times new poetry.

LYRIC BOOKLET

All lyrics written by N. Bockholt, C. Brubaker and E. Osterholm

2008 - 2015 by The Gateway Drug

BABYLON
Track One

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

Babylons exactly what Im standing on,
I never planned this Mom.
Aand dont accept Im stranded on
This earth. The Great Oz and the man behind the
curtainGravity pulling my axis to the point of no returnin.
Displaced in the herd, dressed in works of prose and
fiction.
Too addictive to be released, or see press when theyre
finished.
The one-act play: one part act of contrition.
Praying I dont implode, but ready, set, and ticking
Down the hatch. Dont call it a relapse on weekends.
Modern marvel of a man, watch my will-power weaken.
Freakin excessed in everything except exercise.
A conditioned collision expecting not better times
Just better rhymes to fill my glass with motivation.
Paint from the palette of lifesome comet chasing.
So, Bob Ross- can I be your Happy Tree?
Sophocles- can I be your tragedy? Cuz...
(CHORUS x2)
Babylons exactly what Im standing on.
Babylon, I never planned this Mom.
Babylons exactly what were stranded on.
Babylon, so yall can babble on.
(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)
The battle of good and evil is influenced by the people.
Babylon is here eventhough it may seem see-through.
But it can reach you, through the music that you breathe through.
So be true. Agility in my responsibility
Stomping bad vibes out like poisonous millipedes,
Ya feelin me? I was exposed to the positives of musics
accomplishments
Thanks to Moms and Pops, which is a nonstop influence
That just takes us to the top.
The light in my heart shines brightWe fight to foil the darkest of these plots.
Silver spoon fed heads confined in kingdoms seem to bark a lot.
So, actually bite reality and quit grabbin a false imagining.
So now it seems its good and evil thats almost equal for the balancing.
I know its challenging; even the prettiest hands across the land receiving calluses.
I strive to be a pleasant peasant, on this earth- and make it Heaven.
Take these lessons to the brethren, stabbing at lifes questions.

(CHORUS x2)
Babylons exactly what Im standing on.
Babylon, I never planned this Mom.
Babylons exactly what were stranded on.
Babylon, so yall can babble on.
(VERSE THREE)
(THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Resembling the Mona Lisa after a late-night party.
Recovering drugoholic, phone number-collecting origami
So do, or die trying. If its you or me inspiring
The hoards of countless sheep, dont be meek amongst the lions.
Shine more than a beacon of light, so it provides them
With more meaning in life than eating excess Coricidin.
Inciting a riot because there is a riot inside himBlazing like the stars in the sky when theyre colliding.
(MC BREW)
To figure out whats good inside provides the mind with an inner essence,
Its a blessing.
You can fade away in a shade of gray.
The colors not progression to step in a direction,
So now you got the message that were constantly protesting.
While most crept in something not to handle
The soft aint ample. Give it what it cost and then get trampled.
So you can babble on, while Im upon a sample of this song.
Life seems short when these nights get longBabylon.
(CHORUS x2)
Babylons exactly what Im standing on.
Babylon, I never planned this Mom.
Babylons exactly what were stranded on.
Babylon, so yall can babble on.

RUSSIAN
Track Two

(VERSE ONE- MC BREW)

I know you like it.
Enticing with my sidekicks
I more than just try this.
Never derogatorily hype it.
Motherfuckers act like they dont like my
style.
Go ahead, turn around and[[Bite it!]]
What the fuck you think you handin me?
A calamity? Way too underhanded.
3

See my rib cage when Im fully engaged,

Now how hungry is that?
Some are just embarrassing when they expose their dummy ass raps
Expressin nothing, bluffin, always fronting a sack.
Then why from the tongue do you act
Like you can maintain? Im in the lab chillin like Bunsen Honeydew.
Encompass you, eat like some streets are made from sesame.
Why these kids stressing my chemistry,
Testing my reputation, couldnt wait to try to get the fuckin best of me.
Cuz you hating for years,
Ive stayed patient, evolved to stage.
From spitting in my moms basement,
Now hows that taste, bitch?
(VERSE TWO- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
My psych can handle you and two of Whos Army.
Choose to lose a part of me in a tune whose harmony soothes.
But still a part of me seeks that freedom
Until each pore bleeds some reasons for more needs Im needin
Much needed up-keep involving Late Night with Carson.
Steady blowing up Hip-Hop like a suicide bombing!!
Not violently advocating views of pro-peace....
Just trying to be a dreamer in a world with no sleep.
Your turn to bleed and drip at slow-mo speed.
It hurts the first instant than all you do is breathe.
Its the after-effects, re-occurring patterns of stress,
Runnin through the trenches in bik shorts of Spandex.
Broken fences, its the home of the roamin Catholic
Listening to MCs who rap with no apparent talent.
I wont blend in the struggle; my point is far from subtle.
Same odds of being rubble as your average space shuttle.
(VERSE THREE)
(MC BREW)
Spew mad amounts of bile getting wild up in this place.
Call it biological terror when Im spitting in your face.
Why would I wanna follow those thats quitting at this race
With a piss poor pace?
But your taste is strictly for the rats.
You have no spinal cord intact.
And when its time for war you find some poor excuse to refuse and even fight back.
(THE TOP CIVILIAN)
I torture Foreigners until they see Double Visions.
A coroner daydreamin about the un-living.
Purposely sinnin by removing the tags from the mattress.
Knowing nuns aint the only ones with bad habits.
Straying from the train tracks,
The same tasks are attracting chicks with fake racks,
But I reign fast...

