4 Your Eyez Only

Lyrics

[Intro: J. Cole] Yeah (For your eyes) For your eyes only (For your eyes) For your eyes only, for your eyes only (For your eyes, for your eyes) For your eyes only [Verse 1: J. Cole] Hey, niggas be dyin' on the daily It seems my dreams faded for far too long The consequences deadly Can't visualize myself as nothin' but a criminal Control the block, servin' up rocks and stay subliminal 'Cause young niggas is hardheaded, they lettin' off Full of adrenaline, ignorant to what death can cause Ain't no comin' back, family dressed in black Plus it's hot now, the cops outside, it's hard to flip a pack And my daughter gotta eat, her mama be stressin' me Like I ain't the one who put them Js on her feet Like I ain't out in the field like that I might be low for the moment but I will bounce back Despite the charges, back to the wall, I fight regardless Screamin', "Fuck the law," my life is lawless That's what you call it, ain't got to be no psychic To see this is like the farthest thing from heaven This is hell and I don't mean that hyperbolic I try to find employment even if it's wipin' toilets But these felonies be makin' life the hardest Resistin' the temptation to run up and swipe a wallet Or run up on your yard, snatch your daughter bike, and pawn it That's why I write this sonnet If the pressure get too much for me to take and I break Play this tape for my daughter and let her know my life is on it (For your eyes) Let her know my life is on it (For your eyes) For your eyes only [Chorus: J. Cole] For your eyes, do you understand? For your eyes, do you understand me? For your eyes, do you understand? For your eyes, do you understand me? For your eyes, do you understand? For your eyes, do you understand me? For your eyes, do you understand? For your eyes only [Verse 2: J. Cole] You prolly grown now, so this song'll hit you If you hearin' this, unfortunately means that I'm no longer with you In the physical, not even sure if I believe in God but because you still alive He got me prayin' that the spiritual is real So I can be a part of you still, my pops was killed too So I know how part of you feels Maybe you hate me, maybe you miss me, maybe you spite me Life goes in cycles, maybe you'll date a nigga just like me I hope not, I'm tired of dope spots And fiends that smoke rocks I've seen far too many niggas' hopes rot I'm writin' this because me and the devil had a dance Now I see death around the corner, 'pologizin' in advance Don't know if I ever had a chance At a glance, I'm a failure Addicted to pushin' paraphernalia But daddy had dreams once, my eyes had a gleam once Innocence disappeared by the age of eight years My pops shot up, drug-related, mama addicted So Granny raised me in projects where thugs was hangin' Blood was stainin' the concrete Older niggas I loved, talked like they was above Maintainin' a timesheet, that's slow money Picked up the family business, by the age of thirteen Six years later was handed sentence 'Round the same time is when you came in this world Me and your mama thinkin': "What the fuck we namin' this girl?" I told her, "Nina," the prettiest name that I could think of (Most prettiest thing my eyes had ever seen) For the prettiest thing my eyes had ever seen, I was nineteen Took me two felonies to see the trap this crooked-ass system set for me And now I fear it's too late for me to ever be The one that set examples that was never set for me I'm livin' fast, but not fast enough 'Cause karma keeps on catchin' up to me And if my past becomes the death of me I hope you understand [Chorus: J. Cole] For your eyes, do you understand? For your eyes, do you understand me? For your eyes, do you understand? (Hope you understand) For your eyes, do you understand me? For your eyes, do you understand? (Hope you understand) For your eyes, do you understand me? For your eyes, do you understand? For your eyes only [Verse 3: J. Cole] It's several ways I could've went out, too many to count Was it the trigger-happy crackers that the badges give clout? Was it the young niggas, blastin' frustrated 'cause the cash runnin' out? Niggas don't know how to act in a drought See, baby girl, I realized my definition of a real nigga was skewed My views misshaped by new mixtapes That confirmed the shit I learned in the streets was true That real niggas don't speak when they beef with you They just pull up on your street, let the heat achoo And if a real nigga hungry, he gon' eat your food I was a fool, spent all my time duckin' school, duckin' cops Duckin' rules, huggin' blocks that don't love you I pray you find a nigga with goals and point of views Much broader than the corner, if not it's gon' corner you Into a box, where your son don't even know his pops And the cyclical nature of doin' time continues My worst fear is one day that you come home from school And see your father face while hearin' 'bout tragedy on news I got the strangest feelin' your daddy gonna lose his life soon And sadly if you're listenin' now it must mean it's true But maybe there's a chance that it's not And this album remains locked in a hard drive like valuable jewels And I can teach you this in person like I'm teachin' you to tie your own shoes I love you and I hope to God I don't lose you For your eyes only [Chorus: CharGaux & J. Cole] For your eyes, for your eyes only For your eyes, for your eyes only For your eyes, do you understand? For your eyes only [Verse 4: J. Cole] One day your daddy called me, told me he had a funny feelin' What he'd been dealin' with lately, he wasn't tellin' I tried to pick his brains, still, he wasn't revealin' But I could feel the sense of panic in his voice And it was chillin', he said: "Jermaine, I knew you since we was children I never asked for nothin', when times was hard I never had discussions with you, beggin' you to help me I dealt with the repercussions of my actions I know you tried to steer me 'way from that shit But that shit was in my blood, you know my life I know your momma, nigga, send my love In case I never get a chance to speak again I won't forget the weekends spent sleepin' at your crib That's the way I wished my family lived But my granny crib was in the 'jects" I had to interject like: "Nigga, what you talkin' 'bout? Fuck is you gettin' at?" He said, "Listen, I got no time to dive into descriptions But I been havin' premonitions Just call it visions from the other side I got a feelin' I won't see tomorrow Like the time I'm livin' on is borrowed With that said, the only thing I'm proud to say, I was a father Write my story down, and if I pass Go play it for my daughter when she ready" And so I'm leavin' you this record, for your eyes only Don't you ever scratch or disrespect it This perspective is a real one, another lost 'Ville son I dedicate these words to you and all the other children Affected by the mass incarceration in this nation That sent your pops to prison when he needed education Sometimes I think that segregation would've done us better Although I know that means that I would never Be brought into this world 'cause my daddy was so thrilled When he found him a white girl to take back to Jonesboro With lil' Zach and Cole World, barely one years old Now it's thirty years later, makin' sure this story's told Girl, your daddy was a real nigga, not 'cause he was cold Not because he was the first to get some pussy, twelve years old Not because he used to come through in the Caddy on some vogues Not because he went from baggin' up them grams to servin' O's Nah, your daddy was a real nigga, not 'cause he was hard Not because he lived a life of crime and sat behind some bars Not because he screamed, "Fuck the law" Although that was true Your daddy was a real nigga 'cause he loved you For your eyes only