The Route Lyrics

I remember when I got the call:
You talk the talk but can you
Walk the walk,
Block by Block
Pound the pavement day by day
Get up real early on a Saturday
There's no fatter way
To make some cash
Wore that bag like a badge
Bruises on my shoulder
Newsprint on my fingers
The pain lingers

Wash it down with strawberry milk
The kids say he's very ill
And crazy ladies
Crazy on the daily
But I won't the fear derail me
Feet don't fail me
The elevator's outta service
Younger kids got nervous
But I had a purpose
For all the strangers
Deliver their papers
Despite the dangers
Despite the dangers

I was risking my life to bring you the news
Risking my life to bring you the news
Risking my life to bring you the news
Risking my life to bring you the news

Most of them were all dirty lookin'
And you could always smell what apartment thirty was cookin'
No lie the route was hard
But it was worth it when you got those Christmas cards
Average pay period, made route, two bills
When you're a kid
That feels like two mill
I spent the cash on comics, ball caps and tapes,
Records, video games make no mistake
I never smoked no cigarettes
How the heck you think I could afford those action figure sets
No to mention the staircases had to climb

Walkman pumpin' raps
To my mind
Fat mixtapes
Would get me through
The rainy days
From slush to dew
Never knew
Who would be around the next bend
Drunks in the stairwells at seven AM
And I'll never forget the time
The police questioned me about a crime
Committed by the guy
In number five, it sucks
He still owed me twenty bucks

I was risking my life to bring you the news
Risking my life to bring you the news

Brave it up to the fifth floor
Apartment fifty-four
Take a breath
Knock on the door
Dogs barking, cats scratching
When you're cash asking
You had to build up a fat skin
Collection time always brought excuses
'Uh, could you come back next Tuesday?'
I heard him say he didn't want to pay for the paper
Through the vapour.

I saw them burn the hash
Me, thirteen, only trying to earn some cash
Had to dash
Through the whole complex
The day the were worried about bomb threats
And that hot summer
Middle of July
When the tenant
In 202 died
Nobody found the body for a week
Let's just say the smell was unique
Didn't know 'till I saw the coroner van on the street
And the tag on their feet
And the tag on their feet

I was risking my life to bring you the news
Risking my life to bring you the news