[Cantankerous]

the fact that you just tried to say that anyone is a better lyricist than bob dylan is fucking absurd.

[atari 2600]

Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin fallin' down

You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile

Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe

The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares?

You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell yuh
That you ain't a-got no friend

Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain

Your grass it is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shells

Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall

Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand

There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar

There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born

[atari 2600]

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.

[ted_kennedy]

Originally Posted by atari 2600

"American Way"
(feat. Kelis)
[Sample - Nas: "Political"]
[Newscaster:] "Recently there has been an emergence of socially
conscious and political rappers. It seems to be
a new trend in the Hip-Hop world."
[DJ scratches sample - Nas: "Nas is a rebel to America" 3X]
[Vers 1: Nas]
Yeah, check it, uh
Spot build-rocker, lil' papa killed Hoffa
Beard lil' longer, feel strong and I'll stop ya
Drill sergeant, still thorough, wheelbarrows of distilled vodka
Get me real bonkers like Will Ferrell on cat tranquilizer
Rap guys get bank and think they messiahs, but they liars
Vote fo who now? You're red, white and blue?
I'm American too, but I ain't with the president's crew
What you peddlin' and who you peddlin' to?
You ain't got the ghetto with you
Try'na lead my sheep to the slaughterhouse
Talkin 'bout +Rap the Vote+, you ain't thought about
The black vote mean nathan, who you gonna elect
Satan or Satan? In the hood nothin is changin, uh
We ain't got no choices who to choose
Ten-years ago they were tryin to stop our voices
And end Hip-Hop, they some hypocrites
Condoleeza Rice - I don't really get this chick
Tell her if she ever really cared about poor schools
About poor children, then she gotta prove that she
ain't just another coon Uncle Tom fool
Like these MC's, gotta give 'em the rules
Lie to the youth, Uncle Tom you confused
Might as well give the Hip-Hop community a noose
Need a truce with the gangs and some food for the hungry
On Kerry nuts, he look at you like a monkey
You MC's on that old slavery path
The Bushs'll look at yo' ass and laugh
See, it's all about community, let's help ourselves
Cops brutalize us get dealt with with shells
It's our turn, it's 'bout time we win
Need somebody as the hood as my councilman, uh
[Chorus: Kelis]
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way, shit
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way, shit
([Nas:] Cause that's the American way)
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way, shit
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way
[Verse 2: Nas]
Up in the steam room chillin', exfoliating the skin
It's rarely men conversatin' on ends, probably businessmen
I sense good taste, and they watch us, the spots an expensive place
Manhattan New York, I'm try'na keep steamin'
It's good for the lungs, had plans for the evening
This man leans in, his boys laughing
Now I'm the spokesperson for Black men, this always happens
Says, "Since all Black women care about is who got dough
And all we do is call them either bitch or a Black hoe"
I say first brotha you ain't gotta be that cold
Since you ignorant, I'ma show you how the facts go
The biggest example in scandal of history
Were Monica Lewinksy or Donald Trump's pimping spree
Most woman who love Jeevanji of Gucci
Are pretentious non-Black groupies or floozies
But who are we to blame, not the dames
It's a man-made game, in essence our woman the same
Beautiful creatures, Black girls birthed the earth
So they deserve to earn man's purse
Matter fact, I'm about to go shopping with my dime
Catch you cowards the next time, the next rhyme, uh
[Chorus: Kelis singing]
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way, shit
([Nas:] That's the American way)
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way, shit
([Nas:] Cause that's the American way. What up, K?)
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way, shit
([Nas:] That's the American way)
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way, shit
([Nas:] Ha, yeah)
I don't care about the runaways
I don't care about who's gay
I don't care about dying of AIDS
But I care if I got paid
Who even cares about the president?
I think they're making a mistake
I don't care about the hurricane
As long as my family's safe
I don't care about the candidates
They burnt this country to bits
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way ([Nas:] Uh)
Can we make a change
You know it's not overnight
Let's start the fight (Nas: And ya don't stop, uh)
Can we make a change
You know it's not overnight
Let's start the fight (Nas: Yeah)
Yeah I think about this everyday, that's the American Way

wow, he rhymes "way" with "day" in the chorus...brilliant!
He's got an album called "Illmatic" & another called "Stillmatic"...genius!

Great lyrics, I think any1 with a brain will see. Most of that song prolly goes over your head. That is far from his best though

[Cantankerous]

the terms "any1" and "prolly" speak louder than words. they say "ted kennedy is brainless"

[atari 2600]

Post his best then; what are you waiting for, a written fucking invitation?
I chose that one because it looked like his best & there's some decent wordplay in parts. He does shoot himself in the foot as far as any real songwriting credibility with lines like "Will Ferrell on cat tranquilizer" though.

