I thought of it being like a gang thing.
1) It's exclusive to the youth, as seen by them being in school, and having curfews. Also the line "dont let her set another empty place" I assume to be a mother setting a table, and "another empty place" would be a child who died.
2) The scene depicted in the first stanza of "burned out windows, burned out brick" seems to be illustrating a ghetto to me. Also the refrences of Southside reenforce this idea to me.
3) Smith & Wessons are guns that are famous for being popular among gangsters, and are a weapon that is definately more likely to be wielded by a civilian than a soldier.
4) The way he gets the call and heads out to meet his friend, sounds like a gang brother to me.
5) The lines that paint your face sounds like it good be a gang tatoo. "Are you more than what you hate?" is especially relevant to one gangster killing a member of a rival gang. Both of them are really pretty much the same, yet they have a hatred for eachother instilled in them. "Forget your cross and your history" also sounds like the cross is a refrence of a gang symbol. Saying to forget that is telling them that you dont need to hold on to a feud between gangs. The song says that he doesn't need to go out and take revenge to claim honor. The ones that were lost will still be remembered in history even if you dont go out and try to take revenge.
I thought of it being like a gang thing. 1) It's exclusive to the youth, as seen by them being in school, and having curfews. Also the line "dont let her set another empty place" I assume to be a mother setting a table, and "another empty place" would be a child who died. 2) The scene depicted in the first stanza of "burned out windows, burned out brick" seems to be illustrating a ghetto to me. Also the refrences of Southside reenforce this idea to me. 3) Smith & Wessons are guns that are famous for being popular among gangsters, and are a weapon that is definately more likely to be wielded by a civilian than a soldier. 4) The way he gets the call and heads out to meet his friend, sounds like a gang brother to me. 5) The lines that paint your face sounds like it good be a gang tatoo. "Are you more than what you hate?" is especially relevant to one gangster killing a member of a rival gang. Both of them are really pretty much the same, yet they have a hatred for eachother instilled in them. "Forget your cross and your history" also sounds like the cross is a refrence of a gang symbol. Saying to forget that is telling them that you dont need to hold on to a feud between gangs. The song says that he doesn't need to go out and take revenge to claim honor. The ones that were lost will still be remembered in history even if you dont go out and try to take revenge.