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.
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Well, I'm gone (go on then)
Can I kick it? To all the people who can Quest like A Tribe does
Before this, did you really know what live was?
Comprehend to the track, for it's why, cuz
Getting measures on the tip of the vibers
Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz
Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug
If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug
Come and spread your arms if you really need a hug
Afrocentric living is a big shrug
A life filled with (fun) that's what I love
A lower plateau is what we're above
If you diss us, we won't even think of
Will Nipper the doggy give a big shove?
This rhythm really fits like a snug glove
Like a box of positives is a plus, love
As the Tribe flies high like a dove
(Can I kick it?)
(Can I kick it?)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Well, I'm gone (go on then)
Can I kick it? To my Tribe that flows in layers
Right now, Phife is a poem sayer
At times, I'm a studio conveyor
Mr. Dinkins, would you please be my mayor?
You'll be doing us a really big favor
Boy, this track really has a lot of flavor
When it comes to rhythms, Quest is your savior
Follow us for the funky behavior
Make a note on the rhythm we gave ya
Feel free, drop your pants, check your hair
Do you like the garments that we wear?
I instruct you to be the obeyer
A rhythm recipe that you'll savor
Doesn't matter if you're minor or major
Yes, the Tribe of the game, rhythm player
As you inhale like a breath of fresh air
(Can I kick it?)
(Can I kick it?)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Well, I'm gone (go on then)
Can I kick it? To all the people who can Quest like A Tribe does
Before this, did you really know what live was?
Comprehend to the track, for it's why, cuz
Getting measures on the tip of the vibers
Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz
Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug
If you feel the urge to freak, do the jitterbug
Come and spread your arms if you really need a hug
Afrocentric living is a big shrug
A life filled with (fun) that's what I love
A lower plateau is what we're above
If you diss us, we won't even think of
Will Nipper the doggy give a big shove?
This rhythm really fits like a snug glove
Like a box of positives is a plus, love
As the Tribe flies high like a dove
(Can I kick it?)
(Can I kick it?)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Can I kick it? (yes, you can)
Well, I'm gone (go on then)
Can I kick it? To my Tribe that flows in layers
Right now, Phife is a poem sayer
At times, I'm a studio conveyor
Mr. Dinkins, would you please be my mayor?
You'll be doing us a really big favor
Boy, this track really has a lot of flavor
When it comes to rhythms, Quest is your savior
Follow us for the funky behavior
Make a note on the rhythm we gave ya
Feel free, drop your pants, check your hair
Do you like the garments that we wear?
I instruct you to be the obeyer
A rhythm recipe that you'll savor
Doesn't matter if you're minor or major
Yes, the Tribe of the game, rhythm player
As you inhale like a breath of fresh air
(Can I kick it?)
(Can I kick it?)
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The Night We Met
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
"can I kick it?" is them asking to take a turn spitting ryhmes in a cipher... the verses are more on the tip of showing skill
Probably in my top ten rap songs of all time, and number one out of all Tribe songs... I love the music, Take a Walk on the Wild Side in the backround plus a bit of snare and easy-going original lyrics equals... delicious.
This song just makes me happy. I mean, "come and spread your arms if you really need a hug", how can you not love it?
"Mr. Dinkins, would you please be my mayor?"
David Norman Dinkins (born July 10, 1927) is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993, and is to date the only African American to hold that office.
i love the free stylins twords the end, now thats a skill they keep fresh in todays cookie cutter market of 50 cents and eminems
One comment, thats it? this is one of the raddest songs of all times
well, i agree... so damn catchy. i like the (unpretentious) upbeat mellowness of it...
"Rock and roll to the beat of the funk fuzz Wipe your feet really good on the rhythm rug"
love that.
For me this song is up there with some of the greatest rap songs of all time. You can't listen to this song without a smile on your face.
Thereisnospoon, I love you! That's my favorite line, too.
brilliant use of lou reed, really like the lyrics too