Don't be jivin' us with any race-card jerky, either.
The best Dylan* is far more radical than any Nas song no matter how sensationalist Nas may get as he stirs up the bullshit. Nas may be a better rapper than many, but get off it. I'll take Public Enemy any day.
How can someone write a more intense song that tells a story than "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" or "Hurricane?"
Just for the record, John Lennon is my favorite songwriter.

* but a few
The Ballad of Hollis Brown, It's Alright Ma, Desolation Row, Idiot Wind, Visions of Johanna, Hurricane, Like a Rolling Stone, Subterranean Homesick Blues, She Belongs to Me, Absolutely Sweet Marie, All Along the Watchtower, Masters of War, Everything is Broken, The Times They are a-Changin'

[ted_kennedy]

Also, can I just say that those Dylan lyrics are amazing too. We dont need to choose between one or the other here. They are both good.

[ted_kennedy]

OK every1 chill, im gonna go get some nas lyrics that I think will represent him well. Back in like 5.

Cantankerous is a numbnutz

[Cantankerous]

Originally Posted by ted_kennedy

We dont need to choose between one or the other here.

that's not what the opening post of this thread would indicate.

Cantankerous is a numbnutz

i'm insulted.

[ted_kennedy]

Originally Posted by Cantankerous

that's not what the opening post of this thread would indicate.

i'm insulted.

Stop livin' in the past, man.

Anyway, I've got some lyrics here. What you need to understand that Nas is tryin to relate what life is like in a ghetto environment in 1990s New York. Don't judge these lyrics with the same criteria you would judge Dylan lyrics with. Take them on their own terms, and if you can dig out the song and listen to it at the same time as you read the lyrics, you will 'get' them easier.

First song: NY State of Mind Pt. II:

[Nas]
Uhh
Yo, yo-yo, y'all
Whattup? Whattup
It's time man (Word, it's time?)
Straight up, it's time man
Aight, set that shit off
(Set it off then nigga, set it off)

Broken glass in the hallway, bloodstained floors
Neighbors, look at every bag you bring through your doors
Lock the top lock, momma shoulda cuffed me to the radiator
Why not? It might've saved later from my block
N.Y. cops, hookers crawlin off the stroll, coughin
stitches in they head, stinkin and I dread thinkin they be snitchin
But who else, could it be, shook at these, unmarked vans
Parked in the dark -- NARC's, where's your heart?
Hustlers starve; they bust a U-e I jog
to my building -- come out later wearin camouflage
See the sergeant and the captain -- strangle men
Niggaz gaspin for air; til they move no more and just stare
with dead eyes -- tired of riots, shit is quiet
Simple-minded fools infiltrate grimy crews
Overcrowded cribs, uncles home from bids, sister's pregnant
father's on drugs, moms is smokin, beds is piss-infested
Had eight partners growin up, eight turned to seven
Seven turned to six niggaz, got two in heaven
Six of us, holdin it, now it's five rollin thick
The sixth one's parole flipped; five niggaz, went to fo' quick
when he went O.T., college life, converted into gangbangin
Four niggaz still hangin, years passed and slang changin
Three of us now, fourth nigga ain't around
We all thought he was real -- he did the snake shit
Fake shit -- beat his ass down, yo his mouth
could've got us all wasted, what a fuckin clown
All I got left in the end is two of my best friends
And we all goin out, to the death for these ends, WHAT?

New York, New York ("New York state of mind" -> Rakim)
New York, New York ("New York state of mind" -> Rakim)
*repeat while Nas is talking*

You heard about it, you see about it
You read about it, it's in your papers
It's in your daily news ("Get money!")
New York chronicles, every day
The crime rate, the murder rate
The money rate, the paper chase, youknowhatImean?
New York state of mind baby, check it out

[Nas]
I'm at the, gamblin spot, my hands on a knot
New York Yankee cap cover my eyes, stand in one spot
I take a nigga dough, send him home, to a shoebox
You lost that nigga I put your dollar in the jukebox
Hear my favorite song, all these niggaz sing along
All the ciggarette smoke's cloggin my lungs, hoodrats flashin they tongue
Young thugs blastin they gun, we got reputations
Bitches and niggaz both on parole or probation
Shit is sick, niggaz got gats, army fatigues
I got my eyes glued on, whoever walk in the lead
Cause I ain't playin, niggaz'll run up in here and shoot up this shit
Stick yo' ass up, niggaz'll find the loot in your kicks
Bunch of triple-cross niggaz, just New York niggaz
Lift you off your feet when they was just talkin with you
Some of these dudes the Feds be on em, you knew em for years
Be the type when you walk in a pub, they offer you beers
That ain't gangsta, niggaz is up North with tatted tears
Your name's on the affadavit, you ratted kid
Faggot-ass niggaz that be scared to do they bids
Fuck you, we run you out of N.Y, you can't live
Got your quiet niggaz, that relocated down South
comin back to floss, then you got the jealous loudmouths
All of a sudden we got Crips and Bloods, D.T.'s
runnin round quick to split your mug, it's ea-sy to score
but it's hard to get the shit off
Niggaz fightin over hundred sales, jump in the car and drive off
When the fiend come around the block, happy as hell
Niggaz, mad cause they ain't get a piece of that sale
Cutthroat connivers, universal, ghetto survivors
Go to any hood that's live and make it liver
A lot of niggaz scheamin, some real, some niggaz frontin
But I'm a big dreamer, so watch me come up with somethin