(MC BREW)
Words etched that stress- a sort of maniacal edge.
While youre in denial to no end,
Your no friend bellowing jealousy and relishing on false integrity,
Apparently youve inherited.
Are you scared when I care and weave a narrative?
If I cut and make you bleed, its rare that you even live.
(THE TOP CIVILIAN)
...so open your ears to this lyrical fitness.
I dont listen to myself, much less any critics.
So pad and pen it, Penn and Teller. Feel stellar.
Not sad like at the end of the movie Old Yeller.
Im a beached whale thats straight spittin up Jonah.
Takin random excerpts from the book that I wrote ya
So dont quote me boy, cause I aint said shhh

STRENGTH
Track Three

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

I lost seven years of my life to addiction.
Pointless like a typewriter without the ink ribbon.
I keep trippin like the soles of my feet.
Keep wishin on the same star waiting for the Lord to
speak.
I cant afford to jinx without workin out kinks in my
armor.
Save diamonds for my girls armoire.
I bombard pop culture with thoughts as I falter;
Hip-Hop lost its roots smoking rocks of Gibraltar.
Dont need B-Boy skills or African descent
To kick the freshest rhymes to decoys that circumvent
The mainstream with their hedonistic daydreams.
I compose notes like Picasso and his paintings: priceless.
Hip-Hop as a device is...Ready to save the fate of the world and its rhymes is
All about the sex-style, money for dummies.
Rapping bout the riches, save your humpin for bunnies!
(CHORUS)
No more feelin weak, Im gonna focus on the Strength
That burns inside my essence, relentlessly give thanks
To Jah Rastafari; Poyos beats are gnarly.
Arm me with harmony and start me at junior varsity.
Alone in a spare-bedroom, I cant spare any headroom.
Need more venues to get to the populous mental menu.
Shit, Ive been through parallel stages of your existence.
Even you can become famous with the proper nose placement.
5

(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)

Little to no sleep,
Decomposing as we speak.
Pain becomes a constant companion that makes me weak.
Up to my eyeballs while I cause problem.
So I toss what it cost, do you think Im ever joshin?
The error in our ways can bring terror to the arrogance
Relevant to the irrelevance in a phrase.
Catching and releasing, freeing the demons that have the
cause for all the weeping.
Thats seeping out when the levees break from the onslaught
of hurricanes
That disturbs the brain.
Three sheets to the breeze. So howd your day go?
Still busy throwin up rainbows?
Smiles make the lowliest umbrellas. Why? Cuz I say so.
Running next to rejects with apparent defects
With each step, an acquirement of weak breath.
Feel the strength from that cymbal crash.
(VERSE THREE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Ill write a script for the Rx Generation.
Trademarks breakin the windows that you panin.
Fragments of hope on a road paved with lame raps.

Windows to my soul so painted they stained glass.

I aim fast, exercise my right to arm bears.
Own shares of stock in pharmaceuticals and lawn chairs.
Been known to rock long-hair and experiment with substances...
Inspire you to write a book of Psalms and publish it.
Punishment is a natural consequence of bad choices.
It better be a learning experience and not parents punching kids.
Judgments been passed, so the party can crash,
The first can be last, and the smokers can relax.
Live your life! Always watch your back for the knife.
The Gateway Drugs another name for the passion inside.
In case you wondered:Top Civilians my pseudonym.
Like prescription pills when Im misusing them.
(CHORUS)
No more feelin weak, Im gonna focus on the Strength
That burns inside my essence, relentlessly give thanks
To Jah Rastafari; Poyos beats are gnarly.
Arm me with harmony and start me at junior varsity.
Alone in a spare-bedroom, I cant spare any headroom.
Need more venues to get to the populous mental menu.
Shit, Ive been through parallel stages of your existence.
Even you can become famous with the proper nose
placement.

(VERSE FOUR- MC BREW)

Suppressed memories endlessly tearing me blank to what it takes to appreciate the air we breathe.
Apply the myringotomy, probably drawing blood in ears just like phlebotomies.
Barricades on their best and rarest days aint stopping me.
But to me feeling great is on Sunday grillin steaks.
To be real it takes just being yourself.
I wear my heart on my sleeve; some pretend to be someone else.
And some chumps want the hell
Rather than help another thats fell in the well.
Another life force is drained. Youre struggling to strain
Held back like your neck and mouth is muzzled with chains.
Discussing how comfy it is to nuzzle up and guzzle restraint.
(VERSE FIVE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
...That lie, la lie, lie, LIE! And will try to buy my soul.
Also, I can make an album made of gold.
This stone is rolling and collects no moss.
No mold to hold the moldings; waves boom when get shocked.
Benadryl helps the sleep. Lifes a beach
Prone to shatter this message in a bottle of Gods dreams.

CONFORM THE MORBID

Track Four

(VERSE ONE- MC BREW)

The morbid ill conform it
Absorb it like hydrochloric
On tissue with a misused language to kiss you.
Issues get addressed if the avoided conflict sticks
A dry humorless hunch, thats how it started without a hitch.
To goof troops that wanna impress spitting over loops
Better be tossing themselves through some fiery hoops.
Cuz my foresight is more like bottles and corks, right.
Provoking to be open so it can expand to more heights.
Its pungent to the redundant that dont rejoice to moist secretions
Anointing with anecdotes and the average cant believe it.
Alas, Im just composing on tracks.
The odd wise cracks on which the trains of thought can pass.
As constant and rhythmic as waves breakin on a beach.
Writing by candle light,
The flame is flickering like tongues that torque the sodden speech.
Had the knack for the scribbling before the age of nineteen.
(VERSE TWO- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Too many suggested perspectives, my minds completely congested.
My answers are just guesses, so fuck the fuckin questions.
Make the lessons quick, and Ill try to take them chances
That will expand my gifts and put fate within my talons.
Ill find balance in the valley of death, however shallow.

