Chum
Earl Sweatshirt Lyrics

Something sinister to it
There is something ominous associated with the situation

Pendulum swinging slow, a degenerate moving
Time passes by, and the singer moves forward living his degenerate lifestyle

Through the city with criminals, stealth, welcome to enemy turf
The singer is living in a dangerous neighborhood inhabited by criminals

Harder than immigrants work, "Golf" is stitched into my shirt
The artist is proud of his association with Golf, but his life is harder than the struggles of immigrants

Get up off the pavement brush the dirt up off my psyche
The artist wants to cleanse his mind of the negativity surrounding him

Psyche, psyche
The singer repeats the last line to emphasize the message

It's probably been twelve years since my father left, left me fatherless
The singer's father left him when he was young, and it's been twelve years since then

And I just used to say I hate him in dishonest jest
The artist used to say that he hates his father, but he didn't mean it

When honestly I miss this nigga, like when I was six
The artist misses his father and wishes that things were different

And every time I got the chance to say it I would swallow it
The artist wants to tell his father that he misses him, but he cannot bring himself to say it

Sixteen, I'm hollow, intolerant, skip shots
At sixteen, the singer is empty, intolerant, and makes poor decisions

I storm that whole bottle, I'll show you a role model
The artist drinks excessively and attempts to be a role model for others

I'm drunk, pissy, pissing on somebody front lawn
The singer is drunk and urinating on someone's front lawn

Trying to figure out how and when the fuck I missed moderate
The singer cannot understand when and how he lost his way in life

Momma often was offering peace offerings
The singer's mother frequently tries to smooth things over between her son and her ex-husband

Think, wheeze cough, scoffing and he's off again
The artist has a disparaging attitude towards his father and the people he associates with

Searching for a big brother, Tyler was that
The artist searches for a role model and finds a mentor in Tyler

And plus he liked how I rap, the blunted mice in the trap
Tyler likes the singer's rapping style, and they become friends

Too black for the white kids, and too white for the blacks
The singer doesn't fit in with either the white or black kids and is alienated

From honor roll to cracking locks up off them bicycle racks
The artist went from being a model student to breaking into bicycle locks

I'm indecisive, I'm scatterbrained, and I'm frightened, it's evident
The artist is confused, disorganized, and scared

And them eyes, where he hiding all them icicles at?
The artist questions the motives of people around him

Uh time lapse, bars rot in heart's bottomless pit
Time passes by, and the singer's emotional turmoil deepens

Was mobbin' deep as '96 Havoc and Prodigy did
The artist was living life dangerously, similar to the rappers Havoc and Prodigy in 1996

We were the pottymouth posse crash the party and dip
The singer and his group of friends were vulgar and crude, and they would leave parties after causing a commotion

With all belongings then toss em out to the audience
The singer and his friends would take all the things they could find at parties and throw them out to the crowd

Nothing was fucking awesome, trying to make it from the bottom
The singer's life is difficult, and he is trying to succeed despite the odds

His sins feeling as hard as Vince Carter's knee cartilage is
The artist's guilt weighs heavily on him, like the pain felt by Vince Carter, a basketball player with knee problems

Supreme garment and weed gardeners garnishing spliffs
The artist wears expensive clothing and smokes weed with his friends

With Keef particles and entering apartments with 'zine article
The singer and his friends smoke weed and enter apartments while reading a hip-hop magazine

Tolerance for boundaries, I know you happy now
The singer doesn't respect boundaries, and the people around him are fed up

Craven and these Complex-fuck niggas done track me down
The artist is being pursued by people from the website Complex who want to interview him

Just to be the guys that did it, like, "I like attention"
The people at Complex just want attention for being the ones to interview the artist

Not the type where niggas trying to get a raise at my expense
The artist is wary of people who only want to gain something by associating with him

Supposed to be grateful, right?
People expect the singer to be grateful for their attention, but he is not

Like, "Thanks so much, you made my life
The artist is being sarcastic

Harder, and the ties between my mom and I are strained and tightened
The singer's association with fame has made his relationship with his mother more difficult

Even more than they were before all of this shit"
The singer's relationship with his mother was difficult before, but it has become even more strained now

Been back a week and I already feel like calling it quits
The singer has returned home, but he wants to give up already

"Ha ha ha!"
The artist ends the song with a laugh, but it is unclear whether he is happy or sad