Opening The Book - JohnnieB

Lyrics

( Johnnie B On The Beat ) This is for the pages that made me For the early breath, the hard start, and the nights that shaped me Premature birth, came in the world lookin’ fragile, but that never broke me Life hit first, but I bit back, and the pressure only woke me I was rebuilt by the hurt, but the hurt never owned me Came from a room full of doubt, but the fire in my chest still chose me Just a little dribbler, but the goal got bigger, and the soul stayed holy That’s why this song come straight from the center, where the scars still know me Yeah, I took a hard road, yeah, I played that role, and the weight got heavy But I turned that load to a code I know, and the pen got ready They said I might not make it, but I kept takin’ that air so steady Born too soon, but I was born to dare, and the truth stayed in me Yeah, they said I looked too fragile, but I pushed through pain, never let it control me I was built to scream my story through the dark till the light could hold me Not some ruined child, I’m a wild-born life with a voice that rolled deep Opening the book on the whole damn past, now the whole world know me I’m opening the book now look what I wrote every page got fire every line got smoke I forgive but don’t forget that’s the code I know opening the book let the whole truth show I’m opening the book now look who I am got dark in my past got light in my hands I forgive don’t forget still move how I can opening the book now they all understand Looking like a rough start, but I turned that rough start into a strong one Came from a strange little frame, but I still made pain into a long run Wired a little different, but the difference became what the songs from Every flaw they pointed at became the place that the bars come from Made for this system, but I never let the system define me They can label all day, but a label ain’t deep enough to confine me Trying to make me the freak, the weak, the odd one out, but shit, that’s behind me Now I critique every lie they preach, and I let the truth get grimy Born with a defect? Maybe born with a lens that just see through bullshit cleaner Maybe born with a mind that can hold more hurt and still dream a little meaner Maybe born with a soul that can turn one wound to a whole arena Every day of the week they tried to make me feel smaller, but I came back bigger So I’m not no victim vegetable, I’m a survivor with vision and scripture I’m not what broke in the cradle, I’m what rose from the break and got richer Opening the book means every page got proof I can outgrow the picture And every line I write say the same damn thing — I was built to deliver I’m opening the book now look what I wrote every page got fire every line got smoke I forgive but don’t forget that’s the code I know opening the book let the whole truth show I’m opening the book now look who I am got dark in my past got light in my hands I forgive don’t forget still move how I can opening the book now they all understand Purpose was born in a hurry, and the word got carried early That’s why I came out fightin’ for breath with a soul that still move sturdy Even the doctors might’ve looked shook, but the spirit in me stood worthy Came in half-alive, half-dead, but the truth in me still burned clearly Yeah, I was born with some sickness around me, some darkness around me Some fear in the room, some pressure in the blood, some pain all around me But I’m too stubborn to die in the shadow of what tried to drown me Had to share this message, so the fire in my chest stayed loud and found me I was born so sick of all the curses they put on the start of my life That I learned how to turn every ache to a page and every scar to a light My mother’s womb may have felt like a war, but I still walked out with a fight And I still got grace in my hands, even after all of that dark in the night Wanted gone before I could speak, but I lived and I learned and I wrote it Wanted silence out of my mouth, but I broke that hush and I showed it Opening the book on the whole damn truth, now every old wound know it JohnnieB came through the hurt still whole — and this my proof, I told it I’m opening the book now look what I wrote every page got fire every line got smoke I forgive but don’t forget that’s the code I know opening the book let the whole truth show I’m opening the book now look who I am got dark in my past got light in my hands I forgive don’t forget still move how I can opening the book now they all understand