None Shall Pass

Well I'll give this song a shot:

The first verse refers to mainstream rap.

"Flash that buttery gold, jittery zeitgeist wither by the watering hole, what a patrol, what are we to heart huckabee art fuckery suddenly? Not enough young in his lung for the waterwings?"

Not 100% sure on this, but I think this is describing the banality mainstream rap. The jittery zeitgeist withering refers to the same old attitude portrayed in alot of rap, and the whole "not enough youing in his lung for the waterwings?" implies that they keep reusing an old formula.

"Colorfully vulgar poacher outta mulch like "I'm 'a pull the pulse out a soldier and bolt".

The poacher is a gangsta who uses the same crap (mulch) in his lyrics, about killing getting away with it.

"Fine. Sign of the time we elapse when a primate climb up a spine and attach. Eye for an eye by the bog's life swamps and vines, they get a rise out of frogs and flies, so when a dog fight's hog-tied prize sorta costs a life, the mouths water on a fork and knife, and the allure isn't right."

The gangsta (primate), the hood (bog). Since alot of violence is eye for an eye, this says that the gangs feed off of the violence (get a rise), and when one dies (prize sorta costs a life), they feed off it which is wrong (the allure isn't right)

"It's gore on a war torn beach where the cash cow's actually beef. Blood turns wine when it leak for police like that's not a riot it's a feast, let's eat."

The cash cow is the longevity of the gang and they feed off peoples (beef) suffering, so they feast.

"And I will remember your name and face on the day you are judged by the funhouse cast And I will rejoice in your fall from grace with a cane to the sky like 'None Shall Pass'"

Aesop says that he will look forward to the day that people (funhouse cast) finally judge them and he will be happy at their fall from grace.

"If you never had a day a snow cone couldn't fix, you wouldn't relate to the rogue vocoder blitz, how he spoke thru a no-doz motor on the fritz, cuz he wouldn't play roll over fetch like a bitch, and express no regrets, though he isn't worth a homeowner's piss to the jokers who pose by the glitz."

I'm really not sure on this one but I think that this says that you can't relate to rap song (rogue vocoder blitz) if you never were involved in gangs (day a snow cone couldn't fix). How rap goes so fast (no-doz motor(mouth) on the fritz). "Roll over and fetch like a bitch" means that the rapper wouldn't live a normal life (have a job and such), and they don't feel bad about it even though they aren't worth anything compared to normal society(homeowners, jokers who pose by the glitz).

"Fine. Sign of the swine in the swarm when a king is a whore who comply and conform."

He talks about how most rappers (swine in the swarm) are swine, since the best of them (kings) are those who comply and not do original material.

"Miles outside of the eye of the storm, with a siphon to lure out a prize and award, while avoiding the vile and bazaar that is violence and war, true blue triumph is more, like wait, let it snake up outta the centerfold, let it break the walls of jericho, ready?"

This is where Aesop says that he is different. He is outside the mainstream, and his music is the lure that gets people out of the mainstream since he stays away from the "violence and war". The snake up out of the centerfold, break the walls of jericho says that he is going to take people by surprise.

"GO. Sat where the old cardboard city folk swap tales with heads like every other penny throw."

Not sure but i think this means that his songs actually have meanings since they "swap tales". If someone else thinks something else please tell.

"OK, woke to a grocery list. It goes like this: duty and death. Anyone object, come stand in the way, you could be my little snake river canyon today, and I ran with a chain of commands and a jet pack strap where the back-stab lands if it can."

This is about the government now. The grocery list describes his thoughts on the military and if anyone disagrees with him they should argue with him and maybe lead to his downfall (snake river canyon). The backstab describes how some betrayl is common.

"Fine. Sign of the vibe in the crowd when I cut a belly open to find what climbs out."

Cutting open someone shows what they are truly thinking, since there is so much lying in politics nowadays.

"What a bit of gusto he muster up, to make a dark horse rush like enough's enough, it musta struck a nerve so they huff and puff, til all the king's men fluster and clusterfuck,"

The dark horse is Aesop rock, and since the rap industry and government got him so mad, he started doing something till they are undermined(fluster and clusterfuck).

"and it's a beautiful thing, to my people who keep an impressive wingspan even when the cubicle shrinks, you gotta pull up the intruder by the root of the weed, NY chew thru the machine."

This is pretty straightforward, but the root of the weed is the politician, and you have to remove the evil from the root.

i made an account to say that i think this is the greatest hip hop song ever made

"I just heard it again on the radio." Aesop Rock on the radio?!

ok, i didn't have time to post much before... we'll see how much i can get down this time... it's a pretty darn political song.

