In a Roofless Church blog post, I wrote about how I sometimes hold myself back from shining my light. The excuse that I was using was that by holding myself back in some areas, I was somehow protecting the people who would otherwise try to hold me back. I’d hold myself back before they could try to. Yeah. That sounds pretty silly to write publicly. But I made it make sense. Fortunately, I didn’t hold myself back completely. I made sure to write, whether it was blogs, poems, articles, letters, etc. Doing this was like leaving myself clues back to me. And writing that post admitting to myself what I was doing was just the push I needed to stop holding myself back in one area that I’ve held back in for decades–my music.
The image above is the cover for my new single. Over a year after I
wrote the song, I finally got to a place where I could put it out there
and open the door to some new possibilities of creative expression. In
so doing, I am admitting to myself that I have no excuse for holding
back. Spiritually, speaking, I never had an excuse anyway as I express
in some of my lyrics:
They can’t kill me
Holla if you feel me
Who I am was never born
So they’re never getting near me
Many of us are trapped in the habits of old patterns and behaviors
that we want more than anything to break free from so that we can be the
people we know we are capable of being–better parents, partners, etc.
There are unfulfilled dreams that hang over us like shadows and darken
our self-perception limiting how we show up in situations. This song is
an anthem for those of us who refuse to leave this world without shining
that light that we are. We will shine! To be the new us, we will kill
the old us. The old us lives fearing the illusion of death. The new us
lives life as fully as we possibly can.
Primarily, I wrote this song and am putting it out into the world for
myself–to eradicate any excuse I might make to not shine the light that
Creator put in me. Secondly, I wrote it for my wife and kids because if
there is anything that they want to do, I want them to at least try.
Even if they fail, they can hold their head up knowing that they put
themselves out there. And I can’t teach them that if I don’t live that.
Thirdly, I did it for everybody who needs a reminder that as long as
they have breath in their lungs, it is never too late to be who you
might’ve been.
To be the new me
I had to kill the old me
To wake up from this lie bruh,
This is what they told me
Wake up from the dream
Death ain’t nothing but a bee sting
Hallelujah’s what we sing
From the moment we see that real thing
To hear my new single click here.
Here are the lyrics in their entirety.
See, I don’t know how people are walking around here like they don’t know what’s going on.
It’s time to wake up man. They’re lying to you.
They’re lying to you
Man, they’re lying to you
They lied to you
Man they’re lying to you
They’re lying to you
Man, they’re lying to you
They lied to you
Man they’re lying to you
Wake up
Here’s the lie
Someone said the we’re gonna die
Got us slaving wondering why
That is something we don’t buy
We’re eternal
Towering infernos
Hot but not consuming
Shine a light but will not burn you
This isn’t scary
This is extra ordinary
Get out power from the the Source
Then we act like tributaries
Feel the flow
Follow where it goes
Be the Energy
Then remember what you know
All One
And the Void
Who we are can’t be destroyed
Silence drowns out all the noise
Darkness knows it has no choice
We that power
In the final hour
Illusions we devour
Death itself we make it cower
They can’t kill me
Holla if you feel me
Who I am was never born
So they’re never getting near me
Here’s the truth
We don’t need no proof
Mustard seed of juice
And the mountains will go POOF!
Yeah
[Hook x2]
To be the new me
I had to kill the old me
To wake up from this lie bruh,
This is what they told me
Wake up from the dream
Death ain’t nothing but a bee sting
Hallelujah’s what we sing
From the moment we see that real thing
Lightning in my soul
Fire in my belly
Heard it all before
So I ain’t hearing what they tell me
Been there and done that
They know that we don’t know that
It’s time to shine so bright
Make them wonder where the sun’s at
They had us twisted
Lying to our souls
Fighting with each other
Then we giving up control
But, we the ones
Who stare into the sun
When you see the truth
The Beginning has begun
Speak a word with no hint of hesitation
Then create entire worlds
With a breath and a vibration
You ain’t know that
Man you ain’t know that
Everything you say
One day man you gon’ own that
So watch your mouth
Remove the doubt
Look within then shift without
Eternal life’s what I’m talking about
The light inside is coming out
We gon’ shine
Til deniers lose their minds
In the twinkle of an eye
There’s no such thing as doing time
Ay!
[Hook x2]
To be the new me
I had to kill the old me
To wake up from this lie bruh,
This is what they told me
Wake up from the dream
Death ain’t nothing but a bee sting
Hallelujah’s what we sing
From the moment we see that real thing
We that power
In the final hour
Illusions we devour
Death itself we make it cower
They can’t kill me
Holla if you feel me
Who I am was never born
So they’re never getting near me
Here’s the truth
We don’t need no proof
Mustard seed of juice
And the mountains will go POOF!
The poem above was written by request for the Rev. Bruce MacKenzie Pastor Emeritus of the church I serve in Boulder, CO. “The way of all flesh” was a saying Bruce loved to say when referring to anything that is temporary in this world. At one visit I had with him before his passing he said to me, “Soon I will be going the way of all flesh, but you and I know that is nothing to be concerned with. So no tears.” I said to him, “Well we teach that Jesus wept when Lazarus died and he was just about to resurrect him, so I cry when you leave.” He laughed at that and changed the subject. Bruce’s body might have gone the way of all flesh. But though the outer man is beyond our seeing, the inner man remains eternally abiding.
It's All In Me - Poetry Blog 