Genius | Song Lyrics & Knowledge

When everyone I see is broke, get lost in weed smoke
Knowin' it make it worse, thoughts roam uncontrollably J. Cole – Dollar and a Dream III

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Knowing full well that weed and productivity don’t go hand in hand, Cole continues to smoke weed to escape the realities of the poverty in his community.
He is also saying that when he smokes weed, it makes him over-think everything more. Marijuana can sometimes provide a “quick fix” to the harsh realities around him, but even weed does not help because it makes the harsh thoughts even worse than it did before. This is seen in the line to follow

Barely trustin' niggas, over a decade they been knowin me".

In addition he’s saying that everyone he sees is broke because they get lost smoking weed. If you have to smoke all the time, then you’re losing a lot of money.

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5 years

The paranoia blends with the marijuana ,and i wonder how this high never ends.
Dark Thoughts of cashing he dream the wrong way.

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Or do you flip that fuckin' dollar to a dream? J. Cole – Dollar and a Dream III

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Or do you put the hustle in to create the “rags to riches” lifestyle?
Or do you fight for what you want even with a simple dollar, that represents your opportunities.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I fantasized 'bout this back in Chicago
Mercy, mercy me, that Murciélago
That's me the first year that I blow Kanye West – Dark Fantasy

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Kanye spent his early career in Chicago dreaming of the day he’d be wealthy enough to own a car like a Lamborghini Murcielago.

In Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology),” humans are criticized for mistreating the environment, making Kanye’s line about a gas-guzzling luxury car pretty ironic.

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2 years

This line is somewhat similar to a line from Lil Wayne ’s Mr. Carter.

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I ball at the mall, beginning of the ending (Yeah) JAY-Z & Kanye West – Welcome To The Jungle

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This line continues the Pimp C tribute, interpolating one of his lines from “Big Pimpin'”:

Everybody wanna ball, holla at broads at the mall

A homophone is also deployed to great effect – ending is deliberately muddled with inning, an allusion to the fact Pimp C was cut down in his prime, at the beginning of life’s “inning”.

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1,182

5 years

jay on a different level bro

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Give them any other day but Thursday
Belongs to me
Every Thursday
I'll wait for you
I'll be beautiful for you
Every Thursday
I exist
Only on Thursday The Weeknd – Lonely Star

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“Thursday” symbolizes their relationship. While it’s the the closest day to “The Weeknd,” this girl comes to the realization she’s being used and her romantic feelings are not reciprocated.

Despite the lack of mutual love, “I’ll wait for you” indicates her loyalty. She recognizes that he’ll go off with others on every other day, but they belong to one another on Thursday.

This comes through in the “XO” wordplay—with “I exist only on Thursday.” She only feels alive with him on a Thursday, making her the “Lonely Star.”

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I live by you, desire
I stand by you, walk through the fire
Your love is my scripture
Let me in through your encryption
Yeah, yeah JAY-Z & Kanye West (Ft. Frank Ocean & The-Dream) – No Church in the Wild

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The bridge sets up ‘Ye’s verse which explores the idea of love replacing religious dogma. Despite the “fire” of criticism and moral judgment they’ll get because of it, Kanye believes that two people in a relationship should forge their own rules, rather than trying to live up to often unrealistic, or unsatisfying expectations of monogamy.

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Ian Arthur Guarino

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1 year

Let me do what I want. Let’s think about this for a second. Who was right and who was wrong? Was the people killing others? Or was it the ones who told you about it and cried all night about? Who were the real niggas? The ones who went to jail? Or the ones who did what they were told and it worked out in the end. Just shut up and stop looking at the lyrics and listen to the song. If you pick one to stop and look at it, it better be fuckin this. Do what you want, but I already know what you did.

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6,267

3 years

Interesting to note the choice of wording with ‘through the fire’, might be a subtle reference/callback to Through the Wire, which sampled Chaka Khan’s Through the Fire. The theme of risking standing by someone through trials and fire is central to Through the Fire, especially in the chorus.

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4 years

This bridge is the DNA of human will power (from which actions tend to flow). Desire is the energy source (as it relates to the video, desire tends to build up where ever it’s suppressed, and it’s usually most suppressed among marginalized/oppressed people, represented here by the mob).

Given enough time/repression to build to a fever pitch, it drives all men to extreme measures (this is the process of walking through the fire).

The path a person will take towards the fulfillment of their desire depends on the system against which it must traverse, the amount of desire and the fervency of those desires. However the ever persistent pull towards the fulfillment of their desire is guided by the Love of their desire which acts like scripture commanding them to go forward.

Ultimately if the desires are going to be fulfilled, some successful path through the universe must be charted and that will depend solely on a persons ability to dedicating 100% of their being to decoding that path (referred to by the last line “let me in through your encryption).

