woah these comments are all from 20 years ago thats crazy !! anyways as a 15 year old who recently discovered this song, it always reminds me of the boys in my school who started dealing drugs at like 13 (i live in a horrible town with high crime rates), and how its always the same vulnerable boys targeted by gang groomers looking to recruit young boys (‘same boys doing it for themselves’ could represent this, although truthfully im not really sure what this lyrc could mean.) imo its about drug dealers (safe white = c0caine) and how dealers truly think theyre tuff, even tho theyre prolly a victim of gang grooming and everyone hates them (‘everybody knows what theyre worth’). ‘king of the kerb’ basically about being the ‘king of the streets’, aka running the streets - ‘All the shadows in the alley,
The shapes at the bar,
Like to service him when he does the round’ also may be about how he is the leader of the gang, and all the other people in the gang look after him. because of his high tier, no normal person could actually dare touch him, even tho they ‘know what hes worth’. their power status officially makes them ‘safe from harm and safe from greed’ and everybody absolutely hates him (‘all the local boys know what hes done.’)
additionally, this song could basically be about what i just said, but with the additional meaning of someone trying to convince a friend who has fallen in love with a dealer/gang member that it is jyst NOT worth it (‘he turns it on’) ‘a little protection is all that you need’ could be about how the dealer/gang member actually protects the friend, along with his questionable friends and other gang members (‘got his friends in his pocket’ which connotes how he is at the top of this chain, and all the younger members who basically have to do whatever he says, putting them ‘in his pocket’ for easy access iykwim. ‘or safe behind bars’ which is pretty self explanatory - his friends are dangerous.)
sorry for the literal essay, i just think echobelly are deeply underrated and this song is really fun to pick apart as the lyrics are just so good !! overall i think this song is just a reallly good view on todays crime within youth and gang life, also showing how things really havent changed since when this song was made!
woah these comments are all from 20 years ago thats crazy !! anyways as a 15 year old who recently discovered this song, it always reminds me of the boys in my school who started dealing drugs at like 13 (i live in a horrible town with high crime rates), and how its always the same vulnerable boys targeted by gang groomers looking to recruit young boys (‘same boys doing it for themselves’ could represent this, although truthfully im not really sure what this lyrc could mean.) imo its about drug dealers (safe white = c0caine) and how dealers truly think theyre tuff, even tho theyre prolly a victim of gang grooming and everyone hates them (‘everybody knows what theyre worth’). ‘king of the kerb’ basically about being the ‘king of the streets’, aka running the streets - ‘All the shadows in the alley, The shapes at the bar, Like to service him when he does the round’ also may be about how he is the leader of the gang, and all the other people in the gang look after him. because of his high tier, no normal person could actually dare touch him, even tho they ‘know what hes worth’. their power status officially makes them ‘safe from harm and safe from greed’ and everybody absolutely hates him (‘all the local boys know what hes done.’)
additionally, this song could basically be about what i just said, but with the additional meaning of someone trying to convince a friend who has fallen in love with a dealer/gang member that it is jyst NOT worth it (‘he turns it on’) ‘a little protection is all that you need’ could be about how the dealer/gang member actually protects the friend, along with his questionable friends and other gang members (‘got his friends in his pocket’ which connotes how he is at the top of this chain, and all the younger members who basically have to do whatever he says, putting them ‘in his pocket’ for easy access iykwim. ‘or safe behind bars’ which is pretty self explanatory - his friends are dangerous.)
sorry for the literal essay, i just think echobelly are deeply underrated and this song is really fun to pick apart as the lyrics are just so good !! overall i think this song is just a reallly good view on todays crime within youth and gang life, also showing how things really havent changed since when this song was made!
[Edit: accidentally forgot a couple words]