"Flash that buttery gold, jittery zeitgeist wither by the watering hole, what a patrol, what are we to heart huckabee art fuckery suddenly" ...MEANING... "Zeitgeist" refers to the sociopolitical & cultural climate, "ZEITGEIST" was also a film released in 2006/2007 that was about religion, 9/11, war on terror, Bush, the media... and essentially suggesting big business, Bush, religion, and the military etc are seeking global domination. He also refers to Mike Huckabee (Mike Huckabee is the former Arkansas governor/evangelical preacher whose stance was to give illegal aliens 4 months to leave the US or be barred from the country for 10 years if caught). ...MOVING RIGHT ALONG... the remainder until the chorus is kinda running through evolution, and to what we have evolved to today: war, famine, murder, etc ...THE CHORUS... "And I will remember your name and face on the day you are judged by the funhouse cast And I will rejoice in your fall from grace with a cane to the sky like 'None Shall Pass' ...MEANING... To me, the chorus could be derived from one of two places:
(1) directly from a quote from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail quote: None shall pass. What? None shall pass. I have no quarrel with you good sir knight, but i must cross this bridge. Then you shall die. I command you, as Arthur King of the Britains to stand aside. I move... for no man. So be it! ....or.... (2) Isaiah 34:10 (Bible) It will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will be desolate; None will pass through it forever and ever.

The second bunch of lyrics are namely about Bush, although i can't figure out what he's getting at with the vocoder blitz comment... a vocoder is like a voice synthesizer.. Maybe suggesting the media or politicians are just voice boxes?? disembodied voices? blah blah blah? Well its an idea... Rest of it speaks of Bush/US government making decisions (Middle East) while half a world away from the issue.... "walls of Jericho" well thats obvious - referring to the biblical story in which the ancient Israelites surrounded the city of Jericho (in present-day Jordan) and the walls of the city of Jericho crumbled as the Israelites seiged Jericho... referencing war in Israel & US involvement...

ok.. i quit. you figure out the rest...

I'm pretty confident this song is just general commentary on the rap industry -- particularly the first verse:

"Eye for an eye by the bog's life swamps and vines, they get a rise out of frogs and flies, so when a dog fight's hog-tied prize sorta costs a life, the mouths water on a fork and knife, and the allure isn't right. It's gore on a war torn beach where the cash cow's actually beef. Blood turns wine when it leak for police like that's not a riot it's a feast, let's eat."

These bars are a good example. Here it seems as though he's commenting about the general consumer's blood thirsty desire for violence in the rap industry and actual incidents feeding the lust, consequently making eager police department's job's easier as they simply sit back and watch these gangsters embrace the gimmick and eliminate each other.

The second verse is specifically commenting on Aesop's desire to stay true to himself, despite any pressures conjured up by mainstream criticisms:

"What a bit of gusto he muster up, to make a dark horse rush like enough's enough, it musta struck a nerve so they huff and puff, til all the king's men fluster and clusterfuck, and it's a beautiful thing, to my people who keep an impressive wingspan even when the cubicle shrinks, you gotta pull up the intruder by the root of the weed, NY chew thru the machine."

These bars pretty much sell that.

-Kimosabae

hey googlieeyes,

I do have something to point out about that swap tales line.

I'm definately getting homeless imagery. old cardboard city folk.. cardboard cities? cardboard houses? homeless people. Every other penny throw, panhandling. swap tales/tails with heads is a double entendre.. as a penny is thrown and rotates through the heads and tails swap on it. But swapping tails with heads of course also refers to his raps I think. "heads" is hip-hop terminology for like the backpackerish nitch Aes falls in. Like he wont sell out, or conform like rich kings, instead he'll live as a humble bum... because true triumph isn't playing into the machine and exploitation.. it's remaining free and true to yourself.. and ultimately swapping tales with other hip-hop heads is more rewarding. Ultimately he has no regrets with this lifestyle choice he's truly grown and found grace.. Meanwhile those that bought into the rat race will crumble.. they'll fall from grace that they never had, that was just an illusion or lie all along. Yes, this song definately has elements of the rap game in it, but is also about the struggle we all face.. the winner of a rat race is still a rat.... how about finding a path that offers us something more than that? something real and true? even if it means giving up riches and fame and power for a cardboard box, and some friends to shoot the shit with..

