The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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,
^25 to Life, it's a jail sentence... Em is associating his relationship with Kim or whoever he is with to being in prison, being trapped. Then at the end he flips it and turns it into a metaphor for his "life sentence" in Hip Hop, it's pretty smooth... like;
"I gave up my life for you, totally devoted to you, while I've stayed faithful all the way and this is how I fucking get repaid Look at how I dress fucking baggy sweats, go to work a mess Always in a rush to get back to you, I aint heard you yet not even once say you apreciate me I deserve respect."
This can be about a chick or it can be about Hip Hop, Em' dressed the dress and he stresses himself out tryna top himself each time to keep fans and industry interested but he still feels like nobody sees how much rap would suck "Without Me."
"All i do is rap, I can not moonlight on the side I have no life outside of that, don't I give you enough of my time? You dont think, so do you? Jealous when I spend time with the girls"
This can be interpreted both ways, as being the industry bitchin' at him when he tries to go spend time with Hailey and Laney instead of bein' in the studio writin' the next single or album, or just a bitch gettin' jealous of Em' givin' other girls attention.
"Why I'm married to you still, man I dont know. But tonight I'm serving you with papers, I'm divorcing you, go marry someone else and make 'em famous and take away there freedom like you did to me. Treat 'em like you don't need them and they ain't worthy of you."
To me it seems like it's like Em' is sneaking in another "I still love you" to Kim, it seems like the whole song is aimed at her til you get to this part and it's not Kim it's rap that he wants to divorce, so he can spend time with his kids and so he can get his life back...
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.<br /> don't leave us em, we won't have a cure for the hip hop cancer that wayne's spreading
if that's true then why has he done songs with drake and wayne? he's just saying that hip hop has taken over his life that he missed a lot of important things like his daughters growing up
if this is the case and he's giving it up then why write not afraid which clearly says he is not going nowhere and apologises to his fans for taking so long to come back
"^25 to Life, it's a jail sentence... Em is associating his relationship with Kim or whoever he is with to being in prison, being trapped"??? Really? I dont even know what any one else posted and I JUST stumbled upon this site. Dude....the VERY VERY VERY FIRST TIME i heard it I KNEW it was NOT about Kim or anyone else. It's CLEARLY about him not fully getting the respect he deserves as probably the greatest rapper ever. <br /> <br /> No is he retiring? Rachel made a good point saying why make Not Afraid...i highly doubt Em is done, matter of fact I know he's not. He's got songs with Dr Dre and T.I. that were just released But 25 to life has NOTHING to do with Kim or anyone else "serving you with papers"? He's talking about quitting rap man. How ANYONE could hear that song in its entirety and think its about a female is beyond me.