Interested in insight from one of my favorite songs of all time? Check out the meaningful message in this music video from Talib Kweli called Get By for an authentic nyc experience!
We sell, crack to our own out the back of our homes
We smell the musk of the dusk in the crack of the dawn
We go through Epidodes II, like Attack of the Clones
Work ’til we break our back and you hear the crack of the bone
To get by.. just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
We commute to computers
Spirits stay mute while your ego spreads rumors
We survivalists, turned to consumers
To get by.. just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
Ask me why some people got to live in a trailer, cuz like a sailor
I paint a picture with the pen like Norman Mailer
Me abuela raised three daughters all by herself, with no help
I think about a struggle and I find the strength in myself
These words, melt in my mouth
They hot, like the jail cell in the South
Before my nigga Core bailed me out
To get by.. just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
We do or die like Bed-Stuy through the red sky
with the window of the red eye
Let the lead fly, some G. Rap shit, Live and then Let Die
This morning, I woke up
Feeling brand new and I jumped up
Feeling my highs, and my lows
In my soul, and my goals
Just to stop smokin, and stop drinkin
And I’ve been thinkin – I’ve got my reasons
Just to get (by), just to get (by)
Just to get (by), just to get (by)
We keep it gangster say fo shizzle, fo sheezy and stay crunk
Its easy to pull a breezy, smoke trees, and we stay drunk
Yo, a activism attackin the system, the blacks and latins in prison
Numbers of prison they victims lackin’ a vision
Shit and all they got is rappin to listen to
I let them know we missin you, the love is unconditional
Even when the condition is critical, when the livin is miserable
Your position is pivotal, I ain’t bullshittin you
Now, why would I lie? Just to get by?
Just to get by, we get fly
The TV got us reachin for stars
Not the ones between Venus and Mars, the ones that be readin for parts
Some people get breast enhancements and penis enlargers
Saturday sinners Sunday morning at the feet of the Father
They need somethin to rely on, we get high on all types of drug
When, all you really need is love
To get by.. just to get by
Just to get by, just to get by
Our parents sing like John Lennon, Imagine all the people watch
We rock like Paul McCartney from now until the last Beat’ll drop
This morning, I woke up
Feeling brand new and I jumped up
Feeling my high’s, and my low’s
In my soul, and my goals
Just to stop smoking, and stop drinking
And I’ve been thinking – I’ve got my reasons
Just to get (by), just to get (by)
Just to get (by), just to get (by)
Yoyoyo, yo
Some people cry, and some people try
Just to get by, for a piece of the pie
You love to eat and get high
We deceive and we lie, and we keepin it fly
Yoyoyo, yo
When, the people decide, to keep a disguise
You can’t see they eyes, see the evil inside
But there’s people you find
Strong or feeble in mind, I stay readin the signs
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Bittersweet. Sad and inspiring at the same time. Interesting how the backdrop is a piano/keyboard instead of a loud base thump. I'm no rap conoisseur, but I did see Kayne making a cameo in there! ha ha Interesting imagery- commuting to computers…survivalists turned consumers….. thanks for sharing.
Wordup E. Interesting observation too. This was one outta' the three tracks Kayne did on Kweli's 2002 Quality album. Kayne was killllllin' it then, right after Jay-Z's 2001 Blueprint.
This jam always stops me stiff in my tracks, and when i was doing the 9-6 rat race, i would jam out to this at 9am in business caz' clothes in the middle of Times Square of my way to work. Yeah, i was working it.
I send a Rest In Peace to Nina Simone. Thanks for the factual account DJ Entropy.
[…] i began to write the email. To set the mood of the sitting, i threw one of my favorite tracks on: Talib Kweli – Get By. Then suddenly something seriously strange happened (say that seven times […]
[…] recently riding a train to my old office job when i had a vivid vision. I admit, i was listening to Talib Kweli’s Get By again. That vision would turn out to be the foundation of the following […]
Thats not just logic. Thats really sebsnile.