I see many political references in the first verse. "Flash that buttery gold jittery zeitgeist, wither by the watering hole border patrol" to me, that is a reference to the so called "american dream", the way all the money is flashed around and then people from the poorer countries as a result look at america as the watering hole and try go there to make their fortunes ie. illegal immigrants. The next line reinforces this, "what are we to heart huckabee art fuckery suddenly", wich is a reference to former Arkansaw governor Mike Huckabee, and his political view for his presidential campaign regarding immigration, wich was that they should be a 700-mile border fence built and, border patrol should be increased. This would of course result in many immigrants not being able to get over the border, and they would thus "wither by the watering hole". Even the next line "not enough young in his lung for the waterwing", could be a reference to his former weight, I got this extract from wikipedia, "Huckabee has publicly recounted his previous burdens as an obese man: the steps of the Arkansas capitol from the entrance of the building up to the Governor's office were so long and steep that he would be out of breath and exhausted by the time he reached the top of the stairs; He secretly feared that he would be interviewed by media at the top of the steps, and that he would be too out of breath to respond",(a waterwing needs air to be blown up you see). Then I feel the last part is a reference to the current war on iraq, "eye for an eye by the bog like swamps and vines", could be a reference to the fact that the war on iraq was allegedly started as payback for the 9/11 attacks (eye for an eye), "they get a rise out of frogs and flies", culd be a reference to an old game on the atari called "frogs and flies", where the player controls a frog sitting on a lilly and tries to eat as many flies as possible. The politicians could be the frogs and money could be the flies. "so when a dog-fight's hog-tied prize sorta costs a life, their mouths water on a fork and knife", I feel these last lines reference what he perceives as the governments greed, basically the prize of this war is the oil, and the bush administration doesn't seem to care about the lives of the soldiers lost. (Huckabee supports the war on iraq btw), the lines "and the allure isn't right, no score on a war torn beach where the cash cow's actually beef", would support this, as the reason given behind the war, does not really seem to be true. "blood turns wine when it leak for police like, "that's not a riot it's a feast, let's eat!"" I feel these lines comment on the general blood thirsty nature of today's world in general, and I'm from Rwanda so I know this firsthand. That's what I got from the song, first verse especiallyId do the next 2 verses but this is long as it is so you do that, but the "rap game" angle makes loads of sense too, and I think that's why he's so good (aside from his abillity to deliver ridiculously wordy verses effortlessly), he fits so many meanigs into his songs, Aesop indeed. This is real hip hop. Id do the next 2 verses but this is long as it is so you do that.

angrymailperson kind of has a point. i saw the video and thought it was about getting into heaven too, no lie. judgment day...someone telling you whether you life or the sum total of your accomplishments is good enough from the point of view of that 'higher' being...

i kind of thought it was a play on religion. not sure why, so don't flame me. lol.

Not sure but I think it's "caste" in the chorus. Same sound, different meaning

I broke the song down and wrote out what I believed each line meant. (The ones that I felt I understood).

"So when a dog fight's hog-tied prize sorta costs a life, the mouths water on a fork and knife, and the allure isn't right. It's gore on a war torn beach where the cash cow's actually beef." A commentary on the American love of violence. The visual imagery is a dog attacking another animal hog-tied and helpless (the prize) and since it's only an animal that's dying it "sorta costs a life". The mouths water because it's feeding the American need for violence.

"The allure isn't right" just like the allure of "a war torn beach" isn't right. I'm not sure about the meaning of "where the cash cow's actually beef" but the rest of it sounds like a reference to the storming of the beach of Normandy as it is arguably the most famous military event because of all the lives lost there, and how gruesomely they were lost.

"Blood turns wine when it leak for police like that's not a riot it's a feast, let's eat" I think this is perhaps a commentary on police brutality, like it's condoned and therefore is a "feast" instead of being something bad.

"And I will rejoice in your fall from grace with a cane to the sky like 'None Shall Pass'". I always think of Gandalf saying "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" in the LOTR movie :P

"If you never had a day a snow cone couldn't fix, you wouldn't relate to the rogue vocoder blitz". I have no idea who or what a rogue vocoder blitz is, but apparently if you've had an easy life you can't relate to him.

"How he spoke through a no-doz motor on the fritz, 'cause he wouldn't play roll over fetch like a bitch". A no-doz motor sounds like a torture device used to keep prisoners awake, but I don't really know. Either way it's "on the fritz" and "he spoke through" it because he wouldn't be a dog and do as commanded.

"And express no regrets, though he isn't worth a homeowner's piss to the jokers who pose by the glitz". So he expresses no regrets about not doing as commanded, and the rich, or maybe just powerful, think he isn't worth a homeowners piss. Which I think plays into the American mindset of success = money.

"Sign of the swine in the swarm when a king is a whore who will comply and conform" I'm not sure about "swine in the swarm", but "a king is a whore who will comply and conform" sounds like a description of political leaders America has put into power in other countries, or perhaps may even be a reference to our own president (the office in general, not a particular president).

"Miles outside of the eye of the storm with a siphon to lure out a prize and award while avoiding the vile and bazaar that is violence and war". I think this is a commentary on politicians, how they don't get their hands dirty in the wars, they stay "outside of the eye of the storm" and use "a siphon to lure out a prize and award".

"okay, woke to a grocery list goes like this: duty and death. Anyone object come stand in the way, you could be my little snake river canyon today". The only thing I know about Snake River Canyon is that Evel Knieval tried to jump it and failed. The "grocery list goes like this: duty and death" sounds like he's describing a soldier.

"and i ran with a chain of commands" sounds like the military as well. I'm not sure about the next line but "what a bit of gusto he muster up to make a dark horse rush like enough is enough" sounds like the little guy, or the "dark horse" is tired of being beat down and is pushing back.

"It musta struck a nerve so they huff and puff 'til all the king's men fluster and clusterfuck" I think this means that the little guy fighting back inspired all the other little people to fight back, like a riot.

"And it's a beautiful thing to my people who keep an impressive wingspan even when the cubicle shrink" here he applauds the people who can stay free even "when the cubicles shrink".

"You gotta pull up the intruder by the root of the weed NY chew through the machine" This reference to "the machine" along with the cubicle line makes me believe he is refering to the military-industrial complex and encouraging people to fight against it.

That's all.