Aesop Rock
Purple Moss
[Verse 1]
I talk like it hurts to talk, mascot of Murphy's Law
From the claw game at the Walt Whitman mall
To the worst curb-cuts of the urban sprawl
To what stirs in the purple moss
Which world make a perp' less scurred of his quirks and flaws
Or make it okay to learn who you are no jury
Instead of all insecurity, no mercy
Every year his skin get thinner
You could almost see the Abilify in his innards
If it's into the blood or back up through the gizzard
With a little bit of last night's dinner, liver
Standby for the van by the river
Built ramps in the summer, tanned hides in the winter, anti-winner
Stare at the stars from an empire builder to anywhere far

[Chorus]
Live from an empire builder
Empire builder
Live from an empire builder
Wildfire in the wilder'
Live from an empire builder
Empire builder
Live from an empire builder

[Verse 2]
I shake my fist at the very same gate
That I would've climbed up before I became lame
Now I just curse and pretend it's the same
Curse at a person who ain't do a thing
When everyone around you is surfing a wave
You a singular jerk in a circle of saints
Never mistook for a bird or a plane
Mistook for a hearse in the rain
Germ in a wound
Bit a few heads off a Hydra
Deadbeat friends in the lens of his Leica, yikes
When a stink-eye turn fire into ice
I would rather die on spikes
Before you ever take to a colony
Take note of your escape velocity
And watch odd folk not care who you are
From an empire builder to anywhere far
[Chorus]
Live from an empire builder
Empire builder
Live from an empire builder
Hi-ho silver
Live from an empire builder
Empire builder
Live from an empire builder

[Verse 3]
Sultan of sublimation
Have you ever seen such evasion?
Work 'til he well-done bacon or borderline burnt
The certified temper ensure a wide berth
Night king, wild Earth, bite a hand with the serum
His old man haunt him, his own fam' fear him
His cold, bad hands are attached to a breathing meat
That learned to roll weed with its feet
Do not make me turn this car around
No sleep 'til the bars of Barbertown
Bar-Kays bump through a claw marked Arkham
Bars on the window, barbs in the jargon
Black armband, offsides on guard
Dark art marksman, march through the heartland
Dream of a chair in a yard
From an empire builder to anywhere far
[Chorus]
Live from an empire builder
Empire builder
Live from an empire builder
High-pass filter
Live from an empire builder
Empire builder
Live from an empire builder