[Intro: L.I.F.E. Long]
Yeah. One, two. It’s like, yo. It’s like

[Verse 1: L.I.F.E. Long]
I’ll thank God for the person that I am
Even though, sometimes, I’ll feel less than a man
‘Cause it’s hard to be a black man up in a land
When you find that the American Dream is one big scam
Created to confuse. That’s why, I guess, many lose
Grip and get caught up in the mix of trifling skits to fatten their pockets
But nothing’s granted ‘cause what’s here today can be gone tomorrow
That’s why I’ll always wonder why people follow paths
Where they believe that worldly possession will last throughout the hourglass
Of time that’s steady pouring by the seconds
And I know, sometimes, life can be nerve-wrecking
Especially when you’re not receiving blessings that you truly deserve
But instead of turning to God, we turn to smoking herb
Which takes the mind into a state of bliss. But when you come back
You find out that your problems still exist
Now you’re caught up in a mix of stress that leads to grieve and strife
That leads to beating your kids and wife, selling your soul to the pipe
Not maintaining the balance is one of the sad facts of life

[Hook: L.I.F.E. Long]
You take the good, you take the bad
Ste-Lo’s beats and my rhymes combine, then there you have
The good, the bad
Ste-Lo’s beats and my rhymes combine, then there you have
The good, the bad
Ste-Lo’s beats and my rhymes combine, then there you have
The facts of life
The facts of life
[Verse 2: L.I.F.E. Long]
The perception of my thoughts can’t be duplicated or recreated
That’s why you could never understand what I percept when my third eye’s been elevated
‘Cause my mind has been calculated by base times width times depth
When planning to increase volume with no more bias and high density
The early 80s was my first intro to wack emcees. And ever since then
It seems that more and more wackness is spreading like multiplicity in degrees of threes
Cats be coming with wack writtens but ill rehearsed frees
But me, I’m shooting writtens and frees like threes on a foul line
From the underground, coming up with jewels like those who coalmine
‘Cause, see, I had a lyrical vision since the age of one plus nine
Manifested in the year of ’85, the burst was lyrically inclined
With a mind ahead of my time. So as I grew, I paid dues
So I could one day shine like ultraviolets
But it’s hard to get eartime when you’re not a polyp
That’s why I guess my roots is still underground like a violet’s or daffodil’s
I’m tired of paying dues ‘cause now I got bills, plus I’m hungry
“I Used to Love H.E.R.” like Common, but then she dumped me

[Bridge: Samples with DJ Emmo Scratches]
“Life is hectic” - Sample from Inspectah Deck on Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.”
“Think twice” - Sample from [?]
“[?]” - Sample from [?]
“The facts of life” - Sample from Juelz Santana on Cam'ron's "Facts of Life"
“This is” - Sample from [?]
“The facts of life” - Sample from Juelz Santana on Cam'ron's "Facts of Life"
[Verse 3: L.I.F.E. Long]
Yo, life is not a game, sport, or cereal
But imperial when heard through waves aerial
With no relation to Gatorade
Even though I quench thirst like lemonade
The meaning of the name spelled out:
L-dot-I-dot-F-dot-E Living In Full Effect
From the debts, exposing nothing but reality from the mentality
Feed off the good vibrations of positive energy
That circles arounds me like Saturn’s rings and hula-hoops
I express my thoughts over drum loops
Pattern is synchronized by the mind of Ste-Lo
Who programmed the MPC to musically narrate the facts of me
Behold the soliloquy of me
Broken down as the facts of L-I-F-E
Haha

[Hook: L.I.F.E. Long] (x2)
You take the good, you take the bad
Ste-Lo’s beats and my rhymes combine, then there you have
The good, the bad
Ste-Lo’s beats and my rhymes combine, then there you have
The good, the bad
Ste-Lo’s beats and my rhymes combine, then there you have
The facts of life
The facts of life
[Outro: Sample from [?]]
Once you know, how do you turn what you know into a constructive plan to change our condition?