"Nothing at last is sacred. Oh how the great have fallen

What have I done to myself? It's been way too long!"

We need to reacquaint. Things are different now, I ain't the same man I was

Hi, how are you doing? I'm new and improved with even less to lose

A collector's edition version of a virgin drink ordering cocktail teller

Gone way wrong...to the point of no return

Over the edge and burned out before I even got my shine

Holding my head in pure doubt

Out of insight. Out of mindful things to shout or rhyme about

Yeah, I know I was supposed to change the world and all

Looks like the world got to me first

If you can't beat em, join 'em..

Then hurt the team by beating yourself

I'm different...in a different way

The only thing that stays the same is change

While people claim their states, I state my claims

Sage Francis made a name for himself

For the record my mother calls me Paul

Which was my father's middle name, but Ray

Stepped in and raised me

It's crazy, but this is a game I play

Called "Shut the fuck uuuuuuup!"

Don't bother calling me at all because I'm not answering

Is that a voice-mail-bomb-threat or her broken promise I'm mishandling?

Gambling away my money issues, somebody owes me big bucks

My career depends on explosive vacuums sucking me in and blowing me up

Poetry struck a nerve in the listenership

Spoken word then got 'em all interested

Now I don't have to serve ice cream to little kids

I get to serve emcees who think they're rippin' it

And poets who think they're somehow significant

Meanwhile both are loud and ignorant

And don't know how to speak to a crowd in an intimate environment

I am different. In a different way

The only thing that stays the same is change

While people claim their states, I state my claims

I'm a quiet natured player who outwardly hates the game

I shake what I got, which is a jingly pocket

Do my mini-market research and make noise for myself when I walk quick

I talk with authority while I question it

When I ask, "Who am I?" I'm left guessing

But if you're a poor man's version of ANYTHING

It is your self-perception

Growing up in a microscopic town prepared me well for this petrii dish

Where talk is invisible to the naked eye and I hate the guy they're speaking with

I'm a real vegetarian: No chicken...not even fish

I'm a real underground rapper

My tape quality sucks, my records are warped and my CD skips

Lady Luck is a greedy bitch with itchy palms and a case of the gimmes

But I've got an outtie if she's got an inny

I'll clean her pipes and then sweep her chimney

The beat that's in me is polyrhythmic. You're only 60 heart beats per minute

A human second-hand-me-down-to-earth-guy who will thriftshop-lift his hiphop

I may be getting too big for my britches

But I paid my dues when the cost was climbing

And if I burn too many bridges I'll never get off of this awful island

As long as I've been rhyming, they only started listening

Because for a while they didn't like how

I wouldn't smoke the pot that I was pissin' in

Plus I had no dead homies to pour out the liquor I don't drink

You can flash your shiny objects in front of my eyes and I won't blink

I'm motherfucking different. Oooohhhh yyyeeeaaahhhh..

I'm motherfucking different. Oooohhhh yyyeeeaaahhhh..

Different like a platypus

Analytical analyst

By the end of this record I'll make sure ya'll know who Sage Francis is