"The Message"- Grandmaster Flash And The Furious 5

[enigmatic]

I don't care what anyone says, these are greatest rap lyrics ever. And this is one of the 20 greatest songs of all-time, regardless of genre...

Broken glass everywhere
People pissing on the stairs, you know they just
Don't care
I can't take the smell, I can't take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back
Junkie's in the alley with a baseball bat
I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far
Cause the man with the tow-truck repossessed my car

Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to loose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

Standing on the front stoop, hangin' out the window
Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes
Blow
Crazy lady, livin' in a bag
Eating out of garbage bins, used to be a fag-hag
Search and test a tango, skips the life and then go
To search a prince to see the last of senses
Down at the peepshow, watching all the creeps
So she can tell the stories to the girls back home
She went to the city and got so so so ditty
She had to get a pimp, she couldn't make it on her
Own


It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin' under

My brother's doing fast on my mother's t.v.
Says she watches to much, is just not healthy
All my children in the daytime, dallas at night
Can't even see the game or the sugar ray fight
Bill collectors they ring my phone
And scare my wife when I'm not home
Got a bum education, double-digit inflation
Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike
At the station
Me on king kong standin' on my back
Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac
Midrange, migraine, cancered membrane
Sometimes I think I'm going insane, I swear I might
Hijack a plane!

Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to loose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

My son said daddy I don't wanna go to school
Cause the teacher's a jerk, he must think I'm a
Fool
And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be
Cheaper
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper
I dance to the beat, shuffle my feet
Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps
Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing
Funny
You got to have a con in this land of milk and
Honey
They push that girl in front of a train
Took her to a doctor, sowed the arm on again
Stabbed that man, right in his heart
Gave him a transplant before a brand new start
I can't walk through the park, cause it's crazy
After the dark
Keep my hand on the gun, cause they got me on the
Run
I feel like an outlaw, broke my last cast jaw
Hear them say you want some more, livin' on a
Seesaw

Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to loose my head
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

A child was born, with no state of mind
Blind to the ways of mankind
God is smiling on you but he's frowning too
Cause only God knows what you go through
You grow in the ghetto, living second rate
And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate
The places you play and where you stay
Looks like one great big alley way
You'll admire all the number book takers
Thugs, pimps, pushers and the big money makers
Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens
And you wanna grow up to be just like them, huh,
Smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers
Pickpockets, peddlers and even plan-handlers
You say I'm cool, I'm no fool
But then you wind up dropping out of high school
Now you're unemployed,all null'n' void
Walking around like you're pretty boy floyd
Turned stickup kid, look what you done did
Got set up for a eight year bid
Now your man is took and you're a may tag
Spend the next two years as an undercover fag
Being used and abused, and served like hell
Till one day you was find hung dead in a cell
It was plain to see that your life was lost
You was cold and your body swung back and forth
But now your eyes sing the sad sad song
Of how you lived so fast and died so young...

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Definitely a classic.

[enigmatic]

3. I just listened to it for the first time in more than a couple of years

And I couldn't get over how powerful the rap was even today; Definitely influenced by The Last Poets...

[Benfea]

2. That song is the inspiration for many political rappers later.

Even for folks like Chuck D.

[enigmatic]

4. Absolutely

The Last Poets, too; they always seem to get lost when talking about the origins of Rap. Their stuff in the 70's was groundbreaking..

[NMMNG]

5. A powerful song

And definitely a classic.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. WWIII

also a classic. imho.

1984 World War III
Chorus:
Life is a Game of Business
and in the end we sight (swear to god)
the new and old are bought and sold
and everybody thinks they're right

War is a game of business
a game we shouldn't play (swear to god)
cause men with guns killed all our sons
they blew us all away

They Called it
World (Paranoina!)
War (it's Almost Over)
3 (Cause Nobody Hears what the People Say)

Realistcally the Bombs are ready
Technically, Nuclear by name
Capability of total Destruction
Radioactive death and flame
there is talk of a firey doom
prophesied since the dawn of time
in a world of bloodshed, mass confusion,
killer diseases, Pollution and Crime
Man is in Conflict with nature
and that is why there's so much sin
mother nature's delicate balance will fix it so nobody wins

in World (Catastrofic)
War (Reaganomic)
3 (and nobody hears what the people say)

