This song is crazy...the entire thing is a double entendre. Love how he stole 50's idea and one-upped it.
Just for one night TAKE ME IN VEIN / VAIN
Who helped you immediately, how SPEEDy of me
I'm missing the days when you needed the D (dope/dick)
crazy
It really frustrates me that a lot of people I know think all rap is just trashy music, especially when songs like this exist. People need to realise some rap is true poetry, and this is the great example. This song is very clever, and as classyjazzy said, it's two-sided, weaving the addiction to a toxic relationship with other types of addiction, especially to heroin.
It can sound like it's one person is saying to the other "I'm your addiction, you need me" and makes reference to sex (the biggest clue is "9 1/2 weeks" - a movie about sex and S&M). It also explicitely refers to drugs ('black rain' and 'china white' are types of heroin; Sugar Hill is a movie about a drug dealer; 'SPEEDy'; '12 steps', 'so dope' etc.) and other types of additiction, especially shopping, which is evident in the following:
"Like Louboutin's with the red bottoms You gotta have 'em You glad you got 'em Like every color Giuseppe's, your guilty pleasure is me"
Christian Louboutins and Giuseppe Zanotti are well known and expensive shoe brands. And I love that it quickly goes from "You gotta have 'em" to "You glad you got 'em" without hardly skipping a beat - you just have to have it, and you WILL have it - you don't even take time to think it through.
I also love how the tone changes in the song as the 'addict' eventually decides to clean up her act. It starts with:
"I keep tryin' to remind you to keep tellin' yourself Now your conscience is interfering, like "Better yourself!""
And then the last verse is really revealing:
"How could you leave me? I thought that you needed me When the world got too much and you pleaded with me Who helped you immediately? How speedy of me How could you deny me so vehemently? Now your body is shakin' Trying to free it of me And your soul is in control Trying to lead it from me And your heart no longer pledge allegiance to me Damn, I'm missing the days when you needed the D"
The addict has let go of her addiction to the drug, or person, or whatever, and the 'drug' isn't too happy about this (making it sound like a person, unhappy the other has left them, despite the relationship being toxic). The 'shaking' is a key withdrawal symptom from drugs, so the song never deviates from blending the two types of addiction together.
It helps that there's something very hypnotic about the music itself. The whole thing just fits perfectly in so many ways :)
ahhh this song is soo good
indeed it is
This is SUCH a good song. Jay-z stays true in a time when all you have to do is say a couple words to produce a hit.
this song does have to meanings. The 1st obvius one about love and stuff and the more dominant side about drugs and addiction. Thats shown in the music video. They show the girl who is on the streets with her boyfriend and the girl who is rich and in the clubs and drugged up all the time. These song has so many hidden double meanings and is really insightful. Just a real good RAP song.
The metaphors within the songs are so creative expect nothing less from jay
whats 9 1/2 weeks?
@snizel88 it's a movie
this is that sensitive shit i love. this song reminds everyone of someone..