Released: September 5, 2000

Songwriter: Aesop Rock

Producer: Aesop Rock

[Aesop Rock - Talking]
So you want to be a carpenter, do you?
Well it takes more than a hammer, boy
You're gonna need blueprints and a will to build, and...
Straighten your cap! you look like you've been through a war
Wipe that grin off your mug, you got a sturdy frame?
Sluggish posture just won't cut it
You're gonna need schooling, and, and, and take notes!
And god if I catch you yawning again you're gonna regret ever asking for my help
And dammit you gotta hustle, this is a slacker-free zone
And, where's my pencil? Go get your hard-hat
Here's a nickel, go get us a ruler and a saw and a drill and lots of graph paper...

Yo..
I used to have a rope ladder but tattered were the rungs
I strung it from the highest willow, trying to hug the sun
The seventh level buckled and I tumbled from the summit
Now I'm back to re-climb and this time light my cigarette from it
My stitch in division/division warfare's numb enough to soak suddenly in a bullet bath and skip stones in the morning
Is a flying color phantom tantrum explicable?
Sit and pull the petals off wild flower patches, magic happens!
Behold, pity the lowlife parish?
Doom City barracks left remorse coursed on a horse-drawn carriage by the torch of Polaris
To the badlands, where every bridge collapse right where the crowd stands
Where the witches are fireproof and every preacher's a madman
Frigid be the appleseed demeanor towards the bay where the landshark Parliament swims
When they pause to polish they fins
The better brains will preach the village through the city square
To the light, heavy and middle-weight integrate
Slept with sticks and stones in my pillowcase
Ooh my born flight simulator picks barnacles off the tugboat belly
Left my spirit home in a shoebox in case I die
Got a rugged smoke-green halo floatin' inches off the swamp
Had that phase when the deviltry contacts a sparkle in my eye
Now step back from the reservoir and let the settlers drink (Right!)
Salvage all priorities and iron out all kinks (Okay!)
My house ain't made of bricks and straw but never has it crumbled (Why?)
Cause I stitched the brain's rigidity with symmetry
Come visit me, it's fascinating

[Aesop Rock- Talking]
Now here's how its done, I'm only gonna show you once
So pay close attention, hear me now or hear me never
Glue your little eyes to the diagram
See the plywood, the nails, the glue? You work every inch
Your domain and you must treat it well
Keep it clean or it'll swallow you whole
Where's the T-square, hand me the pliers
Now dammit, oh, this will never do!
You have to want the castle, head Up, shoulders back
Be the materials, know your limits only to break your limits
Are you listening? God dammit boy, pay attention

[Chorus]
Try it again, little bit more juice this time
Try it again, yeah, a little bit more elbow grease this time
Try it again, concentrate, a little more focus this time
You can kick and scream and yell but damn I'm only tryin' to help
Try it again, you're not doing it right, here now, y'all watch
Try it again, stop sulking, I'm the example, for real, Watch
Try it again, I'm bout to make it easy for you y'all, just Watch
You can kick and scream and yell but damn I'm only tryin' to help

As if it didn't sting enough
The hunt dispatched a pack of wild dog silhouettes
All sulking by the skyline, focused with a bonus hunger pain
My sincere addiction imbalance stems from a vintage grimace slap to the muck of
Ancestral branch camped on the vessels
Yes and I abide, the laws of the hidden desert survived
And every peasant present teetered it on the crescent less deprived
With the exception of pleasant finale binges on the great endangered interests
Of phantom brigades slaving to save that princess
I double the negative (Double the negative), to no avail, no promised benefits
Just delegates peddling pairs of negatives
With magnified magnanimous appearance sandy sinners in opinion shut
Now what of the madness fragments?
Stagnant
How to make a vision sing while twigs cling to your pigeon wings
Fission militia, indent bent to split blood in hell's kitchen sink
Organize civility simpleton citizen mixers, then kiss the sky in unison
Sinister city-blistered corporate hooligans
All I really want's a nickel to feed my little pig
Redefine big dig, three cheers to the product
Consumer populace feed but never dreamed of the process
On a slanted advantage point saw the makeshift criminals date rape the hostage
Dream away the plain pain, yeah but it seeps through the cracks
And drips from the ceiling and smells the rich scent of my tracks
All I ever really wanted was a jungle, and a jungle I got
See it ain't the vision it's the plot that makes me stop

Try it again. I don't want to (Repeat 8x)
I'm not even interested anymore
Try it one more time

Aesop Rock

Born Ian Matthias Bavitz, Aesop Rock was a pioneer in the new wave of underground hip-hop in New York City during the early 2000s. Regarding his name, he

I acquired the name Aesop from a movie I had acted in with some friends. It was my character’s name and it sort of stuck. The rock part came later just from throwing it in rhymes.

Aesop has a solid discography with 8 albums spanning over the course of 20+ years. He started in 1999 by selling his first album, Music for Earthworms, through his website while he was a student at Boston University. He has since gained a cult following and been named one of the best artists of the 2000s. His most successful albums are None Shall Pass, Skelethon, and The Impossible Kid which peaked on the Billboard 200 at #50, #21, and #30 respectively.