Todays lesson, good lyrics vs. bad lyrics

"Black" vs. "Pimp Juice"

Published on May 3, 2004 By Unfairman In Entertainment

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I was listening to Pearl Jam on the way home from work, and it really proved drove home the point I was making the other day about crappy lyrics in popular songs.

Here's a contrast.

Nelly
"Pimp Juice"

"Pimp juice - oooohoooooohhooooooooooohhh
I think I need to let her loose (might think I need to let her loose)
Let her loose, let her loooooose
She only want me for my pimp juice (that's all she want me for f'real)
Not my pimp juice, I'm talkin her pimp juice
I think I need to cut her loose (it's time for homegirl to recognize)
Yes I do, yes I doooooo-hoooo

Now I'm - clean as a whistle (yeah) sharp as a razor (uh-huh)
In anythang from Timberland to Gaines
Now listen - I play the haters (ooh) like they should be played
And uhh - I love the ladies (ooh) like they should get laid
That's why I - I got my fade everybody had braids
And now they - switch to fades and I'm thinkin 'bout braids
Just an example of hoochieless jackin
If we were hoopin, I'd be yellin "They hackin"
I see you momma, in my Dolce Gabbana
Gucci and Prada baby I gotta lotta
The lucciana ain't a problem for poppa
That's all you want then baby girl I'ma holla
Cause you wanna put your feet on my rug, don'tcha?
You really wanna put your feet on my rug, don'tcha?
You're in a hurry - SLOW DOWN - I don't like how you actin
Treat you like you're from Milwaukee, send you Green Bay Packin"

Pearl Jam
"Black"

"Sheets of empty canvas
Untouched sheets of clay
Lay spread out before me
As her body once did.
Now the air I've tasted and breathed
Has taken a turn...

Oooh, and all I taught her was everything
oooooh, I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands
Shake beneath the clouds
Of what was everything
Oh, the pictures have
All been washed in black
Tattooed everything."

Okay, Nelly, what the fuck is Pimp Juice anyway? Okay, nevermind, don't wanna go there. I bet these ladies only want you for your money, anyway, and so they can be in a your crappy music videos.

Now, Ed...you can feel his pain. You know that he was in love with a girl, and she absolutely destroyed him, so much that at the point he wrote the song his entire past was shrouded in pain, everything he is, everything he was, and everything he WILL BE is now shrouded in a haze of black. That MEANS something.

Highlight of "Pimp Juice:"

I'm in that, seventy-four, Coupe DeVille
With the, power seats, leather, wood on my wheel
One-touch sunroof BUT leave it alone
Hoes see it can't believe it - "It's goin back on it's own"

Highlight of "Black"
"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life
I know you'll be a star...
In somebody else's sky but why, why, why
Can't it be mine?"

Alright, if you can't see the difference here, then you're a lost cause to me.

Please, people, demand more from your music!
Chris

Comments (Page 1)

BlueDev

on May 03, 2004

Good example Chris. May I offer up one as well?

Avril Lavigne
"Sk8er Boi"

He was a boy
She was a girl
Can i make it any more obvious
He was a punk
She did ballet
What more can i say
He wanted her
She'd never tell secretly she wanted him as well
But all of her friends
Stuck up their nose
They had a problem with his baggy clothes

He was a skater boy
She said see you later boy
He wasn't good enough for her
She had a pretty face
But her head was up in space
She needed to come back down to earth

*Really, really unfair comparison coming up*

Rush
"Natural Science"

Part 1-Tide Pools

When the ebbing tide retreats
Along the rocky shoreline
It leaves a trail of tidal pools
In a short-lived galaxy
Each microcosmic planet
A complete society

A simple kind mirror
To reflect upon our own
All the busy little creatures
Chasing out their destinies
Living in their pools
They soon forget about the sea...

Wheels within wheels in a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time we lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see their effects

Haha, oh man, that was really not fair of me. But I couldn't resist. Please head Chris' advice and "demand more from your music!"

Zoologist03

on May 03, 2004

As, you've read my other apparently very controversial article...I'll be inclined to agree with you...and I do....I really would like to have just a little better lyrics in music...but I don't see that happening any time soon...but perhaps there is some hope...