New York, New York
New York, New York

[Cantankerous]

Originally Posted by ted_kennedy

Stop livin' in the past, man.

i think you have some sort of arcane plot to blow up the earth.

[HaydenAsche]

"Uhh
Yo, yo-yo, y'all
Whattup? Whattup
It's time man (Word, it's time?)
Straight up, it's time man
Aight, set that shit off
(Set it off then nigga, set it off)"

Can you say uneducated?

[ted_kennedy]

Song 2: NY State of Mind Pt 1: (Look for how complex the lyrics are in terms of sentence structure and rhyme)

Artist: Nas
Album: Illmatic
Song: N.Y. State of Mind
Typed by: OHHLA Webmaster DJ Flash

[Intro: Nas]
Yeah yeah, aiyyo black it's time (word?)
(Word, it's time nigga?)
Yeah, it's time man (aight nigga, begin)
Yeah, straight out the fuckin dungeons of rap
Where fake niggaz don't make it back
I don't know how to start this shit, yo, now

[Verse One: Nas]
Rappers I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm I be kickin
Musician, inflictin composition
of pain I'm like Scarface sniffin cocaine
Holdin a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme, now
Bulletholes left in my peepholes
I'm suited up in street clothes
Hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes
Y'all know my steelo with or without the airplay
I keep some E&J, sittin bent up in the stairway
Or either on the corner bettin Grants with the celo champs
Laughin at baseheads, tryin to sell some broken amps
G-Packs get off quick, forever niggaz talk shit
Remeniscing about the last time the Task Force flipped
Niggaz be runnin through the block shootin
Time to start the revolution, catch a body head for Houston
Once they caught us off guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and
I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin
Pick the Mac up, told brothers, "Back up," the Mac spit
Lead was hittin niggaz one ran, I made him backflip
Heard a few chicks scream my arm shook, couldn't look
Gave another squeeze heard it click yo, my shit is stuck
Try to cock it, it wouldn't shoot now I'm in danger
Finally pulled it back and saw three bullets caught up in the chamber
So now I'm jetting to the building lobby
and it was filled with children probably couldn't see as high as I be
(So whatchu sayin?) It's like the game ain't the same
Got younger niggaz pullin the triggers bringing fame to they name
and claim some corners, crews without guns are goners
In broad daylight, stickup kids, they run up on us
Fo'-fives and gauges, Macs in fact
Same niggaz'll catch a back to back, snatchin yo' cracks in black
There was a snitch on the block gettin niggaz knocked
So hold your stash until the coke price drop
I know this crackhead, who said she gotta smoke nice rock
And if it's good she'll bring ya customers in measuring pots, but yo
You gotta slide on a vacation
Inside information keeps large niggaz erasin and they wives basin
It drops deep as it does in my breath
I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined
I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind

("New York state of mine" --> Rakim *repeat 4X*)

[Verse Two: Nas]
Be havin dreams that I'ma gangster -- drinkin Moets, holdin Tecs
Makin sure the cash came correct then I stepped
Investments in stocks, sewein up the blocks
to sell rocks, winnin gunfights with mega cops
But just a nigga, walking with his finger on the trigger
Make enough figures until my pockets get bigger
I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin
Give me a Smith and Wessun I'll have niggaz undressin
Thinkin of cash flow, buddah and shelter
Whenever frustrated I'ma hijack Delta
In the P.J.'s, my blend tape plays, bullets are strays
Young bitches is grazed each block is like a maze
full of black rats trapped, plus the Island is packed
From what I hear in all the stories when my peoples come back, black
I'm livin where the nights is jet black
The fiends fight to get crack I just max, I dream I can sit back
and lamp like Capone, with drug scripts sewn
Or the legal luxury life, rings flooded with stones, homes
I got so many rhymes I don't think I'm too sane
Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain
and be prosperous, though we live dangerous
cops could just arrest me, blamin us, we're held like hostages
It's only right that I was born to use mics
and the stuff that I write, is even tougher than dykes
I'm takin rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow
My rhymin is a vitamin, held without a capsule
The smooth criminal on beat breaks
Never put me in your box if your shit eats tapes
The city never sleeps, full of villians and creeps
That's where I learned to do my hustle had to scuffle with freaks
I'ma addict for sneakers, twenties of buddah and bitches with beepers
In the streets I can greet ya, about blunts I teach ya
Inhale deep like the words of my breath
I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times
Nothing's equivalent, to the new york state of mind

("New York state of mind" --> Rakim *repeat 4X*)
("Nasty Nas" --> cut and scratched 8X)

[Cantankerous]

Originally Posted by HaydenAsche

Can you say uneducated?

yeah, but nas probably can't.

