I was walkin' down the street when out the corner of my eye
I saw a pretty little thing approachin' me
She said, "I never seen a man who looked so all alone
Oh, could you use a little company?
If you pay the right price, your evening will be nice
And you can go and send me on my way"
I said, "You're such a sweet young thing, oh, why you do this to yourself?"
She looked at me and this is what she said

"Oh, there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothin' in this world for free
Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back
Though you know I wish I could
Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good"

Not even fifteen minutes later, I'm still walkin' down the street
When I saw the shadow of a man creep out of sight
And then he swept up from behind, he put a gun up to my head
He made it clear he wasn't lookin' for a fight
He said, "Give me all you've got, I want your money, not your life
But if you try to make a move, I won't think twice"
I told him, "You can have my cash, but first, you know I gotta ask
What made you wanna live this kind of life?"

He said, "There ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothin' in this world for free
Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back
Though you know I wish I could
Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good"
Yeah

Well, now a couple hours passed and I was sitting in my house
The day was winding down and coming to an end
And so I turned on the TV and flipped it over to the news
And what I saw, I almost couldn't comprehend
I saw a preacher man in cuffs, he'd taken money from the church
He'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills
But even still I can't say much because I know we're all the same
Oh yes, we all seek out to satisfy those thrills

You know there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
We got bills to pay, we got mouths to feed
There ain't nothin' in this world for free
Oh no, we can't slow down, we can't hold back
Though you know we wish we could
Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good


Lyrics submitted by laurentheinvincible, edited by dodgerblue, crg4

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked Lyrics as written by Donald Bradley Shultz Matthew Ray Shultz

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Ain't No Rest For The Wicked song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    I think they have potential. they kinda remind me of system when they were starting with the exception of the singer. little more mellow, not in a bad way. great lyrics, original and creative and somewhat poetic, and the band seems to flow together in sync well. good composition with the guitars and large emphasis on the back beat. Kinda reminds me of Beck "loser" except the guitars and vocals seem to meld better with the beat. System was a bit more balls to the wall though, and their songs gave a message without saying it out strait.

    Tip for Cage the Elephant if they want to stick around for a while: It helps generally in music to not actually say anything that makes sense word for word. It seems better to send your message through the emotion the music gives you, and have your lyrics give only a general idea, but at the same time make the idea flexible. It's better to have your personal views influence your music and not have your music inflict upon your audience's personal views so they can interpret it freely for themselves.It's hard to say what I'm getting at, but so far (imo) Cage the Elephant is on track to a good music career.

    I liked this song because it gives 3 truths of life. 1) that people can be wicked when they are in desperate situations (bills to pay). 2) people can do wicked things out of selflessness (mouths to feed). 3) People can also be wicked for the sake of being wicked (we all have to satisfy those thrills)

    in the end i think this song is saying "everyone has their reasons" good or bad. cool thing is they never give any indication if these reasons justify the wicked. that is for us as human beings to decide based on our beliefs.

    poomon November 13, 2009   Link

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