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.
so you don't like the way
we're running things?
and you don't like the
way the chisel glang?
you want to blame it
on the government
on why you got to money
for your rent?
you want to start
a revolution?
and blame it on the
institution? you know
there's only one solution
now tell me what you're
gonna do son?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
you wanna blame them
boys in lebanon and
act like you don't know
where they get it from?
you want to project
all your problems
and murder every way
to solve them?
would jesus christ
come back american?
what if he's iraqi
and here again?
you'd have to finally face
your fears, my friend
who's gonna hold your
hand when that happens?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
what do you teach
your children about me?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
pimp. thug. bling. drug lord
of the underground kings
how can you be sure i won't
call down the rain?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
you point your gun
wait hide and run
i see it plain
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
so what you gonna do
what you gonna do
we're running things?
and you don't like the
way the chisel glang?
you want to blame it
on the government
on why you got to money
for your rent?
you want to start
a revolution?
and blame it on the
institution? you know
there's only one solution
now tell me what you're
gonna do son?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
you wanna blame them
boys in lebanon and
act like you don't know
where they get it from?
you want to project
all your problems
and murder every way
to solve them?
would jesus christ
come back american?
what if he's iraqi
and here again?
you'd have to finally face
your fears, my friend
who's gonna hold your
hand when that happens?
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do?
what do you teach
your children about me?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
pimp. thug. bling. drug lord
of the underground kings
how can you be sure i won't
call down the rain?
what do you teach
your little children about me?
you point your gun
wait hide and run
i see it plain
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
so what you gonna do
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the nigger is you
the trigger is you
the trigger is you
so what you gonna do
what you gonna do
Lyrics submitted by swollen uvula
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no comments on possibly one of the best on this great album? its aboot how we perceive black people as thugs and druglords, etc., ... when thats not what they is all aboot ya know? i though it said ...drug lord, ugly, underground decay...
or rather of the underground decay...
I interpret it as a counter-argument to the axiomatic social status quo upon which racism relies for its existence. I say it's axiomatic because of the stark contrasts between good and evil, white and black that exist in the social consciousness. The status quo relies on the assumption that it is good while anyone who exists contrary to its mechanisms is obviously evil. It's an polarized and narrow mentality that flies in the face of a gradient reality, defiant of the rigid consensus.
In the case of the word nigger, it's often imbued with the worst, most misguided sentiments people are capable of expressing towards each other. Want to write off people who are different as "niggers?" Okay, then chances are, you're the "nigger," who's simply too myopic and pretentious to witness and accept the vibrant menagerie of human diversity. We're all different and they're nothing wrong with that, but don't exaggerate the fact based on entirely arbitrary premises and expect anyone to take you seriously.
This is the last song I wrote before going into the studio to mix the album. Welcome to the Terrordome is easily my fave PE track. The line that I sampled actually comes before my favorite part of the song, the little break with the high pitched James Brown guitar riff. When I made that loop it scared the shit out of me. I danced to it for hours, too excited to even write to it. When I did, the lyrics and chorus came immediately. The 2nd verse has my favorite line of the album, "would Jesus Christ come back American? What if he's Iraqi and here again?". Then came the break, which I immediately attributed to the fact that I had been working with Trent for a year and he had made me a better song writer. I remember being very scared of the power of this song. I knew how it made me feel as a black man. I tried to pay special attention to how I crafted it musically and lyrically so that it would invoke dancing rather than violence. But seriously, to me, this song is hard as hell. I cry everytime I get to that breakdown. And then I bounce back and feel like I can fly. -Saul Williams saulwilliams.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi