5 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Sincerely, Jane Lyrics
Left the city, my momma she said "Don't come back home
These kids round' killin' each other, they lost they minds, they gone
They quittin' school, making babies, they can barely read
Some gone off to their fall, lord have mercy on them
One, two, three, four, your cousins is round' here sellin' dope
While their daddies, your uncle is walking round' strung out
Babies with babies, and their tears keeps burning, while their dreams go down the drain now
(All their dreams go down the drain now)
[Chorus]
Are we really living or just walking dead now?
(Are we walking dead now)
Or dreaming of a hope riding the wings of angels
(The) way we live
(The) way we die
What a tragedy, I'm so terrified
Day dreamers, please wake up, we can't sleep no more
Love don't make no sense, (ask, ask, ask) ask your neighbor
The winds have changed; it seems they have abandoned us
The truth hurts, and so does yesterday
What good is love if it burns bright, and explodes in flames
(I thought every little thing had love but, uh)
[Chorus]
I've seen them shootin' up funerals in they Sunday clothes (yuh)
Spending money on spinners but won't pay college loans (yuh)
And all you gangsters and bangers rollin' dice and taking lives, in a Smokey dark
Lord have mercy on you (yo)
Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos (live your life)
The little girls, just broken Queens, confusing bling for soul
Danger, there's danger when you take off your clothes, all your dreams go down the drain girl
(Ooo)
[Chorus]
(Lord have mercy on you, have mercy on you, have mercy on you.
Uh-uh-uh-uh- lord have mercy on you, uh uh uh uh now now (uh uh)
Are we really living or just walking dead now?
uh uh uh uh, heh heh heh, have mercy on you. ha ha have mercy on you,
have have mercy on you)
We live and then we die, and we never know the right
So now, now we gone, down on your mark
We live and then we die, but we never touch the sky
So now, now we're gone, down on your mark
Five, seven, eight, two, one
It is now time, for you to come home my dear
You've been gone, long enough (Ooo)
Thank you (lord lord have mercy on you)
But you must come, you must go
(lord have mercy, la la la, lord have mercy)
These kids round' killin' each other, they lost they minds, they gone
They quittin' school, making babies, they can barely read
Some gone off to their fall, lord have mercy on them
One, two, three, four, your cousins is round' here sellin' dope
While their daddies, your uncle is walking round' strung out
Babies with babies, and their tears keeps burning, while their dreams go down the drain now
(All their dreams go down the drain now)
[Chorus]
Are we really living or just walking dead now?
(Are we walking dead now)
Or dreaming of a hope riding the wings of angels
(The) way we live
(The) way we die
What a tragedy, I'm so terrified
Day dreamers, please wake up, we can't sleep no more
The winds have changed; it seems they have abandoned us
The truth hurts, and so does yesterday
What good is love if it burns bright, and explodes in flames
(I thought every little thing had love but, uh)
Spending money on spinners but won't pay college loans (yuh)
And all you gangsters and bangers rollin' dice and taking lives, in a Smokey dark
Lord have mercy on you (yo)
Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos (live your life)
The little girls, just broken Queens, confusing bling for soul
Danger, there's danger when you take off your clothes, all your dreams go down the drain girl
(Ooo)
Uh-uh-uh-uh- lord have mercy on you, uh uh uh uh now now (uh uh)
Are we really living or just walking dead now?
uh uh uh uh, heh heh heh, have mercy on you. ha ha have mercy on you,
have have mercy on you)
So now, now we gone, down on your mark
We live and then we die, but we never touch the sky
So now, now we're gone, down on your mark
It is now time, for you to come home my dear
You've been gone, long enough (Ooo)
Thank you (lord lord have mercy on you)
But you must come, you must go
(lord have mercy, la la la, lord have mercy)
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Also, I don't believe that it's a parody. I think she's just giving her opinion of the society that she's from -- "The way we live / The way we die / What a tragedy, I'm so terrified". Her tone is a bit theatrical, but not sarcastic.
Listen more carefully to the way she sings "what a tragedy, I'm so terrified", and note the "ya"s at the end of each line of the verse beginning with "I've seen them shootin' up funerals in they Sunday clothes". It's a parody. She's making fun of the people who say these things. This is made even clearer by videos of her performing it live.
I'm inclined to agree with you on this... What I noticed was the backing vocals to the line: "Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos", The response in the backing vocals are "Live your life", which implies a non-judgment of such behaviour...
I'm inclined to agree with you on this... What I noticed was the backing vocals to the line: "Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos", The response in the backing vocals are "Live your life", which implies a non-judgment of such behaviour...
It isn't. She's talked about it on NPR, it was based on an actual letter she sent to her mother.
It isn't. She's talked about it on NPR, it was based on an actual letter she sent to her mother.
I just listened to a segment on Fresh Air where they interviewed her about it again years later. It was actually a letter her mom wrote to her about what was happening with her family and friends when she left home for college, very much not tongue in cheek, she was struggling emotionally with the fact that her family were addicted to drugs and were being killed by gun violence. However, she deeply regrets writing the line "There's danger when you take of your clothes" at this point in her life and views it as the type of religious based...
I just listened to a segment on Fresh Air where they interviewed her about it again years later. It was actually a letter her mom wrote to her about what was happening with her family and friends when she left home for college, very much not tongue in cheek, she was struggling emotionally with the fact that her family were addicted to drugs and were being killed by gun violence. However, she deeply regrets writing the line "There's danger when you take of your clothes" at this point in her life and views it as the type of religious based fear that seeps in for so many people growing up. Terry Gross offered that her mom may have just been saying there's a danger of getting pregnant and giving up on your dreams. Janelle said that may have been, but she didn't want to put that on her mother since she's the one who wrote the line and that she no longer agrees with it.
What does she mean when she sings "the little girls just broken Queen"?
It's "broken queens", I've corrected the lyrics.
It's "broken queens", I've corrected the lyrics.
This is a concept album, and first line of the song is "Left the city, my momma she said...." and then she goes on. So this is purely the person recounting what their mom said. The chorus (meaning her backing vocals) are echoing her thoughts, perhaps the subjects thoughts or that of the community her mother lives in, or even her moms'.
So, with that in mind, it's the reaction of an older woman viewing how her community and culture has changed because of what's happening within it. With this being a concept album using androids/robots as metaphor for "other" or "new", and what society does with such, the audience can fill in the blank and see parallels with real life if you choose.
Love this song, it's pretty clear what this is about, waking up and changing your life and waking up and seeing the suffering that is going on around you and doing something about it.