World (it's Atomic)
War (catastrofic)
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

A thousand miles away from home
a mortally wounded soldier dies
and on the blood stained battlefield
his life flashes before his eyes
before he dies the man saw jesus
and jesus christ took his hand
and on the soldier's dying breath
the good lord took him to the promised land

cause there's.. No (people living)
More (People Dying)
Pain (Everybody Disappeared)

Chorus:

Breakdown, Pain

1984, See the world at war
your darkest fears of reality are knockin' down your door
drones and mutations, Clones and deviations
and there's no one that can escape the nuclear revelation

Because
Chorus:

the silver moon, the midnight stars, jupiter collides with mars
and out of the darkness spirits roar
to cast revenge on the earth once more
the leaders of the world are hypnotized
by wizards, dark and in disguise
brought to earth by an evil hand
to devour souls in a brand new land
they let the leader think that war brings peace
and out come the one with the mark of the beast
there's evil behind closed doors
in the year of 1984

Chorus:

long ago and all too soon
2 different wars fought on the moon
one put (creators?) on it first
then we blew futher in the universe
both of these were nuclear wars
breaking universal laws
then falling stars and meteorites
dropped to earth by day and night
twisters, earthquakes, hurricanes
volcanos, drops and torrential rain
then one day, the UFO's
came to see the whole world explode
we will pay the ultimate price
and a lesson is to be learned
when we play with nuclear fire
everybody's gonna get burned

Chorus:

Pain! Pain! (so let the music play on)

Between the boundaries of time and space
was the planet earth and the human race
a world alive and centuries old
with veins of diamonds, silver and gold
snow capped mountains over looked the land
and the deep blue sea made love with the sand
full grown strands of evergreen hair
kissed the sky with a breath of air
where exotic fish once swam in the sea
and the eagles soared in the sky so free
but the foolish clan that walked the land
was the creature, that they called man
they're cannibalistic, paranoid fools
tricking each other with games and rules
training their men to kill and fight
moving and stearing their mechanized might
only thought that man had in mind
was to conquer the world and the rest of mankind
and with the thought that they were right
they gave you permission to take a man's life
the ones you killed fought just as hard
then you even had the nerve to pray to god
but god don't wanna hear all your mess
when you ain't the one that he laid to rest
the devil's children with no disgrace
crushed and killed the human race
while they got rich off the games and war
what in the hell were you fighting for
a silly ass metal, a stupid parade
for all those innocent people you slaid
and after that, you couldn't even get a job
cause fighting that war made you a slob
a seargeant and major, a corporal, Lieutenant
titles and positions were all invented
you, and me, and all this mess
are just a bunch of pieces in a game of chess
it's all the same, a third world war
a blood thirsty massacre just like before
it's genocide, three billion tears
feeding on a war every twenty years
then one day we heard the sound
of the whole damn world tumbling down
just one big boom, and what do you know
the world is a ghetto, high and low
crumbling buildings all around
man's creation burned to the ground
chaos, panic, fear and pain
days of radioactive rain
grotesque figures burned alive
miraculously seem to survive
everything of reality is the science fiction on TV
mutant dog and sabertoothed rats
eat men with guns and baseball bats
the dead won't die, the (rudie?) won't cry
and everybody's asking the question "why"
until swarms of millions walk from the city
and thousands more went underground below
with their head held down in their own pity
wondering where, they do not know
cause in this game we had a chance
but we blew it for cheap thrills and romance
maybe one day we'll get another play
but until then remember what i say

Chorus:



Ya know, when I've had enough to drink... I'll show ya some of my old moves. :evilgrin:

[mikeytherat]

7. White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)

White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)

Fun, baby
(Rich baby, interesting)
Freeze! Rock (Rock Rock Rock Rock Rock Rock Rock)
Aaah, aaah, aaah, aaah)
Uhraah!
Bass!

