(Yeah)
They say that things take time
(Yeah)
Good things come to those who wait
This is a common saying to help people see the long-term benefits in the struggle trying to achieve a goal.
I’m sick and tired of waiting, man (uh-ha)
If I have to work this job for much longer
I’m gonna fucken lose it
Flipped it! Sometimes we choose to work a job to pay the bills while we chase our dream during the other hours of the day. We feel the need to be responsible. “Work full time at your job and part-time on your fortune.” It really made sense to me at the time I first heard this. There are a lot of hours in a day. It is easy to get caught up in the cycle of: work, eat, entertainment (TV, dinner out, party, etc), sleep, repeat. If we swap some of our time dedicated to entertainment in the pursuit of money, or a creative dream that could end up paying big, then we are more likely to achieve this goal. There is no benefit in just thinking about how nice it would be to be wealthy.
Yeah (uh, uh-uh)
Check it out, yo
[Verse 1: PEZ]
Yeah, now I know that some won’t hear
But still I’m here to say it ’til you’re told right
I’m bringing a way a little different than the old type
A whole life embracing the day
He’s acknowledging a change he can see in himself. No matter how sure we are about ideas we have, we will never be able to convince everyone of how valid they are. Sometimes it is the right thing to live and let live, other times it is important to persist until our message is heard. I like the phrase “a whole life embracing the day”. This idea is similar to “live each day like it’s your last” but PEZ has put his own spin on it. Whole in this context can mean “entire” or “complete”. I’ve been striving to do all the things that make me feel compete every day: time with you girls and Mum, gardening, looking after the home, exercise, cooking and writing. If I do a little of all these things in a day it feels like I have had a complete day and that doing this every day will add up to a complete life.
That I may get to say I made it, haters ain’t gonna take it away
He isn’t saying that he will definitely make it, that he will achieve his goals, which is the usual self-help mantra. “If you will it, it will be.” I also like the ‘may, say, made, haters, take, away’ flow and rhyme! Haters can’t take away what he achieves. It is possible to lose a fortune or a sporting title, but no one can take away the achievement.
They say be patient and wait, yeah, but what’s so
Hard is that can take forever and I got no
Time for that or any time to slack
‘Cause when it goes we can’t rewind it back
Time can feel so elastic. Memory can condense years into a moment or a moment into the biggest, brightest and most important event of out lives. We can be certain that time moves on and that our time on earth is limited. We have a lot of time and so very little time all at once. We can look back on our time, the decisions we made, how we responded to difficulties and how we celebrated success, but we don’t ever get any “do-overs”.
I’m tryna’-
Break free of how the rest are made
Where their sole intention is a quest for fame (uh)
It is always worth checking in occasionally as to what is motivating us. PEZ is saying that people he knows are making music just to become famous. He has decided to break free from this, that he has found a different reason to write songs.
Before real heads accept the name
I got respect to gain, so rep remains (right here)
Having the respect of people he respects is more important to him than the fame. The person we are while we chase our goals will be noticed and remembered by those close to us.
And it lasts well after I’m gone (yeah)
And all the heartfelt parts of my songs (uh)
Become a path to the past when they’re on
So even though I die there’s a piece of me alive forever
This is why I like to write these Hip-hopolosophies. They become thought-out and considered (if not well edited!) journal entries. They show how I feel and what pieces of advice I have benefited from. These may change, and some have since I started. To write a hit song would be a legacy in itself, but so much more if the words contained in that song reveal himself to those that hear it.
[Chorus: Count Bounce] – Great name.
I ain’t got time to contemplate
And wonder “Is it worth the wait?”
I know the path is long
If I just hold on it might work out alright
This combines being patient and getting on with it. Not wasting too much time considering if the result will be worth the effort. “Quote” from one of the many self-improvement cd’s I’ve listened to: “It’s hard. Chasing your dream is hard. But it’s worth it.” The path to anything worthwhile is long and at times difficult and is rarely a straight path! We begin things expecting a certain outcome but often get something very different. Even so, it is still worth it.
I started Flat Out Assembly to be self-employed, to create my own job! Then I decided to think bigger. I joined a business group and employed people – James, Josh, Jack! and others – but I wasn’t sure of where I was going with the business and I got lost. I was on a different path to what I set out on and shut down it down. I don’t regret my time in Flat Out and gained a lot from the effort. I have new long-term goals and I know that whatever happens my efforts will be worthwhile.
The last line really stood out for me, “If I just hold on it might work out alright.” Again, might, not will. Hold on to your dreams, ideas, aspirations, and ideals for long enough and they ‘might’ work out ‘alright’. Doesn’t feel inspiring, but again, the effort is always worth it.
I ain’t got time to sit on the fence
And wonder why it don’t make sense
I know the path is long
If I just hold on it might work out alright
The phrase “to sit on the fence” means to be indecisive. Indecision caused by doubt is what has held me back the most from chasing my dreams. It remains a constant challenge.
Nothing makes sense really if we think too much about it. Knowing every detail about something can take away from the magic. Billy Connelly is a comedian who grew up wanting to be a musician. He says that he doesn’t want to know the inspiration and story behind songs because it would be like being told how the magician did his tricks: it would take the magic right out it, take the joy out of the moment. We might be curious about these things, but behind the scenes stuff can take away from the joy of the art.
PEZ says that the path is long. Patience is very different to waiting. We need to be patient while doing what’s necessary to continue down the long path to our goals.
