Lyrics of the Week - What are yours?

[brenden]

Bit of a delayed one from me. I didn't have lyrics lined up this week, so I was sort of waiting to hear some that just went "bang".

I switched artists a few days ago, and today I heard the song that demanded the quote.

It's called Letters from Jamshed. Urthboy, the artist, has a sister that wrote letters to an asylum seeker detained offshore. The song's lyrics are directly taken from Jamshed's prose and arranged musically, so it can be a pretty hectic song.

I think the line that sealed it for me is the first line you'll see after you open the spoiler below. It hits home so heavily.

I couldn't find the lyrics on the interwebs anywhere so I transcribed them myself. There's one line that I can't get, and have never been able to. If anyone figures it out for me I'd love you forever hahaha (the cons of indie rap music  )

My lyrics this week

Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?

Made my day when the letter came
Thank you very much for bearing my name
Write another letter to me, I'll be doing the same
Thank Jamshed Defani, I'm an Afghani being detained

21, I come from a town called Shashishma
3 hours from Kabul in a pick-up
I do not know the escape(?), I do not know the escape(?)
I do not know about my family's fate

I like books and soccer and chess and
I'm in charge of the sports equipment
Tell me that you're gonna marry your boyfriend
I pray for both of you and offer you my congratulations

Thanks so much for still remembering me
You can let me dream, that's what every letter means
Travelled alone across land and sea,
three years since I've seen my family

Also, @Brenden. You should check out 'Someone You'd Admire' by Fleet Foxes. The lyrics really play to the dualism interest you seem to have in music :)  [/url]

You've exposed me, and thus, this week, there is no dualism. (Also........ GOOD LYRICS IN SOMEONE YOU'D ADMIRE I LIKE DUALISM)

There's no returning to the spoils once you've spoiled the thought of them.

Boy, oh boy, oh boy.

'Cause you were just a small bump unborn for four months then torn from life
Maybe you were needed up there but we're still unaware as why.

I smashed this song so much when it came out, purely for those lyrics. <3

[Calebark]

@Brenden -- Absolutely incredible song. I loved the concept. I don't listen to rap, so not the best effort on my part haha, but I tried to get the lyrics down. The bits in maroon are the parts I don't know, so I just wrote the closest thing to what I heard, even if it doesn't make sense. However, I'll probably come back tomorrow and see if I can get it after another listen.

My attempt at the lyrics

I see sky
I see sky
? ? ?
From an island in Nauru

I see sky
I see sky
? ? ?
From an island in Nauru

Please keep writing, send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Much much love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?

Made my day when the letter came, thank you very much for bearing my name
Write another letter to me, I'll be doing the same
Name Jamshed Defani, I'm an Afghani being detained
21, I come from a town called Tazishma
3 hours from Kabul in a pick-up

I do not know the escape, I do not know the escape
I do not know about my family's fate
I like books and soccer and chess and
I'm in charge of the sports equipment

Tell me that you're gonna marry your boyfriend
I pray for both of you and offer you my congratulations
Thanks so much for still remembering me
You can let me dream, that's what every letter means
Travelled alone across land and see
Three years since I seen my family, so

Please keep writing and send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?

I'm tired of the bad news, I don't wanna read it
Gave us a TV but I don't wanna watch it
Maybe I can die here, is anyone watching?
Send another twenty home, Australia don't want them

I receive your last letter at the perfect time
I am not radical, I know what's right
Made me happy when they had me on a hunger strike

Thanks for the CDs, I like them both
More than anything, Polly, I like your words
Languages don't matter
Just love it and learn
Love it and learn

And you when they see I arrive to conduct their interviews
And that's how Mant, Mary, and Leigh
And now I'm hopeful for what lies ahead
My best wishes, much much love, your friend Jamshed

Please keep writing, send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

Please keep writing, send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

[brenden]

@Brenden -- Absolutely incredible song. I loved the concept. I don't listen to rap, so not the best effort on my part haha, but I tried to get the lyrics down. The bits in maroon are the parts I don't know, so I just wrote the closest thing to what I heard, even if it doesn't make sense. However, I'll probably come back tomorrow and see if I can get it after another listen.

My attempt at the lyrics

I see sky
I see sky
? ? ?
From an island in Nauru

I see sky
I see sky
? ? ?
From an island in Nauru

Please keep writing, send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Much much love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?

