Artist: Eminem
Album:  Kamikaze
Song:   Stepping Stone
Typed by: Nickolye16@aol.com 

[Intro]
"Take me to the river"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"

[Eminem]
It's 2002, everything was totally new
We were globally huge, watchin sales go through the roof
We wrote and we viewed it, Runyon Avenue Soldiers included
A multitude of homies who would bounce for no good excuse
We were so bullet-proof; wrote, souped and soaked in our youth
Thought we was runnin shit 'til we lost the sole of our shoe
... The death of Doody broke us in two
We were thrown for a loop, ain't none of us know what to do
And at the time I was goin through my own struggles too
So I wasn't in no condition to be coachin us through
Everyone tried to go solo, really nobody blew
I was hopin they do so I ain't have to shoulder the crew
The plan was put everyone in position so that they knew
how to stand on they own, and I don't wanna open up wounds
I just noticed the oomph was gone when we go in the booth
Cause the truth is the moment that Proof died, so did the group
Shoot

[Interlude: Eminem]
{"If I could leave this all behind"}
{"I could open up my eyes and walk in a straight line"}
Turn to the river with you
Help me leave this all behind

[Chorus: Eminem]
I'ma wash away my sins
I'ma rinse away this dirt
I forgot to make amends
To all the friends I may have hurt
I better stop and say my grace
From that I pray that I don't fall
Cause on the way back down I may
end up runnin back into them all
I never meant to use you all as my stepping stones

[Eminem]
It was never the same, and it's bothered me since
And the farther we drift apart the more awkward it gets
The more time goes by the more life happens
And we gotta be men - we got responsibilities
Plus we don't say how we feel and I feel like this is what got us in
the debacle we're in, been with you guys thick and thin
But it's almost as if sometimes we're not even friends
Which reminded me Biz, "Rockstar" was the shit
Y'all coulda got you a hit without me on the shit, if
you woulda put D12 on it, wish I coulda did
more than try talkin you into comin up off of it
I know it wasn't my fault, but part of it probably is
I think of all of the trips to BET and the rappers I wish
that we woulda politicked with, maybe y'all coulda clicked
And got you some features, but that's water under the bridge
But I'm washin my sins in it 'til my conscience is cleansed

[Interlude]

[Chorus]

[Eminem]
Bacardi and Henn', never thought the party would end
One minute you're bodyin shit, but then your audience splits
You can already sense the climate is starting to shift
To these kids you no longer exist
Went from rainin cats and dogs in this bitch, to tiny drops, little drips
And by the time your reign/rain is over, you'll hardly be missed/mist
You start thinkin of all the artists you gift
All the carnage you left, is this the kind of karma you get
for turnin your fuckin back on Bizzy, Kuniva and Swift?
A Freudian slip, subconsciously I honestly wished
I ain't feel so much guilt, and y'all didn't harbor resentment
But it's hard to pretend that y'all ain't got none, I just wish
I had words but I guess, they're just, are none for this
To my, partners I can't say how, sorry I am
This is, not how I planned for our, story to end
I love, all of you man but I just, can't be that guy
every-body depends on for entire careers
Cause that's, not even fair, I will, always be here
But that spark isn't there, and I don't know how to recapture
that time and that era, I've tried harkening back to
But I'm fightin for air, I'm barely charting myself
Feels like I'm on the descent, but it was not my intent
to treat y'all like a stepping stone
Though I ain't left no one behind but we been, down every road
Done all we possibly can, I know we kept our hopes up
But the longer we spend, livin this lie that we live
The less is left for closure - so let's let this go
It's not goodbye to our friendship, but D12 is over

[Chorus]

[Outro: Eminem]
I never meant to make you feel like my stepping stones
I never meant to use you all for my stepping stones