"Believe Me"

[chorus]
I guess
That this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

I don't want to be the one to blame
You like fun and games
Keep playing em
I'm just sayin
Think back then
We was like one and the same
On the right track
But I was on the wrong train
Just like that
Now you've got a face to pain
And the devil's got a fresh new place to play
In your brain like a maze you can never escape the rain
Every damn day is the same shade of grey

Hey
I used have a little bit of a plan
Used to
Have a concept of where I stand
But that concept slipped right out of my hands
Now I don't really even know who I am
Yo, what do I have to say
Maybe I should do what I have to do to break free
What ever happens to you, we'll see
But it's not gonna happen to me

[chorus]
I guess
That this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

Back then, I thought you were just like me
Somebody who could see all the pain I see
But you proved to me unintentionally
That you would self-destruct eventually
Now I'm thinking like the mistake I made doesn't hurt
But it's not gonna work
Cause it's really much worse than I thought
I wished you were something that you were not
And now this guilt is really all that I got

You turned your back
And walked away in shame
All you got is a memory of pain
Nothing makes sense so you stare at the ground
I hear your voice in my head when no one's around
What do I have to say
Maybe I should do what I have to do to break free
What ever happens to you, we'll see
But it's not gonna happen to me

[chorus]
I guess
That this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

[bridge]

[chorus]
I guess
That this is where we've come to
If you don't want to
Then you don't have to believe me
But I won't be there when you go down
Just so you know now
You're on your own now believe me

Do what i have to do
You're on your own now believe me

What ever happens to you
You're on your own now believe me

What do I have to say
You're on your own now believe me

It's not gonna happen to me
You're on your own now believe me

"Get Me Gone"

The dude, he said that, like, when we were making the first Linkin Park record
He was like,
"Yeah you know, I don't know about the rapping like, I don't know... maybe you should just be a rock band."
You know what I mean, like, trying to change us
like they signed us as an act like what we sound like and then he's like
"Oh I don't know maybe you should just play keyboard"

Before the first song that you heard me on
There were people already tryin' to get me gone
Tellin' me to quit rapping
"Just play the keys"
That my band had a singer
They didn't need me
But my band had my back
So we did the tracks
Put out the album and the talk went flat
It was funny at first but then the humour faded
When some magazines printed that our label made us
We were to be good to be true
Some were saying ghost writers were writin' all that we do
So we had to disprove it
We spelled it out to the detail how we do it when we're making this music
After that I made it a rule
I only do e-mail responses to print interviews
Because these people love to put a twist to your words
To infer that you said something fucking absurd

Oh, did I lose you at infer?
Not used to hearing a verse that uses over first grade vocabulary words?
People used to infer that we were manufactured
Now I've got the interviews on file
Which people said what
Which number to dial
So now every enemy screaming insanity
All they're ever gonna be's another big fan of me
Bitch

"High Road"

Lets go ya'll

These people are running off at the mouth
Tryin to convince me that I'm running on empty
Tryin to convince themselves that the record with Jay was a fluke
That the record that I'm makin is a mistake
and I cant take this
Lemme tell you where I'm at with this
You bastards are gonna have to take back that shit
I'm not plastic and fake
When I make tracks I take facts and lay them out for the masses
You assholes are gonna see soon that I'm not playin
Start askin me the names that I'm not sayin
But I'm tryin to be bigger than the bickerin
bigger than the petty name callin
under the breath talkin
rumors and labels and categorization
I'm like a struggling doctor, No patients
But you can say what you want about me
keep talkin while I'm walkin away

You can say what you have to say
cuz my mind's made up anyway
I'm taking the high road going above you
this is the last time that I'm gonna trust you
You can say what you have to say
cuz my mind's made up anyway
all that bullshit you talk might work a lot
but it's not gonna work today

You people are running off at the mouth
Tryin to make me take myself off safety
Tryin to make my friends turn their backs on the team we built
buildin up some mistaken information
and I cant take this
lemme spell it out plain for you
angry groups complain about the things we do
im not changing direction, I'm stepping my game up
Maintainin my name, the same way I came up
You're gonna see that I'm not playin
start asking the names that I'm not sayin
but im tryin not to mention the names of people who wanna sight and attention
You like the hype but pretendin you're part of the picture wont pass
You're like a high school dropout, no class
You can say what you want about me
keep talkin while i'm walkin away bitch

