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Words from the artist’s archive
SEA LEVEL lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
Read the lyric sheet
Intro
Flattest state they got, and we made a mountain out of trash. Climbed it, acted like the view made me smart.
Verse 1
Out in Plantation, only high ground we got is a dump, Monarch Hill off the Sawgrass, them gulls circle the lump. Two videos at three a.m. and I woke up an expert, correcting the nurse at North Broward like my white coat was perfect. Quoted page ten of a book for a decade, never finished it, let the cover hold the weight. Loudest at the cookout, jaw running, plate gone cold, "did my own research" meant I agreed with me, talking bold.
Pre-chorus
The thinner the air, the surer I sounded, the less I knew, the louder. Felt like a peak. It was a pile.
Chorus
I climbed a mountain that the city threw away, loud at the top where the air get thin and grey, back down at sea level now, learning how to say: I don't know. I don't know. Tallest thing in a flat town is a mountain made of trash. Sea level. I don't know.
Verse 2
Cost showed up late, the way interest do, bet the rent on a coin 'cause a thread told me to. Lost it, blamed the chart, never blamed the dude in the comments coaching me with zero proof. Cousin asked "you sure," I said "trust me," he agreed, now he don't; that "trust me" cost more than greed. Reputation's a tab I ran up for years, they stopped asking me questions, that's a quiet you fear.
Pre-chorus
The thinner the air, the surer I sounded, the less I knew, the louder. Felt like a peak. It was a pile.
Chorus
back down at sea level now, learning how to say: I don't know. I don't know. The view ain't genius, just garbage with a gap. Sea level.
Verse 3
Caught myself in a window on Sunrise, mid-sentence, mid-flex, the dude in the glass: loudest in the room, knew the least in the room. Dunning and Kruger ain't names I knew, but I lived the whole curve, peak the day you learn the word, then the floor you didn't deserve. Mount Stupid had a beautiful view. I had a flag and a folding chair. Realest thing I felt was the silence when I finally wasn't there.
Verse 4
The reflex still kicks, gotta catch it on the climb, the itch to be certain, quick, right on time. The dopamine of "obviously" when I don't know it, so I stall, I ask, "what would prove me wrong," and I show it. Find the strongest case against me, let her win, take the L. Simple if it's true, say it to a kid on the block, need big words to defend it, check the stock.
Bridge
Tallest thing in a flat town is a mountain made of trash. Smartest thing I ever said, I almost couldn't say: three words, no flex, "I, don't, know," and the room leaned in for once. Everybody's on that hill. Mine just had my name on it.
Verse 5
Lil cousin in Lauderhill think he know it 'cause he read the thread, I don't correct him no more, I ask him what he missed instead. Stay a student, the slope don't end, that's the point of the climb, trade the flag on Mount Stupid for a notebook and some time. Four-dollar cafecito, Publix beep, the same flat town, but I move quiet now: I came all the way back down. Down to earth, sea level, where the smart ones always stood, and the only thing I'm sure of is how much I never could.
Pre-chorus
The thinner the air, the surer I sounded, the less I knew, the louder. Felt like a peak. It was a pile.
Chorus
I climbed a mountain that the city threw away, loud at the top where the air get thin and grey, back down at sea level now, learning how to say: I don't know. I don't know. Tallest thing in a flat town is a mountain made of trash. Sea level. I don't know. Came all the way down.
Outro
Two hundred feet of trash, I called it a mountain. Sea level. That's the view.
Inside the recording
Flattest state they got, and we made a mountain out of trash. Climbed it, acted like the view made me smart.
The thinner the air, the surer I sounded, the less I knew, the louder.
Two hundred feet of trash, I called it a mountain. Sea level. That's the view.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.