Growing Apart (To Get Closer) Lyrics

[Produced by Tae Beast]

[Chorus: Jhené Aiko & Kendrick Lamar]
Where are we going? Why are we slowing down?
Where are you going? We should be growing now
Smoke to it nigga, smoke to it nigga, oh
Where are we going? We should be slowing down
Where are you going? We should be growing now

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]
That’s what she said to me, that place I used to call home
Is just a bed to me
And we don’t even sleep, neighbors can hear her weep
Meanwhile I’m in these streets with everybody, I’m trying to get it
And she know they got me, I watch her feelings watch me

As they staring with the saddest eyes of loneliness
Look each other in the face and barely blink
I tried to make it right, but the pen ran out of ink
So if my letters don’t reach you, I hope these lyrics in sync


[Chorus: Jhené Aiko]
Where are we going? Why are we slowing down?
Where are you going? We should be growing now

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]
That’s what it said to me
But the place I call ambition now dead to me
Gone and forgotten, I’m off track like Dale Earnhardt
My liver rotten, alcoholic tripping
Fucking bad bitches and they got bad intentions
Club night, guys and dolls
Balling out but I'm 'bout to drop the ball
I’m calling out for help, my engineer called
Told me come to the studio, I wanna tell him– "Nah"
[Chorus: Jhené Aiko]
Where are we going? Why are we slowing down?
Where are you going? We should be growing now

[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]
That’s what he said to me
But that place we call Heaven unfair to me, only 144 can go
Seven billion people on planet Earth today
Is there something that I don’t know

I know to follow Him rather following people
Or follow vanity cause that means I’m following evil

Guess I’m following evil, I should follow cathedral
Blessings I need but live like I don’t need you

[Chorus: Jhené Aiko]
Where are we going? Why are we slowing down?
Where are you going? We should be growing now

[Verse 4: Kendrick Lamar]
So in conclusion
We all seem to stumble, planning our own demise
Forgetting the big picture and making it wallet size

So to what is important in my life, I apologize
I promise to stay faithful, focused and sanctified
We all get distracted, the question is
Would you bounce back or bounce backwards?
Would you not know how to act or take action?
It’s just a part of life and if your vision’s impaired, you probably lose it all tonight
[Outro: Jhené Aiko]
I'm tryna visualize how to get it right but my vision’s so blurry
Tryna slow it down, stay close to the ground, but we’re always in a hurry now
And if I could make this world spin a little slower, then I would
Then we could grow a little closer, I think we’re getting closer
I think we’re getting closer

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About

Genius Annotation

“Growing Apart (To Get Closer)” is the second track on Kendrick Lamar’s first full-length mixtape, Overly Dedicated. It samples an obscure 1970s funk record by Bobby Cook & The Explosions titled “On The Way.” It also interpolates 1978’s “Hangin'” by little known Australian R&B group Stylus.

The track was produced by Tae Beast and features vocals from Jhené Aiko, who also released her own version in 2011, titled “Growing Apart Too.” The remix is the last track on Aiko’s Sailing Soul(s) project, with Lamar’s fourth verse now placed at the beginning of the song. It appropriately closes out the mixtape, beginning with the line:

So in conclusion…

Kendrick’s version fits with the themes of other songs on Overly Dedicated, such as “Opposites Attract (Tomorrow W/O Her)” and “Cut You Off (To Grow Closer),” which is the second to last track on the album—giving the project some chiastic structure.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Is there an alternate version of this song?
Genius Answer

There is. Whereas the most-widely distributed version of the song ends with Jhené Aiko’s voice, some downloads of the mixtape (like the one that can be found on DatPiff) have a much shorter drum intro, and an outro by Kendrick.

As the track fades, a low-pitched Kendrick raps:

Closer, closer, I think I’m getting closer / I got my mind right and I think I’m getting closer / Oh like I’m supposed to / You can’t tell me nothin’, nothin’, nothin’ / Think I’m getting closer / Got my mind right and I think I’m getting closer, closer, closer / Oh like I’m supposed to / You can’t tell me nothin’ / You can’t tell me nothin’

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