You can say what you have to say
cuz my mind's made up anyway
I'm taking the high road going above you
this is the last time that I'm gonna trust you
You can say what you have to say
cuz my mind's made up anyway
all that bullshit you talk might work a lot
but it's not gonna work today

Why does it always have to be
Somebody's always watching me
All I really need is some room to breathe
Is anybody out there listening?
Cuz I cant stand to keep this in
All I really want, I'll say it again

You can say what you have to say
cuz my mind's made up anyway
I'm taking the high road going above you
this is the last time that I'm gonna trust you
You can say what you have to say
cuz my mind's made up anyway
all that bullshit you talk might work a lot
but it's not gonna work today

"Kenji"

My father came from Japan in 1905
He was 15 when he immigrated from Japan
He, he... he worked until he was able to buy this patch
And build a store

Let me tell you the story in the form of a dream,
I don't know why I have to tell it but I know what it means,
Close your eyes, just picture the scene,
As I paint it for you, it was World War II,
When this man named Kenji woke up,
Ken was not a soldier,
He was just a man with a family who owned a store in LA,
That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did,
Bacon and eggs with wife and kids,
He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran,
He moved to LA from Japan,
They called him 'Immigrant,'
In Japanese, he'd say he was called "Esay,"
That meant 'First Generation In The United States,'
When everyone was afraid of the Germans, afraid of the Japs,
But most of all afraid of a homeland attack,
And that morning when Ken went out on the doormat,
His world went black 'cause,
Right there; front page news,
Three weeks before 1942,
"Pearl Harbour's Been Bombed And The Japs Are Comin',"
Pictures of soldiers dyin' and runnin',
Ken knew what it would lead to,
Just like he guessed, the President said,
"The evil Japanese in our home country will be locked away,"
They gave Ken, a couple of days,
To get his whole life packed in two bags,
Just two bags, couldn't even pack his clothes,
Some folks didn't even have a suitcase, to pack anything in,
So two trash bags was all they gave them,
When the kids asked mum "Where are we goin'?"
Nobody even knew what to say to them,
Ken didn't wanna lie, he said "The US is lookin' for spies,
So we have to live in a place called Mandinar,
Where a lot of Japanese people are,"
Stop it don't look at the gunmen,
You don't wanna get the soldiers wonderin',
If you gonna run or not,
'Cause if you run then you might get shot,
Other than that try not to think about it,
Try not to worry 'bout it; bein' so crowded,
Someday we'll get out, someday, someday.

As soon as war broke out
The G.I came and they just come to the house and
"You have to come"
"All the Japanese have to go"
They took Mr. Lee
People didn't understand
Why did they have to take him?
Because he's an innocent (neighbour/labourer?)

So now they're in a town with soldiers surroundin' them,
Every day, every night look down at them,
From watch towers up on the wall,
Ken couldn't really hate them at all;
They were just doin' their job and,
He wasn't gonna make any problems,
He had a little garden with vegetables and fruits that,
He gave to the troops in a basket his wife made,
But in the back of his mind, he wanted his families life saved,
Prisoners of war in their own damn country,
What for?
Time passed in the prison town,
He wanted them to live it down when they were free,
The only way out was joinin' the army,
And supposedly, some men went out for the army, signed on,
And ended up flyin' to Japan with a bomb,
That 15 kilotonne blast, put an end to the war pretty fast,
Two cities were blown to bits; the end of the war came quick,
Ken got out, big hopes of a normal life, with his kids and his wife,
But, when they got back to their home,
What they saw made them feel so alone,
These people had trashed every room,
Smashed in the windows and bashed in the doors,
Written on the walls and the floor,
"Japs not welcome anymore."
And Kenji dropped both of his bags at his sides and just stood outside,
He, looked at his wife without words to say,
She looked back at him wiped the tears away,
And, said "Someday we'll be okay, someday,"
Now the names have been changed, but the story's true,
My family was locked up back in '42,
My family was there it was dark and damp,
And they called it an internment camp

When we first got back from camp... uhh
It was... pretty... pretty bad

I, I remember my husband said
"Are we gonna stay 'til last?"
Then my husband died before they close the camp.

