The Roots — I Remember

[Verse 1: Black Thought] I drew a two of hearts from a deck of cards A stock trick from my empty repertoire Another hopeless story, never read at all I’m better off looking for the end, where the credits are It’s a pain living life against the grain I’m looking back, and y’all look the same Troy, Mark, and Lil' What’s-His-Name Memory is rerunning it all It’s the flight of my fall, and it’s right on the wall [Hook: Mercedes Martinez & Tracey Moore] I remember Can you remember How it was? I do Remember, do you? I remember Can you remember How it was? I do Remember, do you? [Verse 2: Black Thought] I used to ride the train to the same two stops And look at the graffiti on the rooftops Like the same song playing on the jukebox Joint called "Faded Polaroids in a Shoebox" Regardless to what the cadence is It can’t be forgotten, like auld acquaintances I realize how depressing of a place it is And, when I notice my reflection, whose face it is [Hook: Mercedes Martinez & Tracey Moore] I remember Can you remember How it was? I do Remember, do you? I remember Can you remember How it was? I do Remember, do you? [Instrumental Interlude] [Hook: Mercedes Martinez & Tracey Moore] I remember Can you remember How it was? I do Remember, do you? I remember Can you remember How it was? I do Remember, do you? [Verse 3: Black Thought] It’s only human to express the way you really feel But that same humanity is my Achilles’ heel A leopard can’t change its spots, and never will So I’m forever ill, now, I can never chill What’s keeping me from breaking out, like Benadryl When my baptism of fire resulted in a kill Sometimes, it’s as cut-and-dry as a business deal You gotta cause the blood of a close friend to spill But you remember still