Aesop Rock

VEGANGELICA · 08-15-2009, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProggyMan

I've given None Shall Pass another listen, and concluded that Coffee is one of the most interesting thing's I've ever experienced.

Hey, Rap lovers,
A new member, "Balling like a fool," told me some of his favorite rap artists are Immortal Technique, Atmosphere, and Aesop Rock, so (never having listened to Rap), I listened to Aesop Rock's "None Shall Pass" to learn more about rap.

I also listened to Immortal Technique's "Dance with the Devil," which I could easily understand since it is a narrative song, and I listened to Atmosphere's "Glass House," "You," and "Guarantees," which I could understand, too, but I cannot figure out the meaning of Aesop Rock's "None Shall Pass." I listened, I looked at the lyrics, and looked at them again, but the only meaning I can extract from them is that the singer wants revenge, perhaps due to police brutality or an unhelpful god??? I've posted some of the lyrics below. Would someone please give me a synopsis of the song? What is the main point? I am lost in all the details that don't make sense to me. I get (I think) the reference to money or wealth in the first line...but after that it's pretty much zippo.

--Erica

Quote:

From Aesop Rock's "None shall pass"

Flash that buttery, gold
Jittery, zeitgeist, wither by the watering hole
What a patrol...
What are we to Heart Huckabee?
Art ****ery, suddenly?
Not enough young in his lung for the waterwings?
Colorfully vulgar poacher, out of mulch
Like, "I'm a pull the pulse out a soldier and bolt."

(Fine...)
Sign of the time we elapse
When a primate climb up a spine and attach
Eye for an eye by the bog life swamps and vines
They get a rise out of frogs and flies
So when a dogfight's hog-tied prize sort of costs a life
The mouths water on a fork and knife
And the allure isn't right
No score on a war-torn beach
Where the cash cow's actually beef
Blood turns wine when it leak for police
Like, "That's not a riot it's a feast. Let's eat!"

And I will remember your name and face
On the day you are judged by "The Funhouse" cast
And I will rejoice in your fall from grace
With a cane to the sky like, "None shall pass."

SATCHMO · 08-15-2009, 04:42 PM

Aesop's lyrics sometimes take some time to really permeate to that point in your psyche where they really hold the most meaning. That being said, there's also a lot to his lyrical writing that simply exploits the texture and inherent connotations of the words he uses.
He is sometimes cryptic, but there have definitely been some "aha" moments where his meaning has come to me long after I've listened to the song for years.

Sparky · 08-15-2009, 04:59 PM

Don't get too hung up on Aesop Rock's lyrics, a lot of it still doesn't make sense to me (halo kibbles?) It's all pretty abstract.

Satchmo's signature is a good example of a.r's rhyming style, it seems like there is a deeper message, but rarely is it about any one particular thing.

I recommend listening to Float or Labor Days, both albums are a little more understandable.

ProggyMan · 08-15-2009, 04:59 PM

What Satchmo said. You don't have to understand every single line, I'm sure many of them aren't understandable unless you're the man himself.

VEGANGELICA · 08-16-2009, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

Aesop's lyrics sometimes take some time to really permeate to that point in your psyche where they really hold the most meaning. That being said, there's also a lot to his lyrical writing that simply exploits the texture and inherent connotations of the words he uses.
He is sometimes cryptic, but there have definitely been some "aha" moments where his meaning has come to me long after I've listened to the song for years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by matious

Don't get too hung up on Aesop Rock's lyrics, a lot of it still doesn't make sense to me (halo kibbles?) It's all pretty abstract.
I recommend listening to Float or Labor Days, both albums are a little more understandable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProggyMan

What Satchmo said. You don't have to understand every single line, I'm sure many of them aren't understandable unless you're the man himself.

Thanks SATCHMO, matious, and ProggyMan, for your responses. I'm glad to learn I'm not the only one to think Aesop Rock's lyrics are cryptic and hard to understand! They seem to me like a stream of consciousness, where one idea is reminding him of the next, and that the next. I'll try to pay more attention to the texture and connotations rather than the actual literal meanings...and I'll give Float and Labor Days a try. Thanks for the suggestions.

