Different Dream

After a hard day at work I come home Hear my boy rapping the words to his headphones Every bleep comes another bleep As he keeps dancing to the beat Come upstairs and barge through the door Say to him, "Boy whatcha listenin' to that for?" As I rip it out of his ears Turn around and look in the mirror Get ya head outta the gutter son You talk to ya mother with that tongue? Ought'a lean you down and wash your mouth soap Teach you a lesson and just barely make you choke Dad, you don't understand This is me, this is who I am! Boy, you freeze it right there Just so I know we're good and square I'm your father, sit down when I say so This is home, this is where the green grass grows Can't be the one to follow you where you go Can't take you as is and just tie a little bow Around it and be happy You ain't what I expected you'd be After all this hard work to bring home the bacon Just to come home to see the fuss you making!? Imma be big and travel the world, Be famous and get hooked with any girl I'm tired of this rice 'n' beans, I wanna taste some of that green! Stop it child, you making a scene, a mockery of ya ma and me Do yourself a favor and dream a different dream The strings are for those with charm And fame are for those holding cards Your inner core will just burst at the seams They say play it safe And dream a different dream Billionaires are cowards in disguise Their careers built upon money and lies Your inner core will just burst at the seams They say play it safe And dream a different dream I remember when you was little Your mind was like some twisted riddle Rapping the lyrics To your idols, Snoop Dog and Jay-Z Acting like you knew what they meant But boy, you could barely read Spittin' rhymes don't put a roof over ya head Or clean the dirty sheets in your bed All those fancy clothes don't give ya fame just brings your family to shame Look at you playing life like it's a game Joining all those gangs just to bleed Gettin' high and smokin' weed Dad, it ain't like that I'm not some filthy rat Planting my seed wherever Imma stay true forever Build myself upon lyrical tether Striving to be as authentic as leather Come on dad, can't we get it together? Your grandpa was born and raised in the meadows No Internet, no microwave, just planting corn rows But right now the grass is as green as it's gonna get And if you ain't got that through ya head yet As your pops I'm really quite upset Take these words right from my mouth And give 'em wings to fly south Or I will run from this house like the ratatouille mouse Tired of this cheese I want something more The birds and the bees aren't what I'm looking for I don't wanna die like everybody else Just put in a hole and call it a grave I don't wanna die with nothing to my name If I'm not looking up I'm going south You can scream and cuss at me with ya sailor's mouth I'm still leaving and I'm taking the dangerous route The strings are for those with charm And fame are for those holding cards Your inner core will just burst at the seams They say play it safe And dream a different dream Billionaires are cowards in disguise Their careers built upon money and lies Your inner core will just burst at the seams They say play it safe And dream a different dream Here I am, standing in this trailer In your eyes I'm a failure For wanting to travel the world like a sailor From Beverly Hills to New York City At this point I don't even care if you're with me I may have augmented my hopes a bit too high But I was tired of looking through telescopes, that habit can die But dad look at me now No longer in a small town Can't be modest I have to boast I'm traveling the world from coast to coast In everybody's head is my riffs And I wish you were here to see this Swallow your pride long enough to shed a tear Remember what you used to say, "Turn around, look in the mirror"...? I wasn't no golden child and you weren't the perfect dad But come on now, that's a thing of the past You can ditch your bacon, eggs and Jimmy Dean Live in luxury in your fields of green Come on dad, won't you dream this different dream with me? NOTE: Words in italics are from the son's perspective, words in normal font are from the father's perspective, and words in bold is the chorus line. I'm not sure where the idea came from. I was on a camping trip, heading back home, and all the sudden this whole elaborate story came to me and I started writing it all down on a notepad (back then I didn't have my Kindle Fire).