• Step by step, heart to heart, left right left
    We all fall down...

    [Chorus]
    Step by step, heart to heart, left right left
    We all fall down like toy soldiers
    Bit by bit, torn apart, we never-er win
    But the battle wages on for toy soldiers

    [Verse 1]
    I'm supposed to be the soldier who never blows his composure
    Even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders
    I am never supposed to show it, my crew ain't supposed to know it
    Even if it means goin' toe to toe with a Benzino it don't matter
    I'd never drag them in battles that I can't handle unless
    I absolutely have to
    I'm supposed to set an example
    I need to be the leader, my crew looks for me to guide 'em
    If some s**t ever just pop off, I'm supposed to be beside 'em
    Now the Ja s**t i tried to squash it, it was too late to stop it
    There's a certain line you just don't cross and he crossed it
    I heard him say Hailie's name on a song and I just lost it
    It was crazy, this s**t way beyond some Jay-z and Nas s**t
    And even though the battle was won, I feel like we lost it
    I spent too much energy on it, honestly I'm exhausted
    And I'm so caught in it I almost feel I'm the one who caused it
    This ain't what I'm in hip-hop for, it's not why I got in it
    That was never my object for someone to get killed
    Why would I wanna destroy something I helped build
    It wasn't my intentions, my intentions was good
    I went through my whole career without ever mentionin' ...
    Now it's just out of respect for not runnin' my mouth
    And talkin' about something that I knew nothing about
    Plus Dre told me stay out, this just wasn't my beef
    So I did, I just fell back, watched and gritted my teeth
    While he's all over t.v. down talkin' a man who literally saved my life
    Like ******** it i understand this is business
    And this s**t just isn't none of my business
    But still knowin' this s**t could pop off at any minute cuz

    [Chorus]
    Step by step, heart to heart, left right left
    We all fall down like toy soldiers
    Bit by bit, torn apart, we never win
    But the battle wages on for toy soldiers

    [Verse 2]
    There used to be a time when you could just say a rhyme
    And wouldn't have to worry about one of your people dyin'
    But now it's elevated cuz once you put someone's kids in it
    The s**t gets escalated, it ain't just words no more is it?
    It's a different ball game, callin' names and you ain't just rappin'
    We actually tried to stop the 50 and Ja beef from happenin'
    Me and Dre had sat with him, kicked it and had a chat with him
    And asked him not to start it he wasn't gonna go after him
    Until Ja started yappin' in magazines how he stabbed him
    ******** it 50 smash 'em, mash 'em and let him have it
    Meanwhile my attention is pullin' in other directions
    Some receptionist at The Source who answers phones at his desk
    Has an obsession for me and thinks that I'll be his ressurection
    Tries to blow the dust off his mic and make a new record
    But now he's ******** the game up cuz one of the ways I came up
    Was through that publication the same one that made me famous
    Now the owner of it has got a grudge against me for nothin'
    Well ******** it, that ******** can get it too, ******** him then
    But I'm so busy being pissed off I don't stop to think
    That we just inherited 50's beef with Murder Inc.
    And he's inherited mine which is fine ain't like either of us mind
    We still have soldiers that's on the front line
    That's willing to die for us as soon as we give the orders
    Never to extort us, strictly to show they support us
    We'll maybe shout 'em out in a rap or up in a chorus
    To show them we love 'em back and let 'em know how important it is
    To have Runion Avenue Soldiers up in our corners
    Their loyalty to us is worth more than any award is
    But I ain't tryna have none of my people hurt and murdered
    It ain't worth it I can't think of a perfecter way to word it
    Then to just say that I love ya'll too much to see the virdict
    I'll walk away from it all before I let it go any further
    But don't get it twisted, it's not a plea that I'm coppin'
    I'm just willin' to be the bigger man
    If ya'll can quit poppin' off at your jaws well then I can,
    Cuz frankly I'm sick of talkin'
    I'm not gonna let someone elses coffin rest on my conscience cuz

    [Chorus]
    Step by step, heart to heart, left right left
    We all fall down like toy soldiers
    Bit by bit, torn apart, we never-er win
    But the battle wages on for toy soldiers