When I was younger I would often find myself alone
In the depths of the city that I called my home
In 98' standing four feet tall
Already learned how to walk, but hadn't learned how to crawl
The people towered above, and I would wander below
Steady trying to keep pace with the everyday flow
But I wasn't like them, I wouldn't understand
Till a few years later in another land
But at this time I would talk to myself
Anything that came to mind when I'd walk with myself
Making up stories, songs
Cause when I walk along
Only needed myself, nobody would tell me wrong
I was six years old, could you blame me?
Blissful ignorance, nothing I did could ever shame me
But outside forces were already forming
Shit will change, and you don't always get a warning

I liked
Drawing things and reading books
Before creating rhymes and writing hooks
Loved to collect and find new things
Loved capturing bugs, but hated bee stings
Went to school in first grade didn't mind doing my time
In a city that was constantly infested by crime
But that's ok because my life seemed good
Wasn't old enough to know about the ways of the hood
Then before I could tell ya, we got up and packed up
Got in the car, turned the ignition, and backed up
I took a final look at the place that I called home
And then we rolled away, while nothing bad had shown
To me and I was wondering why we had gone
Wanted to be back at home but I stayed strong
Looked out the window and tried to guess
About the place and the house that we would live in next

Came back to the city when I wasn't so young
To the place where I felt that my life had begun
And I rolled in maybe at a quarter past 3
When I first saw my lawn that was missing the tree
That was there long ago before the lightning storm
Now without that big tree the lawn was looking forlorn
And empty, and I could say the same about the house behind
As I rolled down the street I rolled my life in rewind
And it's kind of funny, the way it's changed
Cuz' I was so young then, I felt deranged
As I looked down the block and took in what I saw
The whole scenery was looking kind of raw
Cracks in the pavement and old abandoned buildings
Holes in the street like teeth without fillings
The street was empty and the gravel gritty
So I kept on rolling back to Iowa City