[ted_kennedy]

Originally Posted by HaydenAsche

"Uhh
Yo, yo-yo, y'all
Whattup? Whattup
It's time man (Word, it's time?)
Straight up, it's time man
Aight, set that shit off
(Set it off then nigga, set it off)"

Can you say uneducated?

Can you say racist?

Read the rest, numbnutter

[HaydenAsche]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Cantankerous again.

[HaydenAsche]

Originally Posted by ted_kennedy

Can you say racist?

Read the rest, numbnutter

Oh, no! I'm a racist. WOOPS!

[ted_kennedy]

3: If I Ruled the World w/ Lauren Hill:

Artist: Nas f/ Lauryn Hill
Album: It Was Written
Song: If I Ruled the World
Typed by: OHHLA Webmaster DJ Flash

Intro: Nas (Lauryn Hill singing in the background)

Life..... I wonder....
Will it take me under.... I don't know

Verse One: Nas

Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harassin
Imagine going to court with no trial
Lifestyle cruising blue behind my waters
No welfare supporters more conscious of the way we raise our daughters
Days are shorter, nights are colder
Feeling like life is over, these snakes strike like a cobra
The world's hot my son got knocked evidently
It's elementary, they want us all gone eventually
Trooping out of state for a plate knowledge
of coke was cooked without the garbage we'd all have the top dollars
Imagine everybody flashin, fashion
Designer clothes, lacing your click up with diamond vogues
Your people holdin dough, no parole
No rubbers, go in raw imagine law with no undercovers
Just some thoughts for the mind
I take a glimpse into time
watch the blimp read "The World Is Mine"

Chorus: Lauryn Hill, Nas

If I ruled the world Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls Could it be, if you could
be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

Verse Two: Nas

The way to be, paradise like relaxin black, latino and anglo-saxon
Armani exchange the reins
Cash, Lost Tribe of Shabazz, free at last
Brand new whips to crash then we laugh in the iller path
The Villa house is for the crew, how we do
Trees for breakfast, dime sexes and Benz stretches
So many years of depression make me vision
The better livin, type of place to raise kids in
Open they eyes to the lies history's told foul
But I'm as wise as the old owl, plus the Gold Child
Seeing things like I was controlling, click rollin
Trickin six digits on kicks and still holdin
Trips to Paris, I civilized every savage
Gimme one shot I turn trife life to lavish
Political prisonner set free, stress free
No work release purple M3's and jet skis
Feel the wind breeze in West Indies
I make Coretta Scott-King mayor the cities and reverse themes to Willies
It sounds foul but every girl I meet to go downtown
I'd open every cell in Attica send em to Africa

Chorus: Lauryn Hill, Nas

If I ruled the world Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls Could it be, if you could
be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

And then we'll walk right up to the sun
Hand in hand
We'll walk right up to the sun
We won't land
We'll walk right up to the sun
Hand in hand
We'll walk right up to the sun
We won't land

Verse Three: Nas

You'd love to hear the story how the thugs live in worry
Duck down in car seats, heat's mandatory
Runnin from Jake, gettin chased, hunger for papes
These are the breaks many mistakes go down out of state
Wait, I had to let it marinate we carry weight
Tryin to get laced, flip the ace stack the safe
Millionaire plan to keep the gat with the cop camera
Makin moves in Atlanta, back and forth scrambler
Cause you could have all the chips, be poor or rich
Still nobody want a nigga havin shit
If I ruled the world and everything in it, sky's the limit
I push a Q-45 Infinit
It wouldn't be no such thing as jealousies or B Felonies
Strictly living longevity to the destiny
I thought I'd never see but reality struck
Better find out before your time's out, what the fuck???

Chorus: Lauryn Hill, Nas

If I ruled the world Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love em em baby
Black diamonds and pearls Could it be, if you could
be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

If I ruled the world, if I ruled, if I ruled Imagine that
I'd free all my sons, if I ruled, if I ruled
I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls, black dimaonds Could it be, if you could
black diamonds be mine, we'd both shine
If I ruled the world Still livin for today, in
these last days and times

If I ruled the world, if I ruled
if I ruled, I'd free all my sons
black diamonds, I love em love em baby
Black diamonds and pearls, if I ruled
If I ruled the world

If I ruled the world
I love em love em baby!!

[umjammer atomsk]

Nas sucks.

[Cantankerous]

i'm sorry, but this thread is just fucking absurd.