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.
Last we left our hero he was standing all alone at an ATM machine
They were both very out of order
Quite predictably that picture that he’d painted of the morning
It had begun to crack and peel, a photo finish of surreal
Is it true that we are nothing more than boxes sitting in the basement,
and the more that we keep looking, the harder we are to find?
The record keeps on spinning while the volume’s way down
The needle takes its time falling in and out of line,
Well it’s been a Strange day in Mexico.
Are we that dull that all the things that we used to do are never what we wanted to but ces la vie, and so it all goes until we think something is missing again
Our hero looks out of the bubble and he pours himself another and the wonder starts to fade away from the outside looking in, from the outside look in
We have a tendency to hide behind obscurity, but everyone’s so beautiful
Why do we hide at all?
When you get to where you need to be won’t you drop me a line
If the music’s out of tune, at least I hope you like the view
Everybody, everybody, celebrate the good times
Champagne for everyone, but I’m not buying.
They were both very out of order
Quite predictably that picture that he’d painted of the morning
It had begun to crack and peel, a photo finish of surreal
Is it true that we are nothing more than boxes sitting in the basement,
and the more that we keep looking, the harder we are to find?
The record keeps on spinning while the volume’s way down
The needle takes its time falling in and out of line,
Well it’s been a Strange day in Mexico.
Are we that dull that all the things that we used to do are never what we wanted to but ces la vie, and so it all goes until we think something is missing again
Our hero looks out of the bubble and he pours himself another and the wonder starts to fade away from the outside looking in, from the outside look in
We have a tendency to hide behind obscurity, but everyone’s so beautiful
Why do we hide at all?
When you get to where you need to be won’t you drop me a line
If the music’s out of tune, at least I hope you like the view
Everybody, everybody, celebrate the good times
Champagne for everyone, but I’m not buying.
Lyrics submitted by wr3cktangle
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