In the night, I hear 'em talk,
The coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless

How could you be so heartless?
Oh, how could you be so heartless?

How could you be so, cold as the winter wind when it breeze, yo
Just remember that you talkin' to me though
You need to watch the way you talkin' to me, yo
Mean after all the things that we've been through
Mean after all the things we got into
Y'all know some things, that you ain't told me
Y'all did some things, that's the old me
And now you wanna get me back and you gon' show me
So you walk around like you don't know me
You got a new friend, I got homies
In the end, but still so lonely

In the night, I hear 'em talk,
The coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless

How could you be so heartless?
Oh, how could you be so heartless?

How could you be so Dr. Evil,
You bringin' out a side of me that I don't know
I decided we weren't gon' speak so
Why we up 3 A.M. on the phone
Why does she be so mad at me fo'
Homie I don't know, she's hot or cold
I won't stop, won't mess my groove up
'Cause I already know how this thing go
You run and tell your friends that you're leaving me
They say that they don't see what you see in me
You wait a couple months then you gon' see
You'll never find nobody better than me

In the night, I hear 'em talk,
The coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless

How could you be so heartless?
Oh, how could you be so heartless?

Talk and talk and talk and talk
Baby let's just knock it off
They don't know what we been through
They don't know 'bout me and you
So I got something new to see
And you just gon' keep hatin' me
And we just gon' be enemies
I know you can't believe
I could just leave it wrong
And you can't make it right
I'm gon' take off tonight
Into the night

In the night, I hear 'em talk,
The coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless

How could you be so heartless?
Oh, how could you be so heartless?

In the night, I hear 'em talk,
The coldest story ever told
Somewhere far along this road,
He lost his soul to a woman so heartless

How could you be so heartless?
Oh, how could you be so heartless?


Lyrics submitted by BleedorBreathe

Heartless Lyrics as written by Kanye Omari West Malik Yusef El Shabbaz Jones

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Heartless (Kanye West cover) song meanings
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    General Comment

    I am not a Kanye West fan but he shows his genius in this song. The Fray version kills...

    Rodeojoneswaon June 01, 2009   Link

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