This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Flies are buzzing round my head
Vultures circling the dead
Picking up every last crumb
The big fish eat the little ones
The big fish eat the little ones
Not my problem, give me some
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can?
The best you can is good enough
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
This one's optimistic
This one went to market
This one just came out of the swamp
This one dropped a payload
Fodder for the animals
Living on animal farm
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Ah ah ah
Oh oh oh
I'd really like to help you, man
I'd really like to help you, man
Nervous messed up marionettes
Floating around on a prison ship
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
Dinosaurs roaming the Earth
Dinosaurs roaming the Earth
Dinosaurs roaming the Earth
Ah ah ah (oh oh oh)
Ah ah ah (oh oh oh)
Ah ah ah
Oh oh oh
Vultures circling the dead
Picking up every last crumb
The big fish eat the little ones
The big fish eat the little ones
Not my problem, give me some
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can?
The best you can is good enough
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
This one's optimistic
This one went to market
This one just came out of the swamp
This one dropped a payload
Fodder for the animals
Living on animal farm
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Ah ah ah
Oh oh oh
I'd really like to help you, man
I'd really like to help you, man
Nervous messed up marionettes
Floating around on a prison ship
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
Dinosaurs roaming the Earth
Dinosaurs roaming the Earth
Dinosaurs roaming the Earth
Ah ah ah (oh oh oh)
Ah ah ah (oh oh oh)
Ah ah ah
Oh oh oh
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I'm not familiar with the plot of the entire album. However, when I hear this song on its own, this is the connotation I get:
This song is all about the common people striving for elitism. Imagine a common man going to college, entering the workforce optimistically. He wants money and status and a comfortable life. He doesn't imagine himself losing his freedom to his job.
The song begins with the man seeing his peers being picked off by life's trials and difficulties. He sees them cannibalized by the "big fish" (big business/bosses/corporate heirarchy). He realizes he must either become a big fish or get eaten by them.
Then the song takes a bigger viewpoint, as if a narrator is studying the whole situation. It describes several of these common men and how they fit into the picture. We have the man who wants more (optimistic), a consumer (the market), a backwoods hillbilly (out of the swamp), and a producer (drops a payload) whose art is consumed by the others (animals on animal farm).
The song then describes the man again, probably in his later years after he's been on this corporate ladder a while. He's a puppet (nervous messed up marionette) that can't escape this ride he's on (the prison ship).
The song ends with the focus pulling away from this man and seeing the whole society as an ecosystem of dinosaurs... doomed to cannibalize and feed on each other until some force greater than them destroys them. Still, in their minds they are all super-important. The grand scheme of things is much greater than they will ever be.