|
||
 |
It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under Broken glass everywhere People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don’t care I can't take the smell, I can't take the noise no more Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice Rats in the front room, roaches* in the back Junkie's in the alley with a baseball bat I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far 'Cause a man with a tow-truck repossessed* my car Chorus: Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh [2nd and 5th: ah huh-huh-huh] [4th: say what?] It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under Standing on the front stoop, hangin' out the window Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow Crazy lady livin' in a bag Eatin' out of garbage pails*, she used to be a fag-hag* Said she danced the tango, skipped the light fandango* The Zircon Princess* seemed to lost her senses Down at the peepshow, watching all the creeps* So she can tell the stories to the girls back home She went to the city and got Social Security She had to get a pimp*, she couldn't make it on her own [2nd Chorus] My brother's doing bad on my mother's TV Says she watches too much, it’s just not healthy “All My Children” in the daytime, “Dallas” at night Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray* fight The bill collectors they ring my phone And scare my wife when I'm not home Got a bum* education, double-digit inflation Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station Neon King Kong* standin' on my back Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac* A mid-range migraine, cancered membrane Sometimes I think I'm going insane, I swear I might hijack a plane [3rd Chorus] My son said: ”Daddy, I don't wanna go to school Cause the teacher's a jerk*, he must think I'm a fool And all the kids smoke reefer*, I think it'd be cheaper If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper I’d dance to the beat, shuffle my feet Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny You got to have a con* in this land of milk and honey" They pushed that girl in front of the train Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again Stabbed that man right in his heart Gave him a transplant for a brand new start I can't walk through the park, cause it's crazy after dark Keep my hand on my gun, cause they got me on the run I feel like a outlaw, broke my last glass jaw* Hear them say: “You want some more?" livin' on a seesaw* [4th Chorus] A child is born with no state of mind* Blind to the ways of mankind God is smiling on you but he's frowning too Because only God knows what you’ll go through You’ll grow in the ghetto, living second rate And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate The places you play and where you stay Looks like one great big alley way You'll admire all the number book takers* Thugs, pimps, pushers and the big money makers Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens And you wanna grow up to be just like them, huh, Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers Pickpockets, peddlers even panhandlers* You say: “I'm cool, I'm no fool!” But then you wind up dropping out of high school Now you're unemployed, all non-void Walking ‘round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd* Turned stickup kid, look what you’ve done did Got sent up for a eight year bid* Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag Spent the next two years as a undercover fag Being used and abused to serve like hell 'Til one day you was found hung dead in your cell It was plain to see that your life was lost You was cold and your body swung back and forth But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song Of how you lived so fast and died so young [5th chorus] Source: Metrolyrics Annotations: Grandmaster Flash - Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958 in Bridgetown, Barbados) better known as King Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop musician and DJ; one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first hip hop/rap artists to be so honored The Message is the debut studio album of the American hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, released in 1982 on Sugar Hill Records. It is considered one of the most prominent records in the history of hip-hop music with its most notable single being "The Message", which is often listed as one of the most influential hip-hop songs. * roaches (=cockroaches) - Kakerlaken * to repossess - wieder in Besitz nehmen (meist Hypotheken durch Banken) * garbage pails - Mülleimer * fag-hag (sl.) - Schwulenmutti (ugs.) * fandango - der Fandango ist ein Singtanz mit Kastagnettenbegleitung * Zircon Princess - a gemstone, jewellery * creeps - Fieslinge * pimp - Zuhälter * Sugar Ray - famous boxer * bum - miserabel * Neon King Kong - The weight of the entire city of New York (“neon King Kong”) is on his shoulders * sacroiliac - Kreuzdarmbeingelenk (wo immer das auch ist...) * jerk - Trottel, Depp * reefer (Am. sl.) - Joint * con - Gauner, Schwindler * glass jaw - Glaskinn [selten] [auch fig.: Überempfindlichkeit gegen Kritik] * seesaw - Schaukel * state of mind - Geistes-/Seelenzustand * book takers - Buchdiebe (Bibliotheken) * panhandlers - Bettler, Schnorrer * „Pretty Boy“ Floyd - war ein US-amerikanischer Krimineller * eight year bid - here: eine Gefängnisstrafe von 8 Jahren Assignments: 1. Describe the narrator's situation and the reasons why he can't escape from it. 2. Why is the fate of the 'crazy lady' or the narrator's mother typical of people living in ghettos? 3. How does the narrator's son look at his surroundings and at his future life? 4. Describe the vicious circle in which a child grows up and can't escape from its environment which he/she is born into? 5. What must politicians and people responsible for town planning do in order to avoid the growth of urban ghettos? 6. Does language and imagery correspond to the genre of hip-hop songs? Answer by giving examples from the song. |