Made my day when the letter came, thank you very much for bearing my name
Write another letter to me, I'll be doing the same
Name Jamshed Defani, I'm an Afghani being detained
21, I come from a town called Tazishma
3 hours from Kabul in a pick-up

I do not know the escape, I do not know the escape
I do not know about my family's fate
I like books and soccer and chess and
I'm in charge of the sports equipment

Tell me that you're gonna marry your boyfriend
I pray for both of you and offer you my congratulations
Thanks so much for still remembering me
You can let me dream, that's what every letter means
Travelled alone across land and see
Three years since I seen my family, so

Please keep writing and send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?
Do you mind if you and I, we share the sky?

I'm tired of the bad news, I don't wanna read it
Gave us a TV but I don't wanna watch it
Maybe I can die here, is anyone watching?
Send another twenty home, Australia don't want them

I receive your last letter at the perfect time
I am not radical, I know what's right
Made me happy when they had me on a hunger strike

Thanks for the CDs, I like them both
More than anything, Polly, I like your words
Languages don't matter
Just love it and learn
Love it and learn

And you when they see I arrive to conduct their interviews
And that's how Mant, Mary, and Leigh
And now I'm hopeful for what lies ahead
My best wishes, much much love, your friend Jamshed

Please keep writing, send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

Please keep writing, send your picture
Best of luck and my best wishes
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

I put this letter in an envelope
Waiting, hope to hear back from you
Lots of love, your friend Jamshed

I will go over this as well - I'll add it to Rap Genius when we get a good set!!

RAP4EVA!!!!

[heids]

This isn't at all the style of music I typically listen to, and it's Christian music which I also don't listen to, but hear me out.

About a year ago I was in hospital when something traumatic happened.  The next day a fellow patient - a quiet, suffering, kind, traumatised, body-there-but-soul-somewhere-else girl - told me she had chosen a song for me.  She stopped it halfway through, tears streaming down her face, moved beyond anyone I have ever seen in my life.  I needed this song.

The closing lyrics:

Baby, you're almost home now
Please don't quit now
You're almost home to me

[Calebark]

I'm a day late with this one, but I'm here anyway! I should note that this song is in Icelandic. I found the song to be moving even before I looked up the translation. I would recommend listening to the song, as the translation isn't enough.

Sólstafir - Fjara

Svikin orð, grjót í kjafti þér,
rista dýpra en nokkur sár.
Brotin bönd aldrei verða söm.
Lygar eins og nöðrubit
Broken words, shards in your mouth,
Cut deeper than any wound.
Broken vows will never be the same.
Lies like the viper´s bite.

I don't think this one needs much explanation. Lies and broken promises from people you once trusted leave wounds.

[_____]

Gorillaz - Empire Ants

Oh joy's arise
The sun has come again to hold you
Sailing out the doldrums of the week...
The polyphonic prayer is here, it's all around you
It's all around you, out here

Lyrics kind of play second fiddle to the instrumentals in this song. Not sure what genre to call it but I think it's pretty good.

[lyoko]

I realised I skipped last week's lyrics...better late than never right? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ju6Q8Azcmg

Logic feat. Alessia Cara & Khalid: "1-800-273-8255"

"I've been on the low
I been taking my time
I feel like I'm out of my mind
It feel like my life ain't mine
Who can relate?
I've been on the low
I been taking my time
I feel like I'm out of my mind
It feel like my life ain't mine

I want you to be alive
I want you to be alive
You don't gotta die today
You don't gotta die
I want you to be alive
I want you to be alive
You don't gotta die
Now lemme tell you why"


Something which I feel especially with less than 55 days until the exams hit, are realistically some thoughts that could be going through our heads...mental health is no joke, it should be taken care of and looked after like our physical health.

If you guys ever need anyone to talk too, do not hesitate to ask

Plus Logic's speech at the end is very empowering, if you have time, do check it out.

[Sine]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ju6Q8Azcmg

Logic feat. Alessia Cara & Khalid: "1-800-273-8255"

this was always on the backburner for me to post!! great lyrics!  loved the vma performance.

[Natasha.97]

We can be heroes everywhere we go
We can have all that we ever want
Swinging like Ali, knocking out bodies
Standing on top like a champion
Keep your silver, give me that gold
You'll remember when I say
We can be heroes everywhere we go
Keeping us down is impossible
'Cause we're unstoppable

Unstoppable - The Score

This song gave me much needed motivation

[K888]

I haven't been able to find lyrics of the week for a while. However, recently, I've been rediscovering Alt-J. Specifically, their song "Taro". When I first listened to it, I was like "ok, this is a bit of nonsense". But then I properly listened to it, and read the lyrics. And like, in their nonsensical way, they're super cool.