[Verse 2: PEZ]
Still, most live on, thinking “well that’s life”
I don’t get what I’m given and that’s why I-
“Well, that’s life” is a phrase usually used when someone feels that “luck” has conspired against them. The word “typical” sums up this acceptance of fate. There are times when acceptance of the outcome is necessary, but that isn’t all we should do. It is possible to learn from what’s happened and take steps to change future outcomes. PEZ says he doesn’t “get” what life has given him. That could mean that he doesn’t understand it or that he doesn’t accept it. Either way he goes on to say…
Try ‘n’ express innovation
Bless and test the next generation (uh)
Elevation is there in us all
It’s just most end up scared of the fall, that’s all
Innovation is positive change. He is trying to encourage and challenge the next generation to be better. This is old wisdom too. It’s often said that all a parent really wants is for their children to have a better life than they had. Societies have this same hope for the next generation. I feel that on the whole this is what has happened so far and will continue. Each generation looks at the previous and can see improvement on some level. I think the test is to be the best you can be in your particular place in time. Each generation has everything it nees to be better than the previous one!
I think that many people don’t aim to be their best selves because they are worried that the higher they get the harder the fall if the fail. This is probably true, but it is in the attempt, and in any falls, that we grow. It’s not possible to fail all the way back to the person you were before you began striving for a goal. You will always gain something from trying.
I know ’cause I’ve had to fight it before
Inside of my fright there was times that I thought I was
Done for, stuck and unsure but I
Crawled out of it, now I’m more proud of myself
It is normal to feel afraid, to doubt yourself. It is normal to feel like we are stuck at times, that we don’t have choices. When we get through these moments it feels good, it feels like we have achieved something more than just overcome a problem. Overcoming fear and doubt is more rewarding than overcoming challenges.
I found I formed doubt in myself
But it helped when I dealt with those who lack trust,
We need to deal with those who don’t trust us if we are ever going to trust ourselves. We either need to gain their trust or leave them out of our dreams.
that just,
Made me see: the things most claim to be
Covers up who they’re afraid to see (uh)
Or maybe who they’re just ashamed to be
But when I look I say it’s me and I’m not changing it
People wear a lot of masks. Sometimes it’s just for the role we are playing, like being an assembler, a father or a son. But if we cover up our true selves because we don’t like what we see when we’re unmasked, then this will lead to sadness. Knowing ourselves and accepting who we are while striving to grow is one of the keys to happiness.
[Chorus: Count Bounce]
I ain’t got time to contemplate
And wonder “Is it worth the wait?”
I know the path is long
If I just hold on it might work out alright
I ain’t got time to sit on the fence
And wonder why it don’t make sense
I know the path is long
If I just hold on it might work out alright
[Bridge: PEZ]
Yeah
(ha-ha)
I mean
I just got so much shit on my mind
I keep thinking about it
I keep thinking about it, I keep
Thinking about it, thinking about it, I keep
Thinking about it, thinking about it, I keep
Thinking about it all night long
A troubled mind can keep us up at night, especially when a negative thought gets stuck on a loop. I really like how he repeated this line and then flowed into an answer/solution to his thought:
[Verse 3: PEZ]
And now I come to this, where I can
See clearly why the sum consists of this
Thinking about the ‘why’ rather than the ‘what’ is such a productive way to look at things. The sum of our actions can be thought of as the circumstance we are in. The sum of our actions adds up to the person we are. As we continue to grow it will be our actions that continue to shape us.
And if ya wish to move on forward
You gotta wake up enough to say something (uh)
Or walk forward and snatch off the
Small pawns all caught in a pack
I believe he is saying that even if he only wakes up a few people with his ideas it is worth saying them.
Ignoring the fact they’re lost and their sights are set where
Everyday long they stay strong but don’t get there (uh)
I think it’s harsh if you look at it, right
Takes ’em way too long before they look at their life
One of the most profound early philosophical ideas I came across was the idea that most people live an unconscious life. It’s an idea I had stumbled across in my own mind before discovering it within so many existing texts. The most famous ancient philosopher is probably Socrates who is attributed with saying, “an unexamined life is not worth living.” Many since have made similar observations about how so many people appear to go through life simply reacting as if they are more asleep than awake. An unexamined life will leave you aimless. We can’t know where we are going without considering how our decisions and actions have brought us to where we are today.
It’s like walking a path to falling apart
Turnin’ ’round thinking “Shit, where did all of this start?”
What a fantastic metaphor: bravo! Considering life like going for a walk where we have choices about which paths to go down is not new one. Thinking about people who find themselves wondering why everything is going wrong without ever considering they made the choices that led them there. That is something that isn’t talked about a lot. Only successful people “blame” themselves for where they are.
I know it’s my fear forged in the riddle
And I’m right here caught in the middle
I just stay ’cause time is free
And each day I confide in me
The possibility that I will get to the end of my life and look back with regret about the decisions I’ve made can be motivating. I believe that taking the time to reflect on decisions and consider the life we are living will make future decisions better informed and will in turn make a better life.
Count Bounce, sing it:
[Chorus: Count Bounce]
I ain’t got time to contemplate
And wonder “Is it worth the wait?”
I know the path is long
If I just hold on it might work out alright
I ain’t got time to sit on the fence
And wonder why it don’t make sense
I know the path is long
If I just hold on it might work out alright
