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Swordsman Lyrics
Chorus 1:
When a motherfucker steps out his place
And gets slapped in his motherfuckin face
Just because the motherfucker tried to base
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
And while I see his whole click passes by
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
Verse One:
Yo
I'm not caught up in politics
I'm no black activist on a so-called scholar's dick
I come through with the Wu and drop math
And versatile freestyles bombs and phonographs
and deliver, all things and other in weight
searched to death, on how living things relate
Cause at a young age, I was molded in a religion I relied on
and got caught up in superstition
Scared to split pole, duck black cats
Once in a while, threw salt over my back
But with knowledge of self remove the shell
Made things seemed complicated now small like elves
So turn off the lights light a candle, have a seance
Pull the lid off the Dean Martin scandal
Witches, warlocks, spooks, and holy ghosts
RZA lets defraud the hoax
Chorus 2:
When a motherfucker steps out his place
And gets slapped in his goddamn face
Just because the nigga buddy tried to base
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
And while I see his whole click passes by
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
Verse Two:
We were on the same ship when the slaves were checked
I had to pull your card you was on the top deck
So I plotted my escape, I saw the Thin Line Between Love and Hate
And fast from the hog on the plate
I suffered brutal pains, from whips and chains
Punishments that were set to wash the brain
So look listen observe and also respect this jewel
drawed up, detect and reflect this
light I shine, because my power is refined
through the truth, which manifest through eternal minds
Purified gases and masses the same elements
that helped spark civilization classes
I see brothers quote math plus degrees
Lip professin' ass niggaz can't feed they own seeds
Chorus 3:
When a nigga steps out his place
And gets slapped in his motherfuckin face
Just because the nigga what he tried to base
Wit' G.O.D., wit' G.O.D.
While I see his whole click passes by
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
Chorus 4:
When a motherfucker steps out his place
And gets slapped in his goddamn face
Just because the nigga what he tried to base
Wit' G.O.D., G.O.D.
And while I see his whole click passes by
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
And gets slapped in his motherfuckin face
Just because the motherfucker tried to base
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
I'm not caught up in politics
I'm no black activist on a so-called scholar's dick
I come through with the Wu and drop math
And versatile freestyles bombs and phonographs
and deliver, all things and other in weight
searched to death, on how living things relate
Cause at a young age, I was molded in a religion I relied on
and got caught up in superstition
Scared to split pole, duck black cats
Once in a while, threw salt over my back
But with knowledge of self remove the shell
Made things seemed complicated now small like elves
So turn off the lights light a candle, have a seance
Pull the lid off the Dean Martin scandal
Witches, warlocks, spooks, and holy ghosts
RZA lets defraud the hoax
And gets slapped in his goddamn face
Just because the nigga buddy tried to base
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
I had to pull your card you was on the top deck
So I plotted my escape, I saw the Thin Line Between Love and Hate
And fast from the hog on the plate
I suffered brutal pains, from whips and chains
Punishments that were set to wash the brain
So look listen observe and also respect this jewel
drawed up, detect and reflect this
light I shine, because my power is refined
through the truth, which manifest through eternal minds
Purified gases and masses the same elements
that helped spark civilization classes
I see brothers quote math plus degrees
Lip professin' ass niggaz can't feed they own seeds
And gets slapped in his motherfuckin face
Just because the nigga what he tried to base
Wit' G.O.D., wit' G.O.D.
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
And gets slapped in his goddamn face
Just because the nigga what he tried to base
Wit' G.O.D., G.O.D.
Motherfuckers think they qualify
And for those niggaz want to try
The G.O.D., the G.O.D.
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Really....these are the lyrics to Gold, not Swordsman....how do you mess that up....
This song makes me wanna fight people.
GZA at the top of his game. It doesn't get much better than this.
There are many points in the GZA's songs where he purposely betrays the rhyme scheme in order to make the end of the line more unpredictable. He realizes that if a song rhymes completely, the listener will see the rhyming word coming and know what it is before it is spoken, which ruins the sophistication. Therefore, what gives something a the most logical structure are illogical nuances in the creation. It is the work of geniuses, or perhaps the Genius.
One of my all-time favourites. I think what the GZA is saying is not one thing, but many things. But the over-arching concept behind the track is about what happens when a person decides to seriously examine issues of spirituality, when a person looks beyond the simple superstitions. Society reacts to your search with either indifference or outright hostility. Even friends and family react that way.
When the GZA tries to base GOD he gets hostility (slapped in the face) from those in authority. And authority's followers (the "whole clique") unquestionably react the same way. But the followers only oppose the GZA because their leader opposes the GZA. They think that unquestioning obedience to authority is enough to "qualify" them for whatever spiritual rewards.
The first verse is a short history of the GZA's spiritual development. He started out as superstitious as everyone else. Maybe even more so, 'cause he talks about black cats, salt, etc, which are things only the real superstitious worry about. I often wonder whether it's the most superstitious that become the most questioning, because in order to be THAT superstitious, you have to take your beliefs seriously. Anyways, the GZA investigates his beliefs and finds them to be nothing more than a hoax.
Second verse seems to be about African American heritage. Who can know himself without knowing where he's from? And he sees the development of his beliefs in the context of his African American history. By seeing this he can look beyond those beliefs and see a deeper truth. And yet he sees so-called authority figures "feed they own seeds" with the same old superstitions.
The track is a call for questioning, for searching beyond what you've been taught. The GZA does not tell you what he found to be the truth. If he did that, he'd be no better than those so-called authority figures. You have to find your own truth.