In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Fort Minor
Fort Minor
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens,
I use
To write in every color I think in,
To paint a picture,
With every rhyme that I speak in,
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Mike:
Yes
Ladies and gentlemen we have a special guest for you this evenin'
Ghost you ready?
Ghost:
Yo,
I verbally paint pictures,
I'm the hood's best story teller,
This one 'bout a young boy,
Dealin with them older fellas,
Promised him the lives,
You see on TV,
He ran packs across town,
Like rhyme CD'S,
And
Big chains, new cloths, Nikes and Reeboks,
Stackin' too much loot
To squeeze in a shoe box,
Savin',
He promised moms a crib in Atlanta,
And his pops got killed through debt,
He was a dealer,
So he stayed stressed out,
started walkin' with suit cases,
no more "cross town"
Now he's crossin' them states, and
Seeing new faces,
Not knowing who to trust,
So when the door kicked open
They scream "This is a bust,"
Is it a set up?
It seems funny a scuffle broke out,
He got hit, dropped the cases,
Spittin' blood out of his mouth,
He walked four blocks to die,
Tryin' to survive,
And now all that's left is his mom,
Screamin' "God why?"
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
I use
To write in every color I think in
To paint a picture
With every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Mike:
Yeah, Yeah
Let me begin by saying
"Shut the fuck up!"
Let me begin by saying,
I don't think this man knew what he had in store,
He opened the door, and found the bag under the floor,
Not a peep, while he's working the lock,
Get the flame, aim, POP
Open the box and take off,
out the back of the pawn shop
Scoping the lot,
Hoping the cops hadn't seen the plates on his car,
He felt like he'd been hustling so hard,
like a demon he pumped a cold heart,
play it cool like Humphrey Bogart,
Put the rings on his chain attached by both parts,
He did the drop,
One ring in a bag,
Envelope, all the money he had,
Left the money and the ring in a slow exhale,
Two weeks went by,
Got a box in the mail,
In the box was a bullet made of gold
Melted down from the ring,
Recast with two rings and a band,
And he stared at it sittin' the palm of his hand,
And sat down next to a picture that sat on the nightstand,
It was his wife in the picture at his side,
With the ring on the finger on the week that she died,
As he looked in the reflection, at those eyes so red,
He put the bullet in a gun,
And put it right in his head,
Like that,
[gunshot]
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
I use
To write in every color I think in
To paint a picture
With every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Lupe:
Uh, yeah
Uh
Mike: Fiasco
He knew he didn't have enough power in his thrusters,
To muster warp 5,
Plus if he pushed it the fuel cells could rupture,
And then they would die,
Then the galaxy would suffer, but he knew he had to try,
But he couldn't risk it, put the cure in the escape pod and kissed it,
Told her goodbye,
She started to cry,
But he knew if he could distract em,
He could buy her some time and she could make it out alive,
Turned the suit around and got prepared for the stand off,
Space mine had blew one of the hands off,
Damaged laser cannons and the guidance system jammed,
And he faced the whole fleet,
Blood seeping through his teeth,
the final saga in the Seven Planet Wars,
Unsheathed the sword and
Then he charged forward,
His eyes flashed behind the cracked cockpit glass,
He let out a laugh,
And then all she heard was a blast like
[explosion]
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
I use
To write in every color I think in
To paint a picture
With every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Mike:
Yeah,
Ladies and gentlemen, this has been a fort minor production
Ghostface!
Fiasco!
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
Fort Minor
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens,
I use
To write in every color I think in,
To paint a picture,
With every rhyme that I speak in,
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Mike:
Yes
Ladies and gentlemen we have a special guest for you this evenin'
Ghost you ready?
Ghost:
Yo,
I verbally paint pictures,
I'm the hood's best story teller,
This one 'bout a young boy,
Dealin with them older fellas,
Promised him the lives,
You see on TV,
He ran packs across town,
Like rhyme CD'S,
And
Big chains, new cloths, Nikes and Reeboks,
Stackin' too much loot
To squeeze in a shoe box,
Savin',
He promised moms a crib in Atlanta,
And his pops got killed through debt,
He was a dealer,
So he stayed stressed out,
started walkin' with suit cases,
no more "cross town"
Now he's crossin' them states, and
Seeing new faces,
Not knowing who to trust,
So when the door kicked open
They scream "This is a bust,"
Is it a set up?
