It's okay, it's okay, nothin' can get in the way

Sometimes, I just feel like quitting, I still might
Why do I put up this fight? Why do I still write?
Sometimes, it's hard enough just dealin' wit real life
Sometimes, I wanna jump on stage and just kill mics

And show these people what my level of skills like
But I'm still white, sometimes, I just hate life
Something ain't right, hit the brake lights
Case of the stage fright, drawin' a blank like

Uh, da, da, da, da, it ain't my fault
Great big eyeballs, my insides crawl
And I clam up, I just slam shut
I just can't do it, my whole manhood's

Just been stripped, I have just been ripped
So, I must then get, off the bus then split
Man, fuck this shit, yo, I'm going the fuck home
World on my shoulders as I run back to this 8 mile road

I'm a man, Imma make a new plan
Time for me to just stand up and travel new land
Time for me to just take matters into my own hands
Once I'm over these tracks, man, Imma never look back
(8 mile road)

And I'm gone, I know right where I'm going
Sorry Mama, I'm grown, I must travel alone
Ain't gone follow no footsteps, I'm making my own
Only way that I know how to escape from this 8 mile road

I'm walking these train tracks, tryin' to regain back
The spirit I had 'fore I go back to the same crap
To the same plant, in the same pants
Tryin' to chase rap, gotta move ASAP

And get a new plan, Mommas got a new man
Poor little baby sister, she don't understand
Sits in front of the TV, buries her nose in the pad
And just colors until the crayon gets dull in her hand

While she colors, her big brother, her mother and dad
Ain't no tellin' what really goes on in her little head
Wish I could be the Daddy that neither one of us had
But I keep runnin' from something I never wanted so bad

Sometimes, I get upset 'cause I ain't blew up yet
It's like I grew up but I ain't grow me two nuts yet
Don't got a rep my step, don't got enough pep
The pressures too much man, I'm just tryin' to do what's best

And I try, sit alone and I cry
Yo, I won't tell no lie, not a moment goes by
That I don't pray to the sky, please, I'm beggin' you God
Please don't let me be pigeon holed in no regular job

Yo, I hope you can hear me, homey, wherever you are
Yo, I'm tellin' you, dawg, I'm bailin' this trailer tomorrow
Tell my mother, I love her, kiss baby sister goodbye
Say whenever you need me, baby, I'm never too far

But yo, I gotta get out there, the only way that I know
And Imma be back for you the second that I blow
On everything I own, I'll make it on my own
Off to work I go, back to this 8 mile road

I'm a man, Imma make a new plan
Time for me to just stand up and travel new land
Time for me to just take matters into my own hands
Once I'm over these tracks, man, Imma never look back
(8 mile road)

And I'm gone, I know right where I'm going
Sorry Mama, I'm grown, I must travel alone
Ain't gone follow no footsteps, I'm making my own
Only way that I know how to escape from this 8 mile road

You gotta live it to feel it, you didn't, you wouldn't get it
Or see what the big deal is, why it wasn't? It still is
To be walkin' this boarder line of Detroit city limits
It's different, it's a certain significance, a certificate of authenticity

You've never even seen
But it's everything to me, it's my credibility
You've never seen, heard, smelled, or met a real MC
Who's incredible up on the same pedestal as me

But yet still unsigned, having a rough time
Sit on the porch wit all my friends and kick dumb rhymes
Go to work and serve MC's in the lunch line
But when it comes crunch time, where do my punchlines go?

Who must I show to bust my flow?
Where must I go? Who must I know?
Or am I just another crab in the bucket?
'Cause I ain't havin' no luck with this little rabbit, so fuck it

Maybe, I need a new outlet, I'm startin' to doubt shit
I'm feelin' a little skeptical, who I hang out with
I look like a bum, yo, my clothes ain't about shit
At the salvation army, tryin' to salvage an outfit

And it's cold, tryin' to travel this road
Plus, I feel like I'm always stuck in this battlin' mode
My defenses are so up and one thing I don't want
Is pity from no one, this city is no fun

There is no sun and it's so dark
Sometimes, I feel like I'm just being pulled apart
From each one of my limbs, by each one of my friends
It's enough to just make me wanna jump out of my skin

Sometimes, I feel like a robot, sometimes I just know not
What I'm doin' I just blow, my head is a stove top
I just explode, the kettle gets so hot
Sometimes, my mouth just overloads the gas that I don't got

But I've learned, it's time for me to U-turn
Yo, it only takes one time for me to get burned
Ain't no falling, no, next time I meet a new girl
I can no longer play stupid or be immature

I got every ingredient, all I need is the courage
Like I already got the beat, all I need is the words
Got the urge, suddenly it's a surge
Suddenly a new burst of energy has occurred

Time to show these free world leaders, I'm three in the third
I am no longer scared now, I'm free as a bird
Then I turn and cross over the median curb
Hit the burbs and all you see is a blur from 8 mile road

I'm a man, Imma make a new plan
Time for me to just stand up and travel new land
Time for me to just take matters into my own hands
Once I'm over these tracks, man, Imma never look back
(8 mile road)

And I'm gone, I know right where I'm going
Sorry Mama, I'm grown, I must travel alone
Ain't gone follow no footsteps, I'm making my own
Only way that I know how to escape from this 8 mile road