This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
(Yeah) too late
(I can't keep chasing you)
(I'm taking my life back)
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
I don't think she understands the sacrifices that I've made
Maybe if this bitch had acted right, I would've stayed
But I've already wasted over half my life, I would've laid
Down and died for you, I no longer cry for you, no more pain
Bitch, you took me for granted
Took my heart and ran it straight into the planet
Into the dirt, I can no longer stand it
Now my respect, I demand it
I'ma take control of this relationship, command it
And I'ma be the boss of you now, goddamn it
And what I mean is that I will no longer let you control me
So you better hear me out, this much you owe me
I gave up my life for you, totally devoted to you, I have stayed
Faithful all the way, this is how I fuckin' get repaid?
Look at how I dress, fuckin' baggy sweats, go to work a mess
Always in a rush to get back to you, I ain't heard you yet
Not even once say you appreciate me, I deserve respect
I've done my best to give you nothin' less than perfectness
And I know that if I end this, I'll no longer have nothin' left
But you keep treatin' me like a staircase, it's time to fuckin' step
And I won't be comin' back, so don't hold your fuckin' breath
You know what you've done, no need to go in-depth
I told you you'd be sorry if I fuckin' left, I'd laugh while you wept
How's it feel now? Yeah, funny, ain't it? You neglected me
Did me a favor though, my spirit free, you've set
But a special place for you in my heart, I have kept
It's unfortunate, but it's
Too late for the other side (yeah)
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
(Can't take no more)
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
I feel like when I bend over backwards for you (too late)
All you do is laugh 'cause that ain't good enough
You expect me to fold myself in half 'til I snap
Don't think I'm loyal, all I do is rap
How can I moonlight on the side? I have no life outside of that
Don't I give you enough of my time? You don't think so, do you?
Jealous when I spend time with the girls, why I'm married to you still?
Man, I don't know, but tonight I'm serving you with papers
I'm divorcing you, go marry someone else and make 'em famous
And take away their freedom like you did to me
Treat 'em like you don't need 'em and they ain't worthy of you
Feed 'em the same shit that you made me eat, I'm moving on, forget you
Oh, now I'm special? I ain't feel special when I was with you
All I ever felt was this helplessness
Imprisoned by a selfish bitch, chew me up and spit me out
I fell for this so many times, it's ridiculous
And still I stick with this, I'm sick of this
But in my sickness and addiction, you're addictive as they get
Evil as they come, vindictive as they make 'em
My friends keep askin' me why I can't just walk away from
I'm addicted to the pain, the stress, the drama, I'm drawn to
Shit, I guess I'm a mess, cursed and blessed, but this time I
Ain't changin' my mind, I'm climbin' out this abyss
You're screamin' as I walk out that I'll be missed
But when you spoke of people who meant the most to you
You left me off your list
Fuck you, hip hop, I'm leavin' you
My life sentence is served, bitch
And it's just
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
(I'm gone, man)
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
Too late
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
(Yeah) too late
(I can't keep chasing you)
(I'm taking my life back)
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
I don't think she understands the sacrifices that I've made
Maybe if this bitch had acted right, I would've stayed
But I've already wasted over half my life, I would've laid
Down and died for you, I no longer cry for you, no more pain
Bitch, you took me for granted
Took my heart and ran it straight into the planet
Into the dirt, I can no longer stand it
Now my respect, I demand it
I'ma take control of this relationship, command it
And I'ma be the boss of you now, goddamn it
And what I mean is that I will no longer let you control me
So you better hear me out, this much you owe me
I gave up my life for you, totally devoted to you, I have stayed
Faithful all the way, this is how I fuckin' get repaid?
Look at how I dress, fuckin' baggy sweats, go to work a mess
Always in a rush to get back to you, I ain't heard you yet
Not even once say you appreciate me, I deserve respect
I've done my best to give you nothin' less than perfectness
And I know that if I end this, I'll no longer have nothin' left
But you keep treatin' me like a staircase, it's time to fuckin' step
And I won't be comin' back, so don't hold your fuckin' breath
You know what you've done, no need to go in-depth
I told you you'd be sorry if I fuckin' left, I'd laugh while you wept
How's it feel now? Yeah, funny, ain't it? You neglected me
Did me a favor though, my spirit free, you've set
But a special place for you in my heart, I have kept
It's unfortunate, but it's
Too late for the other side (yeah)
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
(Can't take no more)
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
I feel like when I bend over backwards for you (too late)
All you do is laugh 'cause that ain't good enough
You expect me to fold myself in half 'til I snap
Don't think I'm loyal, all I do is rap
How can I moonlight on the side? I have no life outside of that
Don't I give you enough of my time? You don't think so, do you?
Jealous when I spend time with the girls, why I'm married to you still?