It seems funny a scuffle broke out,
He got hit, dropped the cases,
Spittin' blood out of his mouth,
He walked four blocks to die,
Tryin' to survive,
And now all that's left is his mom,
Screamin' "God why?"
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
I use
To write in every color I think in
To paint a picture
With every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Mike:
Yeah, Yeah
Let me begin by saying
"Shut the fuck up!"
Let me begin by saying,
I don't think this man knew what he had in store,
He opened the door, and found the bag under the floor,
Not a peep, while he's working the lock,
Get the flame, aim, POP
Open the box and take off,
out the back of the pawn shop
Scoping the lot,
Hoping the cops hadn't seen the plates on his car,
He felt like he'd been hustling so hard,
like a demon he pumped a cold heart,
play it cool like Humphrey Bogart,
Put the rings on his chain attached by both parts,
He did the drop,
One ring in a bag,
Envelope, all the money he had,
Left the money and the ring in a slow exhale,
Two weeks went by,
Got a box in the mail,
In the box was a bullet made of gold
Melted down from the ring,
Recast with two rings and a band,
And he stared at it sittin' the palm of his hand,
And sat down next to a picture that sat on the nightstand,
It was his wife in the picture at his side,
With the ring on the finger on the week that she died,
As he looked in the reflection, at those eyes so red,
He put the bullet in a gun,
And put it right in his head,
Like that,
[gunshot]
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
I use
To write in every color I think in
To paint a picture
With every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Lupe:
Uh, yeah
Uh
Mike: Fiasco
He knew he didn't have enough power in his thrusters,
To muster warp 5,
Plus if he pushed it the fuel cells could rupture,
And then they would die,
Then the galaxy would suffer, but he knew he had to try,
But he couldn't risk it, put the cure in the escape pod and kissed it,
Told her goodbye,
She started to cry,
But he knew if he could distract em,
He could buy her some time and she could make it out alive,
Turned the suit around and got prepared for the stand off,
Space mine had blew one of the hands off,
Damaged laser cannons and the guidance system jammed,
And he faced the whole fleet,
Blood seeping through his teeth,
the final saga in the Seven Planet Wars,
Unsheathed the sword and
Then he charged forward,
His eyes flashed behind the cracked cockpit glass,
He let out a laugh,
And then all she heard was a blast like
[explosion]
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
I use
To write in every color I think in
To paint a picture
With every rhyme that I speak in
Yeah
The gallery is the beat then I (echoes I)
Mike:
Yeah,
Ladies and gentlemen, this has been a fort minor production
Ghostface!
Fiasco!
Lupe:
Uh
Spray paint and ink pens
Lyrics submitted by Wulfreigns
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When We Were Young
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All three of these verses follow the same basic formula. A male protagonist dies for a woman. That said all three 'stories' are completely different in how this is executed.
The first is about a young boy, who becomes a hustler to make money for his mother, after his father'd been killed. He 'leaves town' for a drug deal, and is killed because it's a setup, having actually only went a few blocks.
The second character robs the safe in a pawn shop, stealing some rings and a wedding band. He mails them off to have them melted down into a bullet. Two weeks later, when he gets the bullet in the mail, he looks over at the picture of his dead wife, wearing the ring he'd melted down, and kills himself with the bullet.
The final story seems similar to Mobile Suit Gundam or some other mecha combat series. The character's robot suit's been badly damaged, and he's got no chance of escape. He sends his girl off in the escape pod, at least giving her the chance to survive. With one hand blown off, no laser cannons or aiming systems, he draws his beamsword, and makes a mad dash for the enemy's fleet, laughs, and quickly dies, putting an end to the 'Seven Planet Wars.'
The first verse to me seems a bit delusional, too. after listening to the song a bit more, it sounds like the guy just got a job making deliveries or something "Ran packs across town like /rhyme CDs, big chains, new clothes, nikes and reeboks/" or the lines 'no more 'cross town.' now he's crossin' them states,' though really he'd only walked 4 blocks.
No he dident walk four blocks to the drug deal... i believe he is saying after he got shot he tried to get away but only got 4 blocks before he collasped and died. not that he was only 4 blocks away<br />