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.
(One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine)
It's the ten crack commandments, what?
Uh, uh
Nigga can't tell me nothing about this coke (uh-huh)
Can't tell me nothing about this crack, this weed, for my hustlin' niggas, uh
Niggas on the corner, I ain't forget you niggas
My triple beam niggas (word up)
(One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine)
Uh
(Ten)
I've been in this game for years, it made me an animal
It's rules to this shit, I wrote me a manual
A step-by-step booklet for you to get
Your game on track, not your wig pushed back
Rule numbre uno, never let no one know
How much dough you hold, 'cause you know
The cheddar breed jealousy 'specially
If that man fucked up, get yo' ass stuck up
Number two, never let 'em know your next move
Don't you know Bad Boys move in silence and violence?
Take it from your highness (uh-huh)
I done squeezed mad clips at these cats for their bricks and chips
Number three, never trust nobody
Your moms'll set that ass up, properly gassed up
Hoodied and masked up, shit, for that fast buck
She be laying in the bushes to light that ass up
Number four, I know you heard this before
Never get high on your own supply
Number five, never sell no crack where you rest at
I don't care if they want a ounce, tell 'em bounce
Number six, that goddamn credit? Dead it
You think a crackhead paying you back, shit forget it
Seven, this rule is so underrated
Keep your family and business completely separated
Money and blood don't mix like two dicks and no bitch
Find yourself in serious shit
Number eight, never keep no weight on you
Them cats that squeeze your guns can hold jums too
Number nine shoulda been number one to me
If you ain't gettin' bagged, stay the fuck from police
If niggas think you snitchin' they ain't tryna listen
They be sittin' in your kitchen, waiting to start hittin'
Number ten, a strong word called consignment
Strictly for live men, not for freshmen
If you ain't got the clientele, say "Hell no"
'Cause they gon' want they money rain, sleet, hail, snow
Follow these rules you'll have mad bread to break up
If not, twenty-four years on the wake up
Slug hit your temple, watch your frame shake up
Caretaker did your makeup, when you passed
Your girl fucked my man Jake up, heard in three weeks
She sniffed a whole half of cake up
Heard she suck a good dick, and can hook a steak up
Gotta go, gotta go, more pies to bake up, word up, uh
It's the ten crack commandments, what?
Uh, uh
Nigga can't tell me nothing about this coke (uh-huh)
Can't tell me nothing about this crack, this weed, for my hustlin' niggas, uh
Niggas on the corner, I ain't forget you niggas
My triple beam niggas (word up)
(One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine)
Uh
(Ten)
I've been in this game for years, it made me an animal
It's rules to this shit, I wrote me a manual
A step-by-step booklet for you to get
Your game on track, not your wig pushed back
Rule numbre uno, never let no one know
How much dough you hold, 'cause you know
The cheddar breed jealousy 'specially
If that man fucked up, get yo' ass stuck up
Number two, never let 'em know your next move
Don't you know Bad Boys move in silence and violence?
Take it from your highness (uh-huh)
I done squeezed mad clips at these cats for their bricks and chips
Number three, never trust nobody
Your moms'll set that ass up, properly gassed up
Hoodied and masked up, shit, for that fast buck
She be laying in the bushes to light that ass up
Number four, I know you heard this before
Never get high on your own supply
Number five, never sell no crack where you rest at
I don't care if they want a ounce, tell 'em bounce
Number six, that goddamn credit? Dead it
You think a crackhead paying you back, shit forget it
Seven, this rule is so underrated
Keep your family and business completely separated
Money and blood don't mix like two dicks and no bitch
Find yourself in serious shit
Number eight, never keep no weight on you
Them cats that squeeze your guns can hold jums too
Number nine shoulda been number one to me
If you ain't gettin' bagged, stay the fuck from police
If niggas think you snitchin' they ain't tryna listen
They be sittin' in your kitchen, waiting to start hittin'
Number ten, a strong word called consignment
Strictly for live men, not for freshmen
If you ain't got the clientele, say "Hell no"
'Cause they gon' want they money rain, sleet, hail, snow
Follow these rules you'll have mad bread to break up
If not, twenty-four years on the wake up
Slug hit your temple, watch your frame shake up
Caretaker did your makeup, when you passed
Your girl fucked my man Jake up, heard in three weeks
She sniffed a whole half of cake up
Heard she suck a good dick, and can hook a steak up
Gotta go, gotta go, more pies to bake up, word up, uh
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Ten Crack Commandments Lyrics as written by Khary Turner Christopher E Martin
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
This song is true as fuck, biggie knows what he's talking about