[INTRO] I kept waiting on the finished version. Like somewhere underneath all this was the one I was supposed to be. Turns out— there ain't one. [VERSE 1] Some assembly required Should've printed that first Before they handed me the pieces and expected them to work No picture on the box No arrows on the back Just a handful of years and a guess where they attach Built some parts backwards Tore 'em down, tried again Kept looking for the step where becoming finally ends Never found it. Maybe that's the trick. Everybody looks complete from the angle that you get. Get close— Everybody got a screw loose Hole stripped Corner bent Piece they forced where it don't fit Some hide it better Some paint over dents Some spend half their life trying to look factory fresh I don't want factory fresh. I wanna know what holds. [HOOK] SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED THAT'S WHAT THE BOX SHOULD'VE SAID PARTS MAY SHIFT IN TRANSIT KEEP THE GOOD, REBUILD THE REST NO FINISHED PICTURE NO GUARANTEE IT FITS I'M NOT MISSING ANY PIECES I'M STILL MAKING SOME OF THEM [VERSE 2 — BUILDING] Got older, got words for the things that I did Got reasons for reactions, explanations for the shit Got better at tracing every wire to the switch Till I knew exactly why— but still kept flipping it. That's different. Knowing ain't doing. I got fluent in excuses without knowing I was using 'em Call it timing Call it wiring Call it history Call it stress Call it anything you want if it keeps you from the test And I could— Name it, frame it, trace it back Make a map of every crack Find the moment, find the pattern Find the reason, find the past Put a label on the anger Put a footnote on the fear Write a thesis on the reason I keep ending up right here Analyze it Categorize it Intellectualize it Turn a feeling to a theory then congratulate myself for recognizing— [BEAT CUT] Knowing why the roof leaks don't mean you fucking fixed it. ... Yeah. That one hurt. [VERSE 3] Ego got a funny way of dressing fear up nice Put a suit around avoidance call it taking your advice Call quitting "knowing when to walk" Call hiding "protecting peace" You can rename every problem you got It don't make the problem leave. And that ain't saying every scar was mine to choose Some storms hit the house whether you invite 'em through Can't control who stayed Can't rewrite who left Can't edit what happened Can't negotiate what's next But these hands? Mine. This step? Mine. What I build with what survived? Mine. That's the line. Responsibility ain't blame and I confused 'em for a while One keeps you chained to yesterday One asks what you're building now. [HOOK] SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED FINE, HAND ME THE TOOLS I CAN UNDERSTAND THE DAMAGE AND STILL CHOOSE WHAT I DO NO FINISHED PICTURE NO INSTRUCTIONS THAT FIT I'M NOT WAITING ON THE PIECES I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS [VERSE 4] Maybe I ain't missing shit. Maybe some parts need moved. Maybe something that protected me ain't got the same job it used to. Maybe strength ain't holding tight to every version that survived Sometimes keeping something alive means letting old designs die. And ego ain't the enemy. Nah. That motherfucker kept me standing when I needed something loud enough to tell me I could handle it. Let it talk. Let it ride. Let it give me some fight. Just don't give it both hands on the wheel every night. Let it sit shotgun. Let it bitch about the drive. When it reaches for the steering wheel— Nah. We're trying to get somewhere this time. [BRIDGE] I don't need to hate who I was to outgrow him. Don't need to burn the old plans just because I know 'em. Don't need some dramatic brand-new version overnight. Move one thing. Tighten one. See if it sits right. Then another. Then another. That's a life. Not some grand reconstruction with a ribbon-cutting night. Just a thousand little choices nobody else will ever see slowly turning what I inherited into something built by me. [FINAL HOOK] SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED YEAH, I THINK I GET IT NOW THERE AIN'T SOMEBODY COMING WITH THE PART I NEVER FOUND NO FINISHED PICTURE THAT'S THE FREEDOM OF THIS SHIT I CAN TEAR DOWN WHAT AIN'T WORKING I CAN BUILD WHAT DOESN'T EXIST SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED GOOD. HAND ME THE TOOLS. [OUTRO] No final step. No completed model. No moment where somebody checks the work and says: "There. Now you're done." ... Good. I would've probably changed something anyway.
