KEVIN
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Leon Bridges Lyrics

I seen pain, I felt the losses
I have witnessed and personally experienced pain and losses

Attended funerals and seen coffins
I have been to funerals and witnessed coffins

21 years old, an angel was lost here
A young person died and their soul was lost

Wings clipped by the grip of 80 milligram sniffs of Oxycontin
Their life was ruined by the addiction to powerful painkillers

Everyday through the nostrils
The drug use was a daily occurrence

Never went away, never does it stop there
The addiction never went away and only escalated

Death a line or two away and a couple tall cans
The possibility of death was always near, along with using alcohol to cope

'Cause you never know when God is gonna call, man
Death can come at any time and is out of our control

Precious, what we all share
The value of life is precious and shared by all

I said peace at five thirt, the next time that I saw him was in the hands of the pallbearer
I said goodbye to him earlier, but the next time I saw him was at his funeral

What if I would've never gone and dropped him off there?
What if I didn't take him to the place where he overdosed and died?

Blaming myself, in hysterics, screaming 'It's not fair!'
Feeling guilty and emotional, blaming myself for his death

21 years old with a book of rhymes he was gonna recite to the globe
He was a young rapper with a lot of potential

Only thing to numb the pain besides that shit in his nose
The only thing that helped him deal with his pain besides drugs

He was gonna quit tomorrow, we're all gonna quit tomorrow
We talked about quitting drugs, but never followed through

Just get us through the weekend, and then Monday follows
We always postponed quitting and would say we'll do it later

Then it's Wednesday, then it's fuck it, I'm already feeling hollow
Days go by and we give up thinking it's hopeless

Might as well go crack a seal and might as well go chug a bottle
Feels like there's no other option but to turn to more drugs or alcohol

Might as well go pop a pill and go and band-aid that problem
Take more pills to mask the pain

And escape this world, vacate this world
The addiction is a way to escape reality and life's problems

'Cause I hate myself
The addiction is fueled by self-disgust and self-loathing

Doctor, please, give me a dose of the American Dream
The American dream of success and happiness is desired, but unattainable

Put down the pen and look in my eyes
Stop writing prescriptions and look at the person in front of you

We're in the waiting room and something ain't right
There's a problem that needs to be addressed

All this is on you, we're over prescribed
Doctors are over-prescribing medication and it's causing addiction

For me and Kev
For me and my friend who died

You end up in jail, institutions are dead
The end result of addiction is often incarceration or mental institutions

And with our lives, we play Russian Roulette
Our lives are at risk like a game of Russian Roulette

And try to find a life where we could be content
Trying to find happiness and peace in life despite the pain and addiction

'Cause for us, we're just trying to minimize the fear of being alive
We're trying to cope with the fear of living and the reality of addiction

And now my little brother is in the sky
My younger brother has passed away

From a pill that a doctor prescribed
The addiction and overdose came from a legally prescribed medication

That a drug deal a million dollar industry supplied
The pharmaceutical industry is responsible for supplying drugs that cause addiction

And the cops never go and profile at night
Police don't investigate prescription drug addiction like they do with other drugs

Has us looking for the answers and not instead of you
People turn to drugs because they don't trust the medical profession to help them

Quick fix, whatever do
Doctors prescribe drugs as a quick solution to problems

We just gonna neglect the truth
We ignore the reality of addiction and its consequences

Because a doctor with a license played God and said it's cool
Doctors with the power to prescribe medication made reckless decisions

But me? I don't blame Kev or his mom freebasing while pregnant with him
I don't blame Kevin or his mother for his addiction

I blame the pharmacy companies
The pharmaceutical companies are responsible for creating and supplying addictive drugs

And country that spends trillions fighting the war they supplying themselves
The government is responsible for fighting a war against drugs while allowing the pharmaceutical industry to propagate addiction

Politicians and business and jail
Politicians and businesses benefit from the prison industrial complex

Public defenders and judges who fail
The justice system is failing those with drug addiction

Look at Kevin, look at Kevin
Look at the tragedy that has occurred because of addiction

Now he's wrapped in plastic
He has died and is now in a casket

First dealer was his mom's medicine cabinet
His addiction started with prescription drugs from his mother

Got anxiety, better go and give him a Xanax
He was prescribed Xanax for his anxiety which led to addiction

Focus, give him Adderall, sleep, give him Ambien
He was given more drugs to deal with other issues, leading to addiction

'Til he's walking 'round the city looking like a mannequin
The addiction causes one to look unwell, even like a lifeless mannequin

Ups and downs, shooting up prescriptions you're handing him
Alternating between highs and lows with the help of destructive prescriptions

So America, is it really worth it? I'm asking you
Is the war on drugs and the pharmaceutical industry really worth the suffering and pain it causes?

Doctor, your medicine, and your methods
Doctors, their prescriptions, and their methods

Can't cure my disease without killing me
Addiction is a disease that often leads to death, and drugs can't cure it

You're killing me, you're killing me
The drugs prescribed by doctors are causing harm and death

You're killing me, you're killing me
The addiction and the drugs supplied by the system are causing harm and death

Doctor, your medicine, and your methods
Doctors, their prescriptions, and their methods

Can't cure my disease without killing me
Addiction is a disease that often leads to death, and drugs can't cure it

You're killing me, you're killing me
The drugs prescribed by doctors are causing harm and death

You're killing me, you're killing me
The addiction and the drugs supplied by the system are causing harm and death