Ooh White, White
Ooh White, White
Ooh White, White

(Ooh White Lines) Vision dreams of passion
(Blowin’ through my mind) and all the while I think of you
(High fry) a very strange reaction
(For us to unwind) the more I see, the more I do
(Something like a phenomenon) Baby!
(Tellin your body to come along, but white lines blow away)
(Blow! Rock it! Blow!)

Ticket to ride, white line highway
Tell all your friends, they can go my way
Pay your toll, sell your soul
Pound for pound costs more than gold
The longer you stay, the more you pay
My white lines go a long way
Either up your nose or through your vein
With nothin to gain except killin’ your brain

(Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!)
(Blow!)

(Ahhh) Higher, baby
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
And don't ever come down! (Freebase!)

Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang
Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang
Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang
Diggedy dang di-dang diggedy dang di-dang

(Pipeline) pure as the driven snow
(Connected to my mind) and now I'm havin’ fun, baby!
(High fry) it's getting kinda low
(Cause it makes you feel so nice) I need some one-on-one, baby!
(Don't let it blow your mind away) Baby!
(And go into your little hideaway ‘cause white lines blow away)
(Blow! Rock it! Blow!)

A million magic crystals, painted pure and white
A multi-million dollars almost overnight
Twice as sweet as sugar, twice as bitter as salt
And if you get hooked, baby, it's nobody else's fault, so don't do it!

(Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!)
Raah! (Blow!)

(Ahhh) Higher, baby
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
And don't ever come down! (Freebase!)

(Don’t you get too high) don’t you get too high baby!
(Turns you on) you really turn me on and on
(When you gonna come down) my temperature is risin’
(When the thrill is gone) no, I don’t want you to go

A street kid gets arrested, gonna do some time
He got out three years from now just to commit more crime
A businessman is caught with 24 kilos
He’s out on bail and out of jail
And that’s the way it goes
Raah!

(Kane! Sugar! Kane! Sugar! Kane!)

Athletes rejected, governors corrected
Gangsters, thugs and smugglers are thoroughly respected
The money gets divided
The women get excited
Now I’m broke and it’s no joke
It’s hard as hell to fight it, don’t buy it!

(Freeze! Haha ha ha! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!)
Raah! (Blow!)

(Ahhh) Get higher, baby
(Ahhh) Get higher, girl!
(Ahhh) Get higher, baby!
C’mon!
Raah!

(White Lines) Vision dreams of passion
(Blowin’ through my mind) and all the while I think of you
(High Fry) a very strange reaction
(For us to unwind) the more I see, the more I do
(Something like a phenomenon) Baby!
(Tellin your body to come along, but white lines blow away)

Little Jack Horner sitting on the corner
With no shoes and clothes
This aint funny, but he took his money
And sniffed it up his nose

(Hey man, you wanna cop some blow?)
(Sure, what you got, dust, flakes or rocks?)
(I got China White, Mother of Pearl, Ivory Flake, What you need?)
(Well yeah, well let me check it out man, just let me get a freeze)
(Go ahead man, stuff I got should kill ya!)
(Yeah man th-that’s that’s raw, wuh)

(Freeze! Haha ha ha! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!
Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!)

mikey_the_rat - ain't no skool like the old skool

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

8. "Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge"

Fantastic lyrics - thanks for posting. Tricky clearly referenced this song in "Vent" (on Pre-Millennium Tension:


Tricky:

She's the one makes me feel these ways
He's the one needs some praise
Can't stand to feel
Hate to feel
Gone insane
Hijack a plane
Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge
Trying hard not to lose my head
Can't hardly breathe
I've been and seen
She hides my ventolin
Can't hardly breathe
Can't hardly breathe
Can't hardly breathe

Martina:

( I'm the one ), I'm the one
( who hides his medicine ), who hides his medicine
( watch him stop breathe ), watch him stop breathe
( watch him bleed ), watch him bleed
( I right the wrongs and take his songs ), I right the wrongs and take his song
( and we all live happy ever after ), and we all live happy ever after
( can't hardly breathe ), can't hardly breathe
Can't hardly breathe
Can't hardly breathe
Can't hardly breathe
And we all sing together now
Can't hardly breathe