Oftentimes, the world feels out of hand; it’s always tilting through a looking glass, but in those moments where I can’t breathe, I find myself writing lyrics that are more in-depth about my feelings than I can’t even describe.

“The world that we live in is tilted to the wrong side. The lens that we see through can’t filter out what’s right. Breaking news on the television is frightening. Is it true that the world can’t fix what’s on the inside?”

Over the course of a few years, probably more, everything I have lived through has been broadcasted for the world to see, but even before that, people everywhere have experienced the rain of terror that we live in. Things like 9/11, the George Floyd murder, the Global Pandemic, the Oxford school shooting, and recently, the Patrick Lyoya shooting, were all talked about, videotaped, and seen through the homes of millions.

As some just sit back and watch what’s happening, very few people have the courage to speak, write, and feel the emotions that may be impacting them. Although out of all the things the majority of us can relate to, it’s being on the other side most can’t understand.

“What’s left is broken pieces from the devils’ bullets, broken pieces, but we’re on the other side.”

As I sit in the feelings that impact me the most, the second-hand feeling of hurt and the quilt builds within my body. The way we’ve created a society where normal is fearing our safety and brutality is considered self-defense—those who think they aren’t doing wrong by following this new normalcy will always be living on the other side of what’s right.

“The reality of lives isn’t fine. Our cameras are out during every fight. Hearts shatter after reading headlines. Is it true that some get stuck with a short timeline?”

While I watch people get discriminated against and mistreated for the color of their skin, ethnicity, and even just for doing their basic way of living, I can’t even begin to fathom how others believe that is okay. Those who live in fear will always continue to run from it as if there has been no change for them. The world can give so much, but it seems to draw a line when it comes to the nature of someone’s appearance.

“Petrified feelings, rolling with shootings at people who deserve more than what they get. Racial inequality hasn’t left for centuries. Why is it that we are just now starting to get it? It hurts when we talk about, not knowing how to stop it, our world is splitting like glass.”

When we just start a new page in life, there is always another obstacle driven towards us. When I finally felt comfortable about who I am as a person living in this world, the events impacting me are those that are broadcasted right in front of me or to my face. We can make a difference, but it’s up to people to decide whether or not they are living in the eye of the devil’s bullet.

The other side is a real place. We won’t be able to understand the pain in the world unless we are experiencing it firsthand, or we have empathy and sympathy left in our hearts for change. I didn’t write this song for the world to hear what I had to say. I wrote it so my side of life would be listened to—to bring hope that one day people won’t have to record how they are being mistreated, that police won’t be required to wear a camera because they are doing right and not wrong, that we will build a bridge between both sides and step in the way of the bullets that keep hitting our hearts.

I wrote “The Other Side” for life, not for one individual or myself, but for the lives that we’ve lost due to the society this world has built.