Extra insight: the Law of Thelema states “Do what thou wilt…” and that is usually the focus most persons place on the meaning behind this bridge, however the last line seems to give reference to the fact that one has to submit to the channels of the universe in order to successfully achieve full expression of one’s own desires (which gives credence to the Christian mandate found in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy will be done”)

Just my opinion: it is where the desire of man merge with the universal laws of the universe that true expression can be found.

Given enough time/repression to build to a fever pitch, it drives all men to extreme measures (this is the process of walking through the fire).

Extra insight: the Law of Thelema states "Do what thou wilt...” and that is usually the focus most persons place on the meaning behind this bridge, however the last line seems to give reference to the fact that one has to submit to the channels of the universe in order to successfully achieve full expression of one’s own desires (which gives credence to the Christian mandate found in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy will be done”)

Just my opinion: it is where the desire of man merge with the universal laws of the universe that true expression can be found.

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Feifei

6 years

The bridge is sung by “The Dream” and represents the Mob speaking. The mob now serve their own desire instead of serving the rightful God in the hierarchy. Their own definition of love has now become their “Bible” or scripture. This definition of Love is different to the one told in traditional religions and has disastrous consequences, hence why it requires one to “run through the fire”. The music video demonstrates how this verse is the power of the people because it transitions the battle between the “king’s men” and the “mob”, as the mob begin to take over and win. It perfectly illustrates how badly the mob worship simple desire instead of the rightful God as they tear down their own city in a carnal rage.

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Now one room got Gidget, the other got Bridget
What's more tripped out, dawg, is they sisters
Nah, you ain't listen, they Black, they sisters
They mama named 'em after white bitches JAY-Z & Kanye West (Ft. Curtis Mayfield) – The Joy

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Kanye alludes to the popular character of the 1957 book, and subsequent film and television projects – “Gidget”. This character helped define what it meant to be a “teenager” for baby boom Americans. However, “Bridget” is another name that seems more at home in the 1960s – cf. Brigitte Bardot, French film siren of the 1950s and 1960s.

Kanye’s twist – Bridget and Gidget are biologically sisters, and they’re culturally “sisters”, i.e. black – unusual given the very “white” names they have.

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No cheap cologne whenever I "shh-shh"
Success never smelled so sweet JAY-Z & Kanye West – Murder to Excellence

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Jay uses alliteration and onomatopoeia to express his distaste in cheap cologne. “Shh-shh” mimics the sound of spraying cologne.

Fun fact: In the movie Red Dragon which stars Hannibal Lector (who also appears in Silence of the Lambs) – Hannibal accuses Will Graham (an FBI agent) of smelling like fear under his cheap cologne.

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6 years

Also note Jay’s additional use of sibilance (’s', ‘sh’ & ‘z’ sounds) throughout the opening half of the verse to add rhythmic effect e.g. ‘sheepskin coats’, ‘smelled so sweet’, held out ‘sss’ on ‘Clarice’ & ‘Paris’, etc.

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In sheepskin coats, I silence the lambs
Do you know who I am, Clarice? JAY-Z & Kanye West – Murder to Excellence

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Hov alludes to the film The Silence of the Lambs featuring the cannibal psychopath Hannibal. The film stars Jodie Foster, who plays the protagonist Clarice Starling. Clarice carries early traumatic memories of sheep being slaughtered at her relative’s farm.

The sheep that were slaughtered on Clarice’s farm are the same ones Hov wears on his back.

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112

4 years

Provide link for reference

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Victoria

8 years

Jay is also droppin knowledge. Our Afrikan history was stolen from us & repackaged as another culture’s own. Hannibal of Carthage was a mighty warrior of Afrika…“The excellence” But when you mention Hannibal it is always associated with this movie. The irony of him saying, “…Do you know who I am…” Sadly, we don’t know our history. So the answer is, no.

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Tears on the mausoleum floor
Blood stains the Colosseum doors JAY-Z & Kanye West (Ft. Frank Ocean & The-Dream) – No Church in the Wild

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Jay compares the death of a king to that of a gladiator. In Ancient Rome, Emperors were mourned, and laid to rest in mausoleums, while gladiators merely provided entertainment—nobody wept for them.

Jay was influenced by Ancient Rome once before in “What More Can I Say?”, sampling audio from the film Gladiator.

This line is also similar in delivery and content to a Run-DMC line from “My Adidas”:

My Ahhh-didas, walk through concert doors
And roam all over coliseum floors

Jay Z’s rhyming of “mausoleum floor//colosseum doors ” may have been inspired by a 2010 Pusha T freestyle on Funkmaster Flex in which he rhymes,

kicking up dust like the Colosseum floors
walls full of safes like they mausoleum doors

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