A play on the common parable that joy feels better because of pain in the world. John’s saying that when true happiness is experienced, it can bring to light how awful other suffering is.

This characterizes the passivity of the verse, which is meant to be in contrast to the angst in Paul’s first verse on the record. Also, the “I rock” structure is meant to be a parody of rappers listing what they’re wearing.

Some underground rappers with supposedly good content are bandwagoners just like mainstream rap followers – they’re just trying to appeal to a different niche.

This is a reference to the Paul Thompson song “Lyndale” in which Paul encounters a girl named Catherine. This is implied by the rhyme scheme.

Once reaching a certain level of thinking, it can be hard to dial down that mindset. These bars in particular are referencing the phenomena commonly known as ‘existential crisis’

Play on the title of the Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Paul had a mixtape called “Stage Left” which referenced many plays, and will do so later in the song.

After making an absolute statement about himself in the previous bar, he backtracks and asks to leave it undiscussed. More unreliable narration.