Angel

I heard you had a voice like an angel
I heard a strange tale
About a saint that fell
Music became jail
These bars I hear you rapped in 'em
Wove in the beats
Like the clothing of sheep
Wolves tracks - spin 'em
DJs, CDs
c-notes
g's thrown on d's
we'll be kings like T.I hope
I heard you even sang when you spoke
And the emotion you evoked got you choked
When your beauty struck a vocal chord broke
Boatless dove overboard
Look upon the surface
Caught your reflection before the Lord's
I heard you had a voice like an angel
Strange though
You were blinded by the light
Shining from your own halo
Fell off
Sort like a rainbow when heaven watched
Your faint glow fade slow
I heard you had a voice like an angel...

I heard that fame's a killer that can murder great
Princes like Kurt Cobain singing Purple Rain
From a distance
Hope home ain't a virtual game
Nor this cursed place earth
Where the dollars and the karma don't circulate
The world's a stage
And you know this play well
Gee I bet you even know how it ends, pray tell
Had a voice like an angel, now you score the drama scenes
The comedy's the fact
We enact what you want to be
Had some old songs still stuck in your memory
Distorted though
So you sort of re-assembled melodies
And fine-tune and turned em into single after single
In this industry you built so sinfully simple for
You to write cuz, a song is what your life was
The destiny of stars is their light must
Fight dusk
With sparks of brilliance to ignite us
And of all the billions of stars
You were by far the brightest
I heard you had a voice like an angel
Now it's just a light hush...

Now you keep everyone's eyes on charts and schedules
And the trends trying to stack gold bars and medals
They want vessels void and dark as space
Fools wanna make stars instead of music that's smart or special
Because art at a level that's real can be harder to peddle
Business prefers a market that settles for second rate
Kill the true artists, martyr the rebels
That's the system and it's straight from the heart of the devil
See merchants of dreams sold to souls eyes-wide shut
Passing the buck to purchase a pass to buy stuff
Working in this circus get hired up
To walk over have-(k)nots on a tight rope
Tied-up in my gut
It's a delicate balance
Developing talent
Into persons that we worship
Yo it's a hell of a challenge
I heard you had a voice like an angel
And don't really sing no more
But you still running the game so
If you don't behave like them
They call us crazy
And if you wont slave for them
They call us lazy
Lately I've started to see why you hate me
Hearing this voice it must be painful
To the ears when for years
You had a voice like an angel

If you don't behave as them
They call you crazy
And if you won't slave for them
They call you lazy
Well I say...
They wanna take your mind
Turn it into a prison
Lock you inside
Then they call that living
Well I say...

I heard you had a voice like an angel...

Smile for the camera
Smile for the camera
While they take your children
Smile for the camera
While we rape your women
Smile for the camera
While we make our millions
Smile for the camera
While we make our buildings
Smile for the camera
Smile for the camera
Smile for the camera...