--Erica

ProggyMan · 08-16-2009, 12:55 PM

Good luck Erica, and may Aesop be with you.

SATCHMO · 08-16-2009, 01:04 PM

One of my favorite. Still cryptic, but there's definitely some profound symbolism and moments of clear insight.

Yo, change the ****ing channel.
I burn a coma candle.
When the flame fades, consider my flat line a soldier sample.
We them cats talking noise behind that New York trash heap where the stench of commuter briefcase replaces a bad sleep.
And it's the work of zig-zaggers versus piggy badge flashers training generation fallout.
Waterfall, bricklayer, pincushion crawl out.
There's smoke in my iris, but I painted a sunny day on the insides of my eyelids so I'm ready now.
(What you ready for?)
I'm ready for life in this city and my wings have grown almost enough to lift me.
I'm a dinosaur with Jones Beach in my hourglass passing the time with serial killer coloring books and bags of marbles.
Don't tell me you ain't the droid that held the match to the charcoals.
Don't tell me Lucifer and God don't carpool.
(This is our school)
I'm not trying to graduate to life with a personalized bar stool,
head in a jar on the desk, feet dangling in a shark pool.
(Man please) Man please
My name stands for my being and my being stands for the woman who stood and braved the storm to raise the seedling.
(Brother sun, sister moon, mother beautiful)
Yeah, middle sibling suitable but far from son of excellence.
Beckoned a long time ago I was, to where the wishers wish but missers miss, I slept through my appointment.
Saw the liquid dreams of a thousand babies solidify and picked a rose.
It wilted the second I introduced myself as nervous.
Well, it appears the scars of learning have spoken.
Some are burning, some are frozen.
Some deserve tall tales, some wrote 'em.
Some are just a brutal reprecussion of devotion.
Mine are all of the above cuz everything leads to erosion.
Now where I live there's a homeless man.
He sits upon a crate
Yeah, He makes a rusty trumpet sound like the music that angels make.
Now if you ever come and visit me, I suggest you watch the show
Tell him Aesop Rock sent ya just to hear his horn blow like this

And I ain't getting any younger.
My knuckles wear their bruises well.
I've yet to lose that hunger, but only time can tell.
Prodigal sun with a prodigal wish to sew that prodigal stitch and crucify bigot voodoo doll on two Popsicle sticks.
See, your name is ambiguity.
My name is something hands can't hold but hearts part ocean scapes just to watch the starlet unfold
It's like sketching a circle in the dirt with a pointed stick knowing the wind'll kill it some day, still it calms my burning wits for now.
And if I plow the fields, that don't guarantee plentiful harvest but starving artists die, so I set my alarm for five o'clock
Idols block survival crops, the cycle stops for nothing
The Bible squawks revival as winos flock by the hundreds to the opening.
Scarlet carpets greeting the duel, leading the stubborn mule to cruel rugburn but y'all numb from gut fuel.
I administer eclispe.
Ain't know motor like a martyr made motor cuz a martyr made motor don't quit.
I am an epiphany.
I am webbed foot mammal channel surfing my way to the top.
Tugboat in a bottle with no holes poked in the nozzle
I fed 'em bedlam diluted in limelight till that rookie boogie graduated hostile.
Now the vehicle is grandeur and it veered over the median the second my halo ran outta helium.
Demoted to thorn crown.
Damn, talk about numbskull.
I was born bound to a stencil called symmetry but my energy's a rental.
So I take this now to say, thank you senorita for holding a flame to a lost wick.
Thank you James Anthony for the band-aids on my ego, y'all are family for life, I'll take that bullet to preserve you.
I wanna be something spectacular on the day the sun runs outta batteries.
Attach my fashion to the casualties of anarchy.
Save my nickels up to buy that homeless man a brand new horn, then sit up on his crate as a witness to beauty born like this...
(I ain't gettin any younger)

Antonio · 08-16-2009, 01:14 PM

i'm not that big into Float, Labor Days is my favorite.

