Look in the Mirror, Junior
TITLE: JUNIOR — LOOK IN THE MIRROR THE DIARY OF DJ DR LOVE — 007 FM [Intro — Phone Rings, Rhodes, Low Crowd] [Deep Male Spoken] Junior… my firstborn. Forty years old now. A wife. Two boys. A lot on your shoulders. I missed your call. But I heard your message. Sit down, son… let your daddy answer. [Low Sung, Climbing into Tenor] You said, “I don't know nobody like you.” [Band Drops. Deep Answer] Now you say you see me in the mirror. [Verse 1 — Warm Baritone] Back in the eighties, me and your mama, Had a little love we thought would hold it all. Then the nineties found us talking over thunder, You were small enough to hear it through the wall. I was out there trying to keep the lights on, She was home with work I didn't always see. Thought providing meant I'd done all my explaining, Didn't know what all that noise was teaching you of me. You could love your mama without being against me, Wasn't right to make a little boy choose sides. There were things I thought you couldn't understand then… There were things I hadn't understood in my own life. [Pre-Chorus — Rising Tenor] Now the bills come with your name on, And the boys got minds that challenge yours. Son, I know that pressure at the doorway… But you still choose what walks through that door. [Chorus — Soaring Male Lead, Male Harmonies] Look in the mirror, Junior, You can see where you began. But you don't have to carry every habit Just to honor your old man. Keep the strength, change the hurting, Let your children have your best. [High Tenor] You can come from me— [Deep Baritone] And do some things different from the rest. [Verse 2 — Intimate Low Register] You said, “I'm breaking generational curses.” I heard, “Everything you gave me wasn't good.” So I let that telephone keep ringing, Sat there feeling less respected than I should. But maybe you were naming what had hurt you, Not erasing every sacrifice I made. I can tell you what it took to raise a family… Without making you repeat my every way. You been on your own since you were eighteen, Paving roads I never had to drive. I can share the things the years have taught me, Still let you be the father in your life. [Pre-Chorus — Low Start, Ascending] Fourteen and eighteen, testing boundaries, You say the youngest got that look I used to wear. I remember Grandma asking what to do with me… Can't act shocked to see a little of me there. [Chorus — Full Strings, Trap Drums] Look in the mirror, Junior, You can see where you began. But you don't have to carry every habit Just to honor your old man. Keep the strength, change the hurting, Let your children have your best. You can come from me… And do some things different from the rest. [16-Bar Male Rap — One Line Per Bar] Forty ain't a finish line, it's another kind of test, Got a job, got a marriage, got a worry in your chest. Got the boys getting taller, got opinions getting loud, Try to hold a little order, feel it slipping in the crowd. I know what you mean when you say you need some peace, But the bottle ain't the answer I would hand you as a key. And a different woman's doorway won't repair the house you're in, Take a breath before that temper makes an enemy of kin. If you need to talk to someone, son, it doesn't make you weak, You can carry your authority without making people shrink. Your wife ain't your enemy because she sees another side, Find the place where you can talk before the argument gets wide. Teach the boys a boundary, show them how to keep your trust, They can learn a firm decision without fearing someone's touch. I got years you ought to hear, you got years I haven't lived, We can both sit at the table, both got something we can give. [Four-Bar Scratch — Original “Junior” / “Keep the strength”] [Brief Ambient Glitch. Full Stop.] [Breakdown — Rhodes Only, Deep Spoken] Son… Understanding why I got angry Doesn't mean every way I showed it was right. And asking me for help Doesn't mean you failed to change things. Maybe that's part of changing them. [Eight-Bar Guitar and Cello Break] [Male Falsetto Calls; Resonant Low Replies] [Bridge — Baritone Building to Tenor] You don't have to change your name, Don't have to lay your bloodline down. We can tell the truth about this family Without burning every good thing to the ground. Let the boys remember more than discipline, Let them know who held them when they cried— [Soaring Tenor] Be a man they can come home to— [Full Stop. Deep Spoken] Not just a man they know to hide from. [Final Chorus — Vocal Lift] Look in the mirror, Junior, There's a father looking back. You can love the man who raised you And still choose another path. Keep the strength, change the hurting, Pass the love, not every scar. [High into Falsetto] You're my son— [Deep Baritone] But you're the man who chooses who you are. [Outro — Phone Keypad, Piano, Cello] I should've picked up. That's on me. I'm calling back now. [Phone Rings.] Junior? It's Daddy. Tell me what's going on. [Warm Chord. Quiet Live Applause.]
