I've seen a monkey evolve into a man I've seen a man devolve into a monkey I've seen a junkie redeem himself with help I've seen a wealthy man melt into the snow and blow his credit on a decongestant The dyslexics breathe easy The people in the top tax bracket just keep looking for freebies Thumbing their noses at those in need of handouts I'm talkin' panhandlers with secondhand clothes, living hand to mouth Camping out on Capitol Hill The fat cats are still insisting reparations be a jagged little pill Today there's free vaccinations at the walk-in clinic If you're lucky, you won't just be a guinea pig Call me a cynic I find it interesting how certain epidemics spread More specifically - where they don't and who isn't affected Yeah, I'm infected with a curious nature The welcome mat said, "God bless this home," not "God damn thy neighbor" They can repeat history but can't recycle paper They don't see the forest or the trees, just skyscrapers Towers of Babel in a town full of cattle When I question brand loyalty, the crowd is bedazzled But I'll never be hoodwinked, I'm mindful of the footprints The shape of the hoof, the way the path in the wood splits The author of the book, the origin of the crucifix The waitress looking for tips and the place where the cook spits This is where I was when the bomb dropped Hiding from the uninvited onslaught I've seen people who don't believe in sleep count sheep With calculators that double as alarm clocks From Noah's Ark all the way to Rosa Parks To black folk pushing white agendas inside of an office with flow charts Technology ain't sh**, we feed off the fruit When I stuff leaves of absence in my briefcase, follow suit Spill the liquid from your double fisted escapade k** kids with the drunken misfits in your Escalade It's gruel for the food fight and foreign aid Bream 'em down and build 'em back up with what you throw away Administering band aids on amputated limbs Kissing 'em with air raids, and your lips gave 'em infections Too many closed doors led to back drafts Now the spring edition of fashion catalogues feature gasmasks How becoming on these lanky models They can't look truth in the mirror without a pair of safety goggles Hold the bobble head, insert the feeding tube Even if they stop breathing, make sure they keep eating food Do the Schiavo Mouth opened wide like a perverse psycho circus side show Forgive me not, my patterns stay impartial to apologies Despite a polite side of mine that says, "I'm so sorry" Adding flame infinitum for your eternal fuel tank My higher power doesn't need to be thanked Thanks anyway, that's from him to me to you I don't mind being the middle man, someday I might need one, too I'm at the fire Where are you? I'm at the fire Where the hell are you? I've seen a man devolve into a monkey I've seen a monkey evolve into a man I've seen it all, upside down, in-between, inside out It's neither here nor there, hoofprints in the sand I've fallen head first into the pit of my stomach Taught to trust my gut, got no trust in the gutless Save some hope for the hopeless, but I won't show it Shoot my load in an opus, now it's an open casket Going to Hades in a hand basket Holding onto a dream, but lately we can't grasp it There's been too much murder and not enough martyr Why is it no one else wants to impress Jodie Foster? [Repeat 3x] I'm at the fire We're at the fire Where are you? Where are you? You can't have revolution without evolution, huh? You can't have evolution without velution, huh? You can't have velution without elution, huh? You can't have elution without lution, huh? You can't have lution without ution, huh? You can't have ution without tion, huh? You can't have tion without ion, huh? You can't have ion without on, huh? You can't have on without n, huh? Seriously I know that you pray when the chips are down But act different when there are atheists around Have suspicions that make you think you'll drown All alone in the middle of a crowd I'd be a liar if I said I never had to beg Doubled over with my knees bent touching my head Stuck in a bed, dealing with all of these evil visions Running from the dead in a fetal position Needing a**istance from a nurse She said, "Tell me where it hurts" These words are gonna make my belly burst So I mentally revert to all the enemies I've cursed Running through my memories in reverse I said bring that beat back, man, bring that beat back A flash ain't enough time for me to recap I'm a ba*tard sometimes, don't think I don't see that Laughing at the dumb, blind, the deaf to the knee slaps Cracking punch lines for the sake of some green stacks Pa**ion for the rhyme can be cheapened by feedback I shut my eyes and proceed to go dream catch But a troubled mind can't seem to fall asleep fast I cut my ties like the way that a fiend acts Go into overdrive and get caught in a speed trap