ProggyMan · 08-16-2009, 01:14 PM

Bar none the best song anyone has ever written about following your dreams:
Lucy was 7 and wore a head of blue barettes
City born, into this world with no knowledge and no regrets
Had a piece of yellow chalk with which she'd draw upon the street
The many faces of the various locals that she would meet
There was joshua, age 10
Bully of the block
Who always took her milk money at the morning bus stop
There was Mrs. Crabtree, and her poodle
She always gave a wave and holler on her weekly trip down to the bingo
parlor
And she drew
Men, women, kids, sunsets, clouds
And she drew
Skyscrapers, fruit stands, cities, towns
Always said hello to passers-by
They'd ask her why she passed her time
Attachin lines to concrete
But she would only smile
Now all the other children living in or near her building
Ran around like tyrants, soaking up the open fire hydrants
They would say
"Hey little Lucy, wanna come jump double dutch?"
Lucy would pause, look, grin and say
"I'm busy, thank you much"
Well, well, one year passed
And believe it or not
She covered every last inch of the entire sidewalk,
And she stopped-
"Lucy, after all this, you're just giving in today??"
She said:
"I'm not giving in, I'm finished," and walked away

(Chorus: x2)
1 2 3
That's the speed of the seed
A B C
That's the speed of the need
You can dream a little dream
Or you can live a little dream
I'd rather live it
Cuz dreamers always chase
But never get it

Now Lucy was 37, and introverted somewhat
Basement apartment in the same building she grew up in
She traded in her blue barettes for long locks held up with a clip
Traded in her yellow chalk for charcoal sticks
And she drew
Little bobby who would come to sweep the porch
And she drew
The mailman, delivered everyday at 4
Lucy had very little contact with the folks outside her cubicle day
But she found it suitable, and she liked it that way
She had a man now: Rico, similar, hermit
They would only see each other once or twice a week on purpose
They appreciated space and Rico was an artist too
So they'd connect on saturdays to share the pictures that they drew
(Look!)
Now every month or so, she'd get a knock upon the front door
Just one of the neighbors,
Actin nice, although she was a strange girl, really
Say, "Lucy, wanna join me for some lunch??"
Lucy would smile and say "I'm busy, thank you much"
And they would make a weird face the second the door shut
And run and tell their friends how truly crazy Lucy was
And lucy knew what people thought but didn't care
Cuz while they spread their rumors through the street
She'd paint another masterpiece

(Chorus x2)

Lucy was 87, upon her death bed
At the senior home, where she had previously checked in
Traded in the locks and clips for a head rest
Traded in the charcoal sticks for arthritis, it had to happen
And she drew no more, just sat and watched the dawn
Had a television in the room that she'd never turned on
Lucy pinned up a life worth's of pictures on the wall
And sat and smiled, looked each one over, just to laugh at it all
No Rico, he had passed, 'bout 5 years back
So the visiting hours pulled in a big flock o' nothin
She'd never spoken once throughout the spanning of her life
Until the day she leaned forward, grinned and pulled the nurse aside
And she said:
"Look, I've never had a dream in my life
Because a dream is what you wanna do, but still haven't pursued
I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done
So i've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!"
Well!
The nurse jumped back,
She'd never heard Lucy even talk,
'Specially words like that
She walked over to the door, and pulled it closed behind
Then Lucy blew a kiss to each one of her pictures
And she died.

(Chorus x2)

1 2 3...
A B C...

SATCHMO · 08-16-2009, 01:19 PM

^^^^That's No regrets. I almost used that as an example, but it seemed to be a little too narrative for an example of how Ace gets down.

08-15-2009, 04:42 PM	#42 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	Aesop's lyrics sometimes take some time to really permeate to that point in your psyche where they really hold the most meaning. That being said, there's also a lot to his lyrical writing that simply exploits the texture and inherent connotations of the words he uses. He is sometimes cryptic, but there have definitely been some "aha" moments where his meaning has come to me long after I've listened to the song for years.

