This track is by Taskforce whom I mentioned before. Some lines really stood out to me in this one and they have stuck with me for a long time (to this day basically). This Hip Hop group never fail to impress me with their music. The track is called Life without Instructions which was released as a single along with others on a 12″ vinyl record.
Here is the video/track followed by the lyrics:
(Verse 2: Chester P)
Walking in the skies on the threshold of black holes
Mr Orgasmo evolved like a tadpole
First cosmic gypsy to ever take it back home
Where cats roam with big knives to cut down your cash flow
Chrome shines in crack smokes and everybody acts slow
And ‘lax all; trapped in the essence of a rat hole
Junk yards and back streets from Hackney to back home
Where kids bear arms and their arms bear jab holes
That’s how I learned about the element of battles
The struggle in the grass where the snakes don’t rattle
The inner city cowboys and class A cattle
The hustles the big smokes the chains and the shackles
The poison man handles systematic scandals
It’s a game of risk where the path lies tangled
And dangerous for all to approach from all angles
It’s the phantom menace got your life style strangled
Cell keys jingles, the pocket change jangles
The grave digger profits as another man downfalls
Modern day outlaws
Power bikes replace the horse
No remorse, bear bodies on the bloody shores
Drug wars, generating moneys for the upper cause
Forget God we’re getting judged when we’re up in court
Stuck on (?????) spare a penny for the thought
The burden’s heavy when you’re ready I’ma burn a torch!
[CHORUS]
I can’t find my reflection
In a life without instructions
It feels like such a struggle
And nothing ever changes
(Verse 2: Farma G)
My people out here don’t see the sun no more
Floyd said it’s just another brick in the wall
I see the pain in the eyes of the poor
And pray that I stay on top of it all
Money’s got this whole world gripped by the balls
Man made money, money mad man war
Life on its knees at the hands of disease
Man pollutes seas, why do we make life war?
Raise life war, and then make life war
Break them laws and take what’s yours
You got it bad, hard as it’s ever been
Kids born special then stopped from developing
You got to bring these walls down soon
We got to make that fortune
‘Cuz if the world ends soon I won’t see that day
That change won’t come this long
Made sure that pain was persistent through the years that gone
It’s stained on my brain because the shit’s so strong
My people live humble, inspirations all gone
And time stands still like they just dropped the bomb
So who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for?
Decide on the side, who you fighting for?
There’s a war going on outside your front door
Who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for?
[CHORUS]
“Junk yards and back streets from Hackney to back home
Where kids bear arms and their arms bear jab holes”
That is the first line to really really catch me. Especially since Hackney is in London. When artists add specific locations or places a piece tends to become more emotional. He is not just saying it to be different, he is reporting what he is seeing in Hackney and back home which may be another part of London. The rhyme is written quite cleverly too with the repetition of “bear” within two different contexts.
“That’s how I learned about the element of battles
The struggle in the grass where the snakes don’t rattle
The inner city cowboys and class A cattle
The hustles the big smokes the chains and the shackles”
and
“Modern day outlaws
Power bikes replace the horse”
Rattle snakes? Cowboys? Outlaws and horses? And then it clicked with me. That is why the beat has a general Wild West theme. The producer wasn’t just messing about and experimenting, he is connecting the beat with these kinds of metaphors.
“The grave digger profits as another man downfalls”
I don’t know about you, but the grave digger in this made me think of military contractors like Blackwater at first, but of course it can also refer to weapons and arms dealers and hit men, both of which are abundant in rough areas. They make money from the death of others.
“The hustles the big smokes the chains and the shackles
The poison man handles systematic scandals
It’s a game of risk where the path lies tangled
And dangerous for all to approach from all angles”
I concentrated hard, and a cockney accent rose from within my mind and said “Dodgy dealin’s!”. The chains and shackles don’t have to always mean prison, remember that it could be a metaphor; maybe like being stuck in a low paid 9-5 job? Poison man, hmm could be drug dealer, and I am not talking weed, I am talking heroin, cocaine, crack and the hard stuff. And all of this together make a game of risk, you are desperate and there are many paths to deal with desperation (all are risky). Whether it is escapism using drugs or getting money by selling them or any other means, there is always a price to pay.
“Forget God we’re getting judged when we’re up in court”
That line made me have goose bumps, it was crazy. Such a powerful sense of foreboding and a clever way of saying “eternal damnation? forget that we are being judged in a court!” implying that it is as bad or even worse.
“The burden’s heavy when you’re ready I’ma burn a torch!”
I am trying to figure out what this signifies. A burning torch = light which means hope but that is all I can gather. Any suggestions? (Leave them in the comments 
)
The Chorus is beautiful, I love the singing, and notice how it is in flow with the beat too! And it also fits in with the song as they are both about struggle, the song even gets its title from it (I know, pointing out the obvious :p )
Now verse 2
“My people out here don’t see the sun no more
Floyd said it’s just another brick in the wall
I see the pain in the eyes of the poor
And pray that I stay on top of it all”
The sun is used in poetry as something of happiness, especially in a country like the UK where all we do is complain about the weather! The second line is a reference to Pink Floyd a band that made a song called Another brick in the wall among others. I will be listening to that in a bit! Now the mention of the poor brings in the issue of class and class struggle, interesting considering that the rich/poor gap has been widening recently. (The Pink Floyd track which I am listening to now is really cool, my first impressions is about how authority tries to control and restrict people, making them all monotonous, non-unique people). Now as for the praying reference, I personally see praying as a sign of desperation (usually, not all the time).
“Money’s got this whole world gripped by the balls
Man made money, money made man war”
That is another one of those lines that really stuck with me. The alliteration and the way he swaps around words to produce different meanings is quite clever.
“Man pollutes seas, why do we make life war?
Raise life war, and then make life war
Break them laws and take what’s yours
You got it bad, hard as it’s ever been
Kids born special then stopped from developing”
War isn’t just guns and bombs, but a struggle and it becomes clear with those lines. It reflects the individualism of our society today, combined with materialism and capitalism it makes a dog-eat-dog world. A world of struggle. Children are born with talents and they are not used because they are not deemed “profitable” to use.
“You got to bring these walls down soon”
Walls have been a symbol of segregation, prejudice and oppression in politics and geopolitics. A very good metaphor to use when it comes to struggle.
“So who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for?
Decide on the side, who you fighting for?
There’s a war going on outside your front door
Who you fighting for, what’re you fighting for?”
The war outside our front door is there all the time. This struggle can be dealt with, you either rise to the top and profit from others below you or you fight from the bottom and struggle collectively. At least this is the message I am getting! :p
I am not surprised I have learned a few new things and that I appreciate these lyrics even more now, it has been good doing this one and there will be a lot more to come!
Peace to everybody!
