Each day as I’m driving in my car on the way to class, I usually have on either Kiss 98.5 or Wild 101.1. Sometimes I’m talking on the phone, distracted thinking about school etc, and having the radio on is just background noise. Recently I heard a song called “This City” By Patrick Stump featuring Lupe Fiasco. Kiss 98.5 tailored the song so it would relate to Buffalo, NY. The lyrics read, “This city is my city, and I love it, yeah I love it.” The lyrics caught my attention yesterday once the song hit it’s second verse. The lyrics read, “But you can't rest inside my city
My city's so cold if you ain't dressed
And what they accept, better had a right address
Come to my city, certain colors can't step
And sadly I'm talking about the color of your skin
Sorry my brother can't let you in
Cause the property value might go down to a level that's
Economically unacceptable and socially tabu fast to live around you
Uh, uh, is this what it's down to?” Later, it says “despite all of the above I love this city.” I was shocked to hear something like this played on the radio. I’m not sure if I’m interpreting this correctly, but it sounds like Lupe Fiasco (who sings/raps the 2nd verse) is suggesting that that’s just the way life is and people just have to accept it. What else I found interesting was that we just talked about Block Busting and things like that, and this song specifically mentions that the property value decreases based on certain skin colors that live there. Towards the end of the song, Patrick Stump sings, “Cause you can burn [my city] to the ground
Oh or let it flood, but it's in my blood.” I feel like it’s basically saying, where you raised and where you grow up is always going to be in your blood and it makes you part of who you are. Despite the surrounding conditions, it is still going to be a part of you no matter what. Thoughts on this song / what else it could possible mean? Thanks guys. Here’s the link to the full song lyrics.
Monday, September 12, 2011
"This City" By Patrick Stump and Lupe Fiasco
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It does seem odd that they would say "I love my city" after naming all of those real life issues. Maybe, Lupe Fiasco is trying to raise awareness to problems like the ones he names. Many people listening to the song though, may not realize that the things he says, actually happen-- property value really may go down if someone of color moves in, or people really may see it as taboo. I do agree that it seems the song is suggesting that these problems will just occur, and you can not change them by saying "despite all of the above I love this city". I guess it's cool to be optimistic and all, but I think that to truly make a change, we can not just make it seem like these problems are okay, and to accept them. I for one, would not want to say that I love a city where I admit those things happen.
ReplyDeleteThank you Alexandria! That's exactly how I felt. Yes, these real life issues are happening, but the way this song is talking about them seems to down play their importance. I also think since these issues are so serious, awareness should be raised but not through something like a song that people are just going to automatically like because of it's artist and catchy beat. Once I actually listened to it, I was shocked that a song would talk about this! Now a song should be released where it talks about ways to make solutions to these problems - haha.
ReplyDeleteI can 100% relate to this song. I live in NYC, and as everyone knows there are so many different parts. I live in "the hood" with black and Spanish people (I am also black) and there are so many things wrong with my neighborhood. But despite all these crazy problems, I was born and raised here, and it's still my home. I have bad and good memories here. So I understand in this song how they're saying "Despite all of the above I still love this city." Even with all the problems, home is home :)
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