I was born, then I started growing up
I was curious and loud in spite of all “enough's enough”s
It was just how I was built
Jay Sanders and Catherine Wilt
It made me an easy target when I talked
I was tall, but I'd get pushed until my face hit a sidewalk
I was kicked while I was down
my name no longer proper noun
Though I was chipped, I wasn't chopped down yet
I posed a point I wouldn't soon forget:

I'll never quit
It's gonna take a lot more than that
I won't go out so fast
I was built to last
I don't give up
I'm a river with an ocean end
and though I could pass tonight
I won't go without a fight

With all that said, school was always difficult
I didn't know about the parts of me that wanted revolt
I was eaten by the dull
I was irresponsible
With each failed class, I dug a hole a few more feet
I was embarrassed and would keep all of my F's discreet
I had let my teachers down
my name no longer proper noun
But I bit my tongue and passed by skin of teeth
and now I sing what used to live beneath:

I'll never quit
It's gonna take a lot more than that
I won't go out so fast
I was built to last
I don't give up
I'm a river with an ocean end
and though I could pass tonight
I won't go without a fight

Speaking of songs, from when I was 9 to now
I would crease a CD sleeve with my guitar out
and I'd write songs as best I could
formed a band like my heroes would
There were those who thought I sang like an Anglophile
They didn't like my teen dreams or my words or style
I was still only a kid
Ambitious, insipid
But as I grew, I seemed to hit my mark
'Til my wheels fall off, I won't stop spouting sparks

I'll never quit
It's gonna take a lot more than that
I won't go out so fast
I was built to last
I don't give up
I'm a river with an ocean end
and though I could pass tonight
I won't go without a fight

I got fired for the first time at 21
The Second City threw a brick weighing 20 tons
It's the only job I've lost
I was my own nightmare boss
So I got myself a job at the Old Town School
Money's always been a game, I can't dodge the rules
I took every chance I saw
All my friends were rabbits' paws
And soon enough, they called on me for work
and I begged nobody, persistence has its perks

I'll never quit
It's gonna take a lot more than that
I won't go out so fast
I was built to last
I don't give up
I'm a river with an ocean end
and though I could pass tonight
I won't go without a fight

Out of shape, I spent my whole life being so
I've been approachable and mold-able and almost dough
I've felt bad in my own skin and the clothes I don't fit in
I've felt sick and depressed in the realest way
All of the toxins that I've taken in have come to stay
I care less for how I look
It's my insides that have shook
But now I'm running, eating better, lifting weights
I will never let my health disintegrate

I'll never quit
It's gonna take a lot more than that
I won't go out so fast
I was built to last
I don't give up
I'm a river with an ocean end
and though I could pass tonight
I won't go without a fight

I almost caved on a night that I'll never miss
Everybody that I loved seemed to ball their fists
I felt friendless and unwound
I heard death's beckoning sound
I assaulted my system like I never did
If I had more, I'd be another statistic kid
But I didn't, and I'm here
Now I redirect my spears
I'm better, braver, and know more now than then
I will never taste that hate I felt again

I'll never quit
It's gonna take a lot more than that
I won't go out so fast
I was built to last
I don't give up
I'm a river with an ocean end
and though I could pass tonight
I won't go without a fight