How many angels and demons must perish in this here battle?
I felt insignificant, but it seems now that I matter
An active participant in the knowledge that I gather.
If I had another choice, my voice would choose the latter.
Ill surely need a hoist to go where angels batter
Their wings. Some help to cope, or shatter my screams
Rather than bring to light the addictions that my system
fiends for.
Between a rock and hard place, life seems more.
Trials than tribulations while Im waitin it means more
To me than it will ever mean to you or your people.
Actions speak so loudly they heard by Lou Ferrigno.
(VERSE THREE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
People do unimaginable things in unbeknownst locations.
Unrecognizable expressions appear on unacquainted faces.
Case in point its all the same, but it all still changes.
Im just looking for a purpose, you can fuck the being famous.
Ill remain nameless and complacent in all of lifes stages.
A Mason making the most of my fate and era placement.
In amazement the crowd loudly applauds my efforts.
The sound of my voice aint no vacation, its a last resort.
A report of sorts about this here human conditionVital signs stereo-chords without near enough extension.
Enough retention to stay focused on tasks, focused on laughs
Before dust returns to dust and ashes turn to ash.
A flash of light? NO! A flash of LIFE.
But its only fair to judge the bright against the darkness of the night.
And you might stop to count between the lightning and
thunder:
The closer the storm, the lower the number.
I wonder when my life will flash and then BOOM!
Im under the impression that at least youll find out soon.
And it consumes me with stress, all this madness and mess
Until it concludes with my rest when nothing is left.
And I wept nothing more, nothing less
Until it was time for me to flash!
How many seconds you guess?
But all I need is a mic and my motherfuckin mind.
All I need is a mic and my motherfuckin mind!
(VERSE FOUR- MC BREW)
Being fluid with the movement
Give your ears a good douching.
No conclusion, write words limitless- pen in fist.
Other cats get put up on the eighty-six list.
So get your fix, its nice and crisp
To people who thinking when they listen to me.
Pushing periodicals persistently,
This Hip-Hop shit just sets me free.

So many paint pictures of how frail rhymes are set casually

And if the alleys could talk,
Whats with the commotion with that cuphea on the sidewalk?
Chasin styles like vertical smiles with goatees.
Oh please! I put a sour taste to those ass kissin lips.
So this goes to kids that cant rhyme but still try to diss.
From the street to the curb from a flirt to a kiss
This poet lyricist comes through with exquisiteness.
I dissect the dialect when I directly divulge
In the duration to get the sleepyheads to get indulged.
Its never forgot when cocky crews act like snots.
Competition gets stopped as if approaching roadblocks.
Dudes acting glamorous putting runs in their mascara.
Never a beat in the world that I couldnt take care of.
Words imbedded like a shard of glass in a marshmallow.
Saying whats up to my fellows out in Colorado.
You notice I start to wobble when the bottles getting hollow.
Comin forward straight to it and itll burn you when you swallow

SNAKE CHARMER
Track Five

A snake slithered into a blacksmith shop one day. And he was very, very hungry and he looked about for
something to eat. But the only thing we could find was a file, so he started to gnaw on it...
(VERSE ONE- MC BREW)
Classier than a clip-on tie
But Ill gladly be taking out you snakes just like Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
So a cobras head Im tossing
Finding solutions to the problems.
Never fail when you entail.
Identifying them first, through the phlegm thats dispersed.
Give more of what it takes.
Slithering through inhibitions of Iowans just like corn snakes.
Through senses and aesthetics,
Second guess your prevalence
With ignorant epithets opine on a line
On which one may forget.
Ive got nothing, not even regret.
You peeping the set, we gotta rock the spot
Cunning like water moccasins
No need for lots of pens.
Free venom dispending got ya feeling lost again.
My anti-clich deejay has got to toss the spin.
Apply the Buddha palm upon the song.
Got it rattling your cage again.
Erase you face, we came to play, then win.
9

(VERSE TWO- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

Sick of shit I cant relate to.
Snakes that hiss over beats and bring along their fake crews.
Shut up before I make you face the truth. Your vocal booth
Is full of statements that you cant stand on with your own two...
Feet. Sick of the mainstream and the same seats.
But I got the gift of speech and a deejay that dont slang beats.
So appealing with side-effects concealing cracks
With slight-of-hand cramping, Im losing my grasp.
Teeth on my plaque, a speech that tends to react
To bass vibrations from the speakers when they blast.
Inhaling positive thoughts, ignore the concrete corsage
Pinned to my chest. Read em and weep some Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.
Lookin like an obese Raggedy Andy,
More than willing and able to bust any mic that you hand me.
Been adrift like Pangaea, narrowing options
Jamming on a Sony Walkman cassette deck and walkin
(SCRATCHED- DJ POYO)
Stop, he said.
(VERSE THREE- MC BREW)
Like Christopher, Im Walken.
I concur to rip through slurs
Like water hitting salt pallets, man youre soft.
And Im stomping mambas with intentions so black,
were fading back to onyx
To the basement where you can taste this.
Had the knack to even vomit.
Monty Python can have a guest appearance on this.
Astonish what you saw.
Pens of poison drive nervous systems delirious.
Dreaded when these off the double-headed serpents hiss this.
(VERSE FOUR- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Opposing those that let go of their control
To grow roses in the road. Licking the backs of toads
And serpents for the chemical experience.
The hops been hipped, minds serendipitous.
Get lit and fixated on the sanity.
I brought my band with me, so yall can stand at ease.
And vanity is the one deadly sin I dont indulge in.
The rest of mes nailed to the ground, sky a pullin.
(SCRATCHED- DJ POYO)
Dont do that.

