So many people living under the supposed system of checks and balances find themselves disenfranchised by the law, and are therefore left to live a life that is destined for doom. Whether they live by or against the law, it will always be against them.

Redford questions his sibling’s request to join him in jail – his orientation is towards staying out of jail at all costs, even if it means a Scarface-style last stand

Redford here re-states his refusal to live a quiet, desperate life. Sadly, the listener knows, even if he doesn’t yet, that this refusal will mean that his life comes to a short, violent end

Two television shows are referenced in this line:

• Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs followed host, Mike Rowe, as he visited some of the least desirable occupations in the U.S. and offered his assistance. Each episode ended with Mike Rowe expressing his respect and gratitude to the workers of such uninviting jobs.

• National Geographic’s Swamp Men exposed viewers to the everyday experiences of the “swamp men” that are relied upon to maintain the safety of the most dangerous animal park in North America. They regularly perform hazardous duties including catching rattlesnakes and wrestling alligators.

Redford Stephens relates his experiences on the menacing streets to those of the laborers featured in Dirty Jobs and Swamp Men. The risk of death is inherent to the lifestyle, but he will keep struggling to survive by “doing dirty jobs like swamp men” as he counts “the faces of those that might have been."

To the end, Redford justifies his life choices. He paints a picture of what his life would be without hustling – dead-end, dream-killing drudgery. Sadly, he’s correct as far as we can tell. As of 2009, the poverty rate for African-Americans was a crushing 25.8%, with annual median incomes heading downward

This line references the mass incarceration of black men in America. In 2010, black Americans made up less than 13% of the U.S. population and yet comprised 40% of the prison population.

Malcolm X, originally Malcolm Little, was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925. After moving from a juvenile home in Michigan to Boston, he became a street hustler, drug dealer, and criminal. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for robbery in 1946. While in prison, Malcolm converted to the Nation of Islam after being introduced to the religion by a fellow inmate named Reginald. Malcolm X eventually became a leader in the Black Nationalism and Civil Rights Movements before he was assassinated in 1965 while giving a lecture in Harlem, New York.

Redford won’t accept any slipping (and can’t, given that it would likely mean his own death). He puns here on the concept of “mechanical failure”, the type of machine breakdown that often causes plane crashes. The only acceptable reason for failure is that his body will stop working.