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.
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing
[Chorus]
Nothing you can do [Repeat: x4]
They say he's a radical, he don't fit the game
A heart full of glory and a fist of pain
A couple of battle scars but shit's the same
Are you not entertained
So all the onlookers and the bystanders
Wait til intermission, run buy your camera
Record the moment, cause it'll be platinum
And you could say you seen Common rock the stadium
[Verse 1]
I was told by a wise old to come from the heart
Though I might've did The Light, I don't run from the dark
The dark knight to spark mics, and start fights
The warrior archetype like Kimbo Slice
It's strength in the beard, am I loved or feared
A beast amongst boys like Paul I'm revered...
Well,
Like Jacob Jewel, I keep clientele
You frail on the mic like you might break a nail
I might smoke a joint but I won't take the L
I knew a fat girl who broke the scale
Still touched down cause I was off Artell
Had dreams of breaking Mike Vick out of jail
Took the underground rail to the NFL
I rebel, NYSL
Here to leave a trail like Nelson Mandela
[Chorus]
[Common]
My words is the sword, my skill is the shield
My life is the style I stay dressed to kill
A legend like Will Smith with the steel
I could save the world when shit get for real
Skinny George Foreman, all in your grill
My rhyme style is blind, it's all in the feel
Touch it and watch the blood fall with the steel
The weak raps you wrote you could call that your will
My drive... Is how I stay the livest
Your guys got you gassed, my flow is a hybrid
Crashed I survived it, gashes over eyelids
You easy to take out cause you hot garbage
I'm amped like wattage, the truth nigga honest
Any moment opponents drop out like college
Kneel and pay homage to the rap Ziggy Stardust
Stadium hands in the air fists balled up
[Chorus]
[Common]
Feet in the dirt, blood on the shirt
Scars over bars, symbols of the work
Tight clothes the armor, center of the drama
Defeat your whole army like this is Sparta
So don't violate or you'll get violated
Some of you model bitches is so overrated
Don't mean to underrate it but damn it I made it
In the water I waded on the corner I painted
Draw blood like we related
MC's get de-decapitated
Syncopated is the style that I fight with, write with
Mr. Excitement, change your face up like a white chick
Then light shit up like a dread with the herbs
Get sex in the city and head in the burbs
These are the words of a radical
The crowd applaud, I'm bowed, I'm proud
To be the gladiator
[Chorus]
[Chorus]
Nothing you can do [Repeat: x4]
They say he's a radical, he don't fit the game
A heart full of glory and a fist of pain
A couple of battle scars but shit's the same
Are you not entertained
So all the onlookers and the bystanders
Wait til intermission, run buy your camera
Record the moment, cause it'll be platinum
And you could say you seen Common rock the stadium
[Verse 1]
I was told by a wise old to come from the heart
Though I might've did The Light, I don't run from the dark
The dark knight to spark mics, and start fights
The warrior archetype like Kimbo Slice
It's strength in the beard, am I loved or feared
A beast amongst boys like Paul I'm revered...
Well,
Like Jacob Jewel, I keep clientele
You frail on the mic like you might break a nail
I might smoke a joint but I won't take the L
I knew a fat girl who broke the scale
Still touched down cause I was off Artell
Had dreams of breaking Mike Vick out of jail
Took the underground rail to the NFL
I rebel, NYSL
Here to leave a trail like Nelson Mandela
[Chorus]
[Common]
My words is the sword, my skill is the shield
My life is the style I stay dressed to kill
A legend like Will Smith with the steel
I could save the world when shit get for real
Skinny George Foreman, all in your grill
My rhyme style is blind, it's all in the feel
Touch it and watch the blood fall with the steel
The weak raps you wrote you could call that your will
My drive... Is how I stay the livest
Your guys got you gassed, my flow is a hybrid
Crashed I survived it, gashes over eyelids
You easy to take out cause you hot garbage
I'm amped like wattage, the truth nigga honest
Any moment opponents drop out like college
Kneel and pay homage to the rap Ziggy Stardust
Stadium hands in the air fists balled up
[Chorus]
[Common]
Feet in the dirt, blood on the shirt
Scars over bars, symbols of the work
Tight clothes the armor, center of the drama
Defeat your whole army like this is Sparta
So don't violate or you'll get violated
Some of you model bitches is so overrated
Don't mean to underrate it but damn it I made it
In the water I waded on the corner I painted
Draw blood like we related
MC's get de-decapitated
Syncopated is the style that I fight with, write with
Mr. Excitement, change your face up like a white chick
Then light shit up like a dread with the herbs
Get sex in the city and head in the burbs
These are the words of a radical
The crowd applaud, I'm bowed, I'm proud
To be the gladiator
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by MikeBrew328
Gladiator Lyrics as written by Pharrell Williams Lonnie Rashid(common) Lynn
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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