10

(VERSE FIVE- MC BREW)

Golden moments aint always glowing.
Thought you had to know
We break it down like acetone.
Some bastards show no love.
Well be knowing whats up,
Stay coiled, poised and ready
To strike a deadly blow from the brush.
Not gambling on broke chances.
This wouldnt equate up to any OSHA standards.
Use a snake skin just like a canvas.
These fake men, they have no plans when they try to hold it frozen in a pose.
(VERSE SIX- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Pull the pin, throw the grenade and take cover.
Post a bulletin about my affair with Danny Glover.
Push comes to shove her out of oncoming traffic.
How can we save the Earth if we couldnt even save Captain Planet
From cancellation? So I continue my scratch paper wastin.
Shedding skin around corners; straighten smiles with braces.
Dragons you chasin as we Puff the magic,
But nothings static in a world of slithering snakes and plastic.
In a raspy voice he said, Im the guy who can chew iron and steel.
The viper and the file
A snake slithered into a blacksmith shop one day. And he was very, very hungry and he looked about for something
to eat. And the only thing we could find was a file, so he started to gnaw on it. The file didnt like it though.
Stop, he said. Dont do that. Dont expect to get anything out of me, youre just beatin your gums. In a raspy
voice he said, Im the guy who can chew iron and steel.

EGGFOOYUN
Track Six

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

I grew up in a different time and place.
Different type of blood in my veins, some give and take.
A sentence break is indicated with a comma,
It could be the proper place to create your own fake drama.
But oh ah oh ah ah no one likes that.
You bitches are addicted to emotions: thats a fact.
I sat back unattached for too many minutes.
My hat is tight now, years ago I bought it fitted.
I watched my generation go from fresh to vintage;
Lookin at the TV to see whos next to mimic.
I wore awesome sweat pants six days a week
Watched Up All-Night on USA when I couldnt sleep.

11

I used to peek at scribbly channels to see girls naked,

My future wifes on internet porn, so download and rate it.
Im not a sadist, but I like to play with the egos
Of emcees who actually think that theyre my equals, out these peepholes.
Substances...chemicals...drugs...Affect the way your body works.
(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)
I cant even come simplistic when I missed it,
That is this point Ive tried to reach.
Impeach the rest of the pungent point of views.
And anoint a few ears
That are more than just out of reach. Ive been sent to bet that this doubt in speech
Will not reapits gotta weep something
Thats nonstop when its flowing.
Growin a special batch, to heck with that.
Stressful past memory thats asking for more fruitless remembrance.
Got keep on keepin, reachin, movin.
Ive been teached- or I mean, taught improvement.
To youthful, fruitful individuals, who keep a senseful hymn flow.
And be more sensible.
Ill put dents in those who merely test how far their ego will stretch,
But do you realize all of us people are next?
Writing this isnt a readable text.
And, yes is the word beyond a herd of sheep with some worthless speech.
(VERSE THREE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Ill get your sticks and stones stoned and
drive em home.
Tell em to call me again in the days of
Styrofoam decay.
So write a real poem or watch what you say.
Im a real new Roman and my time is today.
Been sick of playing games since days of
Milton Bradley,
Changing channels more often than drunks
hail taxis.
With only gravity to hold me down.
Steady grip of fantasies help spin the needle
around...around...
(VERSE FOUR- MC BREW)
A vocation thats innovative has been located:
Its right here. Communicate effectively.
Dont have to be out of the ordinary, but then again I choose to.
Screws loose to retighten the mounting.
To not necessarily confuse who?
Its just mind expansion through the rhyme enhancement thats enchanting.
Thats running rampant yet I stay planted,
Hand on my heart to add to this anthem.

12

HOURGLASS
Track Seven

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

Its me-- or at least one my faces.
I notice the more that one changes the harder it is to
replace it.
Im not patient til my doctor floats a payment.
And Ill keep the same station on until I hit the
pavement.
Its self-defense, Ill hit before it hits back.
Ill throw a left hook before the concrete crash.
I jump on beat fast, so Im the first to be heard
And I dont need last words for emcees to get served.
Ill break your last nerve if Im not already on it.
Im the fire of the crackers and never will I pawn it.
So hooked on phonics that I clap between syllables.
Lay trapped between the physical maps and the spiritual sap
That leaks out like the blood of maple trees.
So save advice for drifters, and your halos for the breeze.
Im not stable, I breathe, am able to react.
Certain situations prove my soul is intact- and thats a fact.
(HOOK x2- MC BREW and THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Im the one-eye tear shedding, Im the last man standin.
Time tickin away by the second, no answer to the questions
We ask.
But were not sand in an hourglass.
Waitin for placebacks
But what I gave got taxed.
(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)
Where Im at right now, evolved from where I started.
I see those that dare to bear their emotions while some are coldhearted.
And if battles come blitzin, so be it, well just have to see whos on target.
But of course, this is all just a metamorphosis
From a span of years of ups and downs
And all arounds, its nonstop- word!
In-and-outs and roundabouts, conquering vices and inner monsters.
Im just a maniac about the audio.
From long ago til now, Ive always been a notebook nuisance
Baring it all like a nudist, nothin but some true shit.
Holler against the trends until the end and, yes, I can prove it.
Whether its outside or in between the lines.
Shunning all your bogus hype.
Cuz this is a major part of my life.
And amidst all strife, I never dismiss on what I feel is right,
Alright? (Aight.)
13

(HOOK x2- THE TOP CIVILIAN and MC BREW)

Im the one-eye tear shedding, Im the last man standin.
Time tickin away by the second, no answer to the questions
We ask.
But were not sand in an hourglass.
Waitin for placebacks
But what I gave got taxed.
(VERSE THREE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
So check your gender and pulse for signs of life
Cuz I illuminate the night like a lone LiteBrite.
Spellin out the message, sometimes held in high contention.
Starting from this here point and out in all directions.
Let me be free if only in these songs of freedom
Cuz I see no beacon to save me or Garden of Eden.
Ive been cheated, indecently exposed and pieces know.
It can never be explained even in the perfect poem.
(VERSE FOUR- MC BREW)
So light up the flares with the kerosene.
No despair when an uttered care came to be.
A rare breed who used to dye my hair green
And crossin the whole spectrum of recollection.
Progressed with an obsession and blend in.
Amend with no regrets when your motives are bogus at any moment.
Ive witnessed the cloning of obnoxious opinions
Concocted, its ridiculous.
But Ill try to stay oblivious...
(HOOK- MC BREW and THE TOP CIVILIAN)
Im the one-eye tear shedding, Im the last man standin.
Time tickin away by the second, no answer to the questions
We ask.
But were not sand in an hourglass.
Waitin for placebacks
But what I gave got jacked.

LUCHADOR
Track Eight

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

I wish I had no debts and lived with less stress.
But thats not my reality, so this is your check.
Less maladjustment, adjust the order of priorities.
Personify my life pressing pens on tortured trees.
Take four of these thoughts before you hit eject.
See your problems causes before feelin their effects.
14

You talk about respect way more than youll ever get it.
For every rhyme and reason-- no need to get specific.
This is for the misfits, those all out of place.
Missin without a trace. Wipe that look up off your face.
Times been wasted. Ideas: aint got the faintest.
Dealt a hand by God, and by God, Im gonna play it.
Wearing our clothes like the skin that were made with,
All I want is a piece of mind and a band that I can play with.
Til then, same shit but different day.
So open the Gate, or get the hell out my Way.
(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)
I look around at this mess,
Im profounded by the boundaries of stress.
Cant take a second guess.
Dwindling like shortness of breath,
And I know there has to be more to this test.
When a crude attitude shines, I just pause relishing.
When I can be roaming through new times again.
Few men can even comprehend, only misconcept.
You missed more than a couple steps.
I been often jotting down these songs before I lost my virgin way of living.
Now I rock with logical lyricism to give em.
Still working, still living, giving it, splitting the page just like a dutch.
With grooves to crush and if the mood just sucks.
So I pawned my lust, end of dawn now its dusk.
New material is crucially a must so here we go.
Up in the stereo, to open up the doors of your perception.
Gateway always wrecking- letting you know- with a certain essence and, yes, it shows.
(VERSE THREE- MC BREW)
Some are obsessed with death as much as Im obsessed with life.
Im expressing why behind these lines that are refined.
Youll find just where that lesson lies.
Not some second guessing guys
An expression left without a slur in speech.
Youre just a herd of sheep - no Shepard - no direction stepping nervously.
When you heard of we, notoriety, were applying the science.
Witnessing that bullshit youre buying.
Ive broken ties, look in these two open eyes.
Youre just choking on hopelessness when no one truly tries.
Seeing right through these lies
When negative expectations turn into self-fulfilling prophecies.
You oughta be clogging your artery.
Heart youll never take whats a part of me.
Im lost in chaos. Its not a gimmick when Im living this.
Architecting our destiny until the end of it.
Until the age is a deficit, not a replicate and never delicate.
Behind this message you know were always repping this.
15

(VERSE FOUR- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

If you cant live with it, dont you leave it alone.
Leave it behind and out-of-sight before it follows you home.
I dont make myself known for the purpose of your opinions,
Instead I pen poems to underline my own division
Of body and soul. Pressing the pace to show an image.
Uncertain of its place and perplexed by the limits of life.
I know the finish is death; the start was sex.
Were the connection of the dots plus some cause and effect.
Making your lifetime distinctly not like mine.
I write rhymes cause I know theyll outlive my lifetime.
Grip vices with vicegrips;
Sight sutures my eyelids.
See no evil simply cause speech and sound suffices.
My love is pricelessNo trying to buy it.
You gotta learn, love, fail and burn before you find it.
Try to explore it like NASA astronauts and Tang.
While I sit with senior citizens enjoying some shade...

ALONG CAME A SPIDER

Track Nine

(VERSE ONE- MC BREW)

Decisive maneuvers, here to school ya.
Dismiss you fools, spooks and rumors.
Came to instigate ya state.
Situate any false debates, dont even mitigate.
Cuz I know enough to be disownin bluffs
So you can go ahead and phony up.
And while your dude is laughin
I can run straight up and slap him.
I proceed to cease the chanting from you butt hurt bandits.
Hatin this should be absurd but you just cant stand it
To see a fellow man climb atop this granite planet.
Try not to take for granted.
Always make proof and use what is even handed.
Organically enhanced this plan, so why you trying to fuck up the
fabric?
This isnt magic, this is real they think its all slop, and no props
Watchin all you fake motherfuckers drop.
Im decisive had the wind sucked out til I had my side split
You know I liked it.
Fists clenched immense leaving dents with my fists like vice grips!!