Taro - Alt J

Specifically:
"3.1415 alive no longer my amour"

Preface: this song is basically about the wartime photographer Robert Capa, who documented the First Indochina War and died after stepping on a landmine or something. You can read about the lyrics here.

Anyway, so this particular line, is like, he was alive at 3:14pm, but never reaches 3:15pm because he dies - just like pi is a sequence that never reaches an end.

[brenden]

This week's lyrics are from Wade In The Water, by Urthboy (also last week's artist).

The song also has a prequel, Crushing Hard.

Both songs are about the love he has for his wife. Crushing Hard is about new love, butterflies in the stomach. Wade In The Water is about loyalty and commitment. "I know for sure that if you're ever dragged into the deep, I'll wade into the water" - basically a metaphor for his commitment, but also an acknowledgement of the type of love that makes people flee war together and brave the dangers of the ocean.

The lyrics I've chosen are not fully representative of the song but in the context they stick out hard. I'd SERIOUSLY encourage a reading of hte full lyrics.

 

We had been together since forever when the tipping point came
Dam broke, that's when everything changed
We had been through thick and thin but bigger things lurked
Have you ever envisioned your city in flames?

Full lyrics

[Verse 1]
Hey baby, baby don't you think we're lucky that we had it good for so long
We hit the jackpot, edge we got from where we come from
Poplar trees swaying in the wind, dead quiet
'cept the single engine of a passing headlight
Do you remember what that life's like?
And now your dad project a slideshow on Christmas night
My heart sunk on weekends with the rain outside
Because the cricket's called off, we could've got outright
Right? Right, day to day is cruisy on the mountainside
And bushfires used to only come in summertime
Apart from that it's fine, life's so easy otherwise
Sleepy streets mostly all free of crime
Kind of place to raise a daughter
We can reconcile our fortune in the natural order
But what's around the corner?
I know for sure that if you're ever dragged into the deep
I'll wade into the water

[Hook: Jane Tyrell]
I'll be staying by your side
I will be staying by your side
Whatever we're facing I won't run
Wherever we're drifting from
I'm staying by your side

[Pre-Verse]
But suddenly you're standing there in front of me, I'm crushing hard
And part of me is to excited
Dive into a love affair, right into each other's arms
Neither of us frightened
Not a single person on the planet could've swapped, nah
Yeah that feeling when you think you're gonna be with someone till you drop
Till you drop, till you drop, till you drop

[Verse 2]
We had been together since forever when the tipping point came
Dam broke, that's when everything changed
We had been through thick and thin but bigger things lurked
Have you ever envisioned your city in flames?
No, neither of us think about when we were of a certain type
Of people that just never thought they were in range
Well, we raised a kid to think the same
The fighting that was taking place well that was always somewhere far away
Channel 24 got it, run it round the clock, got it
Switch channel, get on Twitter, read it, retweet it
Look out your front door, streets are at war streets
Streets to the mall and an army being called
Is the city gonna fall while they tell us stay calm?
With another close call, why are children being armed?
As we join other people tryna flee to the border
Promise if you're at sea then I'll wade in the water

[Hook: Jane Tyrell]
I'll be staying by your side
I will be staying by your side
Whatever we're facing I won't run
Wherever we're drifting from
I'm staying by your side

[Sine]

I'm not a fan of mumble rap but thought this was good.
Lil Uzi Vert - XO Tour Llif3

I don't really care if you cry
On the real you should've never lied
Should've saw the way she looked me in my eyes (3)
She said baby I am not afraid to, die
Push me to the edge
All my friends are dead (6)

Here is the lyric video (although it was deleted off youtube) http://www.thefader.com/2017/07/25/lil-uzi-vert-xo-tour-llif3-lyric-video

and the music video however is quite gruesome    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrsFXgQk5UI

EDIT: will post interpretation because I find it interesting

[Calebark]

Trivium -- Down From The Sky

They'll blow it all to bits
To prove whose god wields all the power

a l w a y s             p e r t i n e n t

[brenden]

You make me nervous just by being here
Maybe I'll disappear, sneak myself away, chin on my chest
Just anything, just get me out of here
I'm going
The problem is the thought of you has got me grinning ear to ear
I'm overthinking it, walking out the door
And why can't I go through with it?
You're back inside, where am I going?

[Joseph41]

You may have to drag me away
From my demons, kicking and screaming.
It's been so long now I've been with them,
I don't know where they stop - and I begin.