"Squeegee Man Shooting" lyrics - EL-P

EL-P
"Squeegee Man Shooting"

[Intro:]
F - F - A - A - N - N - T - T (Remember)
A - A - S - S - T - T - I - I (Remember)
C - C - D - D - A - A - M - M (Remember)
A - A - G - G - E (This is indelible) E

[Chorus:]
Yo, nineteen eighty-five, got redtop live
And it was ten to the decibel, my lifelong pride
So I was part of the pack, pardon that, that's fact
I stole part of a track and started to rap, map the growth

Try to explain, okay, the Koch era frame
Hardly a game, no marketing, just art in the train
Station exchange, the flickered lights start to change
Same in the brain when I watched the walls spark names
Parked in the car with pa duke at four deuce
There was a double rumble study Kung Fu loop
But we had, at the car wash that cost less cash, a blast
I'd imagine that the water was rising fast
Quarter in hand at the light for the squeegee man
Adult life, squeegee man shot, cop's hand
That's a lot of bad conversion, that's certain
Homeless hustle lost to the dark of the blue curtain
And it was fourth grade, I got high top played
Sported the black and red Jordan bootleg craze
And when the big kids zeroed in, I'd wince
I haven't let my mother buy me bootleg since
'Cause it was

[Chorus:]
Nineteen eighty-five, got redtop live
And it was ten to the decibel, my lifelong pride
So I was part of the pack, pardon that, that's fact
I stole part of a track and started to rap, map the growth

Nineteen eighty-five, got redtop live
And it was ten to the decibel, my lifelong pride
So I was part of the pack, pardon that, that's fact
I stole part of a track and started to rap, map the growth

[Bridge:]
Get live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, y'all, live, y'all (N.Y.C.)
Live, y'all, live, y'all
Get live, y'all, live, y'all (Get down)
Live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, live, live
Get live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, y'all, live, y'all (To the Krazy Kings)
Live, y'all, live, y'all
Get live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, y'all, live, y'all (Get down)
Live, y'all, live, y'all
Live, live, live, live, live

Trace back, trace the faces with the same life saw
Different borough, same place, Eddie Murph got Raw
After class, got harassed, bully hurt us all
He tried to murk my Nintendo game in Fulton Mall
A fighter, that's what you made, now I fight for fun
I fight for Acme lab rat experiment, son
Pulsate like a Theremin rigged to big drums
Seen Halloween battles in Brooklyn
Eggs and shaving cream
We're gonna spray it on your whole damn team and then
Make the dash laughing 'bout the whole damn thing
We won, we can laugh about that, 'cause that's fun
In the eighties, Decep took fame (Good run)
I took a name, too, and so it begun
And wrote raps in my room sippin' Capri Suns
In fact, studied the cadences of Kool Moe Dee and Rick
Put my name into their rhymes and then practiced it
Put my brain pattern on fly and I mastered it
Dad played jazz when he drank, it's no accident
Hands on the piano and make my foot tap to it
Different path, same love, dad, thanks for passing it

[Chorus:]
Nineteen eighty-five, got redtop live
And it was ten to the decibel, my lifelong pride
So I was part of the pack, pardon that, that's fact
I stole part of a track and started to rap, map the growth

Nineteen eighty-five, got redtop live
And it was ten to the decibel, my lifelong pride
So I was part of the pack, pardon that, that's fact
I stole part of a track and started to rap, map the growth

[Indistinct talking]

[Outro:]
F - F - A - A - N - N - T - T (Remember)
[Scratches] "Pure within soul, yet shallow within bankroll"
A - A - S - S - T - T - I - I (Remember)
[Scratches] "Place no faith in the majority"
C - C - D - D - A - A - M - M (Remember)
[Scratches] "For me, it's either rhyme or euthanasia"
A - A - G - G - E - E