The Long Route

By Substantial

On Adultish

Released on July 28, 2023

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We want change and we need it on the double. You know

But Tamara Dobson said, “Progress has to be a slow thing for it to be definite.”

That’s real

So I hit up Tamara Wellons and we decided to take the long route home

Let’s go

We rarely choose the path where success is all but secure

We test our limits daily, ensuring we’re built for more

Stepping over bodies that’s washing up on the shore

Ironically they wasn’t, self-doubtеrs seldom endure

I’m no strangеr to struggle I’ve become a connoisseur

No stand-in for experience, wisdom ain’t in brochures

But I find greatness synonymous with a journey that’s arduous

Surviving don’t always make you popular with the populace

Some would rather give posthumous recognition

Easier to miss than love you, cause love requires commitment

Back when I was a pauper but chose to offer enrichment

I named my nephew W3alth… long before we knew what rich meant

Not defined by my pigment but guided by my descendants

And in this hour of chaos, this moment’s barely a minute

Or millisecond but when you heard it the realness beckoned

They’re still born out of lies, we call that a misconception

We took the long route home

Going thru the unknown

Our yellow lights turned green

We hold on to our song

We took the long route home

Going thru the unknown

Our yellow lights turned green

We hold on to our song

We rarely choose a path where success is all but secure

We test our limits daily, ensuring we’re built for more

They stepped over my body while washing up on the shore

Ironically I wasn’t, self-doubters seldom endure

I’m no stranger to struggle I’ve become a connoisseur

No stand-in for experience, wisdom ain’t in brochures

But I find greatness synonymous with a journey that’s arduous

Surviving don’t always make you popular with the populace

Some would rather give posthumous recognition

Easier to miss than love you, cause love requires commitment

Back when I was a pauper but chose to offer enrichment

I named my nephew W3alth… long before we knew what rich meant

Not defined by my pigment but a proud descendant of men and women

Who knows what winning in our country in this skin meant

An independent family man with a penchant

For finding love without limits beyond the hate and resentment

We took the long route home

Going thru the unknown

Our yellow lights turned green

We hold on to our song

We took the long route home

Going thru the unknown

Our yellow lights turned green

We hold on to our song

You know the pressure we under is unrelenting

And it seems the distance we traveled is never-ending

Questioned our decisions when life is testing our gumption

And learned that goals ain’t really last stops, they’re more like junctions

Paths that lead to businesses, others that lead to babies

Some that lead to a classroom and others lead to stages

Some that lead you to prison and others, an early grave

But I found heaven on earth while searching the path I paved

But Sun ain’t take to time to chill, this took time to build

Finding each other’s easy, the hard part’s to find the will

To keep the ship afloat when others give up hope

Wind in each other's sails or an anchor when we need it most

So before the curtain call or they pound the gavel

I answered when my purpose called, we got ground to travel

Locale don’t matter when the tank’s full as your heart is

Seen the world but home is still where my heart and the art is

We took the long route home

Going thru the unknown

Our yellow lights turned green

We hold on to our song

We took the long route home

Going thru the unknown

Our yellow lights turned green

We hold on to our song

We took the long route home

Going thru the unknown

Our yellow lights turned green

We hold on to our song

I took the long route, no doubt, and went all out

And went… and went and went all out

I took the long route, no doubt, and went all out

And went… and went and went all out

I took the long route, no doubt, and went all out

And went… and went and went all out

I took the long route, no doubt, and went all out

And went… and went and went all out