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.
Let me down, you let me down
And I can´t say that I´m surprised
It´s everything that I´ve seen from you recently
Put me off, you put me off, yeah
You dumped me and kept me waiting
Soon enough you´ll come crawling back to me
Thought I could depend on you
Just like you depend on me now
But that was not to be
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I can see through you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over
Breaking up, I break away
Turn me down, you turn down
And you leave me to count my bruises Friends don´t come as easy as your enemies
So shame on you, yeah, shame on you
For shutting me out like you do
I should have known you´d bite the hand that feeds you
Thought I could depend on you
Just like you depend on me now
But that was not to be
So much for your attitude
So much for your cheap apologies
They will never do
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over now
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I can see through you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
Believe me, it´s over now
Breaking up, I break away
And don´t come crawling back to me
It´s over, it´s over
Crawling back, right back to me
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over now
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I see right through you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over
Breaking up, I break away –hey
Taking back the things I should have said
It´s over, it´s over now
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I can´t count on you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
Believe me, this is the end
Breaking up, I break away – alright!
And I can´t say that I´m surprised
It´s everything that I´ve seen from you recently
Put me off, you put me off, yeah
You dumped me and kept me waiting
Soon enough you´ll come crawling back to me
Thought I could depend on you
Just like you depend on me now
But that was not to be
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I can see through you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over
Breaking up, I break away
Turn me down, you turn down
And you leave me to count my bruises Friends don´t come as easy as your enemies
So shame on you, yeah, shame on you
For shutting me out like you do
I should have known you´d bite the hand that feeds you
Thought I could depend on you
Just like you depend on me now
But that was not to be
So much for your attitude
So much for your cheap apologies
They will never do
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over now
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I can see through you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
Believe me, it´s over now
Breaking up, I break away
And don´t come crawling back to me
It´s over, it´s over
Crawling back, right back to me
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over now
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I see right through you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
It´s over, it´s over
Breaking up, I break away –hey
Taking back the things I should have said
It´s over, it´s over now
Breaking up, I gotta break away
I can´t count on you
Taking back the things I didn´t say
Believe me, this is the end
Breaking up, I break away – alright!
Lyrics submitted by Carrrrie
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