In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Hold me down, niggas wanna know me now
Didn't want to play with me, wanted to show me how
No meow, 'cause its all about the bark
Let the dog loose baby it's about to spark
Light up the night, like the 4th of July
Niggas know, when I let go, niggas die
'Cause why? And you don't know you slow like Baltimore
If you ain't trying to go, you blow
I soak up all the pain and accept it in silence
When I let go it's violence 'cause the wildest
Leaves the dog barking up the tree for the cat
In the fog but y'all niggas see is the bat
Flapping away but I'm blind like Stevie
Niggas don't hear me, still trying to see me
Stop being greedy, you heard what I said
Let me go, let me flow on my bed
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
I sold my soul to the devil, and the price was cheap
And yo it's cold on this level 'cause it's twice as deep
But you don't hear me, ignorance is bliss and so on
Sometimes it's better to be thought dumb
Shall I go on
You don't want no real, what the deal is a mystery
How is it I can live and make history
If you don't see it, then it wasn't meant for you to see
If you wasn't born wit' it, then it wasn't meant for you to be
But you can't blame me for not wantin' to be hound
Lock down in a cell wit' a soul gettin' dwelled
This is hell, go get the devil and get me the key
But can't be worst than the curse that was given to me
It's what I live for, you take away that and I'm gone
There's a difference between, doin' wrong and being wrong
And that ain't right
Let's keep it fair baby
Put me in the air, and I'll take it there baby (Yes)
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
I'm a flow regardless because I'm an artist until I'm trapped
I'ma continue to hit he hardest whether I scrap or rap
Give me death but you ain't my friend
I see it in your eyes, you contemplate my end
You waitin' for that bend in the road, where you were told
That you would go, when you were old
And if you died young, it was cold
So what the dilly, what it was worth
Think back 26 years, be like what of his birth
Was a miscarriage and I never existed
Have I given something that if taken away, you'd of missed it?
Didn't know, did I persisted?
It was the call of the wild
I really say what's in my heart, and you call it a style
Don't put it in the cage, don't mistreat it
You say you hunger for knowledge, here it is, eat it
Another song completed is another thought captured
Let me do my thing I got it locked wit' this rap shit
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Or give me death, uh uh uh, or take my breath
I'mma die anyway, but I'll be gone any day
Or give me death, uh uh uh, or take my breath
I'mma die anyway, but I'll be gone any day
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Hold me down, niggas wanna know me now
Didn't want to play with me, wanted to show me how
No meow, 'cause its all about the bark
Let the dog loose baby it's about to spark
Light up the night, like the 4th of July
Niggas know, when I let go, niggas die
'Cause why? And you don't know you slow like Baltimore
If you ain't trying to go, you blow
I soak up all the pain and accept it in silence
When I let go it's violence 'cause the wildest
Leaves the dog barking up the tree for the cat
In the fog but y'all niggas see is the bat
Flapping away but I'm blind like Stevie
Niggas don't hear me, still trying to see me
Stop being greedy, you heard what I said
Let me go, let me flow on my bed
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
I sold my soul to the devil, and the price was cheap
And yo it's cold on this level 'cause it's twice as deep
But you don't hear me, ignorance is bliss and so on
Sometimes it's better to be thought dumb
Shall I go on
You don't want no real, what the deal is a mystery
How is it I can live and make history
If you don't see it, then it wasn't meant for you to see
If you wasn't born wit' it, then it wasn't meant for you to be
But you can't blame me for not wantin' to be hound
Lock down in a cell wit' a soul gettin' dwelled
This is hell, go get the devil and get me the key
But can't be worst than the curse that was given to me
It's what I live for, you take away that and I'm gone
There's a difference between, doin' wrong and being wrong
And that ain't right
Let's keep it fair baby
Put me in the air, and I'll take it there baby (Yes)
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
I'm a flow regardless because I'm an artist until I'm trapped
I'ma continue to hit he hardest whether I scrap or rap
Give me death but you ain't my friend
I see it in your eyes, you contemplate my end
You waitin' for that bend in the road, where you were told
That you would go, when you were old
And if you died young, it was cold
So what the dilly, what it was worth
Think back 26 years, be like what of his birth
Was a miscarriage and I never existed
Have I given something that if taken away, you'd of missed it?
Didn't know, did I persisted?
It was the call of the wild
I really say what's in my heart, and you call it a style
Don't put it in the cage, don't mistreat it
You say you hunger for knowledge, here it is, eat it
Another song completed is another thought captured
Let me do my thing I got it locked wit' this rap shit
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Either let me fly, or give me death
Let my soul rest, take my breath
If I don't fly I'mma die anyway, I'mma live on
But I'll be gone any day
Or give me death, uh uh uh, or take my breath
I'mma die anyway, but I'll be gone any day
Or give me death, uh uh uh, or take my breath
I'mma die anyway, but I'll be gone any day
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