16

(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)

Never faltering on whats worth offering on awful things.
Ink bleed, receiving through transmissions in my head I must be dreaming.
As the morning is transforming from an evening.
You fuckin zombies try to stop me nonchalantly.
But most caught up in this aint feeling so fuckin melancholy.
Speaking spelling wrongly dont feel as strong as I.
So I be unified, when its night time
With the right rhymes, and beats mystifying the streets.
Every time we design from the mind its unique.
Apply like a permanent tourniquet.
When its time burn, and butchering
Your thoughts with these words that we just burglared in.
As the world spins like the whirlwinds.
Had to get my fix at 3:06 AM, and spray phlegm.
They can try to act like they awake but they aint even knowing about the poems that we paint.
Ill grab your state, and agitate.
Eradicate- your plans too fake.
Ill show your magistrate.
(VERSE THREE- MC BREW)
The glory in exploring this goriness, Im exporting
Your lyrical abortions: be pro-choice.
When the flow is moist
Im in the depth of its reaches.
In a society full of preventable diseases.
May seem appeasing, tickling and teasing.
But you aint gotta need to jump this jock
Just keep your lips locked like Ziploc.
Its the night life that can blind the ones that have strayed away.
Cause from this daylight.
At times Im walkin a thin line of temptation
And try not to drift away with all my damn might.
Then at times I act like its a playground out there and I dont play right.
Splatter these fragments of brain, outta my frame
Just like Kurt Cobain.
Thatll happen to capture you lames,
You think that its a game?
Im heartless, surround like the darkness.
Bitches, switch up your name...
(VERSE FOUR- MC BREW)
The danger in anger is like a wild card in a poker game
And comes and goes like an errant ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
Can be filled with malice and callous but I still care,
You can tell with a certain flair
When theres a problem in the air.
Try to remain civilized, wake, rise and tantalize the truth cant contain lies.
So theres no surprise.
Just look up in the skies

17

NINTENDO
Track Ten

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

This goes to my youth: to reading Weekly Readers,
Always being too heavy so my totter only teetered.
Paying meters with pockets of loose change.
Still wash with Lever 2000- things have changed.
They seek the matters, you maintain the facts.
Dont decipher life by acid-coating your lower back
Like my deejay did. Open your ears and listen in.
Side effects of the drug-induced life that we lived.
Paper clips hold my pages so the haters can diss.
Quick to point fingers, but never ever penned a script.
Doves cry, but make love just like the pigeons.
...Feed em dry rice til they explode just like your opinions.
I cant spake Russian, hope Im speaking your language.
Not the same shit you listen to on the regular baggageIn excess. My best guess is I aim to impress,
Leave you like a fish: wet and
breathless like...
(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)
Its embedded in my genetics, so
Ill never forget this.
Receiving no credit, gets hectic.
Sequestered into reckless words
Blurting out until it gets
unnerving.
Ive refrained from the
complaining
Thats waning cuz to blame
things instead of taking action.
Grabbing the reigns against the
grain- restraining.
So, may I reinstate nothing that
seems faint?
Just point blank with the rest of the team would be great.
Now Ive been deeply plunging since the beginning past the end of that whole grunge thing.
Wanting one thing: thats progress and thought.
Ive always been expunging.
Burning sensation as if its acid refluxing.
As we keep clutching a false sense of hope and cant cope.
The false image of what we trust to some
Its a trembling feeling that seems overwhelming.
Speech therapy in which I dare to be carefree.
No guidelines to follow cuz you can live your life to lose
Or you can refuse to take refuge.
18

(VERSE THREE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

Either you have it, you lack it, had it but you lost it,
Can write a good flow, maybe can freestyle flawless.
Most are jawless, so yous best to check your dentures.
This misadventures broadcast uncut and uncensored.
Try to test me, Ill get randier than Savage.
Make a pro look like the average fan forcing the habit.
For the record- this aint about diamond mines.
So while you paper-chase and hate, Ill toss tingles to spines.
Only mingle with like-minds to keep myself stable.
Leave the weak behind, the fake kind here to make Pesos or any denomination.
Give me a vain to stick my pain in.
Stop complaining. when Atlas falls, he calls the rain in.
Ill be up-the-wall climbing, the feed me hand Im biting,
Trying to find my way, before my way finds me fighting.
Cop-a-feel from a cop to get out of a ticket...
My lifes a Post-it Note; I got nowhere to stick it like...

SEXY DARKNESS
Track Eleven

(VERSE ONE- MC BREW)

Youre gettin pigeon holed.
Im ditching those who merely twitch and fold.
You fake jacks need to hit the road.
Im bound and determined to start drowning your
circuit
Like a nervous gerbil at a gay pride circus.
May I suggest you stay at the wayside, it isnt worth it.
Attacking your motives, cuz youre lacking the focus.
Dumping lump sums on you chumps til youre
haphazardly eroding.
Clashing with your fascists, lacking any thought
When you just brought an ignorant transaction.
Now were sweeping out like dragnets with erratic
steps.
Pointing out that you havent had shit yet,
Just a nose picking, furniture smearing.
Got some nerve to floss with un-nurtured thoughts
that have never been enduring.
Youll regret checkin where youre steppin, Im
repping this.
So you can get the message of this wretchedness.
Excelling, while Im expelling.
Insane your brain is swelling
And your frame is gelatin.

