This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long
That even my momma thinks that my mind is gone
But I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it
Me be treated like a punk? You know that's unheard of
You better watch how you talkin' and where you walkin'
Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk
I really hate to trip, but I gotta loc
As they croak, I see myself in the pistol smoke
Fool, I'm the kinda G the little homies wanna be like
On my knees in the night, sayin' prayers in the streetlight
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
Look at the situation they got me facin'
I can't live a normal life, I was raised by the state
So I gotta be down with the hood team
Too much television watching, got me chasing dreams
I'm a educated fool with money on my mind
Got my ten in my hand and a gleam in my eye
I'm a loc'd out gangsta, set trippin' banger
And my homies is down, so don't arouse my anger
Fool, death ain't nothin' but a heart beat away
I'm livin' life do or die, what can I say?
I'm twenty-three now but will I live to see twenty-four?
The way things is going, I don't know
Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me?
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
Power and the money, money and the power
Minute after minute, hour after hour
Everybody's running, but half of them ain't lookin'
It's going on in the kitchen, but I don't know what's cookin'
They say I got to learn, but nobody's here to teach me
If they can't understand it, how can they reach me?
I guess they can't, I guess they won't
I guess they front, that's why I know my life is out of luck, fool
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me?
Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me?
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long
That even my momma thinks that my mind is gone
But I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it
Me be treated like a punk? You know that's unheard of
You better watch how you talkin' and where you walkin'
Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk
I really hate to trip, but I gotta loc
As they croak, I see myself in the pistol smoke
Fool, I'm the kinda G the little homies wanna be like
On my knees in the night, sayin' prayers in the streetlight
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
Look at the situation they got me facin'
I can't live a normal life, I was raised by the state
So I gotta be down with the hood team
Too much television watching, got me chasing dreams
I'm a educated fool with money on my mind
Got my ten in my hand and a gleam in my eye
I'm a loc'd out gangsta, set trippin' banger
And my homies is down, so don't arouse my anger
Fool, death ain't nothin' but a heart beat away
I'm livin' life do or die, what can I say?
I'm twenty-three now but will I live to see twenty-four?
The way things is going, I don't know
Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me?
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
Power and the money, money and the power
Minute after minute, hour after hour
Everybody's running, but half of them ain't lookin'
It's going on in the kitchen, but I don't know what's cookin'
They say I got to learn, but nobody's here to teach me
If they can't understand it, how can they reach me?
I guess they can't, I guess they won't
I guess they front, that's why I know my life is out of luck, fool
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
They been spending most their lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
We keep spending most our lives
Livin' in a gangsta's paradise
Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me?
Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me?
Lyrics submitted by aniota, edited by cam4mac, StrangeOrange, Conovian
Gangsta's Paradise Lyrics as written by Artis L Ivey Jr. Stevie Wonder
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Exploration Group LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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1st Verse: The person is acknowledging that the life he lives has destroyed whatever humanity he had and has alienated even those who love him. However, he then does a complete 180 in deifiantly justifying his actions, implying they were necessary to survive.
2nd Verse: The person explaining how he got into this situation. Left with few choices and needing to survive, he turns to violence and crime in order to do so. Again, he defiantly justifies his actions, but then acknowledges that even after turning to violence and crime, his survival is not guaranteed.
3rd Verse: The person explaining how his choices for life have led for him to lust for money and power every waking minute of his life. It's at this point that he admits he's too far gone in his actions and that his situation will never improve, no matter what he does.