Back in college

I had worked a summer job

That took me to neighborhoods

I had never seen before

I never seen that kind of poor

And at four in the morning

You could see a single mother going to work

And supporting four of her children

Another mother mourning

Cause her son is in the dirt and he snoring

Needle sleeping under surface of his polka dot skin

And he hurted

Kid let the addiction win shit

And in this summer job

That took me to neighborhoods

I had never seen before

I seen a child conforming into a form of his father

Tell he was bothered

Way back in the past

But that day has passed

And now he's unbothered

And bad habits all that he has

Look back like where the hell did my life go

Felt trapped only twenty at the end of the road

No path ain't no highs when you living this low

Back in college

I had worked a summer job

That took me to neighborhoods

I had never seen before

I never seen that kind of poor

And at four in the morning

You could see a single mother going to work

And supporting four of her children

Another mother mourning

Cause her son is in the dirt and he snoring

Needle sleeping under surface of his polka dot skin

And he hurted

Kid let the addiction win shit

I guess we all lost

I guess we all fall

I guess we all feel our back pushing back against the back of the wall

But some get lost and then they forgot

Some fall down we just watching em drop

All it takes is reaching out a hand

But we worried if we reach out to grab

Then we'll get pulled down too

I really wanna help you

But I barely got the strength for myself

How the fuck I'm supposed to lift two

I ain't got the answer

I'm just saying what I see

But what I see is just so hard to believe

Ten year old is just so skinny

Cause his parents can't keep the fridge full to eat

That's food insecurity

No job financial or personal security

Living life pay to pay

His parents tell him "son, we'll take it day by day"

But the stress of financials really weighing on his dad

And the shortening of temper really had an impact

Kid heard yelling toward his mother that was coming from the man

That he looked up to how you like that

And he absorb the shit like a sponge

Saw his papa yelling must be how things are done

One day he'll grow up and pass the lesson along

To another generation when he has his own son

The cycle repetitive

And he never left his town so this the only perspective

Communities like these get left neglected

To fend for themselves when they have no defenses

I guess we all lost

I guess we all fall

I guess we all feel our back pushing back against the back of the wall

But some get lost and then they forgot

Some fall down we just watching em drop

Back in college

I had worked a summer job

That took me to neighborhoods

I had never seen before

I never seen that kind of poor

And at four in the morning

You could see a single mother going to work

And supporting four of her children

Another mother mourning

Cause her son is in the dirt and he snoring

Needle sleeping under surface of his polka dot skin

And he hurted

Kid let the addiction win shit

I guess we all lost

I guess we all fall

I guess we all feel our back pushing back against the back of the wall

But some get lost and then they forgot

Some fall down we just watching em drop

All it takes is reaching out a hand

But we worried if we reach out to grab

Then we'll get pulled down too

I really wanna help you

But I barely got the strength for myself

How the fuck I'm supposed to lift two

And no one thinks about them

Even you probably think that I mean someone else

See back in college

I had worked a summer job

That took me to neighborhoods in the sticks

Southeast Ohio Appalachia as it gets

This the story of forgotten kids

And this the story of how one of them kids got hit

By his own father right in front of me

You shoulda seen the stun on me when he was comfortably

Acting like he did nothing wrong

How many of those kids exist

Hopefully don't grow up to do it again but shit

When nobody reaching out a hand

How the hell you catch them before they slip

Before they slip

Before they slip

When no one reach out a helping hand

How the hell you catch them before they slip