~Zoo

BlueDev

on May 03, 2004

Again I assert you really ought to check out more music. There are gobs and gobs of currently released songs with amazing lyrics. It is all about actually taking the time to look.

Suspeckted

on May 03, 2004

though I've had disappointing responses on my recent CD reviewing I would like to suggest that, though I'm not a huge Nelly fan, if Nelly's objective was to sit down and construct complex poetry that make up the lyrics of many songs like the Pearl Jam one you have chosen to compare against Pimp Juice we might see something else. Same thing if Eddy Vedder decided to make mainstream hip hop records his lyrics would likely change as well.

Lyrically Enya is very lacking, but I think "sail away, sail away, sail away" might be better lyrics than anything Jermaine Dupre has ever said on an album...and I will also admit, that the song Pimp juice makes me giggle when Nelly hits those high notes.

bartholomew_anderson

on May 03, 2004

well chris, you're clearly gay.... and your taste in music proves that fact. i hope that you don't think that nelly's poor grammar and even worse lyrics represents all of the rap/hip hop artists. why don't you ever compare the music you like to some of the good rap/hip hop singers? i have a large collection of pirated mp3's if you would like to expand your horizon and listen to good music. you are a good kid and i am more than willing to make you some cd's of high quality hip hop.
peace out fucker-
burt

imajinit

on May 03, 2004

well i guess no one else is going to chime in with an opposing voice, so I will... before I do, let me point out that I don't care for Nelly's music. Wait... let me clarify... I wouldn't be caught dead buying one of his albums.

But I'm not Black. I didn't grow up in da hood, I have no idea what it's like to be a black person or to have dreams of 'pimpin my ride' or 'gettin money from my ho's'... I've never dreamt of putting 20 inch chrome rims on my truck, and I've never wanted to show off my 'bling bling'...

Do you see what I'm getting at here? There's more to music than just lyrics. Sometimes music is about making you feel good. When you're up in da club with yo' homeys and Nelly's latest song comes on, you kick back that Gin & Juice and hit the dance floor with some big booty ho.

I love me some Pearl Jam. I have 5 of their albums (all the early stuff, haven't bought one since 'Yield')... "Black" is actually my favorite song by them. But I also love country music. I like hearing Chris Ledoux singing about riding horses and living the life of a rancher. I like listening to Willie and Waylon, George Jones and Merle Haggard... all the old time country makes me want to crack open a beer and just kinda zone out... back to a time when a 'drive-by' shooting meant someone's bare ass was hanging out a window.

But I wouldn't dream of driving through Nelly's hometown thumpin' Garth Brooks on my Bose System... (for one thing I'd end up dead)... I would also never dream of trying to convince a group of 'thugs' that Hank Williams Sr. is a great lyricist...

The point I'm trying to make is that it's 'different strokes for different folks.' You may not appreciate Nelly's lyrics, but there are a few million other people out there who do... (His last album went platinum if i'm not mistaken)... you challenged us to demand more from our music... The thing is, each of us has our own idea of what makes our music 'good'... I don't see that changing anytime soon.

new-age nomad

on May 03, 2004

amen to Imajinit and Suspeckted. Amen, and a hug

Trinitie

Unfairman

on May 03, 2004

Yes, yes, I know that people have different tastes in music. It's just that mine is far superior to anyone else's.

Burt-
Yes, I fully intended to put a clause in there about how there is some very good rap/hip-hop music out there. However, it was kind of difficult to keep my mind on the subject matter as I was feeling very dirrrrrrty about looking up Nelly lyrics. I LIKE a lot of hip-hop, (a.k.a Atmosphere [props to Ted], Eminem, Outkast).
Umm..
that's proably all I got for now. Peace.
Chris

Unfairman

on May 03, 2004

Oh one more thing.

Ted, shut the fuck up. Don't disagree with me, because your points are too valid.

Muggaz

on May 04, 2004

hahahaha Nelly...

I could eat alphabet soup and shit better lyrics than that!!!

I think Ben Harper has the best lyrics... really hit the heart... and it's funny you should mention Black.. one of my favorite songs along with Elderly Woman behind the counter in a small town.. not for the instrumentals (which are so Pro) but for their deep and meaningful lyrics...

