[Verse]
The patriarchy passed down to its heirs, a doctrine
Survival of the fittest, they taught ‘em
Only the strongest survive in the process
Based masculinity around this logic
Shaped aggression into a weapon
Imparted another word of caution
Anything on the soft end, a toxin
Environmental causes
Dog eat dog world befall us
Inside a man’s mind, he finds solace
But welcomin’ visitors produces problems
So concealin’ emotions is how you solve ‘em
Power be thy only priority
Pursuin’ happiness, not an option
Always exert your full authority
In the presеnce of those more in need of what wе seed because the weak are too appallin’
Vulnerability is, indeed, an execution callin’
Use this knowledge to your fullest prowess
And brute the flower
Spit in the face of second place
For a runnin’ mate will lose you power
Victory’s only granted to first place
So never not place yo’ needs first
I guarantee a worse fate for males who conclude in her sake
A riches of embarrassment
Emasculation made a weary man
From imperilment, retain many women, your inheritance will preserve face
But when I diverged faith, the road was adverse paved
But with speed bumps come alert brakes
Somewhere along my relations, overcompensation hitched a ride in my tries of accommodation
The more I saw its value go deformed or understated, the more it became my preoccupation
Sober eyes became a quote of lies when I grew intoxicated
To the prospect of love and all the fantasies I’ve contemplated
But bein’ courteous with the ulterior motive to court will never turn reciprocation into an obligation
No matter how much you nominate it, love is not persuasion
So was my heart actually righteous
Or was I just trying to stand out in the class of abominations
My first love taught me that it was a combination
Discernment between fiction and reality, I found it complicated
So when my passion resembled in tropes
And those tropes resembled a persistence
I thought my insistence would bend your will to my wishes
How ironic a domination
Self-fulfillin’ prophecy,everything I tried so hard not to be
Was everything I resembled to a dying flame
Who couldn’t ignite the same
But instead of settin’ it free, I tried to fight the change
The signs were always present
Between the lines my frames of reference were blind to
For I was confined to the sublime of my preference
And when it came time for a severance
I declined a dose of better sense
Delusion, my medicine
Illusion, my residence
I dwelled in the mind of a lesser man
The real world honored my unwillingness to pay heed to the maybe’s
And they just switched the currency and made me pay with my pride
Like a diary read, I glimpsed her thoughts unfiltered
And bewildered I was when her perspective dawned on what I considered
My most grateful of times
Who once caught the gaze of my eyes
Is a now pest that invades on my sight
With its wasted space of a life
And an ego of inflationin’ size
To think that I’d let it continue to grace by my side
After I proclaimed a goodbye
Is a grown man desecratin’ his guise
By clutchin’ to a desperation of lies
Everything I thought I knew about love came crumbling to pieces
As the fairytale I lived in ceases
When it sunk in that everything she stated was right
[Chorus]
Love don’t work like that
Love won’t leave you
And if it does, it ain’t love
‘Cause love is see through
The vibes are off
You feelin’ like the smiles are false
Have to think twice at all
Then let yo’ instincts lead you
You won’t have to guess
If it’s not yes, then let it go
Ain’t no cracking codes
Take all maybe’s as a no
No, no, no, no, no, no
Oh, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no, no, no, no
Oh, no, no, no, no, no