19

(VERSE TWO- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

Punched, abruptly abducted, left with thought concussions.
Can barely discuss percussion in my voice without
combusting
Spontaneously. A little rough around the edges.
It dont pay to be me, so yous best to pay attention
To rich people and Scientologists.
The rest of us pricks just go find a pot to piss
Me off. Cuz I thought that the meek inherited.
That God would find fault with me steady tearin kids.
Its imperative that we get the finished product.
Im a gin and tonic short of nauseous, so watch it.
Drenched like green slime from Nickelodeon.
Smoke weed with Charlie Sheen before I reach the
podium.
Sick of shit like custodians. Take more hits than bowling
pins.
The mothership aint homing in, cover me Im going in.
The wheels in the sky keep merging through my highway.
Slur my way home, car hitting curbs sideways.
(VERSE THREE- MC BREW)
You can either face it, hate it or fear it.
An instinct, hold dear, is just a basic way to feel.
At times it aint right in tellin you lies.
Staying surprised by what you saw the reel-to-reel
Unlatched like locks that open Pandoras Box.
Got it open hopin, mopin, gropin on moments.
Not knowing at any given time
More than many lifetimes into a death that you climb
Brainfreeze any thoughts of reincarnated, self-sedated, mental retardations.
Like dentals makin love, not so gentle, detrimental.
Its a mess, yo.
Life is a wreck that might end in a sec
But well fight to the death.
Breath none til tinnitus inside this head rung.
Packing a batch of lack judgment
Dont matter the cats you run with.
Just be encompassed.
This is my life. This is wicked, aint missin the strife.
Listen why...

Photo credits by Chris Dice DeRoin, MC Brew,

The Top Civilian, DJ Poyo, DJ Buttah, Jessica Boyes,
Aubry Peters, Sarah Gill, DJ BowLz, Joey Enright,
Eboli, Benny B, Cody Case and more!?

20

(VERSE FOUR- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

If youre tuning in, Im busy consuming men.
Instead of improving them, Ill make them fools depend
On instincts. I got more hits than *NSync.
You got no future in this game with me as an emcee.
Your soul is empty like the spaces between us.
While the global warms the core Ill rap on the crust.
Before I scatter like dust I must understand the artistThe perve that finds something sexy about the darkness.
A peaceful revolution, experience the outer body
Before we waste our days away like Mahatma Gandhi.
Fasting to make a point eating a grain of rice a day.
Mind to anoint my voice to free man from his chains.
Been trained as a capitalist Hollywood stargazer.
Embraced the teachings of philosophers til my brains hurt.
Ready to rain dirt in dust clouds and devils.
Forever roaming the Earth like Pinocchios Geppetto.

REINCARNATED
Track Twelve

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

Im one of those traveling cats that stays in one
place.
Motion makes the sickness present to smoke away
Just another day in the life of the infamous
Asshole talking shit, pretty just be specific.
Civilians my name. Will and combustions how I
came.
Im sure my last verse causes one and the same.
Difference: my love is close; yours is distant-Some call it a 6th sense, I call it being persistent.
Got a stern grimace that some mistake as grins.
Across my face mind contemplates checkin chins.
Life is love and hate combined with light and sin,
And Im a pin-wheel stickin around for the wind
to blow! Or someone in the mainstream to properly flow.
Cause it dawns on me, they need to change the profession that they chose.
Close your eyes, my frequency is slowly homing
On your fated position in these: our Times New Roman.
(CHORUS x2)
Strain with me! I work with a brain thats lopsided.
A rage that knows no silence; a plane that has no pilot!
The impact of birth caused scars upon arrival.
I aint been back to Earth since the stars were suicidal.

21

(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)

Weve got an obligation to bomb this nation.
Gettin sick of being calm and patient complacent.
Jumping on these jams up in the basement.
Bacardi driven, spittin facts, hardly ever even bullshitting.
Not freestyle, you know its written.
Northside cats be spittin this free-written.
And what I wrote just got jotted down.
We spotted clowns and had to toss around that flawless sound.
So sop the drool up when the jaws drop down.
Ive had a heyday runnin through the gateways
And they say the Brew runs with the 712, so fuck the nay-say.
Or laziness. Gotta get these thoughts outta my head or Ill go crazy, kid.
The spirit that blocks the clearance.
We can see in your eyes that you know that youre fearing.
Getting loose at the seven-one-deuce party.
So bring the beer in
And lose the hating that youre even feeling.
(CHORUS x2)
Strain with me! I work with a brain thats lopsided.
A rage that knows no silence; a plane that has no pilot!
The impact of birth caused scars upon arrival.
I aint been back to Earth since the stars were suicidal.
(VERSE THREE)
(THE TOP CIVILIAN)
In the headlights of the dead-rights.
Instead of hypin up the scene, youre seein the end time.
I defend rhymes with the freedom to reach
This Sodom and Gomorrah landscape uncensored, no bleeps.
(MC BREW)
So well creep off the deep end
From this to next weekend.
Like bliss, the mind, the mic and my
fist seek the right
To increase the fight.
To downplay perps who feel too
weak inside.
(THE TOP CIVILIAN)
I find it rather confusing trying to be
pure in pollution.
Snoozing my way through parts of a
mood ring.
Switching from color to opaque,
From intention to mistake.
From made to making me break.
22

(MC BREW)
No breaking me blatantly, were takin out the flakes in thee.
Youre too wasted to spit sacred stages.
Double A: arsenious aftermath,
Disastrous path
On which what was sprayed
On yourself youre gettin played.
Yea, its degrading.