I guess it comes down to whether you want ho's and bro's pimpin it on the dance floor, or whether you want your audience to appreciate the lyricists feelings... I suppose it is 100% delivery, kind of like comedy... you get differing audiences and reactions from varying forms of delivery.

BAM!!!

Suspeckted

on May 04, 2004

First of all I'd like to whine about the shortest lived visit to the top ten probably in the history of Joe User.

Okay, I'm over it.

Imajinit - you've got some explaining to do.

But I'm not Black. I didn't grow up in da hood, I have no idea what it's like to be a black person or to have dreams of 'pimpin my ride' or 'gettin money from my ho's'... I've never dreamt of putting 20 inch chrome rims on my truck, and I've never wanted to show off my 'bling bling'...

This may be the case, but then you go on to speak of your love for country music and lyrics about riding horses and being a rancher. Have you ever lived on a ranch, ridden a horse? Well I haven't, and I also don't like country music, but I don't think the two are necessarily related. I like Major Tom by David Bowie and I've never been in a rocket ship. I like Hits from the Bong by cypress hill and I've never smoked weed from such a device before. I love biking but don't like the song Bicycle by Queen. See where I'm going here?

And I must say your comment sounds way to much like you're associating everyone who is black by growing up in the hood and dreaming of pimping their cars and getting ho's. I doubt that was your intention, but just be careful man.

"Ho-tell everybody, even the mayor,
reach up in the sky for the ho-zone layer."

"Hey ho, how you doin', where you been,
probably doin' ho-stuff, cause there you ho-again."

- Ludacris

bartholomew_anderson

on May 04, 2004

Let's compare shitty music by white people to quality music by a black artist...

Baha Men - "Who let the dogs out"

Who let the dogs out
Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof
Who let the dogs out
Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof
Who let the dogs out
Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof, Woof
Who let the dogs out

The party was nice, the party was pumpin'
Ah Yepee Ah Yo
And everybody havin' a ball
Hey hey
Yepee Ah Yo
Till them man them start they name callin'
Yepee Ah Yo
Then them girls respond to the call
I hear a woman shout out…

Kanye West - "All Falls Down"

Man I promise, she's so self conscious
She has no idea what she's doing in college
That major that she majored in don't make no money
But she won't drop out, her parents will look at her funny
Now, tell me that ain't insecurrre
The concept of school seems so securrre
Sophmore three yearrrs aint picked a careerrr
She like fuck it, I'll just stay down herre and do hair
Cause that's enough money to buy her a few pairs of new Airs
Cause her baby daddy don't really care
She's so precious with the peer pressure
Couldn't afford a car so she named her daughter Alexus (a Lexus)

imajinit

on May 04, 2004

This may be the case, but then you go on to speak of your love for country music and lyrics about riding horses and being a rancher. Have you ever lived on a ranch, ridden a horse? Well I haven't, and I also don't like country music, but I don't think the two are necessarily related. I like Major Tom by David Bowie and I've never been in a rocket ship. I like Hits from the Bong by cypress hill and I've never smoked weed from such a device before. I love biking but don't like the song Bicycle by Queen. See where I'm going here

I'm merely saying that music by and large is a cultural thing. When viewing the 'big picture', most black people listen to rap and R&B. That's who makes up their market base, and that's the target audience that Nelly has in mind when composing his music. Country music fans are predominantly white, many of which either live in rural areas, or grew up in/spent some time in rural areas. That's who I would imagine Alan Jackson has in mind when composing his music. I have spent a lot of time around horses, and I do own one... I did live/work on a horse breeding ranch for 8 months... (i worked in exchange for room/board)

The original discussion was about good lyrics vs. bad lyrics. The point I was trying to make is that while Unfairman might consider Nelly's lyrics to be shite, lots of other people consider them to be PIMPIN' !!

BlueDev

on May 04, 2004

While that may be true, and I can see what you are saying, they are still very superficial and one dimensional lyrics. No thinking required type of stuff.

imajinit

on May 04, 2004

No thinking required type of stuff.

not everyone enjoys thinking as much as we do! some people are quite content to be bumps on a log...

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!