08-15-2009, 04:59 PM	#43 (permalink)
Sparky not really Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5,223	Don't get too hung up on Aesop Rock's lyrics, a lot of it still doesn't make sense to me (halo kibbles?) It's all pretty abstract. Satchmo's signature is a good example of a.r's rhyming style, it seems like there is a deeper message, but rarely is it about any one particular thing. I recommend listening to Float or Labor Days, both albums are a little more understandable.

08-15-2009, 04:59 PM	#44 (permalink)
ProggyMan Reformed Jackass Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 3,964	What Satchmo said. You don't have to understand every single line, I'm sure many of them aren't understandable unless you're the man himself.

08-16-2009, 12:55 PM	#46 (permalink)
ProggyMan Reformed Jackass Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 3,964	Good luck Erica, and may Aesop be with you.

08-16-2009, 01:04 PM	#47 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	One of my favorite. Still cryptic, but there's definitely some profound symbolism and moments of clear insight. Yo, change the ****ing channel. I burn a coma candle. When the flame fades, consider my flat line a soldier sample. We them cats talking noise behind that New York trash heap where the stench of commuter briefcase replaces a bad sleep. And it's the work of zig-zaggers versus piggy badge flashers training generation fallout. Waterfall, bricklayer, pincushion crawl out. There's smoke in my iris, but I painted a sunny day on the insides of my eyelids so I'm ready now. (What you ready for?) I'm ready for life in this city and my wings have grown almost enough to lift me. I'm a dinosaur with Jones Beach in my hourglass passing the time with serial killer coloring books and bags of marbles. Don't tell me you ain't the droid that held the match to the charcoals. Don't tell me Lucifer and God don't carpool. (This is our school) I'm not trying to graduate to life with a personalized bar stool, head in a jar on the desk, feet dangling in a shark pool. (Man please) Man please My name stands for my being and my being stands for the woman who stood and braved the storm to raise the seedling. (Brother sun, sister moon, mother beautiful) Yeah, middle sibling suitable but far from son of excellence. Beckoned a long time ago I was, to where the wishers wish but missers miss, I slept through my appointment. Saw the liquid dreams of a thousand babies solidify and picked a rose. It wilted the second I introduced myself as nervous. Well, it appears the scars of learning have spoken. Some are burning, some are frozen. Some deserve tall tales, some wrote 'em. Some are just a brutal reprecussion of devotion. Mine are all of the above cuz everything leads to erosion. Now where I live there's a homeless man. He sits upon a crate Yeah, He makes a rusty trumpet sound like the music that angels make. Now if you ever come and visit me, I suggest you watch the show Tell him Aesop Rock sent ya just to hear his horn blow like this And I ain't getting any younger. My knuckles wear their bruises well. I've yet to lose that hunger, but only time can tell. Prodigal sun with a prodigal wish to sew that prodigal stitch and crucify bigot voodoo doll on two Popsicle sticks. See, your name is ambiguity. My name is something hands can't hold but hearts part ocean scapes just to watch the starlet unfold It's like sketching a circle in the dirt with a pointed stick knowing the wind'll kill it some day, still it calms my burning wits for now. And if I plow the fields, that don't guarantee plentiful harvest but starving artists die, so I set my alarm for five o'clock Idols block survival crops, the cycle stops for nothing The Bible squawks revival as winos flock by the hundreds to the opening. Scarlet carpets greeting the duel, leading the stubborn mule to cruel rugburn but y'all numb from gut fuel. I administer eclispe. Ain't know motor like a martyr made motor cuz a martyr made motor don't quit. I am an epiphany. I am webbed foot mammal channel surfing my way to the top. Tugboat in a bottle with no holes poked in the nozzle I fed 'em bedlam diluted in limelight till that rookie boogie graduated hostile. Now the vehicle is grandeur and it veered over the median the second my halo ran outta helium. Demoted to thorn crown. Damn, talk about numbskull. I was born bound to a stencil called symmetry but my energy's a rental. So I take this now to say, thank you senorita for holding a flame to a lost wick. Thank you James Anthony for the band-aids on my ego, y'all are family for life, I'll take that bullet to preserve you. I wanna be something spectacular on the day the sun runs outta batteries. Attach my fashion to the casualties of anarchy. Save my nickels up to buy that homeless man a brand new horn, then sit up on his crate as a witness to beauty born like this... (I ain't gettin any younger)

