Nujabes: The Sign

You wanna watch it fall apart
Every time I walk I watch
I look, I notice, I observe
I read the signs
And the signs are pointing in the wrong direction
The signs are not naming the streets
or leading you to the highways
the signs are naming names
tombstones to mark the death of children not even born
and I don't mean abortion I mean what is to come

The signs are telling me to turn back around
the signs are telling me to research my past
the signs are telling me to learn from my mistakes
the signs are asking me questions
Do you wanna watch it all fall apart?
Do you have any control?
Is there anything that you can do?

Time is not a nice person
I know because the sign said it
time can be generous but ultimately time is indifferent
time does not give two damns or a fuck

So what will you do?
What will we do?

So I'm in the middle of the street talkin' to the signs
and people are lookin' at me pointing and laughing
like, "This mothafucker's crazy!"

But do they not see the signs?
Do you not see the signs?

If there is one thing in this world
that you can depend on
that you can bet your last dollar on
it's the ignorance of the American people

But still I have faith
But still I read the signs
They are indeed there

Some of us are lost
and will not find our way
no matter what the signs say

Some of us do not see the signs because
we are too busy shopping.
Some of us do not see the signs because
we can't help but stop and look at the accidents and stare
We are in a daze
We are amazed by the world's displays

Some of us do not see the signs because
we are giving spare change to the homeless
we are getting gas
we are volunteering for duty
and we are watching television

We are driving around in circles on spinners
and we are working eight to six

We are on our way to the club
we are high, we are drunk, and we are sober
and we do not see the signs

We are listening to a moron babble
we are listening to tongues that lie
we give them an ear
we give them a hand
we give them both eyes
so we cannot see the signs

There are children playing in the streets
and they cannot read the signs
They are only children

Stop.
Stop!

I fear there is no U-turn
and that this road dead-ends
because we cannot read the signs

Do you not see the signs?
We must read the signs
and we must turn around
we must turn around
we gotta turn this shit around
and we gotta read the signs

we must read the signs...
we must read the signs...
we must read the signs...
we gotta read the signs...
we gotta turn this shit around...
we must turn this shit around...