In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Lately I've been in a life like limbo
Looking out of a smudged up window
We're not sure where our lives are going
Friends, it's summer outside but yet we're snowed in
Don't know where our next dollar's coming from
Living the life of a poor musician
Headliner's strong so he keeps his 9 to 5
Cutting brothers' hair as a means of staying alive
If it wasn't for the rhythm
I think we would have given up by now
This system has gotten the best of me
Now I pray for God to invest in me
My dignity, invest his glory
Give me the strength so I can finish the story
Keep on searching for the right way to go out
Coz going out is what it's all about
Huh! You can't be passive, gotta be active
Can't go with what looks attractive
Gotta learn all I can while I'm able
Headliner expresses his feeling on those turntables
When we get our chance
To make a good living of the music we program
We don't sell out just to be sold out
Brothers and sisters, do you know what I'm yapping about
Coz if they take away our contract
We still got talent and we still got contacts
Coz we're worked real hard to get this far
We were catching the bus before we bought the car
Ya see
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Got to get political
Political I gotta get
Grown but can't hold my own
So this government needs to be overthrown
Brothers with the AKs and the 9 MMs
Need to learn how to correctly shoot'em
Save those rounds for a revolution
Poor whites and blacks bumrushing the system
But I tell you: Ain't no room for gangstaz
Coz ganstaz do dirty work and get pimped by mobsters
Some fat Italian eating pasta 'n lobster
Brothers getting jailed and mobsters own the coppers
So you you want out of the ghetto
First the political prisoners must be let go
And you must let go of your power master
You'll never get out without much discipline
Raise your fist but also raise your children
So when you die the movement moves on
Coz with no revolution, ain't no future in front o' y'all
Haha yeah direct your anger, love
Nothing's ever built on hate, instead love
Love your life, tackle the government
The spooks that break down the door are heaven sent
And my phrase went
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Looking out of a smudged up window
We're not sure where our lives are going
Friends, it's summer outside but yet we're snowed in
Don't know where our next dollar's coming from
Living the life of a poor musician
Headliner's strong so he keeps his 9 to 5
Cutting brothers' hair as a means of staying alive
If it wasn't for the rhythm
I think we would have given up by now
This system has gotten the best of me
Now I pray for God to invest in me
My dignity, invest his glory
Give me the strength so I can finish the story
Keep on searching for the right way to go out
Coz going out is what it's all about
Huh! You can't be passive, gotta be active
Can't go with what looks attractive
Gotta learn all I can while I'm able
Headliner expresses his feeling on those turntables
When we get our chance
To make a good living of the music we program
We don't sell out just to be sold out
Brothers and sisters, do you know what I'm yapping about
Coz if they take away our contract
We still got talent and we still got contacts
Coz we're worked real hard to get this far
We were catching the bus before we bought the car
Ya see
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Got to get political
Political I gotta get
Grown but can't hold my own
So this government needs to be overthrown
Brothers with the AKs and the 9 MMs
Need to learn how to correctly shoot'em
Save those rounds for a revolution
Poor whites and blacks bumrushing the system
But I tell you: Ain't no room for gangstaz
Coz ganstaz do dirty work and get pimped by mobsters
Some fat Italian eating pasta 'n lobster
Brothers getting jailed and mobsters own the coppers
So you you want out of the ghetto
First the political prisoners must be let go
And you must let go of your power master
You'll never get out without much discipline
Raise your fist but also raise your children
So when you die the movement moves on
Coz with no revolution, ain't no future in front o' y'all
Haha yeah direct your anger, love
Nothing's ever built on hate, instead love
Love your life, tackle the government
The spooks that break down the door are heaven sent
And my phrase went
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day
Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Give a Man a Fish Lyrics as written by Dick Rudolph Sylvester Stewart
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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just bout teaching ppl stuff
Heh. Yeah, and "Malcolm X" was a movie about some Muslim guy.
What the hell? Let's look at something more than the surface, shall we?
"Give A Man A Fish" is about African Americans making their way in this country. The first verse is about AD making their living on their music... and having worked very, very hard to do so.
The second verse is looking outward... African Americans getting out of the ghetto, they need to do it the same way... working VERY hard, and taking a stand for what's right. Because the government isn't going to help them, it's only going to throw them a bone once in a while. Nothing very helpful.
"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach him to fish, he'll eat forever." It's an old saying, and it is correctly applied in this song.
Speech is always VERY clear on where he stands with gangstaz. In "Ease My Mind" from 1994's Zingalamaduni, he refers to ganstaz as "step 'n fetch 'n." Those are some hard words, but his point is well made. Africans shooting each other in the streets is not going to help anybody, least of all Africans.
"Save those rounds for a revolution," he says.
It's a shame AD didn't make a bigger mark in the hip-hop culture. But they're still making music, if you can find their albums.