The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Uh, spraypaint and ink pens
I use to write in every color I think in
To paint a picture with every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah, the gallery is the beat then I move
Ghostface:
Yo, I verbally paint pictures, I'm the hood's best storyteller
This about a young boy dealing with the older fellas
Promised him the lives he see on TV
He ran packs across town like rhyme CDs
And big chains, new clothes, Nikes and Reeboks
Stacking too much loot to squeeze in a shoe box
Saving, he promised his mom a crib in Atlanta
And his pops got killed and dead, he was a dealer
So he staged death, stocks jump off the suit cases
No more cross-town, now he's crossing them states and
Seeing new faces, not knowing who to trust
So when the door kicked open they scream "This is a bust"
"Is it a set up?", it seems funny, a scuffle broke out
He got hit, dropped the cases spitting blood out of his mouth
He walked four blocks to die trying to survive
And now all that's left is his mom screaming "God why?"
Mike:
Yeah, yeah, let me begin by saying "Shut the fuck up!"
Let my begin by saying I don't think this man knew what he had in store
He opened the door and found the bag under the floor
Not a peep while he's working a lot, get the flame, aim, pop
Open the box and take off out the back of the pawn shop
Scoping the lot, hoping the cops hadn't seen the plates on his car
He felt like he been hustling so hard like a demon he pumped a cold heart
Play it cool like Humphrey Bogart, put the rings on his chain attached by both parts
He did the drop, one ring in a bag, envelope, all the money he had
Left the money and the ring in a slow exhale
Two weeks went by, got a box in the mail
In the box was a bullet made of gold
Melted down from the ring, recast with two rings and a band
And he stared at it sitting in the palm of his hand
And sat down next to a picture that sat on the nightstand
It was his wife in the picture on his side
With the ring on the finger on the week that she died
As he looked in the reflection, at those eyes so red
He put the bullet in a gun and put it right in his head like that
Lupe Fiasco:
You know he didn't have enough power in his thrusters to muster Warp 5
Plus if he pushed it, the fuel cells could rupture then they would die
Then the galaxy would suffer but he knew he had to try
But he couldn't risk it, put the cure in the escape pod and kissed it
And told her goodbye, she started to cry, but he knew if he could distract 'em
He could buy her some time and she could make it out alive
Turn the suit around and got prepared for the stand off
Space mind had blew one of the hands off
Damaged laser cannons and he got the system jammed
And he faced the whole fleet, blood seeping through his teeth
The final saga in the seven planet wars
Unsheathed his sword and then he charged forward
His eyes flashed behind the cracked cockpit glass
He let out a laugh and then all she heard was a blast like
I use to write in every color I think in
To paint a picture with every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah, the gallery is the beat then I move
Ghostface:
Yo, I verbally paint pictures, I'm the hood's best storyteller
This about a young boy dealing with the older fellas
Promised him the lives he see on TV
He ran packs across town like rhyme CDs
And big chains, new clothes, Nikes and Reeboks
Stacking too much loot to squeeze in a shoe box
Saving, he promised his mom a crib in Atlanta
And his pops got killed and dead, he was a dealer
So he staged death, stocks jump off the suit cases
No more cross-town, now he's crossing them states and
Seeing new faces, not knowing who to trust
So when the door kicked open they scream "This is a bust"
"Is it a set up?", it seems funny, a scuffle broke out
He got hit, dropped the cases spitting blood out of his mouth
He walked four blocks to die trying to survive
And now all that's left is his mom screaming "God why?"
Mike:
Yeah, yeah, let me begin by saying "Shut the fuck up!"
Let my begin by saying I don't think this man knew what he had in store
He opened the door and found the bag under the floor
Not a peep while he's working a lot, get the flame, aim, pop
Open the box and take off out the back of the pawn shop
Scoping the lot, hoping the cops hadn't seen the plates on his car
He felt like he been hustling so hard like a demon he pumped a cold heart
Play it cool like Humphrey Bogart, put the rings on his chain attached by both parts
He did the drop, one ring in a bag, envelope, all the money he had
Left the money and the ring in a slow exhale
Two weeks went by, got a box in the mail
In the box was a bullet made of gold
Melted down from the ring, recast with two rings and a band
And he stared at it sitting in the palm of his hand
And sat down next to a picture that sat on the nightstand
It was his wife in the picture on his side
With the ring on the finger on the week that she died
As he looked in the reflection, at those eyes so red
He put the bullet in a gun and put it right in his head like that
Lupe Fiasco:
You know he didn't have enough power in his thrusters to muster Warp 5
Plus if he pushed it, the fuel cells could rupture then they would die
Then the galaxy would suffer but he knew he had to try
But he couldn't risk it, put the cure in the escape pod and kissed it
And told her goodbye, she started to cry, but he knew if he could distract 'em
He could buy her some time and she could make it out alive
Turn the suit around and got prepared for the stand off
Space mind had blew one of the hands off
Damaged laser cannons and he got the system jammed
And he faced the whole fleet, blood seeping through his teeth
The final saga in the seven planet wars
Unsheathed his sword and then he charged forward
His eyes flashed behind the cracked cockpit glass
He let out a laugh and then all she heard was a blast like
Lyrics submitted by ScottH
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