Lupe Fiasco - The Cool (Explicit Album Version)

The Cool
Lupe Fiasco
03:46
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Song lyrics

[Verse 1:]
He came back, in the same suit that he was buried in,
Similar to the one his grandfather was married in.
Yes, he was still fresh to death,
Bling, two earrings, a chain layin' on his chest,
He still had it ‘cause they couldn't find it,
And the bullets from his enemies sat like two inches behind it.
Smelled the Hennessy from when his niggas got reminded
And poured out liquor in his memory, he didn't mind it,
But he couldn't sip it fast enough
So the liquor was just fillin' the casket up.
Floatin' down by his feet was the letter from his sister,
Second grade handwriting simply read, "I miss ya."
Suit jacket pocket held his baby daughter's picture,
Right next to it one of his mans stuck a swisher,
He had a notion as he laid there soakin',
He saw that the latch was broken,
He kicked his casket open and, he...

[Chorus:]
This life goes passin' you by,
It might go fast if you like,
You born, you lived, and you die.
If life goes passin' you by, don't cry,
If you're breakin' the rules, makin' your moves, payin' your dues,
Chasin' the cool.

[Verse 2:]
Not at all nervous as he dug to the surface,
Tarnished gold chain is what he loosened up the earth with,
He used his mouth as a shovel to try and hollow it
And when he couldn't dirt-spit, he swallowed it.
Workin' like a, hmm, reverse archaeologist,
Except, his buried treasure was sunshine,
So when some shine through a hole that he had drove,
It reflected off the gold and almost made son blind.
He grabbed onto some grass and climbed,
Pulled himself up out of his own grave, and looked at the time
On the watch that had stopped six months after the shots
That'd got him in the box, wringin' Henny out his socks.
Figured it was hours, because he wasn't older,
Used some flowers to brush the dirt up off his shoulder,
So, with a right hand that was all bones
And with no reason to stay he decided to walk home, so he...

[Chorus:]
This life goes passin' you by,
It might go fast if you like,
You born, you lived, and you die.
If life goes passin' you by, don't cry,
If you're breakin' the rules, makin' your moves, payin' your dues,
Chasin' the cool.

[Verse 3:]
He begged for some change to get him on the train.
"Damn, that nigga stank!" is what they complained.
Tried to light the blunt, but it burst into flames,
Caught the reflection in the window of what he became,
A long look, wasn't shook, wasn't ashamed,
Matter of fact, only thing on his brain was brains.
Yeah, and gettin' back in his lane, doin' his thing,
First he had to find something to sling,
Next stop was his block, it had the same cops,
Walk right past the same spot where he was shot, shocked
That some lil' niggas tried to sell him rocks.
It just felt weird, bein' on the opposite,
They figured that he wasn't from there, so they pulled out
And robbed him with the same gun they shot him with,
Put it to his head and said, "You're scared, ain't ya?"
He said, "Hustler for death, no heaven for a gangsta." And...

[Chorus:]
This life goes passin' you by,
It might go fast if you like,
You born, you lived, and you die.
If life goes passin' you by, don't cry,
If you're breakin' the rules, makin' your moves, payin' your dues,
Chasin' the cool.