08-16-2009, 01:14 PM	#49 (permalink)
ProggyMan Reformed Jackass Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 3,964	Bar none the best song anyone has ever written about following your dreams: Lucy was 7 and wore a head of blue barettes City born, into this world with no knowledge and no regrets Had a piece of yellow chalk with which she'd draw upon the street The many faces of the various locals that she would meet There was joshua, age 10 Bully of the block Who always took her milk money at the morning bus stop There was Mrs. Crabtree, and her poodle She always gave a wave and holler on her weekly trip down to the bingo parlor And she drew Men, women, kids, sunsets, clouds And she drew Skyscrapers, fruit stands, cities, towns Always said hello to passers-by They'd ask her why she passed her time Attachin lines to concrete But she would only smile Now all the other children living in or near her building Ran around like tyrants, soaking up the open fire hydrants They would say "Hey little Lucy, wanna come jump double dutch?" Lucy would pause, look, grin and say "I'm busy, thank you much" Well, well, one year passed And believe it or not She covered every last inch of the entire sidewalk, And she stopped- "Lucy, after all this, you're just giving in today??" She said: "I'm not giving in, I'm finished," and walked away (Chorus: x2) 1 2 3 That's the speed of the seed A B C That's the speed of the need You can dream a little dream Or you can live a little dream I'd rather live it Cuz dreamers always chase But never get it Now Lucy was 37, and introverted somewhat Basement apartment in the same building she grew up in She traded in her blue barettes for long locks held up with a clip Traded in her yellow chalk for charcoal sticks And she drew Little bobby who would come to sweep the porch And she drew The mailman, delivered everyday at 4 Lucy had very little contact with the folks outside her cubicle day But she found it suitable, and she liked it that way She had a man now: Rico, similar, hermit They would only see each other once or twice a week on purpose They appreciated space and Rico was an artist too So they'd connect on saturdays to share the pictures that they drew (Look!) Now every month or so, she'd get a knock upon the front door Just one of the neighbors, Actin nice, although she was a strange girl, really Say, "Lucy, wanna join me for some lunch??" Lucy would smile and say "I'm busy, thank you much" And they would make a weird face the second the door shut And run and tell their friends how truly crazy Lucy was And lucy knew what people thought but didn't care Cuz while they spread their rumors through the street She'd paint another masterpiece (Chorus x2) Lucy was 87, upon her death bed At the senior home, where she had previously checked in Traded in the locks and clips for a head rest Traded in the charcoal sticks for arthritis, it had to happen And she drew no more, just sat and watched the dawn Had a television in the room that she'd never turned on Lucy pinned up a life worth's of pictures on the wall And sat and smiled, looked each one over, just to laugh at it all No Rico, he had passed, 'bout 5 years back So the visiting hours pulled in a big flock o' nothin She'd never spoken once throughout the spanning of her life Until the day she leaned forward, grinned and pulled the nurse aside And she said: "Look, I've never had a dream in my life Because a dream is what you wanna do, but still haven't pursued I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done So i've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!" Well! The nurse jumped back, She'd never heard Lucy even talk, 'Specially words like that She walked over to the door, and pulled it closed behind Then Lucy blew a kiss to each one of her pictures And she died. (Chorus x2) 1 2 3... A B C...

08-16-2009, 01:19 PM	#50 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	^^^^That's No regrets. I almost used that as an example, but it seemed to be a little too narrative for an example of how Ace gets down.