Can Do (Be Somebody Suite)

In August 2014, I wrote one of my very first poems, I Can. Can Do is its spiritual successor. The original version, titled I Can—Reprise, has been published in All of Me Vol. V, courtesy of Shadow Spark Publishing. This arrangement includes lyrics from the original Be Somebody by Boy Kill Boy ,fused with my own.

Listen to Can Do by Richard Charles Stevens (Be Somebody Suite)

Listen to Be Somebody by Boy Kill Boy

Cannot take away the pain
Explain away its meaning
Cannot lay awake at night
When I am best placed dreaming
Cannot speak of only light
When I possess a shadow
Navigate a heart’s maze
When its plaintive pathway narrows
.
Cannot always be the one
To pick up all the pieces
Cannot raise the stakes
Until the failure rate decreases
Guarantee rotation
As each memory releases
See the heavens blue
To do just as the devil pleases
.
Cannot see the sense
In feeling less immense affection
Can’t sit on the fence
Unless I’m pensive in reflection
Will not play the blame game
Name and shame each misconception
As essentially
That’s eighth grade condescension
.
Cannot reinvent the wheel
Don’t have the time
Besides
For every time the clock stops dead
Said wheel is redefined
Cannot walk a line designed to blind me to my purpose
Be confined to mortal life
To normalise the circus
.
See my mind reorganised
By ties that bind to hurt us
Deny the sight of thoughtful eyes
When all the while these thoughts of mine
Immortalise divine right to resurface
Immortalise divine right to resurface
.
I could be somebody
I could be somebody else
I could save some money
I could be somewhere else
Shut up and follow the signs
Get up and feel ourselves
Get up on the winning side
Sit up and see what sells
.
I can chase any dream
Wide awake or asleep
I can call out the spineless
Then raise them a spleen
I can gaze at the stars
With both feet on the ground
I can hop
I can skip
I can leap
And I can bound
Be profound when I‘m thinking
Stand proud when I’m shrinking
Avow no belief
I need drown when I’m sinking
Can love to no end
To great length extend kindness
In many respects this can help prevent blindness
I can set reminders if such you allow
Proceed with politeness to honour a vow
.
I could be somebody
I could be somebody else
I could save some money
I could be somewhere else
Shut up and follow the signs
Get up and feel ourselves
Get up on the winning side
Sit up and see what sells
.
Can live and let live
Blow a kiss before dying
Give freely
Sincerely
When taken from blindly
Beneath every sneer
Can translate a late smile
Need not wait
For I hear
It’s been here all the while
.
I can be seen clean through
In each colour and hue
When encouraged to flourish anew
Can feel every last soul that I hold in my keep
And believe they can summon me too
I can tell you that I love you
Mean it every time I do
All you need do is believe it to be true
.
I could be somebody
I could be somebody else
I could save some money
I could be somewhere else
Shut up and follow the signs
Get up and feel ourselves
Get up on the winning side
Sit up and see what sells
.
You can place great faith in me
To paint a famed scene tastefully
Reclaim the many years that very nearly got away from me
I can wake from deepest sleep and take this as vacation leave
And every one of you can do the same as me
(You can)
.