Portland Say It Again

bite my tongue 'til the night time comes / keep it swinging even when I step-write my drums / I'm a lifetime from all those X-Ray days / Berbati's center stage / Ted's ouzo haze / Satyricon at dawn in that Portland rain / waiting for the bus to start running again / way before the whole state of Cali moved here / I'm talking Rainier Beer / Paranoia Park fear / Portland used to be weird / remember Quality Pie? / club kids eating fries still halfway high? / drag queens two booths away / from some trucker all attitude and tooth decay / I recall it all rain from fall through spring / that's why the town's so green / it’s why the streets are clean / still the streets got mean / I got ghosts out there / some long gone / some did wrong but got spared / some didn't see it coming / blinded by high beams / Ronnie Washington got it before he hit nineteen / Jason got killed right in front of his crib / just kids doing the same dumb stuff I did / still they got outlived / where does that leave me? / responsible for repping the P for all to see? / peace to the O.G.s still putting it down / way too many to name / we all claim the town / and we’ve been down since Ramblin' Rod and Oaks Park / and the time Mt St Helens turned daylight dark / and the view from Mt Tabor down Hawthorne and on / and Tom Peterson / and most of all my own mom / they're all gone but they live in me / and I see them in everything from Mt Hood to old growth trees / Douglas firs that sway in the Northwest wind / and in the rain 'cause it's Portland so I'll say it again / in the rain ‘cause it’s Portland so I’ll say it again / in the rain ‘cause it’s Portland so I’ll say it again

Portland say it again / say again / where the town at? / where my heart ? / where my friends? / from the West Hills over to the Northeast side / pour some out for the ones who died

Portland say it again / say again / where the town at? / where my heart? / where my friends? / from Sellwood over to the St Johns bridge / raise a glass to the ones who live

This important. Listen

'71's the year my mama did the utmost / she did all that she could but me? / I followed cutthroats / I'm blessed to have the greatest family ever / no matter the problem all I know is my people come together / Northeast Portland where I took my first foot step / and all I know is my older cousins kept my 'hood in check / just a couple years before crack was created / in '77 them Blazers won and the rest of the world they hated it / Chucks brand new on a young little player dude / basketball, school books is all he stayed into / and about them 'hood politics? yeah, that boy stayed in tune / and all that hater shit, that boy stayed immune / mama stayed successful he always the new kid in school / music was the monster deep inside his soul that quickly grew / and on the hoop court? that boy nice too / and all the girls would say "that guy's cute" / life transitioned and mama conquered her missions / had your boy moving up to the top with all he wished back then / N.E.P., had to leave / 360, hello / we had a record collection and all it did was grow / I always liked the bass but drums came natural to me / the whole idea of a DJ scratching records threw me / first time I heard it I couldn't even decipher it / I got put on punishment for even trying it / and just like dope hit the streets / I got addicted to the dope beats / Hip-Hop became a way of life / but now them blocks where I was born and raised now they ain't nice / I remember the first fights at Peninsula Park / all the way to Imperial Skate Rink after dark / from then to now me and that scratch sound never fell apart / and my Alabama homies showed me how to follow my heart / from Alberta to Irvington / Cleo's to the Texan / Music Galore, to the House Of Sound, Willie Harris wasn’t to be messed with / from Boomtown to the B Company / Sumner Courts to the Piedmonts / Cullens Corner, KC Market, Prescott 15th and Fremont / Jack Chicken on Alberta / Geechie Dan's on Dekum / so many dead homies ain't enough time left for me to speak on / I even caught three fucking around in the city I love the most / I'm from the city of the rose