Help Yourself Lyrics

Norport Drive in 2005

Boombox on the porch shooting baskets outside

10 years old with all the confidence the world had to offer

Thought that I could do it all thanks to my mother and father

Maybe I'd play in the NBA then the majors in the spring

And I ain't listening if you tryna tell me different

That confidence would get me in trouble over the years

But my heart's always been pure and without it I'd never be here

The things that you hear started out with burning CDs

Mom gave her collection of Billy Joel, Springsteen

Aerosmith, Prince, Squeeze, Jackson five, McClean

John & Paul, Rush, Queen, now I'm a junkie

Love to play piano but I hate piano lessons

I just listen to my favorite songs and figure out the chord progressions

They seem to kind of just come to me

Like there's something here underneath

It's a feeling I only get when I sit down to touch the keys

Then my neighbor got a MacBook for Christmas

He's showing me GarageBand and what you can do with it

Never forget what was racing in my mind

I asked"you mind if I give it a try?"

He said help yourself

Silver Spring Drive in 2009

Go from Port to Milwaukee I'm lucky Jolene would drive

In that yellow Beetle listening to all kinds of music

I's just happy I had a senior girl to walk into school with

All of a sudden I'm cool with people from all around the city

And a lot of them don't look a thing like me

But we're bonding listening to Forever in the locker room

They'd point at the only white kid when Eminem's verse comes on

And I swear I'd never miss a single syllable

Starting to write songs just like the people that I listen to

Lotta Kanye, Andre, John Mayer, I'm

Talkin' Mac, Drake, Cole, Frank, Jon Bellion

By senior year I start releasing my first songs

Phone blowing up like"I ain't know you could sing!"

I was hooked but I act like I'm not taking it that serious

Then at night I'm staying up just working furious

Still school and ball taking precedence over music

I get offered to play D1 down in Houston

I learned more after school than in

About the most important thing

You gotta get it no one's going to give it to you

You gotta help yourself

Camry in drive in 2017

I just moved to Chicago the place I always had dreamed

Music my passion but nobody wants to pay me for it yet

Plus I ain't spend all of that time going to school for no check

So I get a job in consulting but it's taking from my true purpose

Every week another flight living off of room service

Feel like my soul is depleting feel like I'm losing my moment

Feel like the world at my fingers but no one letting me hold it

So I make my three year plan

1000 days preparing with my head in the sand

I spent all of my free time and some of my paid time

If I ain't have the time then motherfucker I made time

Get a couple promotions I write 100 progressions

A business plan with projections, no I ain't taking no chances

Put in my two weeks - three weeks later there's a virus 'round the nation

So I'm back to making music at my parents

Like the old days just cooking in the basement

Every day working on the songs that would change my life

Consistently growing I think that's just my type

Not every one is a hit but I'ma keep on writing

Because then the right people started to notice

Major label meetings flying out to both of the coasts

It's making my confidence soar with

Every meeting I take, every demo I make

I'm getting better each day

Then I met Shawn out in Vegas he said you got what it takes

Let's get you out to LA and see just what you can do

The first act of the play to make my dreams come true

I didn't write it to inspire you but if it does then please, by all means

Help yourself