[ Verse 1 ]

Sometimes I just feel like, quittin' I still might

Why do I put up this fight, why do I still write

Sometimes it's hard enough just dealin' with real life

Sometimes I wanna jump on stage and just kill mics

And show these people what my level of skill's like

But I'm still white, sometimes I just hate life

Somethin ain't right, hit the brake lights

Case of the stage fright, drawin a blank like

Da-duh-duh-da-da, it ain't my fault

Great big eyeballs, my insides crawl

And I clam up {*wham*} I just slam shut

I just can't do it, my whole manhood's

Just been stripped, I have just been vicked

So I must then get, off the bus then split

Man fuck this shit; yo, I'm goin' the fuck home

World on my shoulders as I run back to this 8 Mile Road

[Hook]

I'm a man, I'mma make a new plan

Time for me to just stand up, and travel new land

Time to really just take matters into my own hands

Once I'm over these tracks man I'mma never look back

(8 Mile Road) And I'm gone, I know right where I'm goin

Sorry momma I'm grown, I must travel alone

Ain't gon' follow the footsteps I'm makin' my own

Only way that I know how to escape from this 8 Mile Road

[ Verse 2 ]

I'm walkin' these train tracks, tryin' to regain back

The spirit I had 'fore I go back to the same crap

To the same plant, and the same pants

Tryin' to chase rap, gotta move ASAP

And get a new plan, momma's 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 and 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 somethin' 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 gotta rep my step, don't got enough pep

The pressure's 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 pigeonholed 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 I know

And I'mma 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

[Hook]

[ Verse 3 ]

You gotta live it to feel it, you didn't you wouldn't get it

Or see what the big deal is, why it was and it still is

To be walkin this borderline of Detroit city limits

It's different, it's a certain significance, a certificate

Of authenticity, you'd never even see

But it's everything to me, it's my credibility

You never seen heard smelled or met a real MC

Who's incredible upon the same pedestal as me

But yet I'm still unsigned, havin' a rough time

Sit on the porch with all my friends and kick dumb rhymes

Go to work and serve MCs in the lunchline

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 foot 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 on stuck in this battlin mode

My defenses are so up, but one thing I don't want

Is pity from no one, the city is no fun

There is no sun, and it's so dark

Sometimes I feel like I'm just bein' 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 ass 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 fallin' 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 the 3 and a 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

[Hook]