Case Study/Dance With The Devil (Interlude) Lyrics

Case study

For years, I've been hiding behind this mask of vulgarity

Discouraged by incessant invalidation

Defeated by the lies of the confused

Screams stifled to whispers

Whispers stifled to tears

Tears stifled to silence

What was once was an open book

Now has withered down to a notecard

Folded in half atop a dusty shelf

Reading "Out of stock"

I've allowed you to swim on my surface

And bask in the sun

Because exploration down to the wonders of my sunken Titanic

Has led to nothing but implosion

Why must I continue to be mislabeled?

Misunderstood?

Why must I harbor the most beautiful components of my being

Because you're not willing to sift through the darkness to find them?

Why must my heart remain so heavy

But my expression so light?

This cage you've built was designed to restrain my wings

For years, I convinced myself they were never meant to spread

Regaining my strength, I've sweat out your toxins

They were strong enough to break your metal the entire time

Case study

I done danced with the Devil, now I need a new partner

Feeling like a true martyr

Turned to the gutter when the cloud grew darker

But now it's moved farther

Gotta let it go when I become a new father

Got me one or two daughters

Use to drown the pain with a vice and lose conscience

Shit it getting too dark

I done danced with the Devil, now I need a new partner

Feeling like a true martyr

Turned to the gutter when the cloud grew darker

But now it's moved farther

Gotta let it go when I become a new father

Got me one or two daughters

Use to drown the pain with a vice and lose conscience

Shit it getting too dark

I done danced with the Devil, follow me to where it started

Before my second year of college, got a new apartment

So we threw a party

Never knowing there was darkness lurking there upon us

Doomed us in a heartbeat

I was in my room, we was talking

Drew sat across from me and two pretty shawties

Said something rude 'bout their bodies

Boom, there was Tommy standing up for who he was calling his bitch

So them two started brawling, but fists weren't landing

So the two were just falling and shit

And we was all brothers, so I knew in the morning

We'd review a recording of the feud and be snorting

Laughing at the whole thing

I started shooting the brawl with a grin

It was harmless, and then

I noticed someone standing on the ledge out the window

Wait, the kid that I invited, oh my God, it was him!

Then everybody ran in there to stop the attempt

Pulling on his shirt, but he was not coming in

Screaming at me that it's not my fault, then he switched

Screaming 'bout some shit that ain't involve be a bit

Tommy started crawling out to talk to the kid

I had Tommy's arm, said it was not worth the risk

He said that he wouldn't let him fall, then he switched

Screaming 'bout some shit that ain't involve me a bit

I let go of his arm, I was not all convinced

Phone still in my hand, and I caught all this shit

Thought that I was capturing a positive vid

Just a nineteen, drunk, idiotic lil' kid

So now that there were two tip-toeing on a five inch ledge

Everybody inside just left

I was standing there, trying not to cry, big breaths

Begging then to come on this side instead

On the glass they were holding sits life and death

But it shattered, by the time I realized it, dread

They had already fallen like six flights, then next

I shouted out, bodies hit right then left

Then and only then, the red light did I press

Then it settled in, sat right in my chest

I could've prevented it, eyes right on my friend

Thirteen stories down, paralyzing my legs

Crawled through the living room, elevator down

Tommy screaming, "Ted! Ted!" then he never made a sound

Did he die pissed at me 'cause I failed to save his life

And the last thing he saw was my camera, then the ground?

Cried myself to sleep, cried myself awake

Started the semester, homie died just yesterday

News interviews before I processed my blame

Watched the video a hundred times, no less a day

Self-isolation, dark times, a desolate place

If I stayed alone, then I might have…

So I started to swipe, started texting away

Couldn't sleep alone with my mind, used sex to escape

Three women a night, and then several a day

A few rotten apples a night kept the Devil away

I corrupted my mind, I developed the taste

It became a drug that I'd die if I didn't take

Didn't give a fuck if they liked me in any way

I was being used for some pipe and expensive dates

They were being used so my mind, it could disengage

Turned into addiction I ain't try to eliminate

Am I being real or fake

When the deep shit gets no plays and a little hate?

Then the vile shit, I reiterate

Now they think I'm great

I done danced with the Devil, now I need a new partner

Feeling like a true martyr

Turned to the gutter when the cloud grew darker

But now it's moved farther

Gotta let it go when I become a new father

Got me one or two daughters

Use to drown the pain with a vice and lose conscience

Shit it getting too dark

I done danced with the Devil, now I need a new partner

Feeling like a true martyr

Turned to the gutter when the cloud grew darker

But now it's moved farther

Gotta let it go when I become a new father

Got me one or two daughters

Use to drown the pain with a vice and lose conscience

Shit it getting too dark

I done danced with the Devil, now I need a new--