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.
Everybody put three fingers in the air
The sky is falling, the wind is calling
Stand for something or die in the morning
Section.80, HiiiPoWeR
Visions of Martin Luther staring at me
Malcolm X put a hex on my future, someone catch me
I'm falling victim to a revolutionary song
The Serengeti's clone
Back to put you backstabbers back on your spinal bone
You slipped your disc when I slid you my disc
You wanted to diss but jumped on my dick
Grown men never should bite they tongue
Unless you eating pussy that smell like it's a stale plum
I got my finger on the motherfucking pistol
Aiming it at a pig, Charlotte's Web is gonna miss you
My issue isn't televised and you ain't gotta tell the wise
How to stay on beat because our life's an instrumental
This is physical and mental, I won't sugar coat it
You'll die from diabetes if these other niggas wrote it
And everything on TV just a figment of imagination
I don't want a plastic nation, dread that like a Haitian
While you motherfuckers waiting
I be off the slave ship, building pyramids, writing my own hieroglyphs
Just call the shit HiiiPower
Nigga, nothing less than HiiiPower
Five star dishes, food for thought, bitches
I mean this shit is Huey Newton going stupid
You can't resist his HiiiPower
Throw your hands up for HiiiPower
Visions of Martin Luther staring at me
If I see it how he seen it, that would make my parents happy
Sorry, mama, I can't turn the other cheek
They wanna knock me off the edge like a fucking widow's peak, uh
And she always told me pray for the weak, uh
Them demons got me, I ain't prayed in some weeks, uh
Dear, Lord, come save me, the devil's working hard
He probably clocking double shifts on all of his jobs
Frightening, so fucking frightening
Enough to drive a man insane
I need a license to kill
I'm standing on a field full of landmines
Doing the moonwalk hoping I blow up in time
'Cause 2012 might not be a fucking legend
Tryna be a fucking legend
The man of mankind
Who said a black man in the Illuminati?
Last time I checked, that was the biggest racist party
So get up off that slave ship
Build your own pyramids, write your own hieroglyphs
Just call the shit HiiiPower
Nigga, nothing less than HiiiPower
Five star dishes, food for thought, bitches
I mean the shit is, Bobby Seale making meals
You can't resist his HiiiPower
Throw your hands up for HiiiPower
Every day we fight the system just to make our way
We've been down for too long, but that's all right
We was built to be strong 'cause it's our life, na-na-na
Every day we fight the system (we fight the system, we fight the system)
(Never liked the system)
We've been down for too long, but that's all right, na-na-na
Who said a black man in Illuminati?
Last time I checked, that was the biggest racist party
Last time I checked, we was racin' with Marcus Garvey
On the freeway to Africa 'til I wrecked my Audi
And I want everybody to view my autopsy
So you can see exactly where the government had shot me
No conspiracy, my fate is inevitable
They played musical chairs, once I'm on that pedestal
Frightening, so fucking frightening
Enough to drive a man insane, a woman insane
The reason Lauryn Hill don't sing or Kurt Cobain
Loaded that clip and then said bang
The drama it bring is crazy
Product of the late eighties
Tryna stay above water, that's why we shun the Navy
Pull your guns and play me
Let's set it off, cause a riot, throw a Molotov
Somebody told me them pirates had got lost
'Cause we've been off them slave ships
Got our own pyramids, write our own hieroglyphs
Just call this shit HiiiPower
Yeah, nothing less than HiiiPower
Five star dishes, food for thought, bitches
I mean the shit is, Fred Hampton on your campus
You can't resist his HiiiPower
Throw your hands up for HiiiPower
Thug life, thug life
The sky is falling, the wind is calling
Stand for something or die in the morning
Section.80, HiiiPoWeR
Visions of Martin Luther staring at me
Malcolm X put a hex on my future, someone catch me
I'm falling victim to a revolutionary song
The Serengeti's clone
Back to put you backstabbers back on your spinal bone
You slipped your disc when I slid you my disc
You wanted to diss but jumped on my dick
Grown men never should bite they tongue
Unless you eating pussy that smell like it's a stale plum
I got my finger on the motherfucking pistol
Aiming it at a pig, Charlotte's Web is gonna miss you
My issue isn't televised and you ain't gotta tell the wise
How to stay on beat because our life's an instrumental
This is physical and mental, I won't sugar coat it
You'll die from diabetes if these other niggas wrote it
And everything on TV just a figment of imagination
I don't want a plastic nation, dread that like a Haitian
While you motherfuckers waiting
I be off the slave ship, building pyramids, writing my own hieroglyphs
Just call the shit HiiiPower
Nigga, nothing less than HiiiPower
Five star dishes, food for thought, bitches
I mean this shit is Huey Newton going stupid
You can't resist his HiiiPower
Throw your hands up for HiiiPower
Visions of Martin Luther staring at me
If I see it how he seen it, that would make my parents happy
Sorry, mama, I can't turn the other cheek
They wanna knock me off the edge like a fucking widow's peak, uh
And she always told me pray for the weak, uh
Them demons got me, I ain't prayed in some weeks, uh
Dear, Lord, come save me, the devil's working hard
He probably clocking double shifts on all of his jobs
Frightening, so fucking frightening
Enough to drive a man insane
I need a license to kill
I'm standing on a field full of landmines
Doing the moonwalk hoping I blow up in time
'Cause 2012 might not be a fucking legend
Tryna be a fucking legend
The man of mankind
Who said a black man in the Illuminati?
Last time I checked, that was the biggest racist party
So get up off that slave ship
Build your own pyramids, write your own hieroglyphs
Just call the shit HiiiPower
Nigga, nothing less than HiiiPower
Five star dishes, food for thought, bitches
I mean the shit is, Bobby Seale making meals
You can't resist his HiiiPower
Throw your hands up for HiiiPower
Every day we fight the system just to make our way
We've been down for too long, but that's all right
We was built to be strong 'cause it's our life, na-na-na
Every day we fight the system (we fight the system, we fight the system)
(Never liked the system)
We've been down for too long, but that's all right, na-na-na
Who said a black man in Illuminati?
Last time I checked, that was the biggest racist party
Last time I checked, we was racin' with Marcus Garvey
On the freeway to Africa 'til I wrecked my Audi
And I want everybody to view my autopsy
So you can see exactly where the government had shot me
No conspiracy, my fate is inevitable
They played musical chairs, once I'm on that pedestal
Frightening, so fucking frightening
Enough to drive a man insane, a woman insane
The reason Lauryn Hill don't sing or Kurt Cobain
Loaded that clip and then said bang
The drama it bring is crazy
Product of the late eighties
Tryna stay above water, that's why we shun the Navy
Pull your guns and play me
Let's set it off, cause a riot, throw a Molotov
Somebody told me them pirates had got lost
'Cause we've been off them slave ships
Got our own pyramids, write our own hieroglyphs
Just call this shit HiiiPower
Yeah, nothing less than HiiiPower
Five star dishes, food for thought, bitches
I mean the shit is, Fred Hampton on your campus
You can't resist his HiiiPower
Throw your hands up for HiiiPower
Thug life, thug life
Lyrics submitted by MARS is purple, edited by mike0987654321
Hiiipower Lyrics as written by Kendrick Lamar Jermaine L. Cole
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Weird how a great artist like Kendrick gets no comments on his lyrics. I guess that says a lot about the hip hop community here at songmeanings.
And whats up with not including the intro lyrics??? EVERYBODY BUT THREE FINGERS IN THE AIR the sky is fallin the wind is callin, stand for something or die in the morning. Section 80. Hiipower
Too dope. A song embodying the struggle of coming up and staying on top in spite of conditions.