[Verse 1: Whale]
Skip, pause, rewind to way back when
Back when I didn't know pain, only wanted to play again
Life was so simple, it simply moved on
Like the girl I loved that seemed to do wrong
Used to think I'd know everything when I got older
Easier said than done an understatement said over
Time caught up with me and I barely know what I'm doing
The future's ready to get me, so I remain humble in my mooing
Humility in the cow words, raps are turning into lions
Humility is a now word, even though we were divine
Now it's too quick, life is speeding like a soaring blur
Starts to make me sick, it is always speeding up like more and more
Slow down, eagle, you're simply taking it too fast
Put me back as an eagle in DeBary, city of my past
And make that moment last
So it never seems to pa**
Lemme watch my mistakes, so I can sit back, learn, watch and laugh
[Hook: John Legend]
I cannot forget, what brought me here
I can't regret, all the laughter, love, pain and fear
I remember growing up with my dad
I remember all that we had
Way back when, way back when
Way back when, way back when
Way back when, way back when
I remember like it's way back when
[Verse 2: Whale]
Way back when, use the knowledge that I know today
Way back when, fix the crap that held me in disarray
Way back when, applied current lessons to events pa**ed
Way back when, could've know what led me to be dead last
That's why they call it, grow from your mistakes, learn from it
Cause if you don't learn, you're only option is to burn from it
That's why true pain is difficult for me to feel
Every little hurt, is a lesson that can help me heal
Help me take it back, learn from the fact, remember where you at
Back into the time, we were at our prime, and did it differently
Callin it mentally, got to make it drag
Rapping on medley, only spit it half
When I say it 50-50, I mean I'm only half as good
As the verse from the Louve, Paris jealous of his hood
Chi-town meets the subs, way back when we were young n' black
Watch us reminisce, as we recall it all and keep our lungs intact
[Hook: John Legend]
[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco]
Hey, Chicago!
That would be my city man, grew up there, I was a little man
I know what I'm saying, it's hard when you deliver choices
UPS and downs, Chi-town, FedEx will take ya to employment
My daddy was good man, I loved him from all my heart
How to be a BLACK MAN, he taught me that right from the start
Time is moving on, look up suddenly you old
Up there is your son, he's a father, let the truth be told
You don't appreciate it until they gone, then you know you need em
It's there whenever you walk home
That's help when I was cut & bleeding
I will never forget you, you're a Legend in my land
I evolved from you, ordinary peeps like John will understand
I rose like bread in the hood of prostitutes and d**
Will's here from the hood of 'whiches in the subs
A backstabber's black magic and guns they all hurt like hell
Remember where we came from, see that's what kept us well
Them kids got it overgood today, don't they guys?
Pride before a crash, haughty before the overdemise
Way back when, sometimes you really just gotta go back
Travel to the past, speed of light, we beamin' while its all black
Terminator style, I'll be back before you know it
Whale watch the form, my function is exactly where I drove it
[Hook: John Legend]