Verse One
I never met Damon Dash, but kinda’ admire him,
encompasses the spirit of a fighter stuck on making moves
and never plays the violin,
I understand what he is talking about when he criticises
working for someone else to build they dream and they enterprises,
I ain’t saying it’s wrong to work for someone, it's just survival,
but if you got a supervisor making you homicidal,
perhaps you should reconsider your position, remember it’s your decision,
you shouldn’t no permission to take a bathroom break,
find people in the staffroom fake?
It may be time to recalibrate on the path you take,
but most people scared of change,
from low self-esteem, anxiety bout’ your age,
so they struggle with it, nobody loves minimum wage,
all day clock-watching til’ there’s no time left,
end of the week and cannot wait to post T.G.I.F.,
some are happy where they are and they cool with they career,
but if you unhappy it’s time to change gears, (yeah).
Chorus
take the next step in your life with no fears, (change, change),
change gears,
you don’t wanna be in the same place for years
(change, change)
change gears
and take the next step in your life with no fears,
put your foot down on the pedal to get there,
especially if things right now be unclear
Verse Two
There’s so many cases of misery meets security,
we wanna make progression that visibly in maturity
we can measure assuredly, make adjustments accordingly,
feeling like it’s rewardingly abundant like recording fees,
I ain’t mistaken in thinking that making change is easy,
but I’m awakening the minds who wanna live more freely,
and it starts with a thought, a feeling, an energy
basic and fundamentally, you can move incrementally,
at some point I guess we’ve all faced depression,
whether it was from a profession, or a partners confessions,
whether it was from a selection that then taught you a lesson,
whether it was from an oppression that’s based on your complexion,
I guess the question is can we afford to rest on this? (No),
so my suggestion is to aim to be a specialist
at making changes, no one says you must be a perfectionist,
but life is way too short to not make the most of this special gift.
Chorus
Change gears
and take the next step in your life with no fears, (change, change),
change gears,
you don’t wanna be in the same place for years
(change, change)
change gears
and take the next step in your life with no fears,
put your foot down on the pedal to get there,
especially if things right now be unclear.
Outro Speech
When I say change gears, it simply means just to… move from one position to another. You know, there’s only so much… you can get from trying to fit a circle into a square hole. At some point you’re gonna’ realise that it doesn’t quite fit. And then you gotta’ do something different… because doing the same thing is only gonna’ be… a result that’s undesirable. You know sometimes there’s no fair or unfair, sometimes there’s no right or wrong… when you’re in someone else’s house… and I don’t mean “house” literally. I mean like… when you’re in someone else’s space, when someone else controls… your environment to an extent or… you know, or the basis under which you can operate… and I’m sure for many people, that’s not what people want so… it’s about changing gears. It’s about moving and making measurable progress… at least that’s what I was once told…
Funky DL is regarded as one of the most legendary and significant MC's and Producers to come out of the UK. Now globally known for delivering albums with both musical and lyrical finesse...
Substantial is one of those rare artists that truly does get better with time. This album is one of his finest works to date - make it a treasured part of your own personal collection, and thank me now! Stephanie Hilliard
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