(Yes I did... I made a mistake... yes I did)      Huh..ya know living this type a life makes you grow up faster than you'd expect to sometimes...   fuck around and be in your late twenties...   feelin like a old man and shit...   yeah for real son... let em know      It's hard to breath and hard to run when your lung's blackened   Coughing up blood like what the fuck happened   Raising my risk of cancer's the answer homie   But after drinking something there's nothing like puffing a bogie   Now I can blame the same product placement in movies,   Or the commercials, or Scarface in a jacuzzi   But now I'm living it   Damn I should a never took that first cigarette      (I made a mistake)      I fucked up, like your girl was riding on top of me   I should of took her to trial and never copped a plea   But this ain't a Christian nation motherfucka please   America never taught me to turn the other cheek   Cause I'm from Harlem, the north of Manhattan   We knock niggas out and make em bounce like Ricky Hattan   But wildin on the court, had got me turned back from the Canadian border      (I made a mistake)      I knew she was a virgin, when I first met her   Rockin stockings and poppin out of the catholic school sweater   Mom told her she could do better than a criminal   Seventeen year-old psychotic, trying to be lyrical   I never meant to break her heart or fuck up her life   But I was careless, instead of treating her right   I seen her workin it, some club strippin and wondered   If I could have made her life different      (I made a mistake... yes I did... )      [Tech talking over the beat:   Damn shortie, you got me on some singin the blues shit...   but you gotta stop looking backwards and remember to look ahead...   this is for all my dudes on patrol in the desert right now... for real]      (I made a mistake)      Yeah..yeah... I joined the army looking for money to go to college   But they ain't pay me a quarter of what they fucking promised   Extended my tour, treating me like a sucker   That's the reason officers get fragged motherfucker   Don't give me speeches on how you respect and you love me   But no body armor in a lightly armored humvee?!   My family's lonely and you want me to reenlist for 30 grand homie?      (I made a mistake)      When I was young I got signed to a record label   The deal looked so good when it was on the table   It paid for my cable, cribs, cars and jewelry   The studios, the women there's nothing they wouldn't do for me   Except stop screwing me for publishing the royalties   How the fuck are you my dawg, when there's no loyalty?   Word to the street   I should've gone independent like Immortal Technique      (I made a mistake)      Some people learn from mistakes and don't repeat them   Others try to block the memories and just delete them   But I keep em as a reminder they not killing me   And I thank God for teaching me humility   Son, remember when you fight to be free   To see things how they are and not how you like em to be   Cause even when the world is falling on top of me   Pessimism is an emotion, not a philosophy   Knowing what's wrong doesn't imply that you right   And its another, when you suffer to apply it in life   But I'm no rookie   And I'm never gonna make the same mistake twice pussy