"Red To Black"

I had a friend named Victor
The two of us used to hang every single day
And it seemed like overnight
That his whole life just changed
I know when his mom and dad broke up
It didn't make sense
But i know that his dad was a drunk
And he gambled away the rent

Pretty soon Vic was seeing red
Pissed off and instead
Hed drink every night until he passed out
And then hed do it all again
The whole time spelling on the outside
To cover the pain
But on the inside
All he was trying to do was get away

Trying to get away
Let the pain of yesterday
Go slipping through the cracks

Yo, Funny how things change color
Than fade to another shade
When you had it made it was all good
But now look just another day
It was so fresh
It was so clean
Never saw it gone
One, two, three
Lights out, which way to turn
Can't get a grip
All alone in a big white house
Every day gets worse
And you just curse until your head bursts
And it hurts so bad she left
You think to yourself
I shoulda thought of that one first
No family, no kids
Cant accept what you did
Now you wanna run away
But you can't
Cause the past comes back again

Slippin through the cracks
Have a little shack
Go to bed half dead
What about rent
Why does every cent gotta be a bet
Whens it gonna end
Oh my god we dont got a penny left
My moms gotta find a way
To get a job, out of debt, out of dodge
Out of breath, out of this big problem
My pops wanna get away from the pain
In a better place in his brain
But the medication he takes
Makes him wasted
So sick if hes gonna faint
The good lord would come take him
Im shaking now wake up
You son of a bitch!

He's dying to get away
Let the pain of yesterday
Go slipping through the cracks
Hiding himself away
Watching all the memories fade away
From red to black

He's dying to get away
Let the pain of yesterday
Go slipping through the cracks
Hiding himself away
Watching all the memories fade away
From red to black

"The Battle"

These hungry rappers battle for a buck and some change
There really be kids starving
Give a fuck if it change
Shock rap
Not that
You get signed you might blow up
Release Party In Iraq.
You might blow up
I see you trying to think a few lines you might get at me with
Slap happy with babies who’re born with crack in they cribs
Too much to cram under you oversized titled
And the public system failed you
Either you ignore it or...

"Slip Out The Back"

You know me, I used to get caught up in everyday life
Tried to make it through my day so i could sleep at night
Tried to figure out my way through the maze
Of rights and wrongs, but like you used to say
Nothing feels like it's really worth it
Forget perfect, i'm trying not to be worthless
Since i last saw you i been lookin for a purpose
Well i met this kid who thought like i did
He had a weird way of lookin at it
This is what he said

Slip out the back before they know you were there
And at the worst you'll see nobody cares
Cos you dont wana be around when it all goes down
Even heroes know when to be scared
Slip out the back before they know you were there
And at the worst you'll see nobody cares
Cos you dont wana be around when it all goes down
Even heroes know when to be scared

I dont remember where i met him or remember his name
But he walked funny like he was too big for his frame
Just over five foot but he weighed a buck fifty
And what he said just seemed so right it stuck with me
Listen its like poker you can play your best
But you got to know when to fold your cards and take a rest
And know when to hold your cards and hold your breath
And hope that nobody else is stacking the deck because
I dont need to tell you that life isnt fair, it doesnt care
It arbitrarily cuts off your air, and like you i want someone to say its okay
But in the truest parts of our hearts everybody's afraid
But just underappreciated and overwhelmed
Fighting so hard to hide our fear that were scaring ourselves
You understand when im saying that you always did
But its different in the words of a cowardly kid

Slip out the back before they know you were there
And at the worst you'll see nobody cares
Cos you dont wana be around when it all goes down
Even heroes know when to be scared
Slip out the back before they know you were there
And at the worst you'll see nobody cares
Cos you dont wana be around when it all goes down
Even heroes know when to be scared

Im no hero, you remember how i was, you know
All i ever did was worry, feeling out of control
To the point where everything was going end over end
Im spinning around in circles again
This is where you come in
All of this to explain to you why
I had to separate myself away from yesterday's life
Please remember this isn't how i hoped it would be
But i had to protect you from me
Thats why i slipped out the back before you knew i was there
I know you felt unprepared
But every single time i was around i just bring you down
And i could tell that it was time to be scared
Thats why i slipped out the back before you knew i was there
And i know the way i left wasnt fair
I didnt want to be around just to bring you down
Im not a hero but dont think i didnt care