind picked you up and slammed you

Against a mountain boulder

This would not carry shame

But to suffer a mango smashing

Your skull or a plantain hitting your

Temple at 70 miles per hour is the ultimate disgrace.

The campesino takes off his hat—

As a sign of respect toward the fury of the wind

And says: Don’t worry about the noise

Don’t worry about the water

Don’t worry about the wind—

If you are going out beware of mangoes

And all such beautiful sweet things.

The Black Cat

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/24/ The Black Cat.... What can you tell me about this story????? Analyze.....here are some guidelines or 'help'.... http://www.eliteskills.com/c/5204 This link also has the story, but what is good is the bottom. Students have weighed in their ideas and thoughts about the story... Your essay due next Thursday is an analysis on this story. Poe is no joke. I suggest to really put some time into this. Analyze the elements of plot (conflict, rising action, climax, resolution etc), analyze the Symbols, images, setting, Point of View, Tone, and Style. I suggest to also look into the ending and title meanings. What is this full analysis of this story. Requirements: 3-5 pages or more...double spaced..typed....times roman.....12pt font.....Next Thursday!!!! BEFORE Spring BREAK!!!! NOT AFTER!! No emails!!!