Breathing Dreams
What’s it like to walk in others’ shoes
To live their life and see all their views
What comes to mind when you think of field workers
We see Hispanic people and hardworking earners
No team it seems they making their own steam
Teeth gleams soaring for their living dreams
Fresh outta high school less than four days ago
Drove away from cool pools and chased the dough
Chased the cherries and all the riches
Nah I’m just playing, might as well be digging ditches
A thousand miles from the Golden to Washington state
Just young childs to all the professional mates
Professional with their hands, might as well be in a rock band
But no money in that, a language bridge is what they lack
My friend’s dad asked me, why’d you leave for this work
You could’ve found something easy, just chillin as a clerk
Not gonna lie, it was kind of hard to understand his accent
I said I wanted to experience field work and not just be content
With a job from nine to five just five days a week
I wanted some hand experience, not standing around growing weak
Excited for some money and stuffing cherries in my tummy
But I was in for a ride, went from working at Weenie Hut to a whip at my hide
You boy, you don’t look Hispanic to me
No sir, I’m as Chinese as can be
The struggle of us both still the same
Don’t wanna live this life in vain
Struggling and suffering
So the family don’t live in pain
Work second day there, family gone I felt a little bare
And scared, but I was too excited and feeling prepared
Up 3:30 and straight to the trees
The cool morning air had no hint of a breeze
No more hourly, there ain’t no such thing as salary
Five bucks a box, your will and speed determines your stocks
Bye nine to five, hello four to one, your not so known sister
They’ll go 24 hours if it wasn’t for the sun, giving fruit bruises and blisters
First day tired and sour, nine boxes are all I got through
Five dollars an hour, the pay straight blew
New day same routine, that day more boxes and I flirted
To succeed out here, your mind needs to be diverted
Adapt your mind quickly away from the difficulty
Your hands and the trees need to be very intimately
Close or you won’t find success
People don’t play games, no one knows the meaning of recess
You my man, you fit right in to me
Yes sir, I’m as mixed as one can be
From the melting pot of this nation
Manning and gunning every station
Hustling and bustling
The American Dream is our liberation
Working so hard wearing out every inch of the hand
Don’t fall off the ladder not everybody lucky to land
On their feet, want water but ain’t no time to stop
Working for the check to put their kids on top
Stuffing lunch down as fast as possible
Then back up the ladder, resting isn’t optional
That’s the lifestyle of the uneducated man
The lifestyle of the immigrant woman
You worry of your phone battery dying
They got children around crying
Working hard so the kids can have a better income
Instead of like them, scraping for some crumbs
My friend, I tell you this so that you understand
Work hard, make use of your sweat glands
Good things don’t come easily
You wanna live oh so breezily
It doesn’t matter why you choose to be here
Some have trouble with language barriers
Do it so their kids can be superior
Some are used to it, don’t wanna do other work out of fear
The Money Trees are now their wife
I did it to see another color in the spectrum of life
I found that Jermaine’s words held true once more
Can’t always live with a roof over the floor
You gotta struggle while you live
For life’s beauty to give
What that may be is for you to decide
I just know many look for love to reside
Common life theme not to get creamed
Through our bloodstream, we’re all breathing dreams