Lyrics Built by Pictures - Oddisee

Built by Pictures

I was born with small access, to big dreams
And detached homes, and lazy boy couches were fit thrones that
Would sit kings
Lion statues on the fences larger than the castles they guarded Lawns made the
pastures pristine
A race with the have nots
Broke but the moat’s where the Jag’s parked
Doing dirty work but the whips clean
Notice the Jones’s
All of what they have is for the showing even notices on doors or foreclosures
I’m trying to get income, and then some ride around in something
The system bumping, the disk jumping, I’m rolling
A slight high from being able to buy
What you shouldn’t but you never knew why
Never mind, this the feeling I’ve been wanting for time
Flying blind, into a wall strong drawing to shine
I just looked at the pictures
Didn’t have a manual to build this
Just assemble it from feeling
By looking at pictures
I was given tools meant for building
With no instruction for the wielding
But look at the picture
It ain’t even close to the description
And yet it’s working as I wished it
By looking at pictures
And even though parts of it are missing
It’s still complete in the depiction
Started off trying to make a way
Then I made a wave that made a wage, that lay to waste
The paper chase that I was into race
But how you even stop this thing
I never learned so in turn, I’ma burn out breaks
Spend it faster than the churn out makes
But I’m a Phoenix, I went from ashes to classes
Shoebox to plastic, credit could buy what ever imagined
Developing habits I can’t kick
Man I was rocking cleats to a match full of baskets
Fast break, broke the safe trying to bask in
Sums that wasn’t real but ones and nils and they asking
Debit or credit?
The latter please
Climbing into debt without a sweat when it’s gradually
Had to make a couple mistakes that I couldn’t erase
Overdrawn but I turned out great
I just looked at the pictures
Didn’t have a manual to build this
Just assemble it from feeling
By looking at pictures
I was given tools meant for building
With no instruction for the wielding
But look at the picture
It ain’t even close to the description
And yet it’s working as I wished it
By looking at pictures
And even though parts of it are missing
It’s still complete in the depiction
I maneuver by example, good or bad, triumphs and tramples Something I couldn’t
grasp, I wouldn’t pass
I would rather struggle assembling what I can do, look at that
Little different but the differences make it what it isn’t
Is, is whatever I want to witness
Behold a vision outside of the city limits
Where time is more valued than money for the spending
Ascended to deeper things, never knew reasoning
Throwing random spices into life for the seasoning
Without a silver spoon, I couldn’t taste what I was prepping
My guesses made the wooden whip a problem to a question
Why do my people spend more and have less than?
No seat to eat the meal that we responsible for cheffing
Imagining the window was just a mirror reflection
I turned the sideline into a seat at the concession
I just looked at the pictures
Didn’t have a manual to build this
Just assemble it from feeling
By looking at pictures
I was given tools meant for building
With no instruction for the wielding
But look at the picture
It ain’t even close to the description
And yet it’s working as I wished it
By looking at pictures
And even though parts of it are missing
It’s still complete in the depiction