Power

(You want what for Christmas?

Hell no

What chu mean this is all we got?

That's it?)

It's Christmas time in the Montgomery home

Daddy's actin' all crazy again

Momma got herself a bloody nose

Daddy slapped her in the face again

Why they always gotta fight so much? Damn!

Momma face swole

Me and my bros in a panic state

If that's the case, yo I can't just stay around this

Everything was fine, we just had dinner

We got all the He-Mans

Battle Cat, Adam and Cringer, even Castle Greyskull and Snake Mountain

Now we sit and listen to y'all argue about how y'all planned this day

And y'all just admitted to us Santa fake

So Kid Vishis just ran away poutin'

Now I gotta go and console him

He wasn't nothin' but a spoiled little boy then

Little naive with an innocent cry

All he ever wanted to do was fit in with us

And y'all bought him a pair of fake Timberlands and put in a real Timberland box

I never forget them boots, they was called Rugged Outbacks

Momma went and found them at Payless and made us promise not to say nothin'

Then Pop came in like he ain't know nothin' about it

Like, "Judy you gon' send that boy out in public like that?"

"He'll be just fine, these kids ain't 'bout to be looking down at his feet for no treat"

And she really meant that

Meanwhile, this little arrogant nigga called himself stuntin' on me and Greg with him talkin' about, "where your Timbs at?"

But he was too young to detect sarcasm so we was like, "nigga, where your Timbs at?"

It's Thanksgiving in the Montgomery home

Greg just came in here drunk again

Now Momma tryna cover for him, she afraid my Daddy gone punch him again

Why you gotta get drunk so much? Damn!

I wish you would just stay where you was at instead of coming home all rude and disrespectin' our father

Follow all the rules and shit, man

The mood done switched me and Vicious playing Connect Four

Our Favorite movie just came on the tube and it's ironic it's Bloodsport

And I'm looking at Frank Dux and shit, thinkin' you should split

Before Daddy come down these stairs of this basement and see you wasted

But he just cut me off like, "That nigga ain't gon' do shit"

But the truth is he couldn't whoop my dad even if he was sober

I know 'cause he tried once

Ended up unconscious, a broke arm and a tooth was chipped

My big bro got a lot of emotional problems

He feel that we was all abused as kids

He saw Momma get dragged down all kinds of stairs like a ragdoll when he was two

And this is back when Daddy used to sniff cocaine, poor thang

He had to be subjected to this when he gets drunk

He gets to losing it

He gets the illusion that he gon' protect us all from the Big Bad Wolf

Stand up to him and prove some shit

But all he really doing is stressing Mom out

Gotta her goin', "boy you know your daddy up there asleep

The food is ready, why don't you stop making all this noise and let him stay sleep?"

The Turkey's done in the Montgomery home

Dad has just been awakened again

Greg is making all kinds of noise

Daddy's on his way angry again

"Who is that making all that God damn noise?

Greggy, get up here!

You been out there drinking again?

What the fuck I tell you about coming in my house with this disrespectful shit?

Nigga where the fuck you don' been?"

I'm thinking to myself Greg please don't say nothin' stupid, man

Every time my Daddy in his drawers and he standing in the hallway mad at somebody, I swear to God he got the same strength as Superman

My brother turned around and just walks in the kitchen

Without even givin' an answer, with his back to him like "I ain't gotta talk to you nigga"

"Nigga, you don't hear me talking to you?"

Next thing my brother did is something that when it comes to my father is something you just don't do

He looked him right in his eyes and he asked him, "what the fuck is you gon' do?"

My father hit him so hard his body hit the stove

The oven door hit the fucking floor

The turkey fell out the oven whole and landed near the stairs

Now Daddy standing over Greg talkin' 'bout, "Nigga, you ain't hurt!

Get up, get up!"

And here come Vish' talkin' 'bout, "Dad, I don't think he gon' get up"

Then Momma went damn near hysterical

She called the police, the police came

Neighbors is all in the street watching the cops takin' my father out in handcuffs

Damn, man that shit was real embarrassing

To all my friends I grew up with or grew up fatherless

I know through me you live vicariously

I want you to know that we ain't know better than you and yours

We all needed therapy

We care about each other more than we care about if anybody understands us

What I'm tryin' say is "fuck you!" and Happy Holidays from the Montgomery family

Every man reaches that point in life

Where he don't want to make excuses no more more

Life took me on a rollercoaster ride

I've been up I've been down all the ribbons and my daddy came

Took me on highs

Turned around and then took me on lows

Oh

Then I think about it

I use that shit as fuel

Then I changed it into "power"

Now can't you feel it?

Can't you feel it?

That I'm a grown man with "power"

Yeah, let me hear you say yeah

If you was raised in a strict home like me

Felt alone like me and it gave you "power"

Ooh

You can do it too just look at me

See I'm a grown man with "power"

Yeah, everybody say yeah

If you don't know the meaning of abusive

You've been through so much ain't nothing nobody can do to you

Now can't you feel it?

I'mma run away

This is how I became

A grown man with "power"

You can do it too

If I can do it

Use this "power"

I was a runaway

I was a runaway

There ain't nothing you can do to me

Do to me

"When you were a child growing up with grandad and granny

Did you really feel like grandad was a good father to you?"

Absolutely, absolutely. All my friend's daddy's was walking out on them left and right. Y'know he never left us, he was always there for us. Y'know there were a lot of things that happened that I didn't understand. Maybe I might not have answered the question the same way when I was a teenager, but I understand and appreciate him so much more now: as a man. Y'know 'cause he taught me respect and discipline and consequences for your acts. So yeah of course

"Do you think his approach as a father really shaped the type of father that you are today, or do you in some ways think it had negatives to it, and if so, what kind of negative traits do you try to avoid having as a father right now, to me?"

When you have your own you'll understand