FINAL FANTASY
Track Thirteen

(VERSE ONE- MC BREW)

I always work with my hands
But Im not earning grands or received a grant.
But still my speech it stamps
Writing as freely as I need be,
Formed a trinity.
Now were all a nation groovin to this
Mood of a melody.
Rastas on safaris.
The apartheid will never be seen,
Well at least I hope not.
A beast from the streets.
Both dogs so we gotta show some loyalty over Poyo beats.
Took a roll of the dice
Now were the ones controlling mics
And you know thats its tight.
Not strictly focused on props, these civilians flow on the spot.
Brewing up a potion, congruent with the notion
To represent Sioux City.
Whose with the Midwest making commotion.
So you can feel this like an earthquake that shakes from the oceans twelve
These final fantasies- I dove in.
(VERSE TWO- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
No beans magical enough to reach the Heavens,
So I plant my seed to save the ages from their penance.
Menaces to society, 40s of malt liquor glory.
Not the same story or perfect temperature type of porridge.
Goldilocks prostituting to lions with dreadlocks.
Waitin for the dogs and dragon to sheep the flock.
Take yourself to detox before we rock your socks off.
Original knock-off, back to get my soul like Faust.
Got props, charisma, handful of non-winning lottery tickets.
So give me a cause so I can picket, or a scab so I can pick it.
Late night visits from Gabrielles angel- final fantasies
Calling me to finish the game. Not a casualty,
23

A martyr. For the love of my daughter

Trying to be the best father even if the world falters.
Be bright like the lightning, a life worth the writing.
Sometimes pains mistaked as joy and joys mistaked as crying.
(VERSE THREE)
(MC BREW)
A fantasy thats final
Enchants me like sitting all day listening to vinyl.
Written on a tombstone
Whos home? Who knows not?
Whoever knew of me?
Sing not a eulogy, celebrate a life so fluently
To a T.
But yet we have so far to go
So get up off that sofa.
Go outside, play, seize the day like ya mama woulda told ya.
At ease like the breeze, no loss of composure.
(THE TOP CIVILIAN)
My final fantasy is Heaven, staring friends and family.
Theyd be rockin a show. My band would be with me,
Plus my lady and seeds. When Im there, no need to breathe, I can be at peace.
Away from a world to get lost in
Where freewill chooses sin most often.
Before the coffin, let the Rastas know,
I smoked and sang my way to Gods Walkman.
Keep on walkin, and Ill keep the flow.
Stop your turning and tossing.

S. BLAIR
Track Fourteen

(VERSE ONE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)

Ive not been the same person since youve been
gone.
Havent had the security of your couch to lean on.
I was the great pretender trying to be strong.
Pretending everythings alright, when inside its
all wrong.
I dont want to sing the same songs that we sang
together.
Now theres no baritone to compliment my tenor.
Whenever NASCAR was on wed hit the Jerome Baker bong,
And jam to Pink Floyd - damn, I miss you Shawn.
You used to wrench on the S-10 looking all covered in tar.
We entered a burnout contest in my shitty foreign car.
24

I revved up the engine and the crowd started to scream,

And we sped down the street at barely even 15.
It seems like a dream, I remember taggin' on your table.
Kickin it as the days go by, wed get high. But now your halo
Keeps me stable. Before you left I took life for granted,
Now I wanna make you proud of the life I live; my hold you handed.
(VERSE TWO- MC BREW)
Cornbeef would never represent you poorly.
And that's for sure, SMB.
That's the way we keep it.
Accomplishments: you would seek them and then you'd reach them.
Never would expect to be mourning you this evening.
But this is in remembrance of good times and bad.
I'm aghast. Remember when we would kick it and shoot the breeze in P.E. class?
From good homeboys to neighbors,
Through all attitudes that wavered.
To see that smirk up on your face is like a place away from danger.
Now that you're gone, it feels wrong- changed up the whole flavor.
Known you for over decade, we never had a chance to live throughout our best days.
I've cried until I'm worn out, cuz I know a part of me is torn out
And can't be replaced. It's all said and done.
I know the light that was in your life shall reflect through your son.
You were an artist and also a great cook.
Feeling hardship now, but I gotta calm down.
At the sky glance up and take a look. I feel God didn't want you,
Unjustly stolen from us. It disgusts me I'm gloating over it.
And it's tough...this song got me to open up.
Hope this song is worthy,
Hope you have mercy if you thought this wasn't dope enough.
Rest in peace homie.
(VERSE THREE- THE TOP CIVILIAN)
You were the first one I knew with a homemade tattoo.
We witnessed two UFOs: our eyes proof it was true.
Sometimes I get twisted, can't lift, emotions pressing.
Find it depressing to be on antidepressants.
But I can't let it get to me. From Sweet Fanny's to Perkins
Your hair changed to a mohawk, together we were workin'.
Certainly never got the proper goodbye,
So me and all your homies together we cried.
You overflowed the Church. Bless your birth for what its worth.
I was too hurt to see you lowered in the dirt.
My tear water burns and yearns for life with you.
Until I end and see you again, Essence...I'll miss you.
For all we've been through, blow a kiss to God.
'Cause your my only refuge when the nights get longyoure gone

25

Ive always written songs and poetry for as long as I can remember, and since joining The Gateway
Drug almost a decade ago, we combined expressing our words over the unmatched creativeness of
Poyos beats. Its really interesting to see the metamorphosis of our writing styles. To think, it all
started with us just having fun to now being able to touch other peoples lives- its truly incredible.
Corey MC Brew Brubaker
I originally wanted to write poetry, but I thought not many people in todays society would read a book
of poetry. So I decided the best way to get my poetry heard is to put it over beautiful music. And The
Gateway Drug was born. Eric The Top Civilian Osterholm

Ode to Crayons by The Top Civilian, 2006

Design and layout by Chris DeRoin

Edited and published by Forces of Obvious Luck Media
All lyrics written by N. Bockholt, C. Brubaker and E. Osterholm
2008 - 2015 by The Gateway Drug

times new roman album available for free download at thegatewaydrug.bandcamp.com