Man, I don't know, but tonight I'm serving you with papers
I'm divorcing you, go marry someone else and make 'em famous
And take away their freedom like you did to me
Treat 'em like you don't need 'em and they ain't worthy of you
Feed 'em the same shit that you made me eat, I'm moving on, forget you
Oh, now I'm special? I ain't feel special when I was with you
All I ever felt was this helplessness
Imprisoned by a selfish bitch, chew me up and spit me out
I fell for this so many times, it's ridiculous
And still I stick with this, I'm sick of this
But in my sickness and addiction, you're addictive as they get
Evil as they come, vindictive as they make 'em
My friends keep askin' me why I can't just walk away from
I'm addicted to the pain, the stress, the drama, I'm drawn to
Shit, I guess I'm a mess, cursed and blessed, but this time I
Ain't changin' my mind, I'm climbin' out this abyss
You're screamin' as I walk out that I'll be missed
But when you spoke of people who meant the most to you
You left me off your list
Fuck you, hip hop, I'm leavin' you
My life sentence is served, bitch
And it's just
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
(I'm gone, man)
Too late for the other side
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
Too late
Caught in a chase, twenty-five to life
Lyrics submitted by superfastjello, edited by Mellow_Harsher
25 to Life Lyrics as written by Elizabeth Rodrigues Khalil Abdul-rahman
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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em is back and reviving his best sound. i think he made his point about ending his romance with hip hop. when he first came in, hip hop was at a pretty woman at her prime, and now he's divorcing the hip hop that's been poisoned by all the crappers like wayne, gucci mane, and drake. don't leave us em, we won't have a cure for the hip hop cancer that wayne's spreading
You're all missing the point.
The reason why this song works so well is the fact that he tells a story, making the song Universal and Personal all at the same time. He lets the listener know he wants to address his personal issues with Hip-Hop but also allows a huge quantity of people to relate to the content of the song, the amount of people who find themselves in relationships which can be summed up be these lyrics can't be underestimated.
That, is why Eminem will always be up there with tupac looking down on the rest, he doesn't have to talk about shooting people and f*cking hookers to sell his music. He makes songs that can actually make a difference.
Awesome song but I really just want to address this illuminati junk that seems to be popping up on this site a lot. My opinion is it's capital BS & a completely self-defeating attitude to buy into the idea that theres a secret society controlling or planning to control the world. An organization existed at one point but to blame current problems on a faceless idea or set of powerful individuals just allows problems to continue & basically to says you're powerless to do anything because someone or something else has more power than you & they control things. I'm not one to discount peoples view but this idea is a large steaming pile of horse-shit & frankly is dangerous cuz it can suck people into a pretty paranoid, totally unproductive state of mind. It's music enjoy it. :)
This is more than Kim, drugs, addiction, or hip hop. This song is his way of representing ALL of his past struggles and pains. This includes Kim and his addiction issues. It includes the fans who left him and the public's campaign against him and his music.
I think the reason he said "Fuck you hip hop" is because hip hop is his whole life, not just a music genre. People like Eminem live their art, so I think this song was not only hip hop, but everything else in his life.
But that's just my two cents :)
didn't figure out it was about rap till he said "fuck you hip hop" but it makes sense and is brilliant and personal
at first i didnt either. but thats the skill he was able to show. theres very few artists who have the mentality to tell you a story without exposing who theyre talking about til the end, when hes rapping one would think hes talking about a familiar topic in his songs.....Kim, but at the end he flips the script and you find out hes talking about hip hop. The only other person (that i know of that is) that has done that is common, his track is titled "I used to love h.e.r." check it out. They're very much the same in theory. but differant in practice. Eminem's is a more emotional lashing out at how the industry had treated him badly and hes fed up, com's track is more of and explanation of how he was introduced to rap and the way it was swept up and embraced (for better or worse) and how he used to love the way rap was, and wishes it hadnt turned commercial.
kanyes song "homecoming" is the same way, hes talking about a girl but its actualy chicago that hes talkin about... and in my oppinion the best artist to do a song with this concept was tupac. tupacs song "me and my girlfriend" it sounds lik he is talkin about his girlfriend throughout the whole song, he actualy talkin about his gun, eventhough he never says it.
Atmosphere did it too. Yesterday sounded like he was talking about a past girlfriend turns out it was about his deceased father
i think everyone is over thinking this. Its not about kim at all. Nothing on recovery is. Its about his life as an artist his life in the spotlight as a hip hop artist. If you know eminem you know that he hates the fact that he cant go out in public so he began hating the rap game which led to a life of drugs and depression. It became too overwhelming and it started to control him. This is eminem's way of saying he is going to do what he wants now
its not about rap its about the illuminati!!!
you people are idiots this song is about the trials and tribulations of being in the rap game not stupid illuminati bullshit you paranoid fucks
I have the cd and the lyrics are "caught in a chase" not change.
This song is about his 'relationship' with hip-hop. A few verses that point that out:
'i gave up my life for you, totally devoted to you' -- We all know how long Eminem has been a rapper. 'Nuff said.
'dont think im loyal, all i do is rap' -- Self-explanatory.
'but in my sickness an addiction, you're addictive as they get' -- Eminem was a recent drug addict, (Hence the album title, 'Recovery') but, this completely stats that rapping is his ultimate addiction.
'go marry someone else and make em famous' -- Kim obviously isn't going to make anyone famous, however being a rap artist will..
'fuck you hip-hop' -- Well, yeah..
And lastly, the chorus:
too late for the other side caught in a change 25 to life too late for the other side caught in a change 25 to life
Eminem's first album titled, 'Slim Shady LP' released in the year(s) of 1997-1999; When he was 25. Hence the lyrics, '25 To Life'. Ironically, it is also the life sentence of imprisonment. Thus being, his life sentence to rapping.
The Slim Shady LP is Eminem's 3rd album after Infinite and Slim Shady EP
c'mon people he's definetly referring to this rap game as a woman.
This song has to be about hip hop because of the single lines - 'Fuck you hip-hop I'm leaving you, my life sentence is served bitch'
It's about his relationship with hip - hop. Not about Kim, Drugs or the 'illumninati' Saying that is pretty stupid.