If you are good, you can read this to the tune of the Geto Boys song "My Minds Playing Tricks on Me"

If you are good, you can actually play the song, or hum the melody in your head and read along.  Once again, this is an excerpt from my dissertation of the profound cultural impact of the Geto Boys in popular music for my Ebonics PhD. 

Raphael De La Ghetto
I am an Expert in Art
Ebonics PhD Candidate

Intro: Scarface


Little owlet in the glen, I am ashamed of you.  it should be to whom to whom, not to who to who.
Oh, is the microphone on?
Please allow me to verbally communicate with a high degree of polish and expertise.

Verse One: Scarface


I am having trouble sleeping at night, I see lit candles and burning corpses everywhere.  Did I light a candle that cause people to burn up and die?  Do the candles symbolize my sins against my fellow man?

The walls seem to be looking deep into my soul, this scares me, and I keep a loaded firearm under my pillow.  The idea is crazy, because if I shoot my walls, the bullets would just go right through.  How do you stop a wall from killing you? 


My mother has told me countless times that I could be making more of my life, and she does not see the true nature of my struggle to maintain this lifestyle.  I work hard, if not, harder than most people, and am currently exploring legitimate business opportunities. 

When this crazy world gets to be too much, i stop and take a moment for myself.   Unfortunately, the stress usually results in a nosebleed and fits of heavy sweating.  Maybe I have a brain tumor, oh great, ANOTHER thing to worry about!

I always feel like some body's watching me, and I have no privacy.  I am on constant surveillance. 

I seem to be most vulnerable when I am sleepy, as the nightmares seem to begin before I am fully asleep. 
I do o.k by daytime hours. 

He owns a black hat . black suit and a cane like my own.  Could this be a psychological manifestation of the idea that I am my own worst enemy?  Or does this stylish villain simply shop at the same stores I do?

Some people tell me to relax.  To which I reply: "Go make love to yourself, there is someone trying to prematurely end my life!" 


The slightest noise causes me to load my firearm, I become hyper-alert maintain heightened surveillance on my home.  Some examples of things I look for are: 

Investigating the home for obstacles or signs of forced entry
Checking with my local phone company to see if there has been any foul play concerning my telephone lines.  other things to check for are cheaper long-distance rates.  


I'm staring at the woman on the corner and wonder "Is she a part of the nationwide conspiracy to bring the black man down, and keep him down?  Or is she a hooker?  Can a hooker be a part of the nationwide conspiracy to bring the black man down, and keep him down?  She is hot.  I hope she is a hooker. 
Its the darnedest thing when you cannot seem to concentrate


Verse Two: Willie D

I do very well for myself, as evidenced by my large income and vehicle.  I am very popular.  I am so known for my money and vehicles, that I would be the perfect target for criminals or the IRS. 

Most evenings do not feel very relaxing.  When i am out on a cruise, i feel that the same car is behind me.  My mind begins to wonder if the driver of the car is:

The Honor student from the nearby high school I chased from off of my front stoop?

The honor student from the local high school that I shot with my unlicensed firearm?

The honor student that was a dissatisfied customer to the tune of five thousand dollars that left thinking he and a sizeable ziploc bag of cocaine, filled in reality with Gold Medal Flour?

I reached under my seat to get my firearm with which to defend myself.  I cannot lie, I am as scared as I would have been if someone had had carnal relations with my dear mother

I quickly turned left into my local Popeyes Chicken establishment, and prepared to flank my pursuer. 
If there is a need for conversation or violence I am equally prepared and would be the initiator in both instances.

Here they come, just like I figured.  Now we can start a healthy dialogue that will enable both parties to come to a place of understanding and kindness that will result in a jointly successful outcome for all parties involved.  Just to be extra sure, I will keep my firearm ready with the safety taken off. 

When I think back to that evening, i gently sigh and snicker a bit, because my "Pursuers" were 3 elderly people from my neighborhood church.  Mrs Thompson, Pearl Williams, and Old Mr, Schumpert.  I bet Old Man Shumpert is having sex with both of these women.  Go on Old Man Shumpert, go on!

I live by my own rules and expect others to do the same, so if Old Man Shumpert wants to bone old broads that's on him.  I like to pronounce SWORD phonetically.  Swore-D.

I do not like being alone, because I am fearful of the pain and damage I have caused others, so the people that tend to hang around with me are violent people that have had great misfortunes in their lives.  I hate the person I am when I am with them, but if I act differently, I risk them turning in me too.  It is an endless cycle of pain and misery that i try to escape by inflicting pain on others.  I am always looking for the pain to come around back to me. 

Its the darnedest thing when you cant concentrate. 

Verse Three: Scarface

Day by day it's more impossible to cope with the stress and feelings of diminished self worth.  Its as if I just cooked up a fat dose of heroin, gotten super fine cotton balls to filter the heroin through, and abused it. 
its gotten so bad i have developed a case of the shakes.

I try to go to church regularly now, in a hope that my faith will see me through all the bad that I have done.  I am actively looking for any kind of redemption. I feel that I have been blessed, but deep down I have unresolved feelings of shame and guilt.  I just want to be happy.

Lately, i have been wondering if my family wouldn't be better off if I killed myself.  I am most susceptible to these thoughts when I drive.  I am usually alone, and then the solitude and pain team up to form a cloak of darkness that envelops me when I am most vulnerable. 

Suicide is painless for me, but then I realize that the loved ones I leave behind will only bear the brunt of my

I have a son to mold into a healthy man, and if I die, he will be impacted by the loss.  Fatherless male kids are a big portion of my community, and I do not want to add my child to that population segment. 

I had a woman who was very nurturing of my lifestyle choices, but I considered her just another bitch.  She then went back to her mother's house, and I feel that i need to grow as a man and give her the love and respect she deserves. 
I am lonely

My Mind is playing tricks with my heart

Verse Four: Bushwick Bill

I got all fucked up on heroin.  I imagined it was Halloween, and I was beating up some tall dude.  Turns out I had some bad heroin, and was punching the sidewalk for about 2 hours. 

My mind is playin tricks on me