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.
Yeah, this is a ghetto prayer
Prayin' for all of those who ain't got it
We gotta get it there, we gotta get it, yeah
Yeah, the people starvin' for somethin' new, we starvin' for it
My little man go to bed so hungry
Get up, go to school with his nose runny
Come home with his nose bloody
His sister laughin', he like, "What's so funny?"
'Til she drowned out by the sounds of hunger pains in his tummy
Nuttin' in the freezer, nuttin' in the fridge
Couple of 40 ounces but nuttin' for the kids
Little man know they to eat to live
But he don't wanna leave the crib
The kid who punched him in his face
House right down the street from his
He went anyway, more scared to face his moms
She'll beat him soon as she flip out seein' his face scarred
Walkin' past the dope fiends with they smoke to the place of God
Hopes and dreams pourin' out the holes in they face and arms
Little man in the face of harm if he don't eat
He need energy so when he go to school he can compete
And keep up, all he got is bodegas
But hey, he only got enough a for quarter water and a now or later
Anyway, grandma say Jesus'll be here any day
Good, 'cause with nuttin' to eat it's gettin' hard to pray
Pray, pray, pray
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
My rhymes got nutritional value
I get it how I live, it's critical when the conditions allow you
Do you entrust the critics who doubt you?
Try to write shit about you
But they can't make a living without you
Go hungry, you gotta watch what the media feed you
And don't be a poisoned animal, eaten either
It's harder than it sound, 'cause nowadays, put that swine in everything
The white sugar so addictive, it's pure 'caine
They got pork in the toothpaste, soda in the Sunny D
Jello brand gelatin is laced with the lecatin
In Africa, they starvin', over here the food hurt you
Cows goin' mad and the chickens crunk with bird flu
It's too ill how the food kills, it's like blue steel
Lies never set you free, but the truth will
The truth still matter, the proof is in the batter or the pudding
You can tell we eatin' good, we gettin' fatter
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
Prayin' for all of those who ain't got it
We gotta get it there, we gotta get it, yeah
Yeah, the people starvin' for somethin' new, we starvin' for it
My little man go to bed so hungry
Get up, go to school with his nose runny
Come home with his nose bloody
His sister laughin', he like, "What's so funny?"
'Til she drowned out by the sounds of hunger pains in his tummy
Nuttin' in the freezer, nuttin' in the fridge
Couple of 40 ounces but nuttin' for the kids
Little man know they to eat to live
But he don't wanna leave the crib
The kid who punched him in his face
House right down the street from his
He went anyway, more scared to face his moms
She'll beat him soon as she flip out seein' his face scarred
Walkin' past the dope fiends with they smoke to the place of God
Hopes and dreams pourin' out the holes in they face and arms
Little man in the face of harm if he don't eat
He need energy so when he go to school he can compete
And keep up, all he got is bodegas
But hey, he only got enough a for quarter water and a now or later
Anyway, grandma say Jesus'll be here any day
Good, 'cause with nuttin' to eat it's gettin' hard to pray
Pray, pray, pray
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
My rhymes got nutritional value
I get it how I live, it's critical when the conditions allow you
Do you entrust the critics who doubt you?
Try to write shit about you
But they can't make a living without you
Go hungry, you gotta watch what the media feed you
And don't be a poisoned animal, eaten either
It's harder than it sound, 'cause nowadays, put that swine in everything
The white sugar so addictive, it's pure 'caine
They got pork in the toothpaste, soda in the Sunny D
Jello brand gelatin is laced with the lecatin
In Africa, they starvin', over here the food hurt you
Cows goin' mad and the chickens crunk with bird flu
It's too ill how the food kills, it's like blue steel
Lies never set you free, but the truth will
The truth still matter, the proof is in the batter or the pudding
You can tell we eatin' good, we gettin' fatter
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live
In order to receive then we need to give
We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live, listen
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more rap songs need to have a message as important as this one.
also i think we're all pretty familiar with world hunger but this really opened my eyes to the stuggle going on in the cities. "Nuttin in the freezer, nuttin in the fridge Couple of 40 ounces but nuttin for the kids Little man know to eat to live but he don't wanna leave the crib The kid who punched him in his face house right down the street from his" Aww.
I think he is using all this hunger and food stuff as a metaphor for information or education. In the beginning he says; "Yeah the people starvin for somethin new, we starvin for it" I think he is reffering to the rap game you know all that Lil Wayne bullcrap about bitches 'n hoes is enough and something new is needed (conscious rap?).
"They got, pork in the toothpaste, soda in the Sunny D Jello brand gelatin is laced with the lecatin" That is about hiding the bad stuff and lies as toothepaste and Sunny D (bad stuff)? Kweli is a muslim and muslims are not permitted to eat pork or gelatin (pork fat, bones and skin used in jelly and various candy). So he says that pork is hidden in the toothepaste and there is gelatin in jelly. The truth is hidden behind the lies. The only thing i didn't understand was lecatin. What is it?
"My rhymes got nutritional value" Well... they are informative and has a good message. It's a refferal to that metaphor i was talking about.
Then he talks about the bad food and the good food a.k.a. good information and bad information. Its about good rap about real values and stuff and the bad is about bling, sex drugs and cash. It can also be associated with common life about lies from people (politicians?).
It was mainly the chorus which made me think of education. "In order to receive, then we need to give We gotta feed the kids, they gotta eat to live" We have to give them an education so they can contribute to the society.
"Lies never set you free, but the truth will" That shows that it's about lies, truth and things....
"You can tell we eatin good, we gettin fatter" We are eating lots of bad stuff and getting fatter. Could be about false information so we get dumber and get the wrong opinions or it couldbe about not getting an education and doing criminality or about listening to shitrap and getting poised with it about false values and criminality, sex, drugs and things.
That was my subjective interpretation of the song. It kinda has 3 meanings. The rap game, information and education and then the literal meaning about hunger.
And its not called lecatin but lecithin