I wouldn’t say I completely enjoyed my time at university, if anything, the final year of my degree has been a harrowing experience, to say the least.
What I took most from the whole shebang was nothing to do with the maths or textbook knowledge, but rather first-hand experience of the corruption and incompetence that pervades every part of our world. Our system is collapsing, and it’s getting closer to total dilapidation as we speak.
When I become a parent one day, I will NOT send my children to be at the mercy and jurisdiction of other adults, who have no kin relation with me or them. Because people always put themselves first, and that’s fine. But we have to really get to the bottom of this aphorism if we want to navigate the treacherous waters of the world.
People are just people. And oftentimes, certain individuals are clearly not qualified to do their jobs because of their lack of regard for their own dignity. It’s unbecoming of a man to hold positions of power and authority if they cannot even keep their physical and mental in check.
So to honor my struggles and journey, this song perfectly sums up all that’s befallen upon me.
I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed creating it out of my writing.
**(Verse 1)**
I almost made it into Oxford — almost touched that hallowed gate,
But fate rewrote my story, sent me somewhere far less straight.
Warwick on the map, they say, but Coventry’s the place I saw,
A campus built on illusions, wrapped in anti-nature law.
A name misplaced, a dream displaced,
A world outside the math I chased,
I walked the realms beyond equations —
Caught between the truth and education.
But through the noise a fire blazed —
Barry rose, the King of Math Games.
**(Pre-Chorus)**
And Vander’s shadow follows me,
A wolf beneath the faculty,
A father torn, a beast reborn —
The kind of story unadorned.
**(Chorus)**
Almost.
Almost tasted heaven’s door.
Almost cared about the score.
But life is bigger, darker, truer than the grades they keep in store.
Almost.
But “almost” taught me what I’m worth —
More than numbers on this earth.
In a world where 2 + 2 is twisted,
I’ll hold on to the true and gifted.
I’ll be the one who says: **2 + 2 = 4.**
The King of Math Games forevermore.
**(Verse 2)**
They said results would come in time — the ninth of October claimed,
But six days late a pixel flickered, 53.1 displayed.
A hundred thousand pounds they take, yet deadlines break like brittle twine,
A charity of swollen pockets, hollow words and fraying spine.
Students fade into the margins once the wallet has been drained,
And knowledge sold is knowledge cheap — ChatGPT could teach the same.
But even in that tangled maze,
Barry ruled as King of Math Games.
**(Pre-Chorus)**
There’s darkness rising in their dough,
A sweetness masking what they know,
But lions see and eagles pierce
The veil that butterflies disturb.
**(Chorus)**
Almost.
Almost played their little game.
Almost bowed beneath their name.
But I found meaning in the puzzles
That ignited my own flame.
Almost.
And yet I’m standing even more
Than the ones who guard the door.
In a world where truth is shaken,
I remain the unawakened —
The one who still believes: **2 + 2 = 4.**
Barry reigns — the King of Math Games at the core.
**(Bridge)**
Communicating mathematics — they said *listen*, never *speak*,
But I reached more hearts and minds than their degrees could in a week.
Fancy coursework, polished pages, but unseen by any crowd,
While my puzzles lit a hundred thousand minds with something proud.
Call me lazy, call me reckless — I just optimize my fate,
Minimize the useless noise; maximize what resonates.
And everywhere my message came,
They crowned me King of Math Games.
**(Breakdown)**
And oh — the ‘mathematicians’ bending truth until it breaks,
Selling axioms for approval, spinning lies for safety’s sake.
2 + 2 = 5 — they whisper, hoping no one calls their bluff,
But I’ve had enough, enough, enough.
**(Final Chorus)**
Almost.
Almost let them shape my core.
Almost let them close the door.
But I’ve carved a road of reason
Through a world that’s losing more.
Almost.
Yet here I stand, a voice restored,
A vanguard with a lion’s roar.
When the echoes twist the numbers,
I’ll remind them what is sure —
In the ruins of their chambers,
I’ll be standing with the cure:
**I’ll be the one who says:
2 + 2 = 4.**
The King of Math Games forever pure.
**(Outro)**
No Oxford crown, no Warwick throne —
For Barry forged a crown his own.
Almost lost himself in systems,
Now he rises ever higher.
Almost.
But almost sparked the inner fire —
A ruler built from wit and flame.
**In a world of fading reason,
Barry reigns — the King of Math Games.**