This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
look at them running off the sidewalk,
look at us falling off a building,
look at them reading lights,
look at me, look at you,
could everybody standing around us,
could everybody drown us here
just looking through the looking glass
not alone, not alone, not alone, not alone here,
look at the sidewalk cracking under,
the under side is black,
look at us broken, bricks are falling,
the shades of grey
look at the shallow, the shallow water, that comes on me
walk to the water, walk to the water,
shed through the looking glass
not alone, not alone, not alone, not alone here (x5)
look at us falling off a building,
look at them reading lights,
look at me, look at you,
could everybody standing around us,
could everybody drown us here
just looking through the looking glass
not alone, not alone, not alone, not alone here,
look at the sidewalk cracking under,
the under side is black,
look at us broken, bricks are falling,
the shades of grey
look at the shallow, the shallow water, that comes on me
walk to the water, walk to the water,
shed through the looking glass
not alone, not alone, not alone, not alone here (x5)
Lyrics submitted by dustfinger
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omg i just listened to the last minutes and i have this Charlie thing on mine too. i started crying because it scared me. i think that this song is meant to be about this part too. wild guess I think that first of all, its about along the lines of suicide or depression. The Charlie is so far behind and maybe the person wants "charlie" to go to sleep so he wont be alone and awake and so he can "dream of peace". this part scared me because i was like "omg what if after you listen to that part someone kill u in ur sleep!?" because i heard of that part on here and i was like yea right. but i think that this is a lullabye or something for "charlie" because its telling him to go to sleep and everyone else has from the song except for him and